House of the Dragon opening credits explained: Season 2 tapestry revealed
The blood of Old Valyria runs in the veins of House Targaryen and there is so much history to consider.
There are some big changes for House of the Dragon season 2 when it comes to the opening titles.
The first season focused on the bloodlines of House Targaryen coming from Old Valyria but now the series is falling more in line with his medieval inspirations.
The ruling family of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros for hundreds of years, the Targaryen family have always used the motto 'Fire and Blood'.
So, it is only fitting that the opening sequence includes several scenes from the history of Westeros - catch them in more detail below.
Here is the meaning behind the opening title sequence in House of the Dragon.
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House of the Dragon season 2 opening credits explained
The full new opening titles are below for House of the Dragon season 2.
Speaking about how they were inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry, showrunner Ryan Condal told The Hollywood Reporter: “So we decided to go with radical change. Now that the page has turned and we’re at war, this is a living history and we want to depict that history in a visual way and give the fans new things to take apart and dive into. This really great titles company, called yU+co, came in and I pitched them the Bayeux Tapestry, which is this famous work of art that is both a piece of art and also the story of a very particular period in medieval history. A lot of what we know about medieval combat, about medieval dress and customs, comes from that sort of visual history."
So, let's take a deep dive into the images we see...
The Freehold of Old Valyria
The tapestry of the opening titles begins with an image of the huge Freehold of Old Valyria - familiar from the first season's opening titles and the model built by King Viserys I Targaryen.
Blood spurts out of the Freehold, representing House Targaryen and spreads out of frame - seemingly reflecting their movement from Essos to Westeros.
This imagery reflects the opening titles of the first season
A figure standing with a blade behind a kneeling Valyrian who holds out a blade to a dragon's flame
This appears to show the forging of a Valyrian steel blade, possibly the creation of Dark Sister for a female warrior, made with dragon flame.
Could this also be the dreams of Daenys the Dreamer? Daenys was a forebear of Aegon the Conqueror who dreamt of the Doom of Valyria and caused her family to flee Valyria ahead of the coming apocalyptic scenes.
A Valyrian cradles another Valyrian and holds their throat
Could this also be linked to Daenys and her dreams? Either way, the Targaryens left Valyria before the Doom...
The Doom of Valyria
The apparent natural disaster that claimed the empire of Old Valyria and engulfed its Freehold, this event led to the extinction of the Valyrian houses aside from House Targaryen, House Velaryon, and House Celtigar.
House Targaryen were the last of the power-playing dragon lords of Old Valyria. Initially, the Velaryons did not possess dragons.
The Dragonriders - King Aegon I Targaryen, Queen Visenya Targaryen, and Queen Rhaenys Targaryen
The monarch who conquered the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, King Aegon the Conqueror is depicted atop his dragon Balerion the Dread along with his sister-wives, Queen Visenya atop the dragon Vhagar and Queen Rhaenys atop Meraxes.
Aegon married his older sister Visenya out of custom and duty but married Rhaenys out of desire.
Rhaenys gave Aegon the weak son and monarch Aenys and Visenya gave him the tyrannical son and monarch Maegor.
Harren the Black
King Harren Hoare, known as Harren the Black, was the last monarch of the Isles and the Rivers - ruling the Iron Islands and the Riverlands - and refused to bow down to Aegon the Conqueror.
An elderly man, Harren wore black armour and became famous for his cruelty and pride across the Seven Kingdoms.
Harren resisted the Targaryen conquerors and his sons even won a victory against them, but soon the riverlords turned on their tyrannical ruler and joined the Targaryens, with Harren losing his sons in the process.
The Burning of Harrenhal
Ultimately, Harren sought refuge in his recently-completed mighty fortress of Harrenhal but then the dragons came. Aegon offered Harren the chance to keep the largest castle in Westeros as a vassal of the Targaryens, but stubborn Harren refused.
Balerion the Dread burned Harren and his surviving sons in the highest tower of Harrenhal and the castle was damaged forever after, with ghosts tales haunting the castle ever since.
Bending the knee
The next image shows the bending of the knees of former monarchs of the Seven Kingdoms.
Among these great houses to capitulate to House Targaryen are what appears to be House Arryn in the form of young King Ronnel Arryn and his mother Queen Regent Sharra Arryn, House Stark in the form of King Torrhen Stark, and House Lannister in the form of King Loren I Lannister.
King Maegor the Cruel
The only son of King Aegon the Conqueror and his sister-wife Queen Visenya, King Maegor the Cruel is shown meeting his end pierced through the neck on the blades of the Iron Throne.
The most reviled of Targaryen monarchs, the cruel tyrant met his end here with legend saying the throne rejected him.
King Jaehaerys and Queen Alysanne
The next image appears to be of King Jaehaerys I the Conciliator and his sister-wife Queen Alysanne the Good.
The pair lived a mostly harmonious marriage and oversaw a long period of peace for Westeros - what is often labelled a golden era for the Targaryens.
The Great Council
As first depicted in the opening prologue of House of the Dragon season 1, we see The Great Council held by King Jaehaerys following the deaths of his sons and wife Queen Alysanne.
