House of the Dragon: What The Mysterious White Deer Means? Everything Explained
The third chapter of House of the Dragon reminded Rhaenyra Targaryen that, regardless of whether her father had chosen her as heir, many in the realm are still waiting for a man to take Viserys I’s place on the throne, and this made it clear when seeing the huge celebration that was organized in the name of his younger brother. The chapter makes a jump in time, when Alicent Hightower is expecting her second child but celebrates the second birthday of her firstborn, whom she and the king named Aegon, in honor of the ancestor who conquered Westeros and who led the Targaryens to sit on the throne.
The celebration does not take place with a tournament (as in the case of the birth of Baelor, who died only a few hours later), but with an impressive hunt that brought together the most important men of the most powerful families, who soon receive the news of that a white stag was seen in the forest, which is taken as an omen that Aegon might be the future of House Targaryens.
The idea of being part of a hunt does not please Rhaenyra at all, and when she realizes that part of the reason for the event is to find her a husband (Jason Lannister makes her an offer), she takes her horse and heads into the woods, where she ends up hunting a huge boar that nearly killed her, and having an encounter with the white deer that her father and the rest of the men failed to find.
House Of The Dragon: What Does The White Deer Mean?
From the way she refers to this animal, we know that it is something special and something of an omen (although not like the prophecy of winter), and the fact that Rhaenyra came across it in the King’s Wood is more important than it seems. After searching and searching, the king’s men can’t find the white deer, so he ends up having to kill a brown deer (where he proves again that he is a weak king, whose disease shows every time. more), and that’s the animal they take to camp.
While this is happening, Rhaenyra avoids the white stag (which is explained in the story as being an important symbol in the kingdom, representing power before dragons, so Otto Hightower takes it as a sign that his grandson is the chosen by the gods) is killed, which points to his reign being legitimate, even if he is not the son many in the realm would like to see named. It is clear that Viserys I is already on his way out, he does not stop hurting himself with the throne and he no longer has the strength to kill an animal that is trapped and immobilized (while Rhaenyra tests her strength once again, this time by killing the animal that attacked her), so the appearance of the white deer could surely mark the beginning of a new era and the arrival of the next king or queen.
The chapter ends with Viserys assuring his daughter that no one is going to supplant her, but she needs to get married to have the alliances she needs, and her interaction with the deer, which is considered a magical creature, indicates that this decision has the support of more than only the men of the kingdom.
According to Screen Rant, this can be connected to the King Arthur legends, where the white stag appears to mark the start of Arthur’s reign, here marking the start of the reign of Rhaenyra Targaryen, whose future enemy is just a two-year-old baby year, that he could not take his father’s place if something were to happen to him, and that he would most likely be under the control of the Hightower and not the Targaryens, who should be on the throne because of all that about the promised prince and the great winter. The important thing is that the stag was not found by the hundreds of men who went looking for it in honor of Aegon, which indicates that the gods do not support him as the heir to the throne.
House of the Dragon Episode 3it is infinitely more complex than it seems at first glance. Not only do we see Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) solve the problem posed by the Three Whores on the Stone Steps by getting out of the way, black sister, the Benefactor of the Crabs, showing what he is capable of if you get lost for a moment (the bravado, the courage, the ambition, the pride of fighting without a dragon, even knowing that one is behind, ridden by Laenor Velaryon); we not only witness how the friendship between queen Alicent (Emily Carey) and Rhaneyra breaks down and we are taught how clear things are for you Rhaenyra “Is that me for you? A prize to offer to the great houses?”), but this episode also shows us a flash of History: the Lannisters,
It has been wanted to interpret the great hunt of episode 3 of the HBO Max series as the hunt that the Game of Thrones Universe could not afford in Season 1 of the series of the same name, in which King Baratheon was out with four hunting cats (that, damn it, is unthinkable for a King of Westeros), basically because there was no budget. And now the grandeur of the hunt with a formidable entourage has been seen as the way to make up for that scene a decade later. However, the “grandiose” in this case only serves to show how small the King feels: so many people mean so little. This scene is not a thorn in the side, it is a narrative device. The more people are around the King, the more fragile he wants to show us. That it has so many spectators when it gives the pathetic lace to the animal, the more pathetic it becomes. Especially compared to Rhaenyra, who alone with Ser Cole at his side, without any other spectators, decides not to collect a trophy when he meets his White Deer. And at that moment the viewer feels that Viserys I is aware of her fate and prefers to be the one who wields the sting and realizes that Rhaenyra also recognizes the crown, but she sees herself and decides to protect herself from it.
