WARNING! Spoilers ahead for House of the Dragon season 1, episode 2!House of the Dragon debuted its world-building opening credits, which again feature Game of Thrones’ familiar theme song. While the prequel series' premiere lacked both opening credits and score, episode 2 revealed a story-specific intro that continues to tease elements of the conflicts to come. Additionally, given that Game of Thrones’ opening titles changed every episode, House of the Dragon’s credits are apt to be different each time a new Targaryen is born or gets married.
Game of Thrones’ title sequence depicted the locations of Westeros and Essos, which shifted each episode depending on where the story would take place. House of the Dragon’s opening credits will be relatively more stagnant, as the biggest changes will occur after Alicent and Viserys’s children are born, Rhaenyra’s children are born, and Daemon's children are born. Similar to how the tiles in Game of Thrones season 8’s opening credits adjusted in the first few episodes to depict how far the White Walkers had moved into the North, House of the Dragon’s flowing blood is likely to increase as the Dance of the Dragons begins.
House of the Dragon’s opening credits depict House Targaryen’s family tree and history, with the various streams of blood indicating the marriages and children of those who sat on — or will sit on — the Iron Throne. The walls also feature images of notable Targaryen moments, with the spinning gears featuring insignias that denote a Targaryen. While Game of Thrones’ opening credits sequence was divided by location, House of the Dragon’s opening titles are divided by Targaryen bloodlines as they relate to the Iron Throne.
House Of The Dragon Reuses Game Of Thrones’ Opening Theme
While it was speculated that House of the Dragon would debut its own new, original opening score to contrast Game of Thrones' music, the series surprisingly recycles the familiar theme song from its predecessor. The reason for this is to tie together the world and history of Game of Thrones, as House of the Dragon is a continuation of the story of Westeros on TV, with the theme song clearly uniting the different timelines and conflicts as one large narrative. Similar to how every Star Wars movie uses the same theme over its opening title crawl to connect them under the umbrella of one major story, House of the Dragon’s theme tells viewers that they are in the same world as Game of Thrones despite it being set 200 years earlier.
House Of The Dragon’s Opening Credits Are A Targaryen Family Tree
House of the Dragon's opening credits begin in Oly Valyria, with Aegon the Conqueror’s insignia showing three dragons to indicate how he took Westeros. His blood then flows down to two more gears, which indicate his two sister-wives Visenya and Rhaenys. However, House of the Dragon’s credits only then follow the bloodline of Rhaenys, as her son with Aegon was King Aenys I Targaryen. Aeynys’ son was King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, whose crown is shown in his insignia and is directly connected to his sister-wife Alysanne. Jaehaerys and Alysanne have nine lines spreading from their union, indicating the many children they had and lost over his long reign as king. Their lines then meet again at the bottom of the building with Baelon and Alyssa, their children who married. While Baelon would never become king, his son Viserys would ascend the throne
The House of the Dragon credits then follows the flow of blood directly to King Viserys I Targaryen and very briefly shows Daemon Targaryen to the side. King Viserys then unites with his cousin Aemma Arryn, their blood flowing down to Rhaenya Targaryen, now the heir to the Iron Throne. However, House of the Dragon’s gear for Viserys is also very subtly spun with another line of blood spreading off the screen, which is meant to indicate his marriage to Alicent Hightower and the children they later have. But, since Rhaenyra is the heir to the Iron Throne, House of the Dragon season 1, episode 2’s opening credits end with her spinning gear and insignia, which is seen on the necklace she is given by Daemon.
The Opening Credits’ Missing Targaryens Explained
Since House of the Dragon’s opening credits only depicts the direct line of the Iron Throne to the Targaryens in the show’s current timeline, a few notable figures in the family’s history are side-stepped in the flow of blood. One major missing figure is King Maegor Targaryen, who usurped the crown after the death of Aegon the Conqeuror. The son of Aegon’s sister-wife Visenya, Maegor took the crown after the death of his half-brother King Aenys I Targaryen, and after his notably cruel reign was thought to be killed by the sword-filled Iron Throne itself. Maegor left no true heirs, so the Iron Throne then passed to Aenys’s eldest living son Jaehaerys I Targaryen, which is why House of the Dragon’s credits skip over Maegor straight to the Old King. House of the Dragon is also missing plenty more Targaryens throughout the history of the Seven Kingdoms, such as Rhaenys Targaryen’s father, Aemon, who was the eldest son of King Jaehaerys.