In the image, Jaehaerys is flanked by the future King Viserys I Targaryen and his first wife Aemma Arryn, and then Princess Rhaenys Targaryen and her husband Lord Corlys Velaryon.
Fans will be aware that the lords of Westeros voted in Harrenhal to decide whether Viserys - the son of a younger son of Jaehaerys - or Rhaenys - the daughter of Jaeherys's eldest son - should succeed.
They chose Viserys, making Rhaenys the Queen Who Never Was.
The Greens and the Blacks
We then see Queen Alicent Hightower in a green dress and Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen in a black dress standing at opposite ends of the banquet hall.
On each side of the hall, we see the opposite court factions at long tables.
On one side are Alicent's supporters - her father and statesman Ser Otto Hightower, the impetuous kinsguard Ser Criston Cole, her second son Prince Aemond Targaryen, her capricious eldest son Prince Aegon Targaryen, and her gentle daughter Princess Helaena Targaryen.
On Rhaenyra's side are the Blacks - her uncle-husband Prince Daemon Targaryen, her former mother-in-law and distant cousin Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, her former father-in-law Lord Corlys Velaryon, her eldest son Prince Jacaerys Velaryon, her second son Prince Lucerys Velaryon, and her third son Prince Joffrey Velaryon.
The rival monarchs
We then see King Aegon II Targaryen sat crowned on the Iron Throne and then his rival claimant to the throne, older half-sister Queen Rhaenya Targaryen sat upon the stone throne of Dragonstone.
Beneath each of them appear a hand of the Greens for Aegon and a hand of Black for Rhaenyra.
The tapestry then shows dragons before the ‘House of the Dragon’ title card.
House of the Dragon season 1 opening credits explained
The opening titles for House of the Dragon show a series of sigils with blooding from them, whilst it runs across a stone surface that resembles King Viserys I Targaryen's model of Old Valyria.
Fans will recall that the Valyrian Freehold was the ancient empire from which Houses Targaryen and Velaryon are descended, until the cataclysmic Doom of Valyria saw the empire destroyed.
The opening of the credits shows the sigil of the first Targaryen monarch of Westeros: King Aegon I Targaryen, better known as Aegon the Conquerer.
From his sigil there then flows two streams of blood, representing Aegon's marriages to his sister-wives, Queen Visenya Targaryen and Queen Rhaenys Targaryen.
From these unions came two sons, King Aenys I Targaryen (by Rhaenys) and King Maegor I Targaryen (by Visenya).
Although Aenys was deposed and murdered, his line would continue, but his successor Maegor the Cruel does not and so the trail of his blood ends with his sigil.
However, Aenys's sigil sprouts those of his son King Jaeherys I Targaryen and his sister-wife Queen Alysanne Targaryen. There is a large collection of streaming rivers of blood from these two as their prosperous reign and marriage brought about multiple children and grandchildren.
Two of the streams represent their children Prince Baelon Targaryen and Princess Alyssa Targaryen, who go on to marry and produce their own two offspring which proceed to flow as two streams of blood over a clifftop.
The resulting sigils represent both King Viserys I Targaryen and his brother Prince Daemon Targaryen.
Other sigils are shown for families, including House Velaryon, as Princess Rhaenys Targaryen marries Lord Corlys Velaryon and has two children: Lady Laena Velaryon and Ser Laenor Velaryon.
We also are later shown the sigil for House Hightower as Lady Alicent Hightower goes on to become the second queen of King Viserys.
However, we also see the sigil of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, heir to the Iron Throne, as she looks set to continue the line.
As the episodes pass, further streams will likely be added as more children are introduced in the bloodline, such as Alicent's children from Viserys, including Prince Aegon Targaryen.
Read more:
- How to watch House of the Dragon - where can you stream?
- Meet the cast of House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel series
- When is House of the Dragon set? Game of Thrones timeline explained
- What time is House of the Dragon released in the UK?
- What is the Dance of the Dragons? House of the Dragon war explained
- Where was House of the Dragon filmed?
- What is Dark Sister in House of the Dragon?
- Who is Mysaria in House of the Dragon and actress Sonoya Mizuno?
- What book is House of the Dragon based on? Fire and Blood book changes
- Who is Queen Aemma in House of the Dragon and who plays her?
- Your guide to the dragons of House of the Dragon
- What is Aegon’s Dream and the Prince That Was Promised in House of the Dragon?
- House of the Dragon release schedule: When is episode 2 released?
- When do Olivia Cooke and Emma D'Arcy appear in House of the Dragon?
- Who is Lord Corlys Velaryon and who is actor Steve Toussaint?
- Who is Ser Criston Cole and who is actor Fabien Frankel?
- Who is Alicent Hightower? Olivia Cooke role explained
- Who is Princess Rhaenys Targaryen and actress Eve Best?
- Who is Ser Otto Hightower? Rhys Ifans role explained
- Game of Thrones books in order: A Song of Ice and Fire and more
House of the Dragon continues on Mondays on Sky Atlantic and NOW. Check out more of our Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.
Authors
Lewis Knight is the Trends Editor for Radio Times, covering trending titles from TV, Film and more. He previously worked at The Mirror in TV, Film, and Showbiz coverage alongside work on SEO. Alongside his past work in advertising, he possesses a BSc in Psychology and an MA in Film Studies.
