Top 10 Craziest ‘House of the Dragon’ Fan Theories You Should Know

House of the Dragon is a complex series, packed with cryptic prophecies and intricate family lineages. Adding to the complexity is the show’s source material, Fire & Blood, which is narrated from the perspective of a historian centuries later. This unreliable narrator leaves room for the show’s creators to introduce unexpected twists that could become fan canon.

The show’s frequent creative liberties amplify the unpredictability: Certain changes are so drastic that even the book’s unreliable narrator couldn’t justify them. This creates a series where almost anything is possible, encouraging fans to let their imaginations soar. Below, you’ll encounter plenty of spoilers, along with 10 of the most thrilling and popular fan theories to date.

Warning: Major spoilers for Fire & Blood and the series ahead.

A secret plot by the Grand Maester aims to weaken the Targaryens from within. 

While the details of this theory differ among fans, one constant is the influence of House Hightower—home to Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and Otto (Rhys Ifans). They rule Oldtown, the city housing the Citadel, where maesters are trained. (Maesters are noble-born scholars and healers who advise Westerosi lords and ladies.)

Though the Hightowers’ hidden agendas are evident in House of the Dragon, the potential motives of Fire & Blood’s narrator, Archmaester Gyldayn, are subtler. Fans often accuse him and the maesters of being anti-Targaryen, anti-dragon, and anti-magic, even long after the era of dragons. This has led to theories that the maesters of Oldtown conspired against the Targaryens, possibly even poisoning their dragons to strip them of power. Some argue this conspiracy contributed to the Targaryens’ decline after the Dance of the Dragons. 

Season 3 will feature Daeron Targaryen, Alicent’s third son with King Viserys, who was largely raised by the maesters of Oldtown. This presents an opportunity for the show to finally explore and clarify this theory. 

Laenor Velaryon is set to make a comeback.

A fundamental rule in any fandom is that if a character’s death isn’t explicitly shown, fans will speculate about their survival and possible return. Ambiguity fuels theories, which is why some fans still believe Syrio Forel from Game of Thrones is still alive, even now.

This also holds true for Laenor Velaryon (John Macmillan), Rhaenyra’s first husband, who staged his death in Season 1 and escaped to Essos. While this is one of the few positive outcomes for any character in HotD, fans wonder if this is truly the end of his story. Although early theories suggested he might reappear as a simplified version of Addam of Hull (a role now played by Clinton Liberty), there’s still a chance Laenor could re-enter the narrative, possibly through a connection with Addam’s brother Alyn (Abubakar Salim), who shares Laenor’s maritime passion. 

Daemon lives through his epic showdown with Aemond.

Much like Lucerys Velaryon’s death in Season 1, Daemon Targaryen’s (Matt Smith) fate in the book is left ambiguous. While the bodies of Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), his dragon Vhagar, and Daemon’s dragon Caraxes are recovered after the battle, Daemon himself is never found.

Historians in Westeros presume his death, but without official confirmation, fans speculate he might have followed Laenor’s path from Season 1, escaping Westeros to live a quiet life away from the treacherous game of thrones. While some fans find it difficult to accept that Daemon would abandon his children—Aegon, Viserys, Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell), and Baela (Bethany Antonia)—it remains a plausible scenario.

Rhaenyra won’t be portrayed as the Mad Queen in the series.

If the show adheres to the book’s narrative, Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) will seize King’s Landing early in Season 3. However, this victory is bittersweet for her supporters, as the book depicts Rhaenyra as an ineffective ruler. Her paranoia, grief over lost loved ones, and indifference toward the common people spark a violent uprising in King’s Landing. This leads to the destruction of the Dragonpit and the deaths of numerous dragons, including her own, Syrax, forcing her to retreat to Dragonstone. 

Her perceived cruelty and ineptitude earn her the nickname “King Maegor with Teats,” a nod to a former Targaryen ruler known for his ruthless tyranny. But was this label justified, or was it another instance of biased storytelling? Given the show’s more compassionate portrayal of Rhaenyra, many fans believe she’ll be depicted as a more empathetic queen. While she may still struggle as a ruler, fans speculate her most controversial actions will be softened or excluded.

Alys Rivers and Melisandre might be the same individual.

Introduced in Season 2, Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) is an enigmatic witch residing in Harrenhal, using her subtle powers to eliminate a heavily guarded lord for Daemon’s benefit. This plotline echoes Melisandre’s (Carice van Houten) actions in Season 2 of Game of Thrones, where she used similar magical tactics to kill Renly Baratheon. 

Rivers’s ultimate fate remains unresolved in Fire & Blood, as the book concludes before her story does. This has sparked speculation among fans that she never truly dies, instead leaving Harrenhal and reappearing in Westeros over a century later as a red priestess. While this theory is considered improbable—some argue it makes the world of Westeros feel overly confined—it’s worth noting that stranger events have occurred in ASOIAF.

Aemond and Alys’s child is believed to be an ancestor of the Starks.

Season 3 will likely feature Aemond One-Eye’s capture of Harrenhal. After taking the castle, he falls under Alys’s spell and takes her as his “wife.” While the narrator of Fire & Blood presents this relationship as genuine, it’s evident that Alys harbors deep resentment toward Aemond for destroying her home and killing her kin. She subtly manipulates him into his fatal confrontation with Daemon in the Battle Above the Gods Eye, later establishing herself as the Witch Queen of Harrenhal. Her primary source of power, aside from her magic, is her young Targaryen son by Aemond. 

What becomes of Alys and Aemond’s son? He appears in the book, and some fans speculate he establishes House Whent, a family of uncertain origins that fades by the time of A Game of Thrones. This would make him a direct forebear of Catelyn Tully Stark, who has Whent ancestry through her mother. While Jon Snow’s Targaryen lineage was a major plot point in the original series, it’s possible the other Stark children also carry a trace of dragon blood. 

Helaena’s death is driven by vengeance, not sorrow.

Another heartbreaking moment anticipated in the show involves Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban). In the book, she takes her own life by leaping from a tower window roughly six months after Rhaenyra’s forces seize King’s Landing. Many, including characters in the book, believe her actions stem from overwhelming grief over the death of her eldest son, Prince Jaehaerys, at the hands of Blood and Cheese in Season 2. Alternatively, some suggest she may have been assassinated on orders from figures like Rhaenyra or Larys Strong (Matthew Needham).

An alternative theory suggests Helaena’s suicide is far more deliberate than readers initially thought. Given that TV Helaena is portrayed as someone who can foresee the future, what if she jumps from the tower precisely because she knows the chaos it will unleash for Rhaenyra, who rules King’s Landing at the time? This moment marks the collapse of Queen Rhaenyra’s brief reign, and it would be intriguing if the typically passive Helaena played an active role in causing it.

Nettles won’t appear in the show, only Rhaena.

In the second-to-last episode of Season 2, viewers saw Hugh the Hammer (Kieran Bew) and Ulf the White (Tom Bennett)—both of lowborn origins—each tame a dragon, a feat Addam of Hull had accomplished earlier. Known as “dragonseeds,” these individuals are believed to be the illegitimate children of Targaryens or those with strong Valyrian heritage, like the Velaryons. Ulf claims on the show to be the bastard son of Prince Baelon Targaryen, father of Daemon and King Viserys. While unconfirmed in the book, the show hints that Saera Targaryen—Prince Baelon’s disgraced sister and a trueborn daughter of King Jaehaerys (who rode Vermithor, the Bronze Fury)—might be Hugh’s mother, a theory some fans find plausible.

However, they aren’t the sole individuals to tame a dragon. If the show followed the book, a future plotline would introduce Nettles, a lowborn girl of uncertain heritage who bonds with a wild dragon (Sheepstealer) by cleverly offering him sheep, his favorite food, to gain his trust. Nettles allies with Rhaenyra’s faction, and she shares an unexpectedly tender connection with Daemon—though rumors suggest Daemon may betray Rhaenyra for her. Lady Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) appears convinced of this; in Fire & Blood, she convinces a suspicious Rhaenyra to order Nettles’s execution. (Daemon ultimately refuses to comply.)

The show has all but confirmed that Nettles’s role will be reassigned to Rhaena, Daemon’s daughter from his second marriage to Laena Velaryon. This raises an uncomfortable question: Could Rhaena and Daemon’s relationship turn romantic? While parent-child relationships are a line even the Targaryens avoid crossing, Daemon’s dream involving his mother, Alyssa Targaryen, in Season 2 leaves room for doubt. Fans hope Rhaena and Daemon’s bond remains wholesome and that her eventual dragon-claiming moment is unforgettable.

Rhaenyra won’t suffer the same brutal fate as in the book.

Fire & Blood concludes Rhaenyra’s story on a deeply tragic note: After Daemon’s death at the Gods Eye and the chaos in King’s Landing, she retreats to Dragonstone, only to face a shocking betrayal. Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), who fled the capital before her invasion, emerges from hiding after over a year and captures her. She is ultimately burned alive and devoured by his dragon, Sunfyre, who miraculously reaches Dragonstone. This horrifying event unfolds in front of her son, who is forced to witness his mother’s gruesome end.

Aegon II’s victory is hollow, as the remainder of his brief rule is marked by suffering—especially when Daemon’s daughter Baela returns to Dragonstone with her dragon, Moondancer, and reminds him of the true meaning of their family’s words. Despite this, Rhaenyra’s brutal death remains deeply distressing. In the show, however, Aegon casually mentions that Sunfyre perished in the Battle of Rook’s Rest alongside Meleys and Rhaenys (Eve Best), the Queen who Never Was. While he might be mistaken or exaggerating, many fans see this as a possible hint that the show plans to diverge from the book’s ending. 

Perhaps the HotD writers have heeded criticism from Season 8 of Game of Thrones, where Daenerys Targaryen’s descent into “madness” and subsequent death left many dissatisfied. While George R.R. Martin concludes Rhaenyra’s story tragically in the source material, the show might offer her a more hopeful or less grim resolution. 

The show unfolds in an alternate timeline.

One of the most debated moments in the Season 2 finale was Daenerys’s brief appearance in Daemon’s mystical vision at the weirwood tree in Harrenhal. This scene appears to confirm her as the prophesied Princess That Was Promised, a revelation that would be thrilling if not for the lingering dissatisfaction many fans feel about how her arc concluded in GoT.

But what if this timeline in HotD offers a different outcome? Perhaps this version of Westeros is kinder to its female Targaryens, sparing both Daenerys and Rhaenyra from the tragic fates that befell them in the original narrative. Alternatively, the show might be crafting its own canon, distinct from GoT and even ASOIAF, where Daenerys’s downfall is avoided. Given George R.R. Martin’s unfinished work on ASOIAF, some speculate that Martin might be revising his planned ending, and the HotD creators could be privy to these changes.

Of course, it’s probable that HotD will conclude tragically, as that’s typically George R.R. Martin’s style. Still, it’s comforting for fans to hold onto hope for a different outcome. While the eventual heartbreak might be more profound if these theories prove false, at least there’s a glimmer of possibility that their favorite characters could defy their doomed fates.