The Hightowers & Velaryons Are Briefly Shown In The Opening Credits
As House Targaryen is the central family in House of the Dragon, the other houses that marry into the dragonriding family line are only briefly shown on the outskirts of the model. After Baelon and Alyssa’s line flows down to Daemon, House of the Dragon’s credits very quickly show the bloodlines further to the side of the city model. These gears in the periphery indicate Rhaenys Targaryen and – on the wall of another building – Corlys Velaryon, with their union leading to Lady Laena Velaryon. House of the Dragon’s opening titles then cut back to the main Targaryen line’s river of blood to King Viserys I Targaryen, with Otto and Alicent Hightower’s insignias being visible on the opposite side of the city. As Viserys and Aemma’s blood flows down to Rhaenyra, House of the Dragon more clearly shows Otto’s bloodline connecting to Alicent, which will eventually be connected to Viserys.
The Credits Tease The Major Houses In The Dance Of The Dragons
Not simply a Targaryen family tree, House of the Dragon’s opening credits sequence also gives glimpses of the major events that the dragonriders were involved in. The first is the Doom of Valyria, which appears on Aegon's symbol and shows the Targaryens’ migration to Dragonstone with their dragons. As Aegon’s blood flows down the side of the building, House of the Dragon shows images of soldiers fighting one another, which is meant to indicate the wars in Westeros as the Targaryens conquered the realm.
After Rhaenyra’s blood begins to flow, the wall above the bloodline shows two dragons fighting surrounded by the sigils of major houses, which seem to include the Lannisters, Baratheons, Dustins, Hightowers, Starks, and Freys. This event happening after the bloodline of Rhaenyra indicates that this will happen once she names herself queen. Considering Rhaenyra is still the focus, House of the Dragon’s credits tease that the bloodline to the throne in Game of Thrones’s timeline will directly descend from Rhaenyra after the Dance of the Dragons.
The Blood Flows On King Viserys’ Model Of Old Valyria
House of the Dragon’s opening credits takes place on the model that Viserys has been shown building in the first two episodes. Now, House of the Dragon gets into the details of the buildings and locations in Old Valyria, with the blood of this region continuing to flow through House Targaryen. Perhaps King Viserys will make another model of Westeros after Old Valyria’s is finished, which could be the basis for Game of Thrones’s opening credits.
The Blood Filling Into The Gears Means The Targaryen Is Deceased
As House of the Dragon’s credits flows from Targaryen to Targaryen, the majority of the gears end up being filled with blood. This indicates that the Targaryen in question is dead, which is notable that Queen Aemma Arryn’s has gone under while Viserys’s is still intact. As House of the Dragon’s war begins and many more of the Targaryen characters perish, the gears will increasingly disappear under pools of blood.
Rhaenyra Targaryen Will Marry & Have Children In HOTD
If Rhaenyra had no direct heirs, like Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, no more blood would have flown from her gear, and certainly not a river of it. As House of the Dragon's opening credits sequence begins to move away from Rhaenyra's gear, another line of blood can be seen joining hers, revealing that the character will soon get married in the series. Once Rhaenyra's wedding is shown, more bloodlines and gears will begin to appear. This also suggests that House of the Dragon's credits will eventually tease the outcome of the Dance of the Dragons, depending on whose bloodline is followed more closely.
Want more House of the Dragon articles? Check out our essential content below...
- Complete House Of The Dragon Guide: All Your Questions Answered
- Where Was House Of The Dragon Filmed? All Real Life Westeros Locations
- House Of The Dragon Timeline Confirmed & Explained
- House Of The Dragon: Every Major Family Missing From Game Of Thrones
New episodes of House of the Dragon release Sundays on HBO/HBO Max.