The Lore of Old Valyria Is Essential to Understanding 'House of the Dragon'

Publish date: 2024-05-28

‘House of the Dragon’ refers to Old Valyria whilst together with several characters from House Velaryon. What is the historical past and connection at the back of them?

Source: HBO

Two episodes into House of the Dragon, we’re already digging deep into Game of Thrones lore. At one point, King Viserys refers to the Targaryens’ Valerian roots, explaining that they have got the “blood of Old Valyria.” But what exactly does that imply?

This isn’t the first time Game of Thrones fans have heard of Valyria. In the original sequence, Daenerys Targaryen mentions her Valyrian roots as smartly. And of course, we will be able to’t disregard about the importance of Valyrian metal. Plus, we all know that Steve Toussaint’s persona, nicknamed the Sea Snake, is named Lord Corlys Velaryon. So what exactly is Old Valyria and how does it relate to House Velaryon and the leisure of the universe?

Source: HBO

Old Valyria was an all-powerful empire long sooner than the occasions of ‘House of the Dragon.’

In House of the Dragon, we be told a bit extra about Valyria, which is now known as Old Valyria. Basically, it’s a 5,000-year-old empire that dominated all of the continent of Essos. Filled with 14 volcanoes and plenty of extra dragons, in addition to a extremely complex civilization, the folks of Valyria rose up in power in ancient times to overcome a lot of the world, no longer not like the real-life Roman Empire.

Many Game of Thrones fans may take into accout the power of Valyrian steel. This is steel forged all through the Valyrian Freehold, of which the strategies have since been misplaced. Some tales claim that the steel was solid with magic spells and dragon hearth, but there’s no means to confirm this. The distinctive steel is one of the few things with the energy to kill White Walkers, and Arya in reality used a small dagger made of Valyrian steel to kill the Night King and finish the warfare.

Source: HBO

House Targaryen was in reality a mid or low-level house when put next to some of the other properties of Old Valyria. While most families had been dragonriders, different homes (now extinct) controlled their dragons with sorcery and spells. Eventually, then again, Old Valyria fell to the Doom of Valyria, which was referenced in a poem recited by Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones as “the Doom.”

The Doom of Valyria was principally a cataclysmic herbal disaster, during which all 14 of Valyria’s volcanoes exploded. This burst the land into separate islands, killing all its population in the process. All the ancient structure, or even many of the dragons, fell to the Doom of Valyria.

Only two families survived. The first was once the Targaryens, who escaped to Dragonstone, just next to Westeros, thank you to Daenys’s prophecy that Valyria would fall to destruction. The other survivors? House Velaryon.

House Velaryon left Valyria before the Doom of Valyria, and survived through to ‘House of the Dragon.’

Although House Velaryon also survived the Doom of Valyria, House Targaryen stays the handiest surviving dragon-riding family. This is as a result of House Velaryon used to be complete of seafarers. And even supposing they had been robust allies to the Targaryens, they left Valyria of their own accord lengthy ahead of the Doom of Valyria. They settled in Driftmark, additionally off the coast of Westeros.

So, it’s no wonder that once the Targaryens took the Iron Throne, House Velaryon was positioned intently next to them. Their alignment goes back so many centuries, that House Velaryon’s command of the sea and seafaring power is continuously related to the Targaryen rule. Not only that, but Corlys Velaryon’s many travels brought House Velaryon the most wealth in the Seven Kingdoms.

Source: HBO

Corlys even built a brand new seat for the Velaryons that used to be much less damp and crowded referred to as High Tide, which is the place he dominated. Despite his wealth and gear, there’s a reason we haven’t heard much about House Velaryon until now. Sadly, the Velaryon lineage used to be distorted via marriage and a lack of male heirs.

In Game of Thrones, there are descendants of House Velaryon in House Targaryen (unsurprisingly) and House Baratheon. And in House of the Dragon, both the Targaryens and Velaryons talk a language known as High Valyrian, a near-dead language that survived the Doom of Valyria.

New episodes of House of the Dragon air each Sunday at Nine p.m. EST on HBO, and can be streamed on HBO Max.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pbXSramam6Ses7p6wqikaKhfq66txdGimGaZnpl6qbvUrJxmrpGhsrPFzqdknrCgoa6qusSd