Who Wins The Dance Of The Dragons & How Does It Connect To 'Game Of Thrones'?
The following contains major spoilers for House of the Dragon’s source material, Fire & BloodHouse of the Dragon (2022) has been a massive success for HBO, expanding the saga of Game of Thrones (2011). While the similar prequel, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (2026), is a far more grounded and character-driven story, House of the Dragon depicts one of the most epic events in all of Westeros history: the Targaryen civil war, dubbed the Dance of the Dragons. The conflict is referenced multiple times in Game of Thrones and is held up as a key moment in the franchise’s lore.
With House of the Dragon Season 3 and Season 4 clearly set to depict the conflict in all its gruesome glory, it’s worth looking at the source material and figuring out how things might play out in the show. While there is certainly precedent for the showrunners to take divergent paths in their adaptation—Game of Thrones made plenty of changes to the story depicted in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series—the events of the book lay a likely foundation for what audiences can expect from the series. Here’s what happens in the Dance of the Dragons and how it impacts Game of Thrones.
‘House Of The Dragon’ Has Been Building To The Dance Of The Dragons
House of the Dragon has been building to the Dance of the Dragons all along, making the first two seasons a long-term build-up to the central conflict. While there are a lot of plot threads going on in House of the Dragon, the central plot is set roughly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. The first two seasons have largely focused on the brewing conflict between different branches of the ruling Targaryen family. At the center of the conflict is Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, who has been named her father's heir.
However, her former best friend, Alicent Hightower, now married to her father and mother to rivals for the throne, ends up increasingly positioned against her. The rage between the characters escalates after a number of deaths (both purposeful and accidental) that gradually bring the ruling family to the brink of civil war. Season 2 ends with the two armies—the Greens led by Alicent and the Blacks led by Rhaenyra—on the move and preparing for war.
The Dance Of The Dragon’s Book Ending, Explained
The Dance of Dragons featured in Fire & Blood is a grisly affair, setting up House of the Dragons’ next two seasons to be very battle-heavy. In the books, the war quickly overtakes most of Westeros, with new alliances coming into play that draw in regions like Winterfell and the Riverlands. Conflicts like the Battle by the Lakeshore and the Battle at the Red Fork deplete both armies, leaving room open for families like the Lannisters to accrue more influence through their victories and sacrifices. Spurned on by the death of her son Jace during the Battle of the Gullet, Rhaenyra leads an assault on King's Landing that forces Aegon II and his forces to retreat.
However, Aegon rallies more supporters and eventually strikes back, targeting Dragonstone. The storming of the Dragonpits by the irate civilian population, furious over the wars, leads to the deaths of several dragons, forcing Rhaenyra to retreat from King’s Landing. Meanwhile, the Battle Above the Gods Eye ends with the death of Aemond, as well as the death of Daemon, although his body is never recovered. As her forces are increasingly splintered, Rhaenyra retreats to Dragonstone in hopes of rallying her armies and hatching new dragons. However, Alfred Broome and his forces capture her.
Cornered by Aegon II and his dragon Sunfyre, Rhaenyra is fed to the dragon in front of her son Aegon, only for Aegon II himself to be brought down by the remnants of the forces loyal to Aegon. With the king’s death by poisoning ending the war, Aegon the Younger is crowned king and finds himself facing a whole new slew of problems that will continue to trouble Westeros for years to come, while Alicent spends the rest of her life effectively under house arrest to prevent further chaos.
How The Dance Of The Dragons Impacts ‘Game Of Thrones’
The Dance of Dragons is an important historical event in the world of Westeros, with some direct impacts on the shows that technically follow it in the timeline. Joffrey references Rhaenyra’s fate during his courtship of Margaery, speaking to the way the war has lingered in the consciousness of the world. The war also serves as an important stepping stone for certain families and alliances in Westeros, as well as an origin point for several major locations that appear in Game of Thrones.
The conflict’s biggest impact on the world at large was the eradication of most of the world’s dragons, with only a handful surviving the conflict and going on to be far smaller than the ones seen in the shows. While the Targaryan family survives and thrives for generations, the civil war destroys the golden age of their rule, with lingering fears over similar events driving later descendants like Aemon to abandon the family and go to the Wall to become a Maester.
Meanwhile, the instability that becomes pronounced in the family during this era only becomes greater over time, building to the era shortly before the events of Game of Thrones, where most of them are killed. This directly leads to the destruction of the family’s rule during Robert’s Rebellion, which directly lays the groundwork for the events of Game of Thrones. With the next two seasons of House of the Dragon playing out, fans should expect to see a lot of major battles that create the Westeros that they have come to know in Game of Thrones.
