It’s no secret that House of the Dragon is one the most significant shows to hit HBO since Game of Thrones ended. But where did the lore come from if it didn’t come from the same books? That’s where Fire and Blood comes in.
Fire and Blood is formatted as a history book told by an unreliable narrator in the form of Mushroom. Also, House of the Dragon only covers part of the Fire and Blood book and only dives into the reign of Viserys I Targaryen, at least for the first season. However, it does touch on Jaehaerys I Targaryen in the first few minutes of the first episode.
King Aegon II Targaryen’s reign begins at the tail end of the first season upon Viserys’ death. It will continue to play out during Season 2 as his half-sister, Rhaenyra, fights to regain her throne. After all, she is the rightful heir, having been named the Princess of Dragonstone in the first episode.
Fire and Blood follows the Targaryen dynasty from the crowning of Aegon I, also known as Aegon the Conqueror, to Aegon III, the son of Rhaenyra and Daemon. It also covers what the Targaryen kings were like during their reigns.
Aegon the Conqueror was a relatively good king, despite having married his sisters, Rhaenys and Visenya. They both gave him sons. Rhaenys birthed Aenys while Visenya gave him Maegor.
The Long Dynasty That Finds A Way To Fight Back
Both sons of the Dragon would, at some point, become king. Aenys, being the eldest, became king first. He married Alyssa Velaryon, who gave him six children; Rhaena, Aegon, Viserys, Jaehaerys, Vaella and Alysanne. Vaella would die as a baby. Long after the death of her husband, Alyssa would later marry Ser Rogar Baratheon and give him two children, Boremund and Jocelyn.
Jocelyn would later birth a daughter of her own, Rhaenys. Rhaenys would become known as The Queen Who Never Was and the cousin of King Viserys I Targaryen.
The dynasty predating Viserys I is a truly fascinating story. While House of the Dragon doesn’t line up with the story 100%, it does linger in between and gives the audience a good idea of how the Targaryen lineage falls between the reign of Aegon I and Aegon III. Fire and Blood is a testament to everything Game of Thrones fans are familiar with; the incest, the power struggle and the lust for a son to continue a lineage that will go down in the history of Westeros as being controversial.
The Talk About Incest
Fire and Blood make it clear that the topic of the Targaryen dynasty’s love of incest was a very touchy subject. Some people of faith accepted that the Targaryens were inbred by marrying siblings, cousins or aunts with nephews or uncles with nieces. Others saw the act as a sin, a dirty move.
In a real setting, this would be seen as a crime, but in the world of Westeros, it is just a part of everyday life. Look at the dysfunction surrounding Jaime and Cersei Lannister in the Game of Thrones books and the television series. Cersei’s living children were her twin brother’s kids, not Robert Baratheon’s, as it was claimed. However, the difference here is that by the time Game of Thrones happens, incest is essentially outlawed. Though, Daenerys and Jon Snow do commit incest unknowingly.
The Dany/Jon pairing only exists in the Game of Thrones show, as the final book was not published when the last season was put into production.
The Lesson
Fire and Blood teaches the audience that no matter how good a leader is, their successor might be way worse than it already is. It also shows that no matter how much you try to fix a situation created by someone else, the harder it will be to repair.
House of the Dragon Season 1 gives a good lesson in listening to the whole story before you act on an impulse that will cause carnage.
Fire and Blood receives:
