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HOTD Secretly Connects Rhaenyra Targaryen To Arya Stark (In 3 Ways!)
House of the Dragon is secretly connecting one of its central characters, Rhaenyra Targaryen, to one from Game of Thrones in Arya Stark. Rhaenyra is the daughter of King Viserys in the show, and many of the early episodes have focused on her path to ascend the Iron Throne after her father. While a lot of the political and fantasy elements of House of the Dragon emulate those of Game of Thrones, the show is secretly connecting two of their respective prominent characters in several ways.
In connecting these characters, House of the Dragon simply reminds audiences that it exists in the same timeline as Game of Thrones, despite taking place almost 200 years before. Despite the show having many similar locations, plot points, and themes, linking two of the more prominent characters is a smart way to keep the sequel series fresh in the mind of viewers, even subliminally. The shows begin with the two characters in similar positions, with Rhaenyra being the daughter of the king, and Arya being the daughter of the Hand of the King in Game of Thrones season 1.
Arya Stark is one of Game of Thrones' central characters and is one of the few to survive the entire show. Arya goes from a stubborn-minded young girl to a cold, calculated assassin trained by the Faceless Men of Braavos before sailing west of Westeros by the series' end. Here are the subtle ways that the daughter of House Stark is connected to Rhaenyra Targaryen of House of the Dragon.
Rhaenyra & Arya Are Both Inspired By Princess Nymeria
One of the main things that link the two characters is their idolization of Princess Nymeria. In Westerosi lore, Nymeria was a warrior-queen of the Rhoynar, a people from the continent of Essos. When the Rhoynar came into conflict with the Valyrian Freehold, Nymeria led their survivors across the sea to Westeros where they settled in Dorne. Because of this, Nymeria is seen as the founder of Dorne as a unified kingdom after she joined her house with House Martell and the two unified Dorne with Sunspear as its capital.
In Game of Thrones, Arya had a direwolf named Nymeria. This is no coincidence, with Arya clearly being inspired by Nymeria due to the former wanting to be a knight. Arya often mentioned people like Nymeria, or Rhaenys and Visenya Targaryen as her inspirations as opposed to more traditional ladies of the court like Jonquil. Similarly, House of the Dragon implies that Rhaenyra is inspired by Princess Nymeria. In episode one of the show, Alicent Hightower is quizzing Rhaenyra on Nymeria's history. At first, Rhaenyra doesn't answer, before perfectly recounting Nymeria's history in Dorne. Following on from this, the show further implies Rhaenyra's inspiration from Nymeria during another scene in the Godswood of King's Landing.
In House of the Dragon episode 3, Rhaenyra has a bard repeat the same song while she reads. The lyrics of the song recite "She fled with her ships and her people..." and "Under the dragon's eye." This is a song about Nymeria and the Rhoynar fleeing Essos to come to Westeros. It is clear from Rhaenyra wanting to hear this song on repeat, as well as her perfect recollection of Nymeria's history, that the warrior-queen is of some inspiration to her too. This naturally links Arya and Rhaenyra despite the two being hundreds of years apart.
Neither Rhaenyra Nor Arya Want To Be Married Off
One of the major aspects of House of the Dragon episode 3 is Rhaenyra's hesitancy to be married into another family. In the episode, it is clear that everyone around Rhaenyra at court thinks she should be married to another house. House of the Dragon introduces Jason Lannister as a potential suitor for Rhaenyra, with Otto Hightower proposing she wed her half-brother Aegon and Lord Strong saying the same about Laenor Velaryon. However, the show goes to portray Rhaenyra not wanting to be married as she is the proclaimed heir to the Iron Throne. She worries that marrying into another family will make her simply the wife of another lord as is typically the role royal women play in Westeros, and that she won't succeed the Iron Throne should this happen. Also, Rhaenyra seems to want to marry for love as opposed to marrying for duty, something she chastises her father for doing and highlighting his hypocrisy for making her do the latter.
