HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Episode 1 Breakdown & Ending Explained - Game of Thrones Easter Eggs & Theories

it's been over three years since the last episode of game of thrones ended and hbo has released the first in a series of got related spin-offs house of the dragon based off the book fire and blood by george r.r martin for those of you familiar with my channel you may have seen my how game of thrones should have ended video and how i wasn't too pleased with how that series ended but fans rejoice after watching the first episode i think we're back on track and i hope to god because i spent too much damn time making this over-the-top family tree for those of you worried about book spoilers don't worry i'll save that till the end of the video in my spoiler section and i'll give you a warning when that comes up there will be some game of thrones show spoilers so beware now we're going to take a huge deep dive into the lore backdrop and world of episode 1 including some of the key differences from the book so saddle up get yourself comfortable preferably under a weirwood tree and maybe even indulge in some chicken think i'll take two chickens because things are about to get bloody we descend into westeros just a bit north of king's landing at harrenhal a place you may remember from game of thrones we get a brief history lesson here voiced by none other than rhaenyra targaryen judging by her tone this is likely adult renera who we haven't yet seen the show but she's been all over the trailer so i don't really consider that a spoiler the first century of targaryen rule is coming to a close and the current king jiharis is in a predicament even though the man had a whopping nine children all his male heirs have died including balon targaryen the father of king viserys who will get to know a bit more of in a bit balon died at the age of 44 of a burst belly this was likely appendicitis so jiharis wanting to avoid any unrest that would be caused after his death and knowing that his own health was waning decided to convene a great council comprised of thousands of lords from around the realm this would determine the next heir as martin says in fire and blood no fewer than 14 claims were duly examined and considered by the lord's assemble but of these 14 there were really only two names that stood a chance viserys the eldest male grandchild of jiharis and renise the eldest female who actually is three years older than viceros renis actually has the better claim here if we're going by traditional monarchical hierarchies like the british monarchy for example not only is she older than viserys but her father also a son of jiharis was older than viserys's father but because renise is a woman the council opted for the next male in line hence why renise has the title the queen who never was we'll actually see renises uncle borman baratheon refer to her as this at the tournament however in the show she calls him her cousin it's possible this could be a different bormond or a change they made for the show so this sly jabba the king calling renise the queen who never was in front of the king is almost as if borman's saying we know who really should be on that throne and otto leans into the king telling him that they can cut out borman's tongue for saying such a treasonous thing targaryen's strength has been solidified largely through their control of dragons at the time of jiharis the first there are currently 10 and in episode 1 we get to see two however there are much more than 10 that we'll get to know over the course of the season after the votes were counted by a multitude of maesters viserys is determined next in line with martin stating though the maesters who tallied the votes never revealed the actual numbers it was said afterward that the vote had been more than twenty to one this is an important point the lords from all over westeros did not want a female on the iron throne by a 20 to 1 margin so keep that in mind when viserys decides to go against over a hundred years of tradition by naming rhaenyra his successor at the end of the episode in the background we can see viserys's wife emma of house aaron viserys and emma are cousins the targaryens as we know kept many of their marriages within the family with even brothers and sisters marrying as was the case with viserys's mother and father alyssa and baylon you'll also notice emma pregnant here this is likely one of the many unsuccessful pregnancies she talks about later in the episode and not rhaenyra who you might imagine since rhaenyra would have already been four years old when this council convened in ac by the way you'll see on my map here years referred to as bc and ac bc refers to before aegon's conquest the first targaryen king and also viserys's great great grandfather and that ac refers to after his conquest it's kind of like rbc 80. with all this talk of heirs and succession i guess it makes sense this first episode is called the heirs of the dragon but our little history lesson comes with a warning as ranira a voice over ends the only thing that could tear down the house of the dragon was itself we flash forward nine years into king viserys the first reign and also get this little title card to help situate game of thrones fans to where we are in the timeline the events we're about to witness take place 172 years before the death of the mad king aerys targaryen who you may recall was killed by jaime lannister giving him the moniker kingslayer ares also happened to be daenerys targaryen's father flying through the air on the dragon psyrax is young rhaenyra targaryen and i just gotta say it feels so good to be back in king's landing especially during this decadent period of westerosi history of course we can see the red keep but something we didn't really see in the wide shots of king's landing in game of thrones is the domed structure known as the dragonpit aptly named because that's where the dragons live in fact we do get to see the runes of the dragonpit in the later seasons of game of thrones it having fallen into