Attention all Game of Thrones (GOT) and House of the Dragon (HOTD) fans. Season two is officially wrapped up and fans are having mixed reactions. Before diving straight in to season two though, I thought we should do a quick recap of what GOT and season one of HOTD.
Game of Thrones aired from 2011 to 2019 on HBO. It is based on the books written by George R.R. Martin. It covers a lot of ground during those years, gaining a formidable following to rival that of the “Lord of the Rings” and “Harry Potter” fandoms.
Some of the main characters come from the Stark and the Lannister families. The Starks include the parents, Richard and Lyarra, and the children, Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran and Rickon. The family also includes Jon Snow who has a complicated lineage, but is a Stark nonetheless.
The Lannister family is led by Tywin and his two twin children, Cersei and Jaime, along with the younger son, Tyrion. Cersei had three children, Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen, all who were officially her husband Robert’s, but in reality were products of her incestuous relationship with her twin, Jaime.
GOT has many families involved in the plot line, but another main family name is Targaryen. This name is especially important because it is one of the main families in HOTD, which takes place 172 years before GOT.
Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons also known as Khalessi, is the main Targaryen we see in GOT. She is first shown as an object to be bought and sold by her brother, Viserys. There were three Targaryen siblings, but at the end, only Daenerys prevails. That is, until she is taken down by her nephew and lover, Jon Snow.
Yes, you read that correctly. The same Jon Snow mentioned earlier with the complicated lineage. Daenerys had two brother, Rhaegar and Viserys. Rhaegar married Elia Martell and fathered two children, Rhaenys and Aegon. He also ran away with Lyanna Stark, Richard Stark’s sister, and fathered another child, Jon Snow. For Jon’s protection, Richard took him in to his family claiming him to be a bastard he fathered amongst his travels.
The family trees are very complicated due to incest and the fact that names are repeated throughout generations. For example, there are also characters names Rhaenys, Viserys and Aegon in HOTD. So, let’s dive in to that realm.
One of the main characters of HOTD is Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. She is Daenerys’s great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother. She is the daughter of King Viserys I and Aemma. Aemma dies leaving no male heir behind. King Viserys names his daughter, Rhaenyra, as heir to the throne instead of his brother, Daemon.
King Viserys remarries Alicent Hightower and they have four children together, Aegon II, Helaena (the only daughter), Aemond and Daeron.
Rhaenyra marries twice herself, first to Ser Laenor Velaryon, and then to her uncle, Daemon. Rhaenyra has three children while married to her first husband, although paternity is believed to be that of Ser Hardin Strong because her husband was more inclined to enjoying the company of men and they had made an arrangement early on in their marriage to follow their own paths but to produce an heir to throne.
During her second marriage with Daemon, Rhaenyra has three more children, Aegon III, Viserys II and a daughter Visenya who dies as an infant.
In season one King Viserys dies after battling an on-going illness. During an incoherent moment with his wife, Alicent, he causes confusion on who he actually wants to succeed him on the throne after his passing. He thinks he is speaking with his daughter, Rhaenyra, but it is Alicent in the room. When he talks about his succession and the Song of Ice and Fire, Alicent takes that to mean that he wants their eldest son, Aegon II, to be heir to the throne when in actuality he was confirming his choice in Rhaenyra.
If you watched GOT, then you know what comes next, a lot of killing. And that starts off with the killing of Rhaenyra’s second son, Lucerys, at the hands of his uncle, Aemond. With all of the bloodlines laid out, let’s dive in to season two of the “House of the Dragon.”
Written by Jaime Herzog, Creative Director
(Featured Image from Hello Magazine)
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