House of the Dragon serves as the prequel to Game of Thrones and gives us a look at the grandeur of House Targaryen when they ruled over the seven kingdoms. While George R. R. Martin is yet to finish writing A Song of Ice and Fire, Game of Thrones gave the story an ending that was criticised by many.
After all the wars and betrayals, Bran Stark was the one who sat on the Iron throne after John Snow stabbed Daenerys Targaryen. However, given what House of the Dragon has revealed, it seems that Alicent Hightower unknowingly helped Bran Stark get the Iron Throne. Here’s how.
How Alicent Hightower’s one mistake in House of the Dragon led to Bran Stark on the Iron Throne
Any Game of Thrones fan knows and agrees the fight over the Iron Throne began due to Robert’s Rebellion against the Mad King, Aerys II. However, one of the reasons the Targaryens couldn’t win against Robert was because they no longer had dragons.
From the time of Aegon the Conquerer, the Targaryens had dominated Westeros primarily due to their dragons that breathed fire. As we will see in future episodes of House of the Dragon, the Dance of the Dragons wiped out almost all dragons, which significantly reduced the power of the Targaryens.
As we have seen in House of the Dragon, Viserys had named Rhaenyra his heir years before he died. Hundreds of lords and knights had accepted her as the rightful heir then. However, when Viserys was on his deathbed, rambling about Aegon the Conquerer’s dream, Alicent Hightower misinterpreted it as Viserys naming their son Aegon II as his heir.
Alicent’s misinterpretation in House of the Dragon is what drove her and the small council that was already plotting a coup, to declare Aegon II the king. This led to Rhaenyra fighting back for her inheritance, which then led to the Dance of the Dragons. This civil war was fought between Rhaenyra Targaryen and Aegon II Targaryen, half-siblings who both had dragons and dragonriders on their side.
Dance of the Dragons was one of the bloodiest wars in Westeros’ history, one that wiped out almost all dragons. According to Fire & Blood, Rhaenyra Targaryen was defeated and fed to Sunfyre in 130 AC while her young son, Aegon III, watched. Since Rhaenyra’s heirs were still alive, the war went on for approximately six more months until Aegon II was poisoned and killed.
Before dying, Aegon II had betrothed his only living child Jaehaera to Aegon III. Thus, after his death, Aegon III became king. Despite Rhaenyra dying, it was her descendants who ruled Westeros for the next two centuries until the Mad King, Aerys II. Attempts were made by both Aegon III and Rhaenyra’s youngest son, Viserys II, to bring back dragons, but they failed. From this point, the Targaryens had no dragons, and their power significantly reduced with time.
Approximately two centuries later, Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen disappeared with Lyanna Stark (Ned Stark’s sister, who was betrothed to Robert Baratheon). When Lyanna’s father and older brother went to King’s Landing to demand her return, the Mad King, Aerys II, brutally murdered them both.
Aerys II then demanded the heads of Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark. Lord Jon Arryn refused the order, raised his banners in rebellion alongside Ned and Robert, and ultimately overthrew the Targaryen dynasty, making Robert Baratheon the king. After Robert’s death, when Ned Stark found out the truth of Joffrey’s true parentage and threatened to expose it, Joffrey had him executed, which then led to a civil war.
At the end of it all, Daenerys Targaryen was the one who was supposed to sit on the Iron Throne after winning the Battle of King’s Landing, but then Jon Snow killed her. Thus, Bran Stark ended up ruling Westeros, something that the fans have criticised for years now. However, things would’ve been very different if Alicent hadn’t misinterpreted Viserys’ last words.
If Alicent hadn’t misinterpreted what Viserys had said, Rhaenyra would have been crowned queen, and the Dance of the Dragons would never have happened. The Targaryens would still have their dragons and their dominating presence, and Aerys II would’ve won against Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark.
After all, Daenerys Targaryen did win multiple battles with her dragons, including the Battle of King’s Landing, and would’ve ruled as queen only if Jon Snow hadn’t killed her. If Game of Thrones and House of the Dragons have a single common message, it is that one should never underestimate a Targaryen on a dragon. If the Targaryens did not lose their dragons, their story after Rhaenyra Targaryen would’ve been quite different.
One might argue that since Otto Hightower and the rest of the small council were already planning a coup, a civil war would’ve started anyway. However, without Alicent insisting that Viserys wanted Aegon II to be king, his claim to the throne would not have been nearly as strong.
One might also argue that Aerys II would’ve been a mad king anyway, but then again it all comes down to the dragons. Irrespective of how wrong or cruel the Mad King was, if he and his children had even half the dragons that their house had during the time of House of the Dragons, Robert and Ned wouldn’t have been able to overthrow House Targaryen.
Who Alicent Hightower became by the time Viserys died wasn’t just her own doing. As House of the Dragons shows us, her father, Otto Hightower, had turned her into this jealous woman who just wanted to see her son on the throne by hook or by crook.
Instead of even trying to verify what Viserys meant, her first instinct was to use it to justify naming her son as king despite knowing how much Viserys loved Rhaenyra and wanted her to rule after him. That cost House Targaryen everything and led to Bran Stark sitting on the iron throne.
House of the Dragon Season 3 is currently airing. New episodes of the show are released on HBO and HBO Max every Sunday at 9 pm ET.
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Edited by Riddhee