disrepair because until daenerys came along there were no more dragons to take care of rhaenyra dismounts her dragon where her friend alison tie tower awaits alison in the books is supposed to be roughly 10 years older than renera but for the show they've made them around the same age i think this works quite well as it adds to this loving sisterly friendship they're developing we also get our first look at sir harold westerling lord commander of the kingsguard who keeps watch over the princess they're quite far from the keep as we get these sweeping vistas showing just how far the dragonpit is from it these dragon tamers a job i wouldn't want speak high valerian to cyrax something we'll also see ranira and her uncle damon speak to each other in it's kind of a dead language used mainly amongst scholars and nobles one of its most famous words dracarus meaning dragonfire was used by daenerys in game of thrones and which we'll see rhaenyra use to command cyrax to burn her mother and brother's funeral pyre if any of you are interested you can actually take lessons and learn how to speak high valerian and become a virgin like me the differences between alison and rhaenyra stand out from the moment we see them alison is more prim and proper wearing a dress and obeys the rules as we'll see during the scene in which he helps rhaenyra study rhaenyra on the other hand is more adventurous brave and isn't afraid to stand up to authority ripping out one of the pages of their septa's book she'll even tell her mother she'd rather serve the realm as a knight riding into battle and glory then rearing children the two appear to be fantastic almost inseparable friends making their way through the red keep and the courtyard which you may remember from game of thrones however this time without that giant mural of westeros queen cersei had painted you may even recall this whining staircase which may be the one that the mountain and gregor clegane had in their epic final duel rhaenyra cares deeply for her mother who is any day set to give birth while this scene does show how much rhaenyra and emma care for one another it serves a second purpose showcasing how this toxic patriarchal system has forced women to be nothing but child bearers where quote the child bed is their battlefield it will be interesting to see when and if rhaenyra is queen i do know the answer to that what she will do to change these structures and which enemies she'll make doing so we open on king viserys at a meeting of the small council telling a dirty joke it's a lighthearted affair for a king whose rule has been one of relative peace with no one daring to stand up to the targaryens and their dragons but it's cordless valerian who sounds the alarm on some impending danger corliss is the richest man in westeros next to the king of course having accumulated vast sums of wealth by procuring lucrative trade routes and his house's dominance of the seas that's part of the reason he sits on the council as a lord admiral and master of ships he's also married to viserys's cousin renise he warns of a man named craigastrahar a prince admiral of the triarchy ridding the stepstones of pirate infestations something that could disrupt the realm's trade routes the triarchy is a group of three free city states of mir lis and tyrosh who banded together to drive volantis from the disputed lands the king however isn't too concerned and actually sees the triarchy ridding the step zones of pirates as a job well done we'll talk about more of that in the spoiler section comprising the rest of the small council is otto hightower hand of the king grand maester melos lord beesberry master of coin and lionel strong master of laws not present daemon targaryen viserys's brother commander of the city watch rhaenyra is also here as the king's cupbearer allowing her to gain valuable insight into how her father conducts business as king something that will be a valuable asset to her as queen this whole scene allowing renera to listen in conversation made me think of game of thrones where arya pretending to be a boy poured wine for tywin lannister lord beesbury's concerns center around his large investment in damon's overhaul of the city guard they have all new equipment and fancy gold cloaks although daemon is loved by his men his style of enforcement as we'll later see is bloody as hell what's important to note here is that it seems all these men have their own interests and not necessarily the king's own interests at heart there's a lot of subtle politicking going on here my favorite being when corliss denies a wine being poured into his cup as silent protestation for the king not heeding his warnings but before we can delve further into this the king wants to focus on what he calls the heirs tournament a grand tournament with nobles from all around the realm to celebrate the soon-to-be birth of his son in the books this tournament occurs in a maiden pool and was actually to celebrate king viserys's ascension to the throne not the birth of his son from renera's perspective it seems all her father cares about is having a son after all it is his duty as king to provide a male heir which has subsequently put rhaenyra on the back burner and hindered their relationship at the funeral of her mother rhaenyra will say she'll never be good enough for her father because she is not a man something which i think viserys aims to rectify near the end of the episode sir westerling brings rhaenyra to the throne room where he's shocked to find daemon sitting on the throne for westerling this is tantamount to treason someone who isn't king sitting on the throne but rainier asked him to leave the two alone you may have noticed that the throne here looks a lot more intricate than it did in game of thrones showrunner ryan condell explains i wanted to make a hybrid version that was closer to something described in the original book damon says to his niece in high valeria no less that the throne will one day be his he's also so self-centered that he believes this big tournament viserys is holding is for