The second episode of House of The Dragon premiered on Sunday this week. So far, it has turned out to be a worthy successor to Game of Thrones. One of the staple elements of every Game of Thrones episode was its awesome intro visuals with the music, which gave you a short tour of Westeros. The new House of The Dragon intro uses the same tune as the original — but the symbols that appear on-screen have become a lot bloodier.
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What is the new House of The Dragon intro about?
The opening credits of House of The Dragon play out as a short history lesson about the Targaryen family tree. Each King, Queen, or heir is symbolized using an object that stands for that character. For example, for most kings, it is their crown; for queens, it is their sigils.
Blood flows from the older generation to the younger one. The deceased ones appear fully flooded under the red stream. Also, only the line that leads to Rhaenyra has been shown in the intro. Hence the Targaryen bloodline that follows Aegon the Conqueror’s children from Rhaenys has been included. This means Queen Visenya’s son Maegor has been removed from the credits.
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The Targaryen Family Tree
The intro begins with a picture of Doom of Valyria inside Aegon I’s crown, complete with the Targaryens fleeing with their dragons. Which then leads to his sister/wives, Queen Rhaenys and Queen Visenya. It then follows the bloodline of Rhaenys, as her son with King Aegon, Aenys I Targaryen, ascended to the Iron Throne.
Aenys’ son was King Jaehaerys I Targaryen. His crown is shown in his insignia and is directly connected to his sister-wife Alysanne. It skips over the rule of Maegor, the Cruel. Jaehaerys and Alysanne have nine lines spreading from their union. But they only unite at the bottom of the building with Baelon and Alyssa, their children who married. Even though Baelon never becomes king due to his untimely demise, his son Viserys ascends the throne.
The bloodstream then flows directly to King Viserys I Targaryen and his brother Daemon Targaryen. King Viserys marries his cousin Aemma Arryn, their blood flowing down to Rhaenya Targaryen, now the heir to the Iron Throne. There is also an indication that Rhaenyra will have kids in the future. We see blood flow from the symbol of the necklace her uncle Daemon gifts her.
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The setting of the intro and missing Targaryens
It is also interesting to note that the entire setup of the intro is done over the model of Old Valyria. It’s the one we see King Viserys I working on in House of The Dragon. There are also subtle nods to another bloodline spreading off the screen. This hints at his marriage to Alicent Hightower and the children they later have that will cause trouble with Rhaenyra’s succession.
Also, apart from Maegor, some other major Targaryens have not been shown in the bloodstream. These include Rhaenys Targaryen’s father, Aemon, who was the eldest son of King Jaehaerys.
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Other major Houses in the Dance of the Dragons
The credits also tease the major Houses other than the Targaryens who will be taking part in the bloodshed of the Dance of The Dragons — an event from George R. R. Martin’s Fire & Blood that inspired House of The Dragon. The opening credits very briefly show a symbol for the Hand, signifying the Hightowers.
On the opposite side, we see the symbols for Rhaenys and Corlys Velaryon and their union resulting in their daughter, Laena. Just before the intro goes over to Rhaenyra’s symbol, we see an etching on the wall with a huge dragon veering over a number of sigils. These are the sigils of the other Houses who will witness the bloodshed in House of The Dragon. These include the Hightowers, Starks, Lannisters, Baratheons, Dustins, Cole, and Freys.
It will be interesting to see how the intro will change over the next seasons of House of The Dragon. What do you think of the intro? Tell us in the comments below!
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