What Is the Meaning of Viserys’s Dream in House of the Dragon?

We saw in episode 3 of House of the Dragon that the political struggle that will soon tear the entire family apart is already beginning as Rhaenyra’s feelings about being replaced by Aegon II are becoming more apparent. Nevertheless, Viserys was still clear that Rhaenyra was his heir, even though he already had a male son. But it did look like he doubted his choices because of a dream he had a long time ago. So, what was the meaning of Viserys’s dream?

Viserys had a dream that he had a male heir wearing the crown of Aegon the Conqueror, and that could mean that he thought that his first male son was going to be the “prince that was promised.” It was also this dream that made him obsessed with having a male son, as this dream killed Queen Aemma.

While dragons are powerful creatures, Viserys said that being a dreamer means you are more special, as prophecies are much more powerful than any weapon in the world. In that regard, Viserys was obsessed with this dream to the point that he often forgot about Rhaenyra. So, with that said, let’s look at the meaning of this dream in greater detail.

What Was King Viserys’s Dream?

Episode 3 of House of the Dragon is now becoming more intriguing as we are now seeing the early stages of what will soon become a war between the different members of House Targaryen. Of course, we already know that King Viserys married Alicent Hightower. Then, in episode 3, we saw that they were already celebrating the second birthday of Aegon II, who is the firstborn son of Viserys and Alicent. Of course, Alicent is once again pregnant.

The fact that Viserys now has a son has allowed the different lords of Westeros to believe that he was soon going to replace Rhaenyra’s place as the named heir to the Iron Throne. Of course, Rhaenyra wasn’t too happy with the fact that the attention of the entire realm was going to Aegon II, who was still two years old at that time. And when Rhaenyra thought that Viserys was selling her off to the Lannisters, she stormed out, believing that her father was looking to replace her with Aegon II as the heir.

Of course, Viserys was clear about the fact that he wasn’t going to replace Rhaenyra as his heir. Then again, while he was drunk and after he had an argument with his daughter, he had a moment with Alicent in front of the flames of their camp in the Kingswood. He spoke about a dream that he once had. But what was that dream that King Viserys was talking about?

Viserys, while explaining to Alicent his dream, said that there had been many dragonriders in the history of his line, but there have only been a few dreamers. He believed that dragons are indeed powerful, but the power of prophecy is something entirely more powerful than anything in the world. It was then and there that he shared the details of the dream that he once had.

He said that when Rhaenyra was still just a child, he had a dream that he had a male son that wore the crown of Aegon the Conqueror. As such, he believed that this son was going to be great, and that was what forced him to disregard Rhaenyra throughout most of his entire life while driving Queen Aemma to the ground so that she could produce him a male heir.

Viserys was quite aware of the fact that it was this dream that drove him obsessed with the fact that he wanted a male heir, as he forgot about the fact that he already had an heir in Rhaenyra. And he also felt sorry about the fact that it was this dream that killed Queen Aemma, who died in childbirth.

What Is The Meaning of Viserys’s Dream?

King Viserys didn’t say a lot about the details of his dream. He was about to do so until he and Alicent were disturbed by the announcement that the stag they were supposed to hunt had been spotted. But what was the meaning behind Viserys’s dream?

While Viserys didn’t talk about his dream, there are some hints that would point to the possible meaning behind Viserys’s dream. And the first thing clue was the fact that Viserys said the power of dragons is nothing to the power of dreams.

More than a hundred years before the Aegon conquered Westeros, Daenys the Dreamer dreamt of the destruction of Valyria. Believing that this dream was a prophecy, the entire Targaryen household relocated to Dragonstone. More than a decade later, the Doom of Valyria happened as House Targaryen survived the event that took the lives of almost all of the dragons and the dragonlords of Valyria. As such, the Targaryens were the only dragonlords that existed in the known world during the time of House of the Dragon.

In that regard, Viserys knew the power of dreams as he knew that a Targaryen dreamer could very well save the entire world with a single prophecy. And believing that he had the power of a dreamer made him think that his dream had a deeper meaning behind it.

Meanwhile, let’s look at the second clue, which is the fact that Viserys saw that his male heir was wearing the crown of Aegon the Conqueror. We all know that Aegon is often regarded as the greatest Targaryen of all time because of the fact that he conquered and united the entire continent of Westeros under Targaryen rule. And Viserys and all of the Targaryen kings know about Aegon’s dream of a greater threat that was going to come from the north.

There is also the fact that a prophecy of “the prince that was promised” exists. This prophecy was foretold thousands of years ago as many believe that the prophecy pertains to the savior of the world. And when paired with Aegon’s prophecy about the threat in the north, he believed that the prince that was promised was going to be a Targaryen and that only this Targaryen was going to be able to unite the entire realm against this common threat.

In that regard, Viserys might have thought that his son was the prince that was promised that was going to be the one to unite the entire realm under his rule against the common threat that was coming from the north. His reasoning was probably due to how his male heir was wearing Aegon’s crown in his dream. And this was what drove him to pour all of his thoughts into producing a male heir, as this killed not only his newborn son but also his first wife.

Of course, as we saw in Game of Thrones, the “prince that was promised” might have been a mistranslation because the original term used in the prophecy was gender fluid. As such, it might have also pertained to a princess, which is why there were those who believed that Daenerys Targaryen was the prince that was promised. And because Daenerys (and also Jon and the Starks) were important pieces in the war against the Night King, she might have been the prince that was promised.