him it is called the heirs tournament after all and daemon is next in line however the heir here is referring to viserys's unborn son and talk about an ominous line from damon who says damon has brought his niece a valerian steel necklace made from material like his sword dark sister which we'll see him use against his fight with sir kristen cole valerian steel you'll remember being one of a few materials along with dragonglass that could destroy whitewalkers as he puts the necklace around her he takes it in calling it beautiful but it's set in such a way where we aren't sure if he's referring to her or the necklace itself more on that in the spoiler section among the shade of a weirwood tree allison helps rhaenyra study wherewood trees were seen all throughout game of thrones and possess supernatural properties bran used one to see into the past revealing jon snow's parentage alison tests rhaenyra about the story of princess nymeria which is an apt story considering princess nymeria was considered a beautiful strong-willed and indomitable warrior queen something rhaenyra strives to be even though rhaenyra might want that she's become complacent with her position in life calling it comfortable viserys suffers from a cut on his back that doesn't seem to be healing a cut he sustained on the iron throne he looks to be suffering from an ailment that is slowly taking over his body making the issue of determining a successor ever the more pressing otto tells the maester not to disclose this to anyone if suspicion is aroused that the king is in ill health and has yet to name a successor it could cause god knows how much chaos this knowledge also brings with it a lot of power allowing otto to set up his plans for the future damon himself will later tell the king that because otto is the second in line for house hightower he will seize power any way he can viserys visits emma and just like in the books you know that the two have a loving relationship this is a king who cares for his queen the same cannot be said for all the kings who have sat on the iron throne also this is going to change it a bit emma tells viserys that rhaenyra believes she is to have a sister and that she would name it visenya to which viserys says their family already had of asenya that would be the mother of king maegor the cruel viserys tells her of a dream depicting them having a boy wearing the crown of aegon the first king dreams are something viserys holds in high esteem as we'll get to a very important one near the end of the episode emma tells viserys that this is their last chance at children she's lost so many she can't bear the thought of losing another not to mention the toll that it's had on her body she apologizes for failing him in providing a male heir but hopefully this new child will be their miracle as commander of the city watch we see just how demon plans to run things commanding his men to slaughter criminals with no real trial if this is how he runs this small group of men what would he do with the entire realm at his control in damon's mind he's simply enforcing the king's laws and with hundreds of nobles descending upon king's landing for the upcoming tournament he's ridding the streets of criminals and doing his brother a favor here we can start to see some of the divides within the small council corliss supports damon and his strict rule while otto sees it as overstepping his bound what i thought was the most interesting back and forth was this i agree i just hope you don't have to maim half of my city to achieve this time will tell it's almost as if damon knows he's going to disobey his brother and that ultimately if he's ever in charge won't rule like the weakling his brother is otto and damon really hate each other with otto eventually asking why damon has been visiting pleasure houses while his wife lady ray royce is at runestone alone damon hated this marriage it was arranged by his grandmother queen alexane but damon hated the veil of aaron where she was from grew bored of it and over time developed a deep resentment towards his wife in the next scene we'll see him with a woman named messaria this is the woman he'll later bring on dragonback after he was ordered by his brother to go back to his wife it's the only time we'll see damon's dragon karaxis in this episode damon can't seem to climax it seems the fact that king may replace him as heir is cramping his style arguably my favorite sequence in the first episode is the heirs tournament knights from noble houses from around the realm have come to test their might in a celebration welcoming viserys's new son some of these houses you'll remember as big players from game of thrones in this shot here we can see from left to right house bolton tyrell mallister corbray hightower leford cole stark lannister baratheon tully couldn't make out what this one was and finally house tarly as the king addresses the crowd we can see him wearing old king jaharis crown rhaenyra arrives and we also get our first glimpse of lena and lesnar valerian the son and daughter of corliss and renis you'll also notice just how opulent this tournament is compared to the one we saw in season one game of thrones this whole area was one of extreme decadence compared to what we see in thromes the first to get struck down is a tarly we can tell by the house sigil here you may remember samwell tarly being a descendant of this house alison and raniera trade scandalous rumors about members of the court but renera has her eyes on one night in particular sir kristen cole who has been decimating his opponents he's a handsome knight who will play a larger role in the future as prince damon gets his choice on who to challenge first choosing wayne hightower otto hightower's son it's yet another way damon likes to get under otto's skin to further annoy otto he asks for his daughter's laurel to give him good luck in the fight and if that wasn't enough when they do jost damon plays dirty using his lance to hit the horse and knock gwen off nice little touch that lord of coinbeesbury here puts five coins