Warning: Contains SPOILERS for House of the Dragon season 1, episode 7, "Driftmark."Rhaenyra Targaryen is stabbed by Alicent Hightower with the catspaw dagger in House of the Dragon season 1, episode 7, "Driftmark," but the moment preceding it connects her more deeply to Aegon the Conqueror’s dream. Having bubbled away for several episodes, the tensions between Rhaenyra and Alicent boil over after Aemond Targaryen loses an eye, with it stabbed out by Lucerys Velaryon. The focus is primarily on Alicent’s reaction, demanding an eye for an eye and attempting to maim Rhaenyra’s child herself, but another moment within the chaos feels just as pertinent.

When Rhaenyra is preventing Alicent from harming her and her kids, there’s a brief pause where she looks at the dagger, flames burning behind it, and sees Aegon’s A Song of Ice and Fire prophecy engraved upon the Valyrian steel blade. It’s a small yet impactful moment that brings the idea of both the Prince That Was Promised, and the great threat Westeros may face back, to the forefront of Rhaenyra’s mind. It’s a reminder of how much bigger this all is than her and Alicent’s rivalry, and yet also of just how important it is, as Rhaenyra sees it, that she claims the Iron Throne in House of the Dragon, and that it passes to her heirs.

Related: Everyone Who Owned The Catspaw Dagger Before Arya & How Targaryens Lost It

Does Rhaenyra Think Jacaerys Velaryon Is The Prince That Was Promised?

Rhaenyra Targaryen with Jacaerys and Lucerys Velaryon in House of the Dragon

When Viserys first told Rhaenyra of Aegon’s dream, it’s likely she considered the possibility that she may be the Targaryen ruler destined to lead the fight against the White Walkers, should it come during her reign. With Viserys’ illness making him near death, though, and Rhaenyra ever closer to becoming Queen, it’s likely she is thinking more about the future. In House of the Dragon season 1, episode 4, Rhaenyra needs the inscription upon the catspaw dagger: “From my blood comes the Prince That Was Promised, and his shall be the Song of Ice and Fire.”

Though it will be revealed in Game of Thrones that the prophecy was mistranslated and could be Prince or Princess, this likely means Rhaenyra is already thinking about Jace’s potential in the role. It would certainly re-contextualize, if not change, her actions and motivations before and during the Dance of the Dragons. When Rhaenyra hears her children slighted as bastards, and when she sees Alicent trying to injure them, she is not simply thinking of her (and their) birthright, but of the fate of the entire realm and the burden of prophecy passed down from her father, that she must one day pass on to Jace.

Jace Velaryon’s Connection To Aegon’s Song of Ice and Fire

catspaw dagger Valyrian steel Aegon's prophecy dream

Although the White Walkers aren’t in House of the Dragon, with another 170 years or so before the realm will face the great Winter, he does have some connection to Aegon’s dream, and the person who helps fulfill it: Jon Snow. Like Jon, Jace is a would be heir to the Iron Throne: one a bastard who is presented as the next rightful King, the other the next rightful King who is presented as a bastard. Both also come from a mix of Valyria (Targaryens), and the blood of the First Men (from which Houses Strong and Stark both descend). And Jace Velaryon will have a connection to the Starks as well: later in House of the Dragon’s story, he will meet with Lord Cregan Stark to form the Pact of Ice and Fire, offering a betrothal of his firstborn daughter to Cregan’s heir, Rickon, in exchange for his support of Rhaenyra’s blacks faction in the Dance of the Dragons.

The Pact of Ice and Fire doesn’t quite come to fruition, insofar as Jace doesn’t live long enough to have children, but Cregan does support Rhaenyra and her son who does become King Aegon III Targaryen (from her marriage to Daemon), with rewards along the way, including briefly serving as Hand of the King. This continues the dichotomy of ice and fire; it’s right there in Aegon’s prophecy, and it’s in Jon Snow’s heritage as a Targaryen and a Stark. It doesn’t come to pass with Rhaenyra or her children, but Jace’s actions just further highlight how ice and fire - Starks and Targaryens - were needed for Aegon’s dream to become a reality.

House of the Dragon releases new episodes Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO and HBO Max.

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