The House of the Dragon teaser may be linked to Arya’s death at the hands of the Night King in Game of Thrones. House of the Dragon is the first of several proposed Game of Thrones spinoffs. It will take place approximately 200 years before the main show and focusing on House Targaryen. Given the timeframe, it’ll be a very different show with a whole different cast of characters. However, certain aspects will be recognizable to fans. There will be recognized iconography and themes, as seen in the House of the Dragon teaser.
The Iron Throne, in particular, will play an important role in the prequel’s plot. The struggle for the throne leads to the Targaryen Civil War aka the Dance of the Dragons. That moniker, fairly revealingly, indicates still another important aspect in which this will be similar to Game of Thrones. Especially, since viewers may anticipate even more dragon action than Daenerys Targaryen provided.
In addition to them, the trailer for House of the Dragon shows a weapon that seems to be from Game of Thrones. This weapon is none other than the Valyrian steel dagger. Alicent Hightower, frightened and brandishing a knife, storms into what seems to be a council meeting. The design of this dagger, with the ruby in the middle of its hilt, makes it appear a lot like the catspaw dagger from Game of Thrones. This isn’t just any ordinary weapon. Originally appearing in season 1, the Valyrian steel weapon was used to try to murder Bran Stark. It remained in the show until season 8 when Arya Stark used it to slay the Night King.
That raises the issue of what the Valyrian steel weapon from Game of Thrones would be doing in House of the Dragon. Yet its presence would actually make sense in that setting. Although Littlefinger used to own the dagger, its history reveals that it has a far more illustrious lineage. Valyrian steel and the dragonbone grip indicate that it was created by the Targaryens, who ruled Valyria for centuries. This means that it was passed down through the family. Further on, it eventually came up in Littlefinger’s hands after the Targarians were overthrown by Aerys II Targaryen’s death. Arya eventually inherited it and used it to kill the Night King. When Samwell Tarly goes to the Citadel in Game of Thrones season 7 and finds an image of the dagger in a book, it changes everything. This is what it reads;
“When Aegon the conqueror forged his Seven Kingdoms, he and his descendants would often decorate their blades with dragonglass feeling a kinship with the stone. The royal fashion for dragonglass ornamentation soon spread throughout the Seven Kingdoms to those wealthy enough to afford it. Hilts and pommels were and are the most common decoration for dragonglass if too brittle to make a useful crossguard. Indeed, its very brittleness is what relegates it to the great houses and the most successful merchants.”
Game of Thrones Catspaw Dagger
The Valyrian steel dagger originated from House Targaryen, perhaps even Aegon himself if this is true. However, considering their common DNA and how effortlessly they fit into their respective stories, it would be appropriate for them to be the same. The weapon in House of Dragon looks remarkably similar to the one in Game of Thrones.
The sort of amusing nod House of the Dragon can make while still serving a narrative function and not being overtly winking at the audience is this. Depending on how you choose to look at it, the scenario in issue may be that of Alicent’s son Aemond losing an eye in a battle with the children of her adversary, Rhaenyra Targaryen. This further expands the divide, igniting the flames that would ultimately lead to the Dance of the Dragons.
