'House of the Dragon': Aegon's Destruction Of His Father's Model City Foreshadows A Growing Problem For The Targaryen Dynasty

WARNING! SPOILERS for House of the Dragon 2x02, 'Rhaenyra the Cruel'.

Early in 'Rhaenyra the Cruel', the second episode of House of the Dragon's second season, we see King Aegon II, mad with grief over the death of his young son Jaehaerys, destroy a model city belonging to his late Father, King Viserys. Though not a sympathetic character, Aegon's grief over his son's death is understandable. Still, many fans were upset at the destruction of Viserys's treasured model.

Some believe the destruction of the model city was symbolic, foreshadowing a larger problem for the Targaryens of the future.

The Doom of Model Valyria

Throughout the first season of House of the Dragon, which spans the majority of his reign, King Viserys is often seen working on pieces of a model city. The King's hobby became the source of many memes when the season was airing, due to Viserys's model building being constantly interrupted by his latest family drama. Despite the constant interruptions, Viserys was able to make some progress on the project, which, though having taken most of his adult life, appeared to be complete at the time of his death.

The model represents the city of old Valyria, where the Targaryen and Velaryon families are originally from. Very little in the way of records survived the 'Doom of Valyria', a mysterious cataclysm that destroyed the city. House Targaryen themselves only survived due to Daenys 'The Dreamer' Targaryen, who experienced a prophetic vision twelve years before the Doom. The reason it took Viserys so long to build his model Valyria is that he had to piece together the information he needed from various disparate sources. He worked through these difficulties in the hope that his family would have a piece of their history to hang on to.

In destroying the model Valyria, Aegon is not just wiping out a big part of his Father's legacy, but also the only image House Targaryen has of where they came from. This is especially unfortunate, given that we know losing parts of their history causes problems for future Targaryens. And unfortunately, Viserys's model of old Valyria is not the only history they will lose.

The Song of Ice and Fire

Early in House of the Dragon's first season, after deciding to name her as his heir, Viserys reveals to Rhaenyra the prophecy of the Prince that was Promised, aka the Song of Ice and Fire. The prophecy, passed from King to Heir for generations, states that a Prince from Aegon the Conqueror's bloodline is destined to unite the seven realms against the threat of the Long Night, aka the attack of the Night King and his army of the dead. The details of the prophecy are engraved upon a Valyrian steel dagger, only revealed when held to fire.

The dagger was last seen in the hands of Alicent and the Greens, who do not know of it's significance, and as Aegon II was not Viserys's chosen heir, he was never told of the prophecy. Rhaenyra has not yet been seen to inform her own heir, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon, of the prophecy either. By the events of Game of Thrones, the full details of the 'Song of Ice and Fire' prophecy including the arrival of the White Walkers, and the importance of the dagger, have been lost to time.

Yes, Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen are eventually able to fulfill the prophecy by uniting the realm for long enough to fend off the army of the dead, and the dagger eventually enters the hands of Arya Stark, who is able to use it to slay the Night King, but it is through a great deal of good luck that all this occurred. The Dance of Dragons, albeit indirectly, nearly led to the death of all life in Westeros a few generations later, all because one small piece of history was lost.

Of course, that's not all the Dance costs House Targaryen.

The Death of Dragons

While we have only seen one dragon, Arrax, die on screen so far in House of the Dragon, we know from Westerosi history that the Dance of Dragons leads to the death of most of the bonded dragons of House Targaryen, and the eventual extinction of dragons in Westeros. A lot of this happens due to the Blacks and Greens beginning to view the dragons as weapons, and how they treated them. When House Targaryen came to Westeros originally, their dragons remained wild, roaming the land as they wished, and hunting as they wished, while still maintaining a connection to their bonded rider.

By the time of House of the Dragon, most of the royal family's bonded dragons are kept chained up in the Dragon Pit in King's Landing, only brought out to train or fly with their rider, and are fed on livestock rather than doing their own hunting. Without major spoilers as to the exact details, keeping the dragons chained in the pit ultimately leads to a lot of dragon deaths. Some Westerosi historians see the apparent mistreatment and restriction of the Dragons as the reason why new dragon eggs stopped hatching for the Targaryens.

This is a view shared by Queen Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones. The most difficult period of her own character journey overlaps with the period in which she had temporarily chained two of her own Dragons, Viserion and Rhaegal. She shows disdain for the Dragon Pit during her first visit to King's Landing, believing that chaining the dragons defied what made their rider's bond with them special, and in turn, what made the Targaryens themselves special. She vows that her own dragons will remain free, like those of Aegon the Conqueror.

While the Targaryen Dynasty endures for a time after the Dance of Dragons, the war sees them lose a lot of what made them a great house to begin with..and it may have all started with Aegon II smashing his Father's model of Old Valyria.