How Does the War Between the Targaryens Begin? The Definitive Explanation of ‘House of the Dragon’

The House of the Dragon is preparing to enter into open war with each passing week. The development of the second season of the series is heading towards the Dance of the Dragons, the name given in the historiography of the Seven Kingdoms to the Targaryen civil war triggered by Viserys’ succession to the Iron Throne. The death of King Viserys I (played by Paddy Considine in the first season of House of the Dragon) led to the division of his heirs into two factions: the Blacks and the Greens. The former is in favor of his daughter, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), reigning. The latter, defending the primacy of males in the line of succession, crowned Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), the firstborn of Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), as king. While King Viserys was clear that he wanted Rhaenyra as the rightful heir to the throne, a mix-up with his dying words led Alicent to understand from his lips that the crown should go to his son Aegon. In episode 3 of season 2, Rhaenyra goes to King’s Landing disguised as a septum to reveal this momentous error to her former friend.

House of the Dragon: What Does the Song of Ice and Fire Say?

The dying monarch quoted to his wife (whom he was deliriously mistaking for his daughter) an ancient prophecy known as A Song of Ice and Fire (the name given to the entire literary series by George RR Martin), which he used to tell Rhaenyra about when she was little. It is a legend that for decades has been passed down from kings to heirs of the House of Targaryen, telling how their ancestor Aegon the Conqueror seized power over the Seven Kingdoms.

“Our tales tell of Aegon looking across the Blackwater from Dragonstone and seeing a rich land within his reach,” Viserys told Rahenyra in the first episode of House of the Dragon. “It was not ambition alone that drove him to conquest. It was a dream. Like Daenys, he anticipated the end of Valyria. Aegon anticipated the end of the world of men”.

“It would begin with a harsh winter from the far north,” the king continues, alluding to the future invasion of the Night King that the protagonists of Game of Thrones will have to deal with centuries later. “When the great winter comes, Rhaenyra, all of Westeros must face it,” Viserys predicts: “And for the world to survive, a Targaryen must sit on the Iron Throne. A king or queen strong enough to unite the realm against the cold and darkness”.

Viserys was convinced that Rhaenyra was the best candidate to bear the weight of this prophecy that advocates the union between peoples, but from the dying gibberish that Alicent uttered before expiring, only Aegon’s name remained. Already inclined to defend her son’s right to the throne, it never occurred to the queen that her husband could actually be talking about the legendary ancestor who had the same name.

The Beginning of the Dance of the Dragons?

The death of King Viserys is the trigger for the dynastic conflict between the Black and Green factions within House Targaryen. But when does the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons begin? As is often the case with long-simmering conflicts, it is difficult to single out a specific event as the first blow that is more definitive than other antecedents. In the House of the Dragon episode in which the Battle of Burnt Mill took place, the first clash with numerous casualties between armies allied to the Greens and the Blacks (the Brackens and the Blackwoods), Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) herself reminds Rhaenyra that, if we were to look back at a decisive first offense, we’d already seen a few.

Going back in time, the chain of events and revenge blinded by anger has been as follows:  Ser Criston Cole sent  Ser Arryk Cargyll to kill Rhaenyra in revenge for the murder of the baby  Jaehaerys, the result of the skirmish orchestrated by Daemon in revenge for the death of  Lucerys, devoured by Aemond ‘s dragon, who wanted revenge on his cousin for having left him without an eye when they were little. All this is the prelude to what will be a bloody civil war, of which we are still in the early stages. And, despite the slaughter of nobles and dragons that we will witness, rest assured that the common people will be the ones who will get the worst of it.