on damon winning one of the maesters whispers something into otto's ear likely something to do about emma considering he'll then tell the king it just goes to show you how much information passes through otto before it's given to the king becerris rushes to his wife's aid but is confronted with an unfathomable decision the baby has breached and the pregnancy will likely end up killing both mother and child will he kill his own wife for the chance to save his unborn child and just as the tournament turns bloody so too does the bedchamber it was just like emma said to renera their battlefield is the child bed as the pregnancy turns nasty so too does the fighting renise reminds her husband that these knights have seen nothing compared to what happened when king maegor rule king maegor was a polyamorous king who had six wives and was known as maegor the cruel for how he dealt with aegon's rebellion in the battle beneath the gods eye but that's a story for a different video the tournament culminates in a big battle between sir kristen cole and prince damon targaryen both men landing blows on the joust and ultimately fighting on foot in a contest of arms the fight here is pretty faithful to the book with kristin besting damon with his morning star kristin asks damon to yield which he does but he never says the word he won't even accept kristen's hand to get up just showing what a bad sport he really is kristin asks for renera's favor which she gladly gives this won't be the last time we see these two together the birth scene is arguably the most horrific part of the first episode with emma having no say in what's to happen to her body and child viserys without even telling her has her pinned down and operated on i guess i should take back saying they have a good marriage while emma does not survive the ordeal the baby does at least for a day with viserys naming him after his father balon members in the royal box are slowly alerted to the news it's been a bloody day both on and off the battlefield at the funeral rhaenyra is a mix of emotions she's just lost her beloved mother brother and is left feeling inadequate because she'll quote never be a son to her father she'll command cyrex to burn the pyre now you might ask yourself where is viserys's dragon and how come he didn't get to burn the pyre viserys's dragon was balerion we'll see the huge skull of valerian later in the episode after the dragon died of old age viserys never bonded with another dragon hence why we don't see him with one with the death of the queen and would-be heir auto convenes an emergency meeting with a small council believing it of the utmost importance to discuss secession in order to avoid instability while otto is thinking practically here he's failing to consider the emotions of the king who has just lost his wife and child something that comes out in a great performance here by patty considine prince damon eavesdrops from a side room as the members bicker over who should secede and really it's down to two people prince damon the next male in line or rhaenyra the only living blood of viserys if the king chose rhaenyra he'd be going against a hundred years of precedent it's basically a repeat of the decision jaharis had to make female heir with a better claim or male with a weaker claim this time however instead of convening a great council viserys will make the decision on his own demon does not believe his brother has ambitions for the throne and at this time cannot make the decision between his brother and daughter but this will soon change as otto hears word that the night of the wife's funeral daemon was in a brothel calling the king's dead son the heir for a day celebrating his death this will be what eventually sways viserys to name his daughter as successor and you gotta give a hand to corliss here who's like hey my wife was almost queen maybe we should consider her again but that's quickly shot down otto is seen sending a letter off to old town where his house is from perhaps it's news about the king or maybe something more nefarious otto has called in his daughter and wants her to keep the king company during these sad times but really what it looks like to me is a ploy for his daughter to get close to a king who is now without a queen he even asks her to wear one of their mother's pretty dresses in the book this may not come across as abrupt and calculated as alison had cared for viserys's grandfather king jaharis in his final years reading him books changing his clothes and keeping him company here however we can tell this whole thing makes alison anxious we see her picking at her nails something we saw her do at the tournament in one of the king's chambers he looks at what appears to be his wife's ring hiding it before alison arrives to keep him company in front of him is a large model of what appears to be old valyria a once great city that was wiped out by a catastrophic volcanic event known as the doom the targaryens were the only major family of valyrian dragonlords to survive this as they had been on dragonstone at the time instead of the continent of essos where the cataclysm took place alicent tells the king that when her mother died people only spoke to her in riddles but what she really wanted was someone just to say sorry and she becomes the first person to say sorry for viserys's loss it's a nice little scene that sets up more to come for these two after viserys finds out about his brother celebrating and toasting the air for a day he brings him into the great hall to confront him how could his brother betray him like that viserys has been nothing but an ally to him he's only ever defended him but damon lets out his real feelings he feels like he's been swept aside sent away to the veil or the watch anywhere but by his brother all he's wanted is to be hand of the king something he feels entitled to being his brother but viserys has heard enough and orders his brother to return to runestone to be with his wife as damon leaves viserys cuts himself yet again on the throne an ill-fated omen in a show where