House of the Dragon is set to air on Sunday and Monday in the US and the UK respectively and is fans’ first return to Westeros since Game of Thrones concluded back in 2019. So ahead of going back 300 years to the height of the Targaryen dynasty, what happened with the Song of Ice and Fire in the end? Here’s a brief recap of everything you need to know here…
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Game of Thrones season eight sees Daenerys Targaryen well on her way to reclaiming her family’s seat as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, Protector of the Realm and so on. The only thing that appears to stand in her way is Jon’s sister Sansa’s complete distrust in her, Cersei Lannister holding firm in the Capital, oh, and the fact that her love Jon Snow was actually a Targaryen whose claim superseded her own, making him the rightful King of the Iron Throne.
WATCH: Catch up before watching House of the Dragon
Despite that, Jon pledged his loyalty to Daenerys, saying that he didn’t care about his true parentage and that she is her true Queen. Problem solved. Next up was the Cersei issue. After capturing Dany’s best friend Missandei, Cersei makes her status clear by having her killed on the walls of King’s Landing.
Jon kills Daenerys
In a fit of fury, Daenerys decides to take King’s Landing with fire and blood, and wreaks havoc on the city, killing thousands of innocent civilians to finally regain her seat.
Sansa becomes Queen of the North
As such, her fate is sealed as 'the mad queen'. Tyrion Lannister, her Hand of the Queen, tells Jon Snow that he must do the unthinkable to save the world from her, because if she is capable of this, then where does her reign of terror end? Jon, devastated, stabs and kills Daenerys in the throne room, moments after she finally believes she has won everything she fought for, but for Jon, ending the Targaryen dynasty once and for all.
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Jon returns to the Night's Watch
The aftermath sees the Lord and Ladies across the Seven Kingdoms sit down to decide who will lead the Seven Kingdoms, with Bran Stark selected to be the King while Tyrion serves as his Hand. Meanwhile, Jon is sent to join the Night’s Watch in penance of killing Daenerys, and Sansa creates an independent kingdom in Winterfell, becoming the Queen in the North.
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