House Of The Dragon: Do Targaryens Have The Blood Of The Dragon?

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The Targaryen colonization of Westeros rested on the declaration of racial superiority and a messiah complex. No sooner hadHouse of the Dragon’s King Viserys I Targaryen learned about Daemon and Rhaenyra’s night tryst than he attributed their attraction to sharing the blood of the dragon. Similar assertions about being dragon-blooded were made by Daenerys Targaryen inGame of Thrones.

Daenerys' brother, Viserys the beggar king, liked to call himself the dragon. When Ser Barristan Selmy referred to Rhaegar Targaryen as the last dragon inGame of Thrones, Daenerys corrected him and insinuated that she was the last dragon. The mythical bond between dragons and Valyrians is sometimeslinked to bloodmagic, but does that mean there is such a thing as the Targaryens having the blood of the dragon?

Daemon and Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon.

The Enigmatic Targaryens Of Old Valyria

The Targaryens of Westeros trace their descent to Aenar, the dragonlord of the Valyrian Freehold, who imposed a self-exile upon his House after heeding his daughter’sprophecy of the Doom. Aenar relocated his family, household, and slaves to Dragonstone twelve years before the Doom of Valyria. He also brought five dragons with him. A chain of volcanic eruptions, known inGame of Throneslore as the Fourteen Fires, did destroy the Valyrian Freehold, but Aenar and his family prospered on the island of Dragonstone, located at the entrance of Blackwater Bay. InHouse of the Dragon, Viserys I, who has had stonemasons carve a model of Old Valyria, pays an ode to his ancestors' rich legacy, saying:

The Valyrian capital was built into a volcano, much like Dragonstone. And the dragonlords, the highest of the nobility, lived here, at the volcanic face, closest to the source of their magic and power. And this was the Anogrion. Where the bloodmages worked their craft.

Rhaenyra and Daemon’s Valyrian wedding in House of the Dragon.

A deeper analysis of Viserys' words fromHouse of the Dragonconveys that magic provided the Valyrian nobles with a sense of identity, and thus, was closely linked to their power. Bloodmages were people who practiced bloodmagic in the Freehold, and even though the catastrophe erased all the Valyrian records, secrets, magic, and knowledge,the Targaryens and their dragonsthrived on Dragonstone.

The Valyrians' practice of sorcery is one of the possible causes of the cataclysm, collapse, and erasure. While their knowledge and crafts were lost, the Targaryens who lived in Westeros carried out a few Valyrian practices. The Conqueror wed his sister-wives in the tradition of House Targaryen, as it was common among Valyrian dragonlords to wed brothers to sisters to keep the bloodlines pure and to allow them to control their dragons. More examples includeRhaenyra and Daemon’s Valyrian weddinginHouse of the Dragon, Aegon II’s taking his sister, Helaena, as a wife, the taming of dragons, and the use of the Valyrian language.

Daenerys Drogon and Jon Snow in Game of Thrones.

The Targaryen God Complex

During the Conquest, the Westerosi commoners had never seen anything like the Targaryens or their dragons. Members of the House stood out by the silver of their hair, and the blue/purple of their eyes. Their identity was chiefly built around facets such asdragon dreams, belief in prophecies, and visions. The fact that the fourth Targaryen king, Jaehaerys I, was able to secure the Doctrine of Exceptionalism with the Faith of the Seven to formalize Targaryen wedding practices, is all referent of the Targaryens being superior over the Great and Noble Houses of Westeros.

Viserys inGame of Thronesstill believed in the Targaryens' infallibility, and Daenerys liked to think of herself as more of a messiah than a monarch. The latter did have superior personal abilities inGame of Thrones, in that, she was completely immune to fire. Shehatched three dragon eggsby sacrificing Mirri Maz Duur in the bloodmagic ritual. Eventually, she raised, trained, and gained full control over her three children without any help from the dragonkeepers seen inHouse of the Dragon. This says a lot about the so-called sole Targaryen in the world of HBO’sGame of Thrones. Later, Jon Snow bonded with Rhaegal because he had Targaryen blood in him. InHouse of the Dragon, Rhaenyra claimed that:

Everyone says Targaryens are closer to gods than to men, but they say that because of our dragons. Without them, we’re just like everyone else.

Dreams didn’t make us kings… dragons did.

So, Do Targaryens Have The Blood Of The Dragon?

The Targaryens are strikingly beautiful, but other than that, they are just as ordinary as the rest. Viserys I was eventually consumed by “rot,” and many Targaryens succumbed to madness due to their incestuous marriage practices. If the Targaryens were infallible,the Tragedy at Summerhallthat wiped most of their House, including King Aegon V, in trying to hatch dragon eggs, would never have occurred.

House of the Dragonis available tostream on Max

In both the HBO shows, being dragon-blooded and “restless” and “chaotic” are figures of speech, and meant to serve as a callback to the ancient strength of the House.Game of Thronescanon has been ambiguous about what Daenerys meant when she said she was the blood of the dragon, and so hasHouse of the Dragonabout Viserys' words. It’s highly likely that Viserys only referred to Daemon and Rhaenyra’s temperaments. Besides dragons, the Targaryens ensured their expansion through political marriages, as,in the case of Dorne. They married into Westerosi Houses, made allies with them but kept their Valyrian traditions alive, and adopted Westeros' as well.