House of the Dragon Finally Explained A Game of Thrones Plot Hole
If you're a fan of Game of Thrones, you probably remember all those discussions about the Prince That Was Promised, the fabled hero supposed to save the world from destruction.
Discussions, which were notably muddled by the fact that the original of the prophecy was supposed to be in Valyrian, and the Valyrian word for prince was said to be gender-neutral.
So, Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, and a number of other characters were pitched for the role.
And when the Night King was unceremoniously shanked by Arya Stark, using a Valyrian dagger, there was just about enough justification to establish her as the real Prince.
However, outcome of the Battle of Winterfell was so unsatisfying to many that a lot of the disgruntled fans decided instead to believe that the prophecy was vague garbage to start with.
And now, showrunners of House of the Dragon too are enjoying playing with prophecies which are just accurate enough to fit the events in the hindsight, and just vague enough to be largely useless for practical purposes.
For example, Aegon the Conqueror's prophecy, which drives a lot of King Viserys' decisions, just isn't going to fit the events of Game of Thrones without retcons. Or, at least, a very liberal interpretation.
But on the other hand, prophecies keep emerging throughout House of the Dragon, even if in the form that, again, renders them likely to be misunderstood or even downright misleading.
Semi-insane Princess Helaena spouts them all the time. And King Viserys had a couple of flashes of prophetic insight, even if they did him no good – for example, he saw his son sitting on the Iron Throne while wearing the crown of Aegon the Conqueror, but never figured out that Aegon II will be that son.
And there is one big, undeniable link between prophecies in which Viserys believed in House of the Dragon, the prophecy of the Prince That Was Promised, and the actual events of the Night King's defeat.
Remember the above-mentioned Valyrian steel dagger with which Arya killed the lord of White Walkers?
It is the very same dagger onto which the prophecy of Aegon the Conqueror had been inscribed, and which Viserys employed as an illustration when he explained said prophecy to Rhaenyra.
It last appears on the screen, when Alicent presents it to Aegon II, on the day of his coronation.
So, fate and foretelling it are clearly supposed to be real. It is just that pretty much no people are clear-headed enough to make their foretelling free from misinterpretation.