anyone's life could be ended at any moment rhaenyra is brought to her father who looks over the skeleton of his beloved dragon valerian he asks his daughter an important question what does she see when she looks at a dragon to which she replies i suppose i see us it just goes to show the connection the targaryens have with dragons a connection which has the common folk equate them with gods the king laments his ancestors use of this power claiming that it's what brought upon the doom over a century ago however actual causes of the doom aren't a hundred percent known and various theories are out there but the most important thing viserys tells his daughter is the secret dream passed only from king to king a dream from aegon the conqueror himself called the song of ice and fire which is also the name of the game of thrones series in the stream the king foresaw the end of the world starting with a terrible winter gusting from the north and on it a terrible darkness that would destroy every living thing when this darkness comes all of westeros must be united if humanity is to survive and a targaryen must be seated on the throne to unite them this of course is a reference to the impending doom brought upon by the white walkers in game of thrones viserys has made the decision to name rhaenyra his heir making her promise to carry this secret as he does so he holds onto the cat's paw dagger this is a dagger made of valyrian steel and was seen all throughout game of thrones it certainly looks a lot like the dagger arya used to kill the night king it's interesting that viserys holds this dagger while reciting this dream almost like the dagger itself is a physical manifestation of the promise each targaryen king makes to one another to keep the dream alive the dagger therefore becomes both a warning and reminder of the impending winter and darkness to come it also becomes the very thing that kills the darkness in the great hall viserys has amassed the lords of the realm to swear allegiance to him and his newly appointed heir rhaenyra highlighted are corliss valerian hobart hightower borman baratheon and rickenstark of winterfell an ancestor of nedstar the episode ends with renera the anointed heir and next in line to become the queen of the andal the rhoynar the first men lord of the seven kingdoms and protector of the realm now we get into a little book and trailer spoiler section so if you don't want to be spoiled throw your computer out the window early on in the episode rhaenyra's voiceover talks about the only thing that could tear down the house of the dragon was itself this referring to the dance of the dragons the civil war which will break out pitting targaryen against targaryen namely rhaenyra and her half-brother aegon ii who hasn't even been born yet aegon ii is the son of viserys and alicent hightower the two will get even closer after we saw them together in this episode and mary starting a rift between her and renera who seemed best friends in the first episode it's king viserys's death which it seems they're setting up with this unhealable wound that becomes the catalyst for this civil war corliss valerian talks about prince admiral the triarchy cragus drachar also known as crab feeder this is a nod to corliss and damon eventually teaming up to take him on in the battle of the stepstones we saw corliss taking damon's side at almost every turn during the meetings at the small council in what may come as a shocking twist considering the two were the top contenders to take over the throne damon and renera marry and go on to have three children together their one daughter being named visenya the same name ranira wanted to call her mother's child should she have had a daughter raenira's first marriage however is with lenard valerian son of corliss and renis who we see briefly at the tournament we'll see an older version of him in the trailer they'll go on to have three children however it's highly suspected the children aren't lanors since it was rumored lenore was gay and also that the kids had no resembling features of their father like his silver hair it looks like daemon does not heed the king's orders and takes messaria to dragonstone where he has with him a dragon egg kristin cole becomes a love interest for renera in the book even becoming her devoted knight however the book offers varying accounts on why kristen ends up teaming up with alice and tie tower it will be really interesting which version the show ends up depicting i love the show's use of alison in a green dress here foreshadowing the eventual split at court between the factions the greens and the blacks if you want a more detailed version of that check out my house of the dragon trailer breakdown which i'll leave a link to in the description we'll later see adult allison to use that very cat's paw dagger we saw viserys hold against rhaenyra likely as vengeance for one of ranira's kids cutting out the eye of one of allison's i realize that it's getting super late i'm writing and doing this as the show comes out and the video is getting way long so maybe next week i'll actually end up doing two videos one breakdown and one preview with spoilers for the season to come if that sounds like a good idea let me know in the comments below thanks for watching everyone be sure to like and subscribe and for more bad takes you can follow me on twitter and instagram at thingstoryt until next time remember i think i'll take two chickens

Channel: Think Story

Views: 630,483

Keywords: house of the dragon, house of the dragon ending explained, house of the dragon episode 1, house of the dragon explained, house of the dragon episode 1 breakdown, house of the dragon breakdown, hbo, heirs to the throne, iron throne, targaryen family tree, house of the dragon review, house of the dragon episode 1 explained, house of the dragon theories, house of the dragon episode 1 review, hotd episode 1, house of the dragon hbo, targaryen, viserys, dragons, jousting

Id: MgxdNeR9EkU

Length: 28min 42sec (1722 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 22 2022