Whenever there’s talk of expanding a franchise with spinoffs, fans hold in their breaths and pray to the Old Gods and the New that the project doesn’t play fast and loose with the established continuity. House of the Dragon hardly needs to fear that, what with George R.R. Martin himself overseeing the project, but since the author has yet to release his last two novels — which he already claims will end differently from the small screens adaptation — can we even trust the creator to tie in everything neatly?
And more importantly, what’s up with all of these people shipping the incestuous relationship between Rhaenyra and Daemon Targaryen? We try to answer all of that during today’s roundup of all things Game of Thrones.
The history of the Valyrian steel dagger is as perplexing as ever
The dagger King Viserys wears on his belt has raised a few eyebrows over the past couple of weeks, with many fans not quite wrapping their heads around how the weapon used in the assassination attempt on Brandon Stark could’ve belonged to a Targaryen king. House of the Dragon has since revealed that the nameless dagger bears Aegon the Conqueror’s prophecy that enumerates the Song of Ice and Fire, about a hero born of the Targaryen dynasty and destined to save the world from the Long Night. Still confused? Well, with the little we know of its history, there’s no making sense out of this enigma until Martin himself clarifies a few points, but we’re giving it our best nonetheless.
Fans worry about King Viserys and obsess over his art collection
It’s ironic to think that the kings of Westeros have that much power at their behest, yet they all share the same tragic fate, to be either disregarded or put aside when the political landscape shifts to their disadvantage. That’s what killed Robert Baratheon and many before him, after all, a pattern with which fans are all too familiar. Is Paddy Considine’s King Viserys going to suffer the same doom? Most probably. Will it make us sad? Almost certainly. Will we keep watching the show? Absolutely. Still, we’re going to miss this nerd monarch and his unique art collection, even if his death is as inevitable as the fact that each Sunday night brings us closer to it.
Are we just collectively, as a culture, okay with incest now?
It’s not difficult to remember a time when audiences all around the world gasped in shock when they learned that Jaime and Cersei Lannister were engaged in an incestuous relationship. And it almost feels like yesterday when there would be dozens of articles every week lambasting Game of Thrones for depicting something so taboo in such an offhanded manner, and most people ferociously nodding in agreement with every last one of them. Which brings us to 2022 and House of the Dragon: What is with all of these folks on social media actually shipping Daemon and Rhaenyra, uncle and niece? We know it’s on-brand so far as the Targaryens are concerned, but even then, we don’t have to like it, much less ship it.
It beats us, but maybe you can make sense of it. In any event, that’s all for now, but be sure to tune in tomorrow for even more updates on George R.R. Martin’s highly popular fictional fantasy world.