The Era Of Dragons

I finished watching the first season of the prequel to the popular TV series, Game of Thrones, titled House of the Dragon recently. The new series is a record of events that happened almost two centuries earlier before the plot of the Game of Thrones. The story is focused on the most powerful house in Westeros, the Targaryen family who seemed to transcend the realms of men because of the powerful creatures they have under their control, dragons. I was initially skeptical about the series because of the poor performance of prequels and sequels of some of my favourite TV shows and movies. However, I was impressed by the first episode of the House of the Dragon and followed up on subsequent episodes.

The events of the House of the Dragon begin with the matter of the succession of the then-reigning King, Jaehaerys Targaryen who had ruled for nearly six decades and whose two sons died before him. Jaehaerys' sons were his heirs and their death meant he had to announce a new heir that will succeed him. Jaehaerys decided to call a great council made up of one thousand Lords in Westeros to choose his successor. Two nominees were presented to the council. The first nominee was Princess Rhaenys, the oldest descendant of the King and the second was Prince Viserys, her cousin. The great council chose Viserys. Viserys went on to become King after the death of Jaehaerys.

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The reign of King Viserys was prosperous and for most of the time peaceful. He tried to resolve internal and external conflicts in his kingdom amicably. Viserys' first child was his daughter named Princess Rhaenyra. He had no male child as his heir and made efforts with his wife, Queen Aemma to produce one. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful. Queen Aemma died during childbirth in a final attempt to give Viserys a son. Princess Rhaenyra blamed the death of her mother on her father's strong desire to have a male heir. She resented him for this and for also not considering her worthy to be his heir. This incident made Rhaenyra and Viserys have a strained relationship. Viserys was still mourning the death of his wife when his trusted adviser, the Hand of the King, Otto Hightower raised the matter of him remarrying to produce a male heir that will succeed him. An action that will be seen by all in the kingdom as a sign of strength and secure his family's claim to the throne according to Otto and other members of Viserys' Council.

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In a bid to reconcile with Rhaenyra and prove to her that he loved her, Viserys named Rhaenyra his heir and successor. Viserys also agreed to remarry and got a proposal from his cousin, Princess Rhaenys, and her husband, Lord Corlys Valeryon, to marry their daughter, Leana. This is a proposal Viserys initially accepted but later dropped after developing affection for Otto's daughter, Alicent Hightower. Otto had earlier asked his daughter Alicent to keep King Viserys company while he was mourning his late wife. Unknown to Viserys, Otto had set a plan in motion to make him fall in love with Alicent and make her his queen. Otto's plan achieved its goal. Viserys got married to Alicent and made her his queen. Princess Rhaenyra was upset about her father's marriage to Alicent. She felt betrayed by Alicent who was her aide and close friend before the marriage.
Rhaenyra also felt threatened by Alicent because she could bear a son for her father and therefore likely make her forfeit her claim to succeed him as ruler. Alicent later gives birth to several sons and a daughter for Viserys. At this point, Rhaenyra no longer saw Alicent as a close friend but as a rival. Alicent tried to mend her relationship with Rhaenyra but Rhaenyra felt Alicent's ntentions were not genuine and were acts of pretence.

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An allegation of having carnal knowledge with her uncle, Deamon, was made against Rhaenyra by Otto and it infuriated King Viserys. This incident made Viserys compel Rhaenyra to marry Princess Rheanys' son, Leanor Valeryon, or forfeit her right to be his heir. Viserys had initially given Rhaenyra his approval to marry a man of her choice. Rhaenyra accepted her father's offer and got married to Leanor in an elaborate wedding ceremony. The struggle for power between Princess Rhaenyra and Queen Alicent continued as both women tried to be the dominant force in Viserys' court. However, the tension between Rhaenyra and Alicent grew stronger. This made Rhaenyra leave Kings Landing, the capital of Westeros for Dragonstone, the Targaryen fortress.

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Later on, a petition was made to the King by Lord Corlys' brother, Vaemond to become the heir of Driftmark, a region that has been in the control of his family for a long time. Vaemond made the petition to the king because he thought his brother, Lord Corlys who ruled over Driftmark had died in an ongoing war. This petition directly challenges the birthright of one of Rhaenyra's sons who is supposed to be Lord Corlys heir by the virtue of being his grandson. Rhaenyra who was presently married to her uncle, Deamon had to return to Kings Landing to defend her son's inheritance. Rhaenyra's marriage to Deamon was made possible because of the hoaxed death of her first husband, Leanor. Rhaenyra visits her father on her return and finds out that he is very ill. This makes her sad. She confronts Queen Alicent about her father's deteriorating health. Alicent responded by telling her she is doing her best to take care of King Viserys and acknowledged his health had worsened since the last time Rhaenyra saw him. King Viserys was unable to attend to administrative matters making Otto Hightower act in the place of the King. This means that Otto will be in charge of listening to the petition made by Vaemond and is an indication that Rhaenyra's son may not get a fair hearing. During the hearing of Vaemond's petition, King Viserys surprised everyone present by attending the hearing and overseeing it. He settled the matter by declaring Rhaenyra's son as Lord Corlys' heir but Vaemond lost his head during the hearing for defiance.

After the petition had been concluded, King Viserys held a feast for members of his family and pleaded with them to put aside their differences for the unity of the family. Queen Alicent and Princess Rhaenyra agreed to do this and spoke on behalf of the two factions in the family. Viserys died a short time after this event and this led to a series of events that will change his legacy. A message passed on to Queen Alicent before Viserys' death caused this to happen. Viserys had once shared a secret knowledge of Targaryen Kings with his named heir Princess Rhaenyra. It was about a dream of the first Targaryen King Aegon. Aegon's dream was about a prince that will be from his lineage and who will play an important role in the future in what he described as "a song of fire and ice". Viserys mistook Alicent for Rhaenyra shortly before he died and disclosed to her that he believed Rhaenyra will be the one to produce the prince Aegon spoke about in his dream. One of Rhaenyra's sons was also named Aegon. Alicent believed Viserys was referring to her son Aegon and thought it was Viserys' wish that he becomes his new heir. Alicent with the help of her father Otto Hightower proceed to make Aegon her son King of Westeros and Viserys' successor. This confusion led to further tension and enmity in the Targaryen family.

The news of Viserys' death and the coronation of Aegon as king was delivered to Rhaenyra by Princess Rheanys who witnessed the event. Rhaenyra felt betrayed but decided to be cautious with the actions she took. She tried to get the support of other strong houses in Westeros for her claim as Viserys' rightful successor. This same strategy was also adopted by her opponents, Alicent's faction. Rhaenyra sent one of her sons to one of the Lords of Westeros to gain his support for her claim to the throne. Unfortunately, he and his dragon were mistakenly killed by Alicent's second son. An incident that may escalate the crisis of succession further.

The House of the Dragon ticks all the boxes of a great show for me and I will gladly recommend it to movie enthusiasts. It is a TV series that has a good storyline and is living up to its hype. I patiently await the release of the follow-up season to this interesting TV series. Dracarys!

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Thanks for reading,
Have a splendid day folks.

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