Similarly, the sequel series often portrayed Arya Stark as being above marriage. In one of the earlier episodes of Game of Thrones season 1, Ned Stark insists that his daughter will marry a high lord, rule his castle, and raise their sons to be knights. Arya simply replies "No, that's not me", before returning to her swordsman training by Syrio Forel. Also in the early seasons, Arya often ridiculed her sister Sansa due to the latter's wish of marrying a knight or becoming a queen, with Arya being more set on becoming a knight herself. Throughout the show, Arya continuously shows no interest in marriage, even going as far as rejecting Gendry's proposal to her. Despite showing an obvious attraction to him, alongside her admiration of him as a young girl and sleeping with him before the Battle of Winterfell in Game of Thrones season 8, Arya cites not being a lady as her reasoning for rejecting their marriage, again insisting "That's not me."
The obvious rejection of marriage that both characters insist upon connects the two in another way. While Rhaenyra's reasoning might be slightly different, and she doesn't seem completely against marriage (rather the traditions of women having no agency in their betrothals), she is still against the notion at the point in time of House of the Dragon episode 3. Through this, she is connected to Arya, who was against marrying into another family the entire way through Game of Thrones.
Rhaenyra & Arya Both Share In White Animal Symbolism
Another connection, albeit a less obvious one, comes in the form of animals. The ending of House of the Dragon episode 3, at least Rhaenyra's part in the episode, sees the white stag that was being hunted by the king revealing itself to her. The white stag was being hunted as a positive portent for Aegon's second name day, with the symbolism of the animal being that it will appear to the rightful heir due to its royal links both in-universe and in real life. In appearing to Rhaenyra, she takes it as her claim to the Iron Throne being just and strong and that she won't be replaced by her half-brother.
Similarly, Game of Thrones season 8, specifically the second-to-last episode "The Bells", Arya is given her own piece of animal symbolism. While Rhaenyra's comes in the form of the white stag, Arya's is slightly different. After regaining consciousness during Daenerys' burning of King's Landing in Game of Thrones season 8, Arya sees a white horse and rides it out of the city. The symbolism of this animal comes from the New Testament's description of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: "I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death." Arya trained with the Faceless Men, who worship the Many-Faced God or the God of Death. Therefore, Arya being one of the most competent Faceless Men, can be seen as Death herself riding upon the ashen/white horse.
These two white animals, while meaning very different things in relation to the characters they appear to, link both Arya and Rhaenyra again. Both are going through difficult situations at their time of seeing the animals, and both situations can be taken to mean other things through the symbolism of the animals. Rhaenyra seeing the white stag is one of the catalysts that sees her go on to fight for the Iron Throne, and Arya's white horse symbolizes the end of her journey, linking the two together,
Why House Of The Dragon Makes Rhaenyra Like Arya Stark
Linking these two characters is very interesting, as Rhaenyra Targaryen goes on to become a character very much unlike Arya Stark. As an older woman, Rhaenyra goes to war for the Iron Throne and is ultimately remembered unfondly by the people of Westeros for her actions during the Dance of Dragons. This is a contrast to Arya, who was always shown to hate many rulers of Westeros, from Joffrey to Cersei and Daenerys by the show's end.
However, in connecting young Rhaenyra to Arya Stark, House of the Dragon is making her much more sympathetic. Before the inevitable time jumps of House of the Dragon's further episodes, in which viewers will see a different side to Rhaenyra, the show is making a point to make Rhaenyra an easily investable character. Through all of these similarities to Arya, Rhaenyra is a very sympathetic character and makes her plight easily understood, making her a character that it is easy to root for at this point in the timeline. In doing so, not only will the future of the show be much more engaging and tragic given the events of the Dance of Dragons, but it subliminally links one of House of the Dragons chief characters to a fan favorite from Game of Thrones.
New episodes of House of the Dragon release every Sunday on HBO/HBO Max.
