House of the Dragon Has Shocking Connection to a Real-Life War
However weird it may sound, George R.R. Martin still had more mercy for his characters than history had for real people.
Initially released back in 2022, House of the Dragon was quick to become a whole new phenomenon in modern TV history. Being a part of Game of Thrones franchise and coming as its prequel, the show puts its entire focus on House of Targaryen’s story full of cruelty, blood and dragon fire.
While House of the Dragon seems to follow its predecessor’s suit and keep a similar tone, it still appears to have a unique approach to the history of Game of Thrones’ most controversial family, and it may be due to some real-life inspiration that eventually strengthened the show’s authenticity.
In the upcoming second season, House of the Dragon will kick off a grand full-scale war between the divided family members of House of Targaryen, proving that even tight bonds can’t be a reason solid enough for not staking everything in an attempt to gain ultimate power.
Ironically, this isn’t something that can exist only in George R.R. Martin’s fantasy world as, while creating House of the Dragon’s story, the author seemingly got inspired by some real-life events from the 1100s.
Martin’s Dance of the Dragons happens to be very similar to the circumstances surrounding the Anarchy civil war when it was started in 1138. At that time, King Henry I of England had to make pretty much the same decision as House of the Dragon’s King Viserys and make his daughter, Matilda, his rightful heir as the King’s son William Adelin had unexpectedly died.
Upon Henry I’s death the power was taken over by his nephew Stephen, something that eventually forced Matilda to start a civil war against her cousin who had usurped the throne.
Whether expected or not, the war later turned into something so protracted that Matilda, having fought with Stephen for nearly 15 years, never got to rule the country, though instead of her the throne was given to Matilda’s son Henry II after Stephen’s death.
George R.R. Martin’s book series clearly has some quite obvious connections to the Anarchy civil war as Henry I and Matilda are some kind of prototypes of King Viserys and Rhaenyra, Alicent’s son Aegon and Rhaenyra are somewhat similar to Stephen and Matilda, and, finally Lucerys and William Adelin appear to have the same impact on the later started wars, as their deaths became the main reasons for the following feud.
The biggest difference between this comparison of reality and fiction is that the Anarchy civil war lasted about 15 years, while George R.R. Martin was gracious enough to end Dance of the Dragons approximately 2 years after it started.