Rhaenyra Targaryen is nearly fed up. The citadel she lastly conquered at the beginning of Home of the Dragon season 3 has turn out to be extra like a jail the place she’s pressured to babysit her political rivals, cover from her enemies, and discipline complaints from the native commonfolk whereas they insult her behind her again. However Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) is aware of she was born for greater than this. She was meant for greatness — a perception that was handed down by her father after which strengthened by a witchy prophecy seen by her husband/uncle Daemon (Matt Smith).
Mild spoilers forward for the finale of Home of the Dragon season 3.
So when all that simmering battle lastly involves a head in Home of the Dragon‘s season 3 finale, Queen Rhaenyra fits up for warfare and broadcasts to her troopers: “I’m The Prince That Was Promised!”
It is a highly effective second charged with tragic irony (Recreation of Thrones followers know the true id of Azor Ahai, and ebook readers know the way Rhaenyra’s story will finish), but it surely additionally raises one other query: Does anybody else in that scene even know what Rhaenyra is speaking about?
As we discovered in Home of the Dragon season 1, The Prince That Was Promised is a secret prophecy handed down from one Targaryen king to the subsequent. Aegon the Conqueror knew {that a} savior from his bloodline would finally save Westeros from an excellent larger risk within the type of the White Walkers, and shared that info along with his bloodline. (The equal Azor Ahai delusion is extra well-known in Essos, whereas a handful of maesters finding out outdated Valyrian texts might have additionally come throughout this info over the ages, however that is about it when it comes to who is aware of the prophecy.)
The purpose is, the idea of the Prince That Was Promised will not be frequent data in King’s Touchdown, so when Rhaenyra shouts it angrily in entrance of her military, they probably do not know what she’s speaking about. Even in Recreation of Thrones (set 200 years later), it is a comparatively unknown idea amongst most residents of the Seven Kingdoms; whispered often between characters, however hardly ever spoken about in informal dialog. Nonetheless, it is potential that this one scene might subtly change our understanding of how the individuals of Westeros relate to the prophecy.
If Rhaenyra was boasting about being The Prince That Was Promised in entrance of dozens, if not a whole bunch of individuals, which means the key is basically out. In fact, no one else has the precise context of what which means or why it issues, but when the phrase was handed down and unfold over the next two centuries, it might imply that by the point Recreation of Thrones began, the prophecy had expanded far past the Targaryen line of succession. (More and more frequent rumors of ice zombies from past The Wall in all probability additionally helped gasoline the collective hope for a prophesied savior.)
General, whereas this one small scene both reads as offended saber-rattling or tragic foreshadowing within the second, what’s really fascinating about Rhaenyra’s proclamation on this episode is the way it adjustments our understanding of what the remainder of Westeros is aware of concerning the prophecy of The Prince That Was Promised. Up thus far, it was a well-kept Targaryen household secret, however after this, the key is out. And that may assist set in movement most of the different consequential choices that carry the story from this explicit second in Home of the Dragon right through to the tip of Recreation of Thrones.
Home of the Dragon is streaming on HBO Max.
