House of the Dragon has already been diverging from a few plotlines from George R.R. Martin’s book series.
The recent creative decision – by the HBO series makers – took place in the finale of season three.
That is when Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, played by Emma D’Arcy, dropped a major bombshell on the people of King’s Landing that she is the “Prince That Was Promised” – a prophesied figure who will defeat the Night King in the future.
But the only issue here is that dramatic moment never took place in Martin’s books, on which the series is based.
The implication of this declaration leads to a question: why did tons of Westerosi history’s pages not mention what Rhaenyra said about a forthcoming chilling war in front of thousands?
Ryan Condal, the series co-creator, responded to the question with a joke, “Targaryens say crazy s*** all the time.”
Entering Rhaenyra into the picture, he said by the end of season three, she has been viewed by the public as unstable after her erratic decisions, for fear of her enemies mustering strength.
He further told THR, “It’s not in the book, and it’s not in the history, but there is a bunch of talk about how Rhaenyra became very despotic and became a tyrant at the end and was very unpopular with the people.”
Her despotic rule, Condal suggested, could lead subjects of King’s Landing to judge Rhaenyra’s revelation of prophecy as unimportant, or worse, hogwash, to pass on.
“So much of [the Targaryens’] existence is their self-aggrandizement. For the stonemasons standing there in the crowd just looking up at this [speech], it could just sound like somebody trying to make something of themselves.”
Meanwhile, Condal also confirmed that season four of House of the Dragon will arrive in 2028.
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