If you were a little surprised that House of the Dragon’s premiere episode did not have an opening sequence, Ep 2 remedies that by playing the title credits with a very familiar tune!
It was also hard to miss that the show took its source material, Fire & Blood, quite seriously, as the sequence intensely incorporated these elements. But with all that blood spilling down what seems like random streets, the visuals can get a little confusing.
Is there any deeper meaning behind this?
House of the Dragon’s opening sequence depicts the Targaryen bloodline starting from Aegon the Conqueror right up to the current heir Rhaenrya. It also depicts important events in the house’s history, like the Doom of Valyria and the Targaryen civil war.
It was truly remarkable to hear the iconic Game of Thrones theme track once again—reminding us that this is simply a different tale from the same universe.
However, not all fans were happy to have it recycled as House of the Dragon’s opening sequence. I agree that it would’ve been better to let the show have its own identity carved out by either using the Targaryen theme track or a new cut of it.
Irrespective of whether or not you liked the decision, not all of HOTD’s opening sequence was entirely identical to GOT’s.
While GOT had a map of Westeros sprawled out that showed us where all the action was taking place, HOTD’s landscape is set in Old Valyria. Does it look familiar? It’s the stone model that Viserys has been creating in his room!
On some of the walls, there are cravings that depict events like the Doom of Valyria and the Dance of the Dragons. As the seasons go by, we may see more events added to these cravings.
You may have also noticed that along with the blood, there are different discs holding up sigils. These denote the Targaryen rulers that come to power, or in Rhaenyra’s case, have been named as heir. The first sigil we begin with is that of Aegon I, who conquered Westeros and became its first Targaryen ruler.
His blood then splits into two directions to indicate his sister-wives Visenya and Rhaenys. The camera then only follows Rhaenys’ blood, as her son Aenys I will be the next king.
After that, we have Jaehaerys I, where the blood dramatically splits into nine directions, for each of the children he had. None of Jaehaerys’ children will become kings as we’re told in the opening of Ep 1. In the clash for the heir between grandchildren Rhaenys and Viserys I, the latter emerges victorious, and that’s where we see his sigil in the credits as well.
Viserys’ blood diverges in another direction as well to denote Daemon, while the main bloodline comes down to Rhaenyra, who’s been named the latest heir.
Besides the ruler’s sigils, their partners’ sigils are also seen in the credits. This is why Houses Velaryon and Hightower are featured in the background.
(Another thing to note is that some of the discs overflow with blood while others don’t. The overflowing ones symbolize that the person is now dead.)
However, the credits are not true to the actual order of the Targaryen rulers. For one, it did not make any mentions of Maegor the Cruel. It also failed to depict any of the previous prospective heirs.
But one can blame it on having to fit the bloodline into two-minute-long credits, made simplistic for audiences unfamiliar with the books.
It’s clear that this opening sequence is quite carefully crafted and in some ways may give us hints about where the story is going as well. Already, with Rhaenyra’s blood flowing forward, it shows us that there’s a lot more of the Targaryen action to come!
About House Of The Dragon
House of the Dragon is the prequel series to HBO’s blockbuster Game of Thrones based on George R. R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood.
Set three hundred years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon will show Westeros under the Targaryen family’s rule before the dragons went extinct. It will follow the Dance of the Dragons, the Targaryen civil war between siblings Aegon II and Rhaenyra, who fought for the throne after the death of their father, Viserys I.
Directed by Ryan Condall and Miguel Sapochnik, the show stars Paddy Considine as Viserys I Targaryen, Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen, Tom Glynn-Craney as Aegon II Targaryen, Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower, Steve Toussaint as Corlys Velaryon, Eve Best as Rhaenys Velaryon, Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria, Fabien Frankel as Criston Cole, and Graham McTavish.
No Comments on HOTD’s Opening Credits Trace the Targaryen Bloodline