House of the Dragon Episode 3 “Second of His Name” does a masterful job of being intensely focused on a character that can barely act all in the series – literally and figuratively. A jump in time of a few years reveals that King Viserys I has been wed to Alicent Hightower and had one son (with another child on the way). That son is Aegon II, named after Aegon “The Conqueror” who first conquered the Seven Kingdoms and established House Targaryen’s reign. With Aegon II come a big set of new problems – and one dark prophecy whose significance Game of Thrones fans may not yet fully realize…
“I named her [Rhaenyra] to protect the realm from Daemon. She was my only child. “The Realm’s Delight,” I named her out of love. Because I no longer believed…
Many in my line have been Dragonriders – very few among us have been dreamers. What is the power of a dragon next to the power of prophecy? When Rhaenyra was a child, I saw it in a dream – as vivid as these flames I saw it. A male babe born to me wearing The Conqueror’s crown. And I so wanted it to be true, to be a dreamer myself. I sought that vision again, night after night, but it never came again. I poured all my thought and will into it. And my obsession killed Rhaenyra’s mother.
I thought Rhaenyra was the way out of my abyss of grief and regret. And naming her heir would begin to set things right. I never imagined I would remarry… that I would have a son. What if I was wrong?”
