A long-standing complaint about Game of Thrones has ironically now had major consequences in House of the Dragon, as the franchise nitpick is partially to blame for causing the Dance of the Dragons. As House of the Dragon season 2 progresses, both sides of the war have begun to assess the root causes of the Dance. While Rhaenys argues that the real instigating event no longer matters as the realm will use their own reasons to fight, such as the cause of the Battle of the Burning Mill, Rhaenyra is more concerned with whether her father actually chose Aegon to replace her as heir on his deathbed.
In House of the Dragon season 2, episode 3’s ending, Rhaenyra sneaks into King’s Landing disguised as a septa to speak with Alicent face-to-face. After they each deny involvement in the deaths of Prince Jaehaerys and Prince Lucerys, Rhaenyra asks Alicent about the dying Viserys’ last words. Alicent states that Viserys spoke about “Aegon” and the “Prince That Was Promised,” which she misunderstood as meaning that he wanted their son Aegon to succeed him on the Iron Throne. As the show itself admits, Alicent’s reason for usurping the throne from Rhaenyra was based on a confusing trait that has long been complained about in Game of Thrones’ franchise.
Game Of Thrones’ Families Constantly Reusing The Same Name Led To House Of The Dragon’s War
Game of Thrones fans don’t have to feel so guilty about mixing up the numerous Aegon Targaryens
After being a source of annoyance for viewers for well over a decade, the habit of House Targaryen’s family tree often reusing the name “Aegon” has come back to bite them. As Aegon is the name of the Targaryen who conquered Westeros, his moniker has been reused throughout nearly every subsequent Targaryen generation as a tribute to the powerful, long-gone king. In House of the Dragon, the confusion of so many Aegon Targaryens has become so extreme that a mix-up of the name inspired a full-scale Targaryen civil war.
As Rhaenyra now finally informs Alicent, when Viserys was speaking about “Aegon” and the “Prince That Was Promised,” he was actually referring to Aegon the Conqueror’s A Song of Ice and Fire dream – not his son. Considering there’s yet another Prince Aegon Targaryen alive in House of the Dragon, Rhaenyra’s elder son with Daemon, Alicent’s mistake becomes all the more frustrating. Despite the fact that this trait leads to a devastating civil war, by the time the timeline reaches Jon Snow, aka Aegon VI Targaryen, there are actually 12 known Aegon Targaryens in Game of Thrones history.
Would The Dance Of The Dragons Have Happened Without Alicent’s Name Mix-Up?
The Dance had arguably already begun long before Alicent’s mistake
While it is almost comically ironic that Alicent’s justification for crowning Aegon is based on mixing up his name with Aegon the Conqueror, it isn’t the sole reason for the Dance of the Dragons. Alicent claiming that Viserys wanted Aegon on the Iron Throne helped speed along Team Green’s usurpation of the throne by boasting a “legitimate” claim from Viserys himself, but the war likely would have happened regardless. Otto had laid the seeds of usurpation ever since Aegon’s birth, and the feuding between the Greens and Blacks for around two decades meant some conflict was inevitable after Viserys’ death.
Viserys’ inability to crush the Greens and Blacks’ feuds before the new generation of Targaryens was born meant war was always coming, regardless of Alicent’s grave mistake.
In fact, when Otto is removed as Aegon’s Hand of the King in House of the Dragon season 2, Alicent’s father implies that he never believed Viserys wanted Aegon to be king. Alicent’s claim about Viserys’ last words meant Otto and the Green Council had less convincing to do to other noble houses, but he would have found reasons to undermine Rhaenyra’s claim and seat Aegon either way. Viserys’ inability to crush the Greens and Blacks’ feuds before the new generation of Targaryens was born meant war was always coming, regardless of Alicent’s grave mistake.
New episodes of House of the Dragon season 2 release Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.