This post contains major spoilers for House of the Dragon season three, episode six. If you want to avoid them, you can instead check out our coverage of episode five.
House of the Dragon has made dragon egg lore a part of its story every season. In the show’s eighth episode, Daemon Targaryen discovered Rhaenyra’s dragon Syrax had laid three eggs. It was a joyous occasion for the world’s last dragonlords. In season two, Rhaenyra then sent four eggs—which may or may not have included Syrax’s clutch—to Pentos as the ultimate backup plan for her side. The show then confirmed that, within HBO’s version of Westeros, three of them ended up with Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones. Now the witch of Harrenhal has revealed the show has been hiding even more. Alys Rivers presented Aemond with five unknown petrified eggs laid long ago by a dragon who is still very much alive.
When Daemon left Harrenhal, he told Alys Rivers there was no way Rhaenyra would grant her the castle as thanks for her service. The Queen then broke her late son’s promise to House Frey and turned the infamous castle into a prize to be won. It would go to anyone who killed Aemond. Alys could have done exactly that and claimed what she believes is rightfully hers. In season three’s sixth episode, Aemond pointed that out. So why didn’t she? Alys Rivers has much bigger plans.
She presented Aemond with five eggs no one else knows about. He knew immediately who laid them: Dreamfyre, his sister Helaena’s dragon. Alys then provided a brief history of how cold, dark, haunted Harrenhal ended up with priceless treasures of fire and blood. It’s a show creation rooted in canonical lore and history recounted in George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood. While this clutch of eggs is seemingly a show creation, that idea draws from A Song of Ice and Fire. There are many unsubstantiated stories about secret eggs being left, including one that says Jace’s dragon did exactly that during his time at Winterfell.
There’s no doubt about the woman Alys reference. Here’s what she told Aemond about these hidden treasures and what she thinks they represent:
Your ancestor, Rhaena Targaryen, came to Harrenhal after the death of her daughter. And she grieved and grew old here. Her dragon laid a clutch of eggs before Rhaena herself died. And they have sat here cold and abandoned these hundred years. I do not know the ways of dragons, but I have long envisaged the return of the Targaryens to this ancient seat.
The Rhaena from Alys’ short history lesson is not the dragonrider princess currently hiding in the mountains of the Vale. That sad figure died more than 55 years before the Dance of the Dragon.
Aemond’s ancestor Rhaena is one of the sadder figures from House Targaryen’s time in Westeros. She was the granddaughter of Aegon the Conquerer and the eldest child of the second Targaryen king, Aenys I. She had married he brother Aegon, apparent heir to the Iron Throne. But after her uncle Maegor claimed/usurped the Iron Throne following his brother’s death, he killed Aegon and forced Rhaena to marry him. She became one of Maegor the Cruel’s “Black Brides,” as he married three widows of men he’d killed.
She escaped the Red Keep after her brother Jaehaerys announced his own claim to the Iron Throne. Rhaena was able to get away atop her dragon Dreamfyre, Helaena’s dragon that still resides in King’s Landing on House of the Dragon. Rhaenya claimed Dreamfyre at age nine. As a child, she was was also a lot like the dragonrider who would go on to claim that very same dragon almost a century later. Young Rhaena was shy and preferred spending time with animals over people, like Helaena. As an adult Rhaena was brave. She was also fiercely protective of her own children.
Queen Rhaena’s life, even long after Maegor’s death, was full of loss. She loved many women, but they all eventually left her. Most notable was her relationship with Elissa Farman. They spent many happy years together, but Elissa eventually wanted to leave Rhaena to sail the world. When the Queen dowager refused to let her go, Elissa escaped to Essos with dragon eggs. She then sold them buy her ship. It was long theorized those stolen eggs—also from Dreamfyre, who laid more eggs than any other dragon in Westeros—became the ones Daenerys hatched. That still might prove true in Martin’s books, but some fans theorize they will ultimately come from Syrax, further connecting Rhaenyra to her fellow Queen and dragon riding descendent.
As Alys referenced on House of the Dragon, Rhaena lived out her life on Harrenhal after the horrific death (among the worst in all of ASOIAF) of her daughter Aerea, who was probably really her twin Rhaella. It’s an incredible story go read Fire & Blood).Even though dragons hate the cold and damp, Dreamfyre went to Harrenhal with her. Rhaena continued to fly atop her dragon until her death in 73 AC. Her brother King Jaehaerys ordered her ashes to remain at the castle that sits close to the sacred God’s Eye lake. It’s where Maegor killed her brother-husband long before.
What no one except Alys Rivers seemed to know was that Rhaena also left dragon eggs as a remidner of her time there. Now she wants Aemond to use them to build their own dragon dynasty with Harrenhal as their seat. “There’s an ancient strength here,” she told Aemond. “Let the gods turn their backs on us. We will make our own fortune. I will be the Lady of the Water, and you the dragonlord by my side.”
While those dragon eggs might be petrified, when the Targaryen prince held one it felt warm. Is that a sign Alys’ plan could actually work? Could these forgotten dragon eggs free both of them from a cursed and “desolate existence?” For the very same reason they give her hope, they might also be a sign of their doom. Harrenhal does have ancient strength, but for the entire 130 years it stood by this point it cursed almost all who called it home.
Rhaena and Dreamfyre were the exceptions, but that might be because Rhaena was already cursed. The same might also be true of her dragon’s eggs it laid there. That could be why the Queen hid them away.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He’d like a dragon egg. Two if you have them. You can follow Mikey on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.