The first season of Game of Thrones prequel House of The Dragon is at its end, and it is every bit as tragic, astonishing, shocking, and awe-inducing as the original show. The final episode introduced us to a number of new characters and dragons and featured the first dragon vs dragon battle of the series. There was a lot that happened on-screen, a lot of these were new and unfamiliar, and there are always a few things that slip out of attention. Let’s have a look at some of these details you might have missed in the final episode of House of The Dragon season 1.
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Close-up of Winterfell
The final episode begins with a brief shot at the map table in Dragonstone, and it stays focused on Winterfell for quite some time. This is a foreshadowing of the role Winterfell plays later on in the Dance of the Dragons. In Fire & Blood, Jace is sent to Winterfell by Rhaenyra to inform the Starks of the coup that took place in King’s Landing in her absence, and to urge their support in their favor. This marker on the map in the preview is an indication of the same, when Jacaerys is sent to the Starks, and Luke to Baratheons.
Read next: House of The Dragon season 1 finale preview foreshadows Jacaerys’ visit to Winterfell
Rhaenyra’s necklace and compulsive behavior
A cool little detail from the book was added to the show, involving Rhaenyra’s OCD. She has a similar compulsive behavior like her once best friend, Alicent. According to Fire and Blood, whenever she was anxious, she would turn the rings compulsively around her fingers. Also notice that Rhaenyra is no longer wearing the necklace given to her by Daemon in the first episode. The pendant used to appear as Rhaenyra’s symbol in the intro in the earlier episodes, and now it follows the line following Alicent and her kids.
Ser Steffon Darklyn
One of the earliest supporters of Ser Rhaenyra’s cause, Ser Steffon Darklyn, portrayed by Anthony Flanagan, is a member of the Kingsguard and an important knight during the Dance of the Dragons, who hasn’t received much attention in the series so far. In the books, served as the first Lord Commander of Rhaenyra’s Queensguard. Also, it was he who actually stole King Viserys’ crown from King’s Landing, unlike Ser Erryk Cargyll in the show.
Scales on Rhaenyra’s baby
As seen in the previous two episodes of House of The Dragon, Rhaenyra is pregnant. In the final episode, she gives birth prematurely hearing about what has transpired in King’s Landing after Viserys’ death. The baby, who they named Visenya, was born deformed and had reptile like features, just as Martin described in Fire and Blood. The scales on her skin look eerily similar to that of a dragon, more closely to Syrax. Do you think it’s just a coincidence?
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Lord Grover Tully
George R. R. Martin not only takes inspiration from real life history, but also real world pop culture. In the Fire and Blood novelette, Lords Elmo and Grover Tully are mentioned during the Dance of the Dragons. A clear reference to the beloved characters of Sesame Street, Lord Grover Tully is namedropped quite a number of times in the final episode.
Houses supporting the Blacks
Daemon is busy calling the banners in his support, and gather as many allies as he can to the Rhaenyra’s cause. Though not all of the Houses who will go on to support the Blacks are mentioned in this episode, a few of them are namedropped, that include House Celtigar, House Darklyn, House Bar Emmon, and House Massey.
Daemon acknowledges Daeron Targaryen
So far, we have only seen Alicent Hightower’s three children, Aegon, Aemond, and Helaena. However, there’s a fourth child and third son of Alicent and Viserys who has managed to stay hidden from the viewer’s eyes, and the characters seem to have kind of forgotten him. However, Daemon very subtly puts forward the fact that the Greens indeed have four Targaryen kids, all four of whom have dragons now, the fourth one being Daeron and his dragon Tessarion.
Daemon and Harrenhal
During the discussion on their next course of action, the Blacks and Daemon mark out their allies on the glowing board on Dragonstone. Daemon, out of nowhere, picks out a small statue and puts it over Harrenhal, saying how he will capture the estate with a small garrison and then destroy the rest of the Greens, something that he will actually do in the upcoming seasons.
Callback to Episode 2
After being named the heir, Rhaenyra makes a risky move to show her capabilities by flying over to Dragonstone to confront Daemon and save Otto from certain death. In the final episode, she comes to settle the confrontation once again, but with Daemon on her side. She did save Otto once again, however, this would be the last time she does so in the series.
Viserys explained a dragon’s nature in Episode 1
In the pilot episode of House of The Dragon, we see Viserys finally making up his mind to name his daughter Rhaenyra the heir. He tries to explain to her the dangers and consequences of being the ruler of Westeros, and Aegon’s secret prophecy. He also talks about how the idea that anyone can “control” a dragon is an illusion, which later goes on to play in the brutal fight we saw in today’s episode.
Read Next: Why Vhagar and Arrax defy commands in House of The Dragon finale
Young Rhaenyra vs Adult Rhaenyra
Both the pilot episode and the finale end with a focused camera on Rhaenyra’s face. However, the two Rhaenyras are not the same anymore. One was full of dreams and hope and looking to make a change in a realm ruled by men, and the second is a remorseful mother who is out for revenge.
Parallels between Rhaenyra and Daenerys
Parallels #HouseOfTheDragon pic.twitter.com/q2Aru5ylhj
— Dream of ASOIAF (@DreamofASOIAF) October 24, 2022
The way Daenerys first walks into the halls of Dragonstone is mirrored in House of The Dragon as Rhaenyra first walks to the Black Council with her guards after being crowned as the Queen. The shared moment is also the last time we see the two Dragon queens making sane choices before becoming somewhat of a tyrant later on.
10,000 ships
Otto knows in his heart that words won’t be enough to convince Rhaenyra to stand down and accept Alicent’s terms of piece. Hence he carries a torn page, given to him by Alicent, as a reminder of their broken friendship. It is from the same back Alicent and Rhaenyra are seen reading from early in the series, the story about Princess Nymeria and her 10,000 ships.
Rhaenyra’s sons mirror their mother
Rhaenyra has brought up her children with utmost love and care and is reflected in their relationship and how much it is different from that of Alicent and her children. Hence it should come as no surprise that Rhaenyra’s sons, Jacaerys and Lucerys, picked up some of her traits. Jace is equally as ambitious and eager to prove himself as young Rhaenyra once was, and Lucerys portrays the self-doubting self of the young princess. Jace’s request to send them as envoys is a direct callback to Rhaenyra suggesting herself as an envoy in episode 2.
Lucerys notices Vhagar is gone
When Lucerys exits the castle at Storms End towards the end of the episode after being threatened by Aemond, he looks at the spot where Vhagar was previously. Vhagar isn’t there, the storm has only worsened their flight back home, and the young prince has an inkling that something is very wrong. Scared to his wits, he quickly orders Arrax to move. This is slightly different from what is mentioned as Fire & Blood, as Lucerys manages to fly out first, but Aemond later catches up to him due to the storm and murders him in cold blood.
How many of these did you catch during your first watch of the Game of Thrones prequel House of The Dragon episode 10? Join the discussion on our Discord server.
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