It's been nearly a year since the second season of House of the Dragon wrapped up on HBO, and we probably have at least a year to wait before the third season airs. That's a bummer, but Entertainment Weekly is keeping us entertained with a new video of the cast members responding to various fan theories. There's nothing terribly substantial in here, but it is pretty entertaining:
So what theories do they hit?
Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower will have a romantic relationship
In George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower are on opposite sides of the Dance of the Dragons, a bloody sectarian conflict that tears apart the ruling family of the Seven Kingdoms. On the show, they're working together, and some fans think they'll go further than that.
Amusingly, the cast members seem to have a hard time getting their heads around the idea of Rhaenyra and Alicent together. A relationship would surely bring "more conflict," guesses Olivia Cooke, who plays Alicent. "It's a weird question."
I kind of went into this video nervous that the actors would endorse some of the book changes that have irritated me about the show, but really enjoyed how unseriously they take everything. Next up:
The Targaryens are somehow splicing their genes with dragons, which is why they're sometimes crazy
Now this is the kind of crazy-ass theory I can get behind. Obviously, the cast members are thrown. "I have no idea," says Tom Glynn-Carney, who plays Aegon Targaryen. And Olivia Cooke again steals the show with an incredulous cry of, "It's not real!"
An iron shortage will force the Targaryens to use the swords surrounding the Iron Throne as weapons, which is why there aren't nearly as many by the time of Game of Thrones
Okay, this theory actually sounds like a cool idea. Steve Toussaint, who plays Corlys Velaryon, agrees. "That's a good theory," he says. "I, for one, am gonna say yes."
Meanwhile, Fabien Frankel (Criston Cole) tells us that Rhys Ifans (Otto Hightower) apparently hated all those swords sticking out of the ground: "Rhys kept impaling himself on those. He hated it...He'd always be tripping up. He absolutely hated it."
Daemon Targaryen will become the Three-Eyed Raven
The Three-Eyed Raven is a powerful greenseer involved in the long fight between the living and dead. In Game of Thrones, Bran meets the Three-Eyed Raven beyond the Wall and then becomes the Three-Eyed Raven himself. Some fans think Daemon may take up the role in House of the Dragon, and actor Matt Smith isn't going to shoot them down. "I hope so. Good one. I like that. Yes, affirmative."
Does he actually know anything about where the story is going? Probably not — this video seems like it was filmed before work started on season 3 and there's another season to go — but why not have fun? We never hear about Daemon becoming the Three-Eyed Raven in the book, but his fate is left kind of ambiguous, so anything's possible.
The maesters are secretly trying to take down the Targaryen dynasty from within
This is part of a larger fan theory called the Grand Maester Conspiracy. Is it real? I dunno. Emma D'Arcy (Rhaenyra Targaryen) has a curt response: "Those bastards." Cooke also chimes in: "They do over-prescribe Milk of the Poppy, so maybe there's something in that."
Another, related theory holds that the maesters are purposefully stunting the growth of the dragons. Steve Toussaint, seeing the need for decisive leadership, shuts it down: "That's nonsense."
Otto Hightower is imprisoned by House Beesbury and Daeron Targaryen will save him
In season 2, Otto Hightower leaves the city of King's Landing early on and isn't seen again until the very end of the season, when we see that he's imprisoned...somewhere. All of this is way off-book, so it's hard to predict what happens next.
A good theory is that he's in the Reach and is imprisoned by House Beesbury; remember that Criston Cole killed Lyman Beesbury (Bill Paterson) in the first season, so they have no love for anybody on the Green side of the war. "All I know is that wherever he's imprisoned, he's never gonna wanna be rescued," Glynn-Carney quipped.
The best thing about this stretch is how entertained the cast are by the name of the seat of House Beesbury: Honeyholt. "I just think surely we would have heard more about Honeyholt and Honeywine. I think that would have been woven into the story just slightly," Cooke says. That's a lot of faith she's got.
Will Laenor Velaryon come back?
In Fire & Blood, Rhaenyra's first husband Laenor Velaryon (John Macmillan) dies under slightly mysterious circumstances, leaving the path open for Rhaenyra to marry Daemon. On the show, Laenor's death is faked and he leaves to...I dunno, live somewhere else apart from his family and children for the rest of his life. Happily ever after?
Since we didn't see him die, he could technically return. "We think he won't [come back], but we hope he will," D'Arcy says. Personally, we think he's already dead.
Alys Rivers and Melisandre are the same person
This last theory posits that that Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin), the mysterious witch woman Daemon encounters at Harrenhal in season 2, is actually Melisandre, the ancient witch woman who advised Stannis Baratheon, Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones. There's no indication of this in the book, but the show has kind of given her a similar spooky vibe. I'll let the cast take this one away:
- Glynn-Carney: "That's quite a cool one."
- Cooke: "I like that theory. I don't wanna debunk it."
- D'Arcy: "I wanna bunk it."
Okay, hopefully this video can tide fans over for a little longer. House of the Dragon season 3 will be out in...a while.
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