House of the Dragon is familiar with the mythological. Not just does the HBO dream dramatization collection brag lots of subtle magic– and also, y’know, dragons— however it’s likewise the innovator to Game of Thrones, a program packed with snow zombies and smoke beast infants. Clearly, this is a world where transcendent pressures go to play. Even so, Daemon Targaryen’s (Matt Smith) unsettling stopover at Harrenhal in period 2 perhaps marks House of the Dragon‘s most overtly mythological subplot to day.
Everyone’s favored sexy sadboy prince starts a business at the apparently cursed castle in episode 3, and odd goings-on begin accumulating right after. It definitely looks like he’s captured up in Westeros’ solution to Ghost Hunters, however is he (and every person else) simply leaping at darkness? Just just how cursed is House of the Dragon‘s Harrenhal, truly?
Why does every person assume Harrenhal is cursed?
One of minority points Westeros’ high- and lowborn individual apparently settle on is that there’s been a curse upon Harrenhal because its structures were laid. Why? George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books, House of the Dragon, and Game of Thrones chalk up Harrenhal’s uncertain track record to 2 major aspects.
The initially is the Olympic- degree conceit of Harrenhal’s owner, King Harren Hoare, in the lead-up to the castle’s ribbon-cutting event. Harren made a big deal of how invincible his generations-in-the-making citadel was mosting likely to be– and, theoretically, his offering made good sense. Harrenhal is virtually comically supersized, and its battlements (presumably made from mortar blended with Harren’s blood) can in theory brush off any type of standard strike.
The problem for ol’ Harren was that dragons are extremely unique. King Aegon I Targaryen and his sisters jumped right into Westeros essentially the day Harren relocated right into Harrenhal and quickly torched the joint. The Targaryens’ dragons barbequed Harren and his children throughout the attack, and Harrenhal itself was never ever the very same once more. Unsurprisingly, reports that Harrenhal was cursed, haunted, or both emerged right after.
The 2nd variable adding to Harrenhal’s dubious representative is that virtually every person that did well Harren as lord of the castle really did not get on better. We saw a few of this misery in Game of Thrones‘ eight-season run: Tywin Lannister, Janos Slynt, and Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish end up shot dead on the bathroom, banished and afterwards beheaded, and Pez dispenser-ed, specifically. House of the Dragon season 1 adds Lyonel Strong and his boy Harwin to the Harrenhal curse’s supposed victims also.
Frankly, it’s tough at fault people for thinking the area is jinxed!
What takes place at Harrenhal in the Game of Thrones publications?
Both the core A Song of Ice and Fire books and House of the Dragon‘s source text, Fire & Blood, cut short of revealing any type of straight-out paranormal task atHarrenhal Sure, we listen to tales of the citadel’s different scaries, such as the flaming phantoms of Harren and his children, a child-eating evil spirit called Mad Lady Lothston, rafters filled with raven spirits, and house team collapsing to ashes in their rest. We never ever in fact see any one of this things, however.
At one factor, Littlefinger grumbles regarding Harrenhal’s supernatural guests; nonetheless, this is most likely simply the ex-spouse-Master of Coin’s trademark snark. Similarly, while different personalities (consisting of Jaime Lannister and Arya Stark) recognize that phantoms of Harren and his children apparently wander the castle’s passages, no one in fact witnesses this sensation firsthand. What’s much more, Westerosi rumblings that Harren’s ghost rubbed out a set of Lannister- associated scoundrels in A Clash of Kings are flat-out incorrect; Arya’s advisor, Jaqen H’ghar, is the one in fact accountable. There’s an in a similar way prosaic description for the spooky blares that rise from Harrenhal’s appropriately called Wailing Tower: It’s simply wind blowing via fractures in the wall surfaces.
Even so, Fire & & Blood likewise information various other, much less quickly hand-waved mythological chicanery on Harrenhal’s premises. Notably, the castle’s Heart Tree not just has a scary-looking face, however likewise “bleeds” from dragon claw marks in its trunk every springtime. Admittedly, Heart Trees are an entire different branch (word play here completely meant) of magic in A Song of Ice and Fire tradition, and do not always drop under menstruation umbrella. Yet this absolutely fits the meaning of “spooky”– and perhaps validates there’s something fouler afoot at Harrenhal.
So, is Harrenhal truly cursed? Or is that simply Westerosi superstitious notion?
Honestly? No one recognizes without a doubt. Ambiguity is a vital component of Martin’s handle magic, the mythological, and religious beliefs in A Song of Ice andFire As such, the specifics around all 3– consisting of curses, genuine or visualized– is purposefully unclear. Harrenhal can be haunted by a sinister dislodge to damage Daemon, however do not hold your breath anticipating House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal to claim without a doubt.
Certainly, absolutely nothing in episode 3 or 4 unconditionally validates or eliminates Harrenhal’s curse. Yes, Daemon sees his bedchamber door drunk by hidden pressures; nonetheless, Harrenhal is breezy as fuck. Our person’s (undoubtedly slipshod) visions of more youthful Rhaenyra aren’t precisely factor to call an exorcist, either. For something, Rhaenyra’s still active (so this ain’t a ghost), and for one more, period 2 is cluttered with ideas Daemon is shedding his grasp. It’s the traditional “Is this all in his head?” trope.
But although Harrenhal’s curse stays up for discussion in House of the Dragon period 2, something’s clear: Haunted or otherwise, the castle is Westeros’ the very least preferable getaway.
.Source: Polygon
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