Dragon House is making an effort to change one of the Game of Thrones’ biggest mistakes, but resulted in poor handling of George RR Martin’s original material. Dragon House the season 2 finale and the season as a whole received a divisive response from audiences and critics, and While the fantasy show still has many aspects that deserve praise, there are some narrative details that didn’t work well. The way the show handles the prophecy of Aegon’s Dream is one of those details.
Aegon’s Dream was introduced in Dragon House first episode and served as a plot device to connect the meaning of the prequel show to the events of Game of Thrones’ end. The prophecy essentially states that a Targaryen must be in power to protect the kingdom from the White Walkers. It’s an interesting thematic element, given that the prequel is about a civil war that more or less self-destructs the Targaryen dynasty. It would have been a notable addition if it had stayed that way, but Season 2 continued to play with the idea.
Aegon’s Dream Makes Up For Game Of Thrones Ignoring The Prince That Was Promised
House Of The Dragon is bringing back the mystical parts of George RR Martin’s books
Game of Thrones is often criticized for having a bad final season, but the roots of the show’s problems are tied to plotlines that were dropped early on. One such plot is the prophecy of the Prince That Was Promised, which is an important element of the A Song of Ice and Fire books that suggest that a great hero will defend the kingdom from the Long Night. Although it is mentioned briefly on Melisandre’s TV show, does not have as predominant a narrative purpose as in novels.
Game of Thrones commonly reduced the mystical and fantastical side of George RR Martin’s world-building, something Dragon House tried to correct. With the increasing volume of dragons, it’s much more challenging for the prequel to hide the fact that it’s a fantasy show, and they began to fully embrace the use of prophecy with characters like Helaena Targaryen and Alys Rivers. In theory, it’s a great idea, as it suggests that Westeros had a more magical presence in the past, but the mechanics of the prophecy are very different from the books.
House Of The Dragon Season 2 Misinterprets GRRM’s Use Of Prophecy
House Of The Dragon Uses Prophecy To Guide Its Plot
One of the biggest criticisms Dragon House the end of season 2 was Daemon seeing Aegon’s Dream and having a vision of Daenerys and the White Walkers in the future. On the one hand, it is important to note that, in the television universe, the prophecy is wrong because Daenerys does not defeat the White Walkers and is not a prophetic hero. This is actually a pretty cool idea because it suggests that Targaryen selfishness is leading them to see themselves as futuristic saviors of the kingdom.
On the other hand, Daemon deciding to side with Rhaenyra because of a future vision doesn’t seem like a faithful use of these prophetic elements. He had just experienced a season of visions that led him to realize how burdened Viserys had been by the Iron Throne and that he might not be fit to be king after all. Having this natural growth capped by an unrelated vision that ultimately decides it seems like a tall order.
The true purpose of prophecy in A Song of Ice and Fire
Melisandre is the perfect representation of GRRM’s prophecy themes
Comparing Melisandre and Alys Rivers is an excellent way to analyze George RR Martin’s use of prophecy in the books and the way it works. Dragon House. Even in Game of Thrones, Melisandre’s entire arc is that she is a religious fanatic who believes that Stannis Baratheon is the aforementioned prophetic hero.. She guides him to make irredeemable decisions and take unprecedented risks in the name of the Lord of Light, and this ends up costing the kingdom tens of thousands of lives, including his own.
The role of prophecy in Martin’s story is to lead characters to make decisions that have disastrous effects, usually on children.
But what’s even more confusing about Melisandre is that her magic materializes in physical forms. As Stannis says, it’s hard to deny the existence of her god when she gives birth to a dark baby to murder her enemies. It’s a strange obscurity. There may be some real magic, but she undoubtedly gets the prophecy wrong and this leads people to paranoia and mass violence. The role of prophecy in Martin’s story is to lead characters to make decisions that have disastrous effects, usually on children.
Unlike Melisandre, pretty much everything Alys Rivers says is actually true. She’s not just seeing visions of vague events; she is literally seeing the future. She knows when Daemon will die and seems to know the exact role he needs to play in events before they happen, allowing her to guide him towards his purpose in the plot. In Dragon House efforts to bring back Martin’s fantastical elements, they ran through the history of what actually makes them thematically effective.