The Mother of Dragons may be no more. A change from George R.R. Martin's book in House of the Dragon season 3 might have a pretty brutal butterfly effect that would in theory prevent Daenerys Targaryen from ever being born.
In the season 3 premiere, the bloody Battle of the Gullet rages, which results in the death of Jacaerys Velaryon. While the manner of his death is very accurate to Martin's source material Fire and Blood, the show removes Rhaenyra's two youngest sons, Aegon and Viserys, from the battle.
In the book, Aegon and Viserys are on their way to Essos to be fostered, but their ship is taken captive by the Triarchy. Aegon escapes with his dragon (which dies soon after), but Viserys is kidnapped and is lost to the Targaryens for years.
He ultimately ends up in Lys with a magister named Bambarro Bazanne. After Bazanne dies, Viserys, still a captive, is passed to the powerful banker Lysandro Rogare. When Lysandro discovers who Viserys is, he marries him to his daughter Larra. Daenerys is a direct descendant of Viserys and Larra – she is their great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter.
This would actually also delete Jon Snow from canon, too, since he is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen, Daenerys's older brother. Oops…
"The fact that Ryan [Condal] accidentally made Daenerys Targaryen not exist by omitting Aegon and Viserys from the gullet lmao," points out one fan on Twitter.
However, it is of course most likely that the show will bring Viserys and Larra together in some other way, meaning Daenerys and Jon are safe. In the show's timeline, Viserys is still a toddler, too, while he's slightly older in the book. And, Aegon and Viserys are indeed on their way to Pentos in Essos to be fostered in the show, just like they are in the book – so there's still plenty of time for Viserys to be kidnapped, though it will have to play out differently compared to Fire and Blood, since he hasn't been separated from Aegon.
"That was just one of the many challenges of making the show and telling a story that involves so many children," showrunner Condal has shared of the change. "We had to compress history a little bit just to make season 1 take place over 20 years instead of 30 years. So it just meant all of the children in the story are a little bit younger."
It all comes down to Aegon and Viserys's new age. "Her youngest children are just not of an age where you can involve them with complex dramatic sequences, complex action," added Condal. "It's not safe, it's not practical. So it was just something that we had to dispense of rather early on in the process."
Changes to the source material are a particularly hot topic, however, after Martin took to his Not a Blog page to rail against "toxic butterflies" caused by diverging from his work, then later told The Hollywood Reporter that his relationship with Condal is "abysmal."
House of the Dragon season 3 continues weekly on HBO in the US and HBO Max, Sky, and NOW in the UK. You can keep up to date with our House of the Dragon season 3 release schedule. For even more, read our House of the Dragon season 3 review.
