HBO's 'House Of The Dragon' Episode 1 Ending Explained: The Iron Throne Is Back

A lot already happens in the first episode of HBO Max's House of the Dragon. Successions, family politics and some good old-fashioned prophecies of the imminent loss of civilization. To make this better add a brutish easily hateable character, some redeemable ones and some knights in shining armor (oh, Daenerys, how you will be missed). Most fans were excited after the first episode being sucked right into the lore after three years of the dry spell.

In this episode, we see the King of that time Viserys declare the heir to his throne, Rhaenyra Targaryen, ScreenRant reported. House Targaryen has been known for its unconventional breeding techniques (it’s incest) from the original show Game of Thrones. This series is based on the family nearly 200 years before the Mother of Dragons. There is already some tension after this announcement of succession as Prince Daemon, the younger brother of the king should have been in line to inherit the throne. Instead, he is stuck being the Prince forced to go back to his lover. The king’s decision is mostly because Daemon’s lack of empathy for his son’s death showed his cruelty to his own family. 

The prequel story moves further ahead and introduces the famous The Song of Fire and Ice through a line discussing a prophecy in the show. King and the heir have a profound conversation discussing the family secret in detail. The prophecy said that the world would soon be engulfed by ice and snow that would destroy the land of the living and the only way it will be beaten is if there is someone ruling Westeros. This pushed Aegon to capture and conquer Westeros leading his family to become a pivotal cog in the machine when the White Walkers come and are defeated. While this wasn’t in the original show or the canons, the addition makes sense in the way that Targaryens were quite superstitious believing in dreams and prophecies obsessively. This grander purpose gives the show more depth than can be imagined. 

Obviously, Daemon is not happy about the heir being announced, at the end of the episode, he is seen leaving for someplace. While the king asked him to go back to his wife, Rhea Royce, it is improbable that he would have done that. Instead, he might probably head back to Dragonstone, the Targaryen ancestral home. There is something bigger brewing for his character and with Matt Smith portraying him we can expect some intense performances in the coming episodes. 

New episodes of House of the Dragon start streaming on Sundays.