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This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season 2 episode 8 and details from the novel Fire & Blood.
It’s been a long, strange journey for Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) on House of the Dragon season 2.
After falling out with his niece/wife Rhaenyra in episode 2, The Rogue Prince has spent his days in the haunted castle Harrenhal, ostensibly trying to raise a Riverlands army but really being haunted by ghosts of Christmas past. In the season 2 finale, however, Daemon’s remembrances from long ago are replaced with dark visions of the future.
Assisted by the witchy Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin), Daemon accesses Westeros’ network of weirwood trees to glimpse into the days to come. What he sees spooks him enough to immediately declare his fealty to Rhaenyra on her arrival, rather than continuing his silly game of pursuing the crown for his own.
What is it exactly that Daemon sees among the weirwood roots and what does it mean for his story, House of the Dragon, and even the Game of Thrones franchise going forward? Allow us to explain.
Who Is Bloodraven?
The first image that Daemon sees is that of a person with a distinctive facial birthmark, wrapped in a weirwood tree’s embrace. This constitutes a big “Oh shit!” moment for A Song of Ice and Fire fans as this individual is a major figure in Westerosi history. Known as “Bloodraven” due to his birthmark that resembles a bloody raven, Brynden Rivers is one the most consequential Targaryen bastards ever.
Roughly 50 years after Daemon’s time, Brynden will be born outside of wedlock to King Aegon IV and Lady Melissa Blackwood. Brynden a.k.a. “Bloodraven” is considered one of the “Great Bastards,” since the lecherous King Aegon IV fathers many bastard children upon noble women and damn near destroys the realm because of it. In true Blackwood fashion, Bloodraven’s biggest rival comes to be his Bracken half-brother Aegor “Bittersteel” Rivers.
Even beyond his birthmark, Bloodraven is visually distinctive with pale white skin and a slight frame. Due to his unusual physicality and mastery of rumors and whispers, many in the realm believe him to be a sorcerer. Whether that’s true or not, Bloodraven does eventually develop magical powers. That’s because, according to semi-canonical sources (including George R.R. Martin’s own intimations and the TV series), Bloodraven will become the Three-Eyed Raven who instructs a young Bran Stark in the old ways. That’s right: he’s the old guy played by Max von Sydow on Game of Thrones.
Bloodraven appears in the third “Tales of Dunk and Egg” novella, meaning that he should pop up once again on the upcoming prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, making him the rare Game of Thrones character to be in every series thus far.
The Long Night
The next thing Daemon sees should be more familiar to Thrones TV fans. From the perspective of the ground, as though he’s a wolf running through the snow, Daemon encounters the unmistakable sight of a White Walker leading an army of the dead. This White Walker doesn’t appear to be the Night King himself but we get the message all the same. This is The Long Night. This is the apocalyptic event that Aegon the Conqueror’s song of ice and fire warns of.
The Gods Eye
ADDITIONAL SPOILER WARNING: The passage will undoubtedly spoil the end of House of the Dragon. Move on to the next section if you want to remain unsullied.
At roughly the same time that Daemon is experiencing his weirwood visions, Helaena (Phia Saban) is delivering a prophecy of her own to her brother, the prince regent Aemond (Ewan Mitchell). Helaena tells Aemond, in no uncertain terms, that he will soon die in “The Gods Eye.”
Helaena isn’t speaking metaphorically here, the Gods Eye is a very real geographic feature in Westeros. The Gods Eye is the largest lake in the Seven Kingdoms and located just outside of Harrenhal. The lake is so-named because a small island rests in the center of the water that is believed to be a mystical landmass that the ancient Children of the Forest still haunt.
Of course, Game of Thrones revealed that the Children of the Forest are still around North of the Wall. They’re probably on that island in the Gods Eye as well since Daemon appears to see one right before his visions begin. More importantly to the plot of House of the Dragon, however, both Daemon and Aemond do indeed die in a grand aerial battle above the Gods Eye. Their bodies are never recovered from the water, which is almost certainly why Daemon’s vision includes a brief moment of him drowning.
The Mother of Dragons
Way back when House of the Dragon premiered its season 2 trailer, we noted that the three dragon eggs briefly included resembled those of Daenerys Targaryen’s three dragon eggs containing Drogon, Viserion, and Rhaegal. It would appear that we were right! Daemon gets to see the future of his House, including the dying of the dragons, the red comet that foretells their return, and their fiery births in a funeral pyre.
Rhaenyra on the Iron Throne
The final vision that Daemon is granted is that of Rhaenyra upon the Iron Throne. Given that Daemon witnesses the canonical end and rebirth of House Targaryen before this, it’s hard to know exactly what he makes of Rhaenyra’s coronation. Yes, the episode’s end makes it clear that the Iron Throne will be there for the taking. But will Rhaenyra be able to keep it? Will anyone?
Before Daemon can process what he’s seen, Helaena interrupts with some wise words: “It’s all a story. And you are but one part in it. You know your part.” Whatever happens from here on out, Daemon will be well-aware that he’s just one player on the board.
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