House of the Dragon: How did Viserys’s Dagger Get To Arya Stark In “Game Of Thrones”?
From the first episode of House of the Dragon a great reference to “Game of Thrones” appeared, with the Valyrian steel dagger used in the original series to kill the Night King and end the threat of the White Walkers. However, in House of the Dragon, the history and symbolism of the dagger for the Targaryen House have been explored, making this weapon one of the most important artifacts in the world of “Game of Thrones”. In the fourth episode of House of the Dragon, King Viserys reveals to Princess Rhaenyra that as her heir she has the right and obligation to know about a prophecy written inside the dagger.
Pyromancers inscribed Aegon Targaryen’s Song of Ice and Fire on the dagger, which speaks that from Targaryen’s blood will come to a Promised Prince who from the Iron Throne will rally all houses against cold and darkness. This prophecy is what we see fulfilled in Game Of Thrones with several characters who could have become the Promised Prince, from Stannis Baratheon, and Daenerys Targaryen to Jon Snow.
From House of the Dragon to Game Of Thrones: the story of Viserys’s dagger
The Valyrian steel dagger is called the Catspaw and in the fourth episode of House of the Dragon King Viserys explains more about its history and how it has been passed from king to king from generation to generation. The dagger belonged to Aenar Targaryen the dragon lord and head of the family who decided to leave Valyria before it was destroyed by a chain of volcanoes exploding, an event is known as the Curse of Valyria.
The dagger then passed into the hands of Aegon the Targaryen Conqueror, who used his dragon Balerion, the Black Terror, to conquer Westeros, create the Iron Throne, and become the first king of the Targaryens. Viserys admits that it is difficult to know who forged the dagger or to whom it belonged before Aenar Targaryen, but it is known that before Aegon the Conqueror died, the Song of Ice and Fire was hidden within its blade by pyromancy.
How Did Viserys Dagger Get To Arya Stark In Game Of Thrones?
From what is shown in House of the Dragon, it can be assumed that the dagger was passed from heir to heir until the events of “Game of Thrones” and remained in the hands of the Mad King Aerys II Targaryen, Daenerys’s father. At some point after the Mad King’s death at the hands of Jaime Lannister in Robert’s Rebellion or the Usurper’s War, the dagger passed into the hands of the new rulers or was stolen in the confusion.
From there, the Valyrian steel dagger was seen in the first season of “Game of Thrones”, when a hitman tries to use it to kill Bran Stark but is saved by his mother Catelyn and his wolf named summer. The weapon becomes the property of Petyr Baelish/Littlefinger and for seven seasons he had it with him. In the end, he gives it to Bran Stark, but the youngest of the Starks gives it to his sister Arya Stark.
When Bran becomes the Three-Eyed Raven and is reunited with his sister, he gives her the dagger and at the end of the series she uses it to kill the White Walkers and return light to the Seven Kingdoms. Although Arya Stark does not have Aegon Targaryen blood, as House of the Dragon reveals more about the past of the dagger and the Song of Ice and Fire, it may be explained why she was the one who fulfilled the prophecy.
