House of the Dragon Season 2 Just Introduced a Major Game of Thrones Connection

This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season 2 episode 3.

HBO’s House of the Dragon might be set 197 years before Game of Thrones, but it was always expected there would be some connective tissue between these fantasy epics. While Thrones has already spoiled the fate of Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), House of the Dragon has returned the favor by setting up major plot points like the Catspaw Dagger and The Prince Who Was Promised. 

As the name suggests, House of the Dragon is full of those scaly fire-breathers, which is in massive contrast to the only three raised by Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) in Game of Thrones. Even though the backstory of Dany’s dragons was never really touched on in Game of Thrones, it seems that House of the Dragon just gave them their own long-awaited origin.

House of the Dragon season 2 episode 3 “The Burning Mill” saw Rhaenyra finally realize the potential of the dragons at her disposal, sending her young sons and Rhaena Targaryen (Phoebe Campbell) to safety in Pentos (via The Vale). The Vale is another familiar haunt from Game of Thrones, and like 200 years in the future, it’s the seat of House Arryn. Rhaenyra intends to bring Lady Jeyne Arryn to the side of the Blacks, but in exchange for her support, Jeyne requires a dragon. 

In addition to the two infant dragons, Tyraxes and Stormcloud, Rhaenyra presents Rhaena with a clutch of four eggs. These eggs are blue, gold, green, and red, and if you cast your mind back to the Game of Thrones premiere, Dany’s trio of eggs were gold, green, and red. Fans speculate that the blue egg will hatch into Morning, which is a pinkish dragon that ends up being ridden by Rhaena. As for what happens to the other three, there are some major gaps in the story until they eventually hatch in the fires of Khal Drogo’s (Jason Momoa) funeral pyre.

Like “The Burning Mill” including a scene between Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and Rhaenyra that’s not in the books, House of the Dragon is taking another swing away from the source material. In George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood novel, which House of the Dragon is based on, the chapter “Birth, Death, and Betrayal Under King Jaehaerys I” writes that Elissa Farman stole the three eggs in 54 AC (after Aegon’s Conquest).

The story goes that Farman smuggled the trio of eggs to Pentos from where they were being kept in Dragonstone, then made her way to Braavos and sold them to the Sealord of Braavos. King Jaeherys I was obviously dismayed that dragons could be born out of the House Targaryen line, so he sent his Hand of the King to Braavos. The Sealord denied buying the eggs and said that he had no interest in “pretty stones,” suggesting that parts of Farman’s story had been exaggerated. 

None of this seems to matter, as House of the Dragon makes it clear that the Targaryens haven’t lost Dany’s eggs…yet. Rhaena is supposed to go to Pentos, and as Magister Illyrio Mopatis (Roger Allam) hails from Pentos, it’s likely here where the eggs go missing before he eventually gifts them to Dany for her wedding. For those who think the eggs seen in episode 3 aren’t Dany’s, director Geeta Vasant Patel confirmed it to Mashable: “Those are Daenerys’ eggs. All of us who work on this show are big Game of Thrones fans, so it was very exciting to shoot that scene.”

As Farman reportedly stole the eggs 50 years before House of the Dragon, it’s unlikely that she’ll suddenly return to take the three from Rhaena. It was reported that she used the money to build her ship, Sun Chaser, and sailed west of Westeros. No one saw Farman again, although Lord Corlys Velaryon (played by Steve Toussaint in House of the Dragon) claims he saw the battered Sun Chaser in Asshai. Then again, we know that Dremfyre had laid at least two clutches of eggs by 43 AC, so it’s possible that Dany’s eggs are the other ones, and the stories have been misconstrued along the way. 

Dany is told that her eggs have become fossilized and were discovered in the Shadow Lands, so no matter what happens to them next, it doesn’t look like Rhaena is able to carry out Rhaenyra’s mission. Up there with the aforementioned Catspaw dagger, the trio of eggs are some of the most important artifacts in the Thronesverse. Rhaenyra poignantly says, “Should all come to ruin here, you will bear our hope for the future.” 

The Dance of The Dragons leads to heavy losses on both sides in terms of dragons and Targaryens, and with dragons thought to be extinct by the time we get to Game of Thrones, the fact that Rhaena is carrying Dany’s three makes them a literal last hope for the Targaryen name. House of the Dragon has become known for its Easter eggs, but now, we have three literal ones right before our eyes.