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House of the Dragon: All the Game of Thrones Easter eggs from the House Targaryen prequel-Robert Oliver-Entertainment – Metro
You might have spotted one or two callbacks to the original series.
Did you spot any of the Game of Thrones Easter eggs in the House of the Dragon premiere? (Picture: HBO)
***Warning: Contains spoilers for Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon***
Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon is officially under way, and boy does it feel wonderful to be back in Westeros.
To see the Red Keep again, to watch dragons soar through the clouds, to recoil in horror at all the blood and guts. In some ways, it feels just like returning home.
After three years away from George RR Martin’s expansive world of Westeros, viewers have been desperate to dive back in.
When it came to audience engagement, very few shows were analysed and scrutinised with the intensity that Game of Thrones was.
And it appears showrunners Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal were keen to pay tribute to Game of Thrones in the big premiere earlier this week.
Here are all the little Easter eggs, nods, and winks that link all the way back to HBO’s first ever entrance to Westeros.
There were several nods to the original series – did you spot them all? (Picture: HBO)
The Mother of Dragons
The premiere, entitled The Heirs of the Dragon, opens with a prologue that focuses on the Great Council of 101 AC. At the castle of Harrenhal (last seen in season 3 of Game of Thrones), the current Targaryen king, Jaehaerys, selects Viserys to be his heir on a decisive day for Westeros.
You didn’t think they’d forget to mention Daenerys now, did you? (Picture: HBO)
Immediately after the Great Council scene, the Game of Thrones tributes start pouring in. A title card explains that everything you’re about to see took place 172 years before the birth of a certain icon: Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons.
Although Game of Thrones was a show that didn’t contain traditional main characters, Daenerys was the show’s most iconic name and face – we can’t imagine that it would have gone down well if the premiere episode of a Targaryen prequel had passed by without mentioning the most famous Targaryen of all.
The official soundtrack
Ramin Djawadi, composer for Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon (Picture: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic)
As much as fans might have strongly disagreed with each other about the divisive final episodes of Game of Thrones, one thing that every viewer could always agree on was how wonderful the official soundtrack was. Ramin Djawadi, who composed music for all eight seasons, is a musical hero to many.
So, House of the Dragon fans were ecstatic when it was announced that he would be joining the new HBO show to put his stamp on all things Targaryen. From the opening moments, as Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) swoops over King’s Landing on her dragon Syrax, Djawadi brings the goods he’s known for.
The rising, rousing theme that we heard so many times when Daenerys climbed onto Drogon and took flight plays over images of the Princess gliding through the King’s Landing air. And as if that wasn’t enough, the episode closes with Djawadi’s The Children, which played over the original series’ very last moments.
That Valyrian steel dagger
That dagger looks familiar… (Picture: HBO)
Before the show premiered, there was much debate about whether the Valyrian steel dagger (seen in the various promotional shots for House of the Dragon) was in fact the same dagger used by Arya Stark to kill the Night King. After a bit of back and forth, it appears that, yes, it is the same dagger.
With the first episode out of the way, that theory has now been confirmed by showrunner Ryan Condal. Speaking to HBO’s Inside the Episode featurette, he said that Viserys’ (Paddy Considine) tight grip on the dagger ‘ties the two shows together’. Fans everywhere are excited to see where that dagger will travel through the series.
There is talk that House of the Dragon will continue on past the likes of Viserys, Rhaenyra, and Alicent (Emily Carey) to become an anthology series, which means that we may yet follow the dagger through history until it ends up in the hands of the original series’ Littlefinger.
The rest of Westeros
The reign of House Targaryen begins (Picture: HBO)
Game of Thrones became what it was thanks, in large part, to the incredible ensemble cast. The show was full of colourful and rich characters who first introduced us to the world of Westeros, then made it feel like home, and then kept us coming back for more.
House of the Dragon has made sure to remind viewers that, while the Targaryens are the principal focus of this new series, the other houses of Westeros are still there too. We see (and hear about) people from House Stark, House Baratheon, and House Arryn in the premiere episode.
And we also meet Ser Criston Cole. We were never introduced to House Cole in Game of Thrones, but we did take a visit to where Criston was born: the kingdom of Dorne. “Gods, he’s Dornish!’ Alicent (Emily Carey) exclaims when he reveals his lovely dark brown locks – will Ser Criston be a winner with viewers in the manner that Prince Oberyn Martell managed to be? Only time will tell.
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