House Of The Dragon Season 2's Game Of Thrones Cameo Explained By Creators

There were a lot of controversial moments in the season 2 finale of "House of the Dragon," but chief among them was that dream experienced by Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith). Although dreams in the "Game of Thrones" universe have always been iffy — usually containing some truth but not meant to be taken too literally — this one seems straightforward. Daemon sees images of himself drowning, of dead dragons, of a White Walker army, and of Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke). This must be the "Song of Ice and Fire" that Viserys Targaryen prophesied in "House of the Dragon" season 1. 

Not only are all of these visions real things that'll happen in Westeros' future, but the image of Daenerys especially seems like something that cannot be waved away as merely Daemon's imagination. For him to accurately imagine what his descendant will look like seems unlikely, which means that this vision is meant to be the real deal. Fans of the books have argued for literal decades at this point over who exactly in "Game of Thrones" is the Prince That Was Promised, and this vision seems to have answered the question.

Throughout the eight seasons of the original show, it was common for fans to predict that Daenerys was the Prince That Was Promised, but that theory was seemingly shot down by everything that happened in the final season of "Game of Thrones." The fact that Daemon sees Daenerys, not Jon Snow, sure seems like a clear-cut answer in Daenerys' favor. But the showrunner Ryan Condal was quick to urge viewers not to jump to such conclusions. 

In a 2024 interview with Variety, Condal argued that Daenerys' cameo was less about her being the Princess That Was Promised and more about her bringing back the dragons, symbolically reviving the Targaryen house after over a century of dragons being extinct. As Condal put it, "There are no dragons left in the world until they're reborn to Daenerys."

"We know who that is watching that image, [but] Daemon has no idea. That could be his future daughter with Rhaenyra who has three dragons born. He doesn't know, but he is sensing that this was something that was shown to [him] for a specific reason," Condal said. 

As for what the reason was? On the surface it was to give Daemon a glimpse of the Song of Ice and Fire, the prophecy "House of the Dragon" positioned as the driving force behind every Targaryen ruler's actions. But Condal explained how it was mainly part of season 2's arc of bringing Daemon and Rhaenyra back together:

"Daemon's decision to bend the knee, swear again to Rhaenyra, reaffirm his loyalty to her — one event doesn't lead to that. It's a confluence of factors. It's a whole complicated equation that he experienced over the course of the season that led him to that point. We were really interested in humbling Daemon, for lack of a better word, over the course of the season to bring him to a place where he's more evolved and in many ways, at least to his enemies, more dangerous, because now we have a very focused Daemon with a singular goal, which is put Rhaenyra on that throne."

It all served to answer one of the biggest questions of season 1: Why would Daemon, an amoral power-hungry man who killed his first wife, be on board with staying second-in-command to his new niece-wife Rhaenyra? Fans of the books and show alike have wondered why Daemon never betrayed Rhaenyra in this respect, but this vision of his helps to explain why. At the end of season 2, Daemon finally believes in a higher cause beyond himself.

Condal also unpacked the appearance in Daemon's vision of Brynden Rivers (Joshua Ben-Tovim), aka Bloodraven. Bloodraven was a Targaryen established in "Game of Thrones" as someone who had learned to move his consciousness through time. He's someone who may very well have gone back and observed the Dance of the Dragons with his own eyes. 

"The Easter egg of Bloodraven felt very fitting here — and earned in a sense — because he is a Targaryen who we know goes on to do strange and wonderful things," Condal explained. "And if there's anybody that Daemon would be able to see that would connect him to Daenerys, it would be him." 

The phrasing of that last sentence is interesting; the implication is that Daemon isn't just seeing Bloodraven in his vision, but that Bloodraven is the one knowingly going into his mind and showing him what he thinks Daemon needs to see. It's as if Bloodraven knows that the events of the Dance of the Dragons needs to happen more or less the same as it plays out in the history books. Maybe this vision is his way of making sure Daemon continues on the path "Fire & Blood" describes for him.

In a lot of ways, "House of the Dragon" season 2 feels like a story about the characters trying and failing to resist their own fates. Both Rhaenyra and Alicent have spent the whole season trying to find any other option besides war to resolve their dispute, while Daemon has tried and failed to distinguish himself as a leader outside of Rhaenyra. Daemon's spent the entire season resisting the chaos the future has in store for him, but in season 3 he'll be diving into it head-first.