A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' fourth episode inadvertently revealed what will happen at the end of House of the Dragon. The new spin-off, based on George R.R. Martin's Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas, is set between HBO's House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones. While the three Game of Thrones shows share very few crossover characters, it's sometimes impossible to avoid discussing events in one show that go on to become major historical moments in the next.
Case in point, Episode 4 of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms revealed a crucial moment in history for the Targaryen dynasty. The latest spin-off has a much smaller scope than the other two Westeros-based series, with the story following Hedge Knight, Ser Duncan (Peter Claffey), and his secret Targaryen squire, Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell).
In the latest episode, Dunk is approached by Egg's older brother, Daeron (Henry Ashton), who shares a prophetic dream he's had about Dunk and dragons. During the conversation, Daeron also reveals that the Targaryens were "dragon masters once," before adding, "now they're all gone."
Daeron Targaryen: "We were dragon masters once. Hard to believe. Now, they’re all gone, but we remain."
The death of the dragons in Westeros was a major historical event, and is one of the key reasons A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms feels different from House of the Dragon, as there is an abundance of the beasts in the latter and none in the former.
More prevalent is the fact that the dragons' dying out is an event directly related to the Targaryen civil war being explored on-screen in House of the Dragon. By revealing that all the dragons die, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms unintentionally spoils what House of the Dragon is leading up to in its upcoming Season 3 and 4.
Season 3 of House of the Dragon still has plenty of history to explore during the period known as the Dance of Dragons. At this point in the show, there are also still plenty of dragons on the table; in fact, a large portion of Season 2 of House of the Dragon was dedicated to finding more dragonriders. Although now, those dragons' fates have been confirmed.
While Game of Thrones fans would, of course, be aware that the dragons do, at some point, vanish in Westeros (thanks to their miraculous return in the original show at the hands of Daenerys Targaryen), this reminder of the dragons' extinction in the midst of House of the Dragon's run is a big reveal for fans of both shows.
How Do The Dragons Die in House of the Dragon?
For those wanting to fill in the gaps between A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and House of the Dragon without having to wait for the latter series' third and fourth seasons, Martin's book, Fire & Blood, reveals the circumstances that led to the dragons' absence.
As has been established in House of the Dragon, the Targaryens were at the height of their power on the Iron Throne with the help of their dragons. When the schism occurs between the Targaryen lineage after the death of King Viserys, the two heir apparents, Rhaenyra and Aegon (not the same Aegon from A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms), rally their sides to go to war.
In order to stand a chance against the other, both sides covet as much dragon power as possible before sending them into war. One of the only things strong enough to kill a dragon is another dragon, so of the dozens of beasts that go into battle during the Dance of Dragons, very few make it out alive. The period of civil unrest in Westeros during the Dance of Dragons also led to widespread hatred toward the Targaryens and their dragons, and some of the beasts died at the hands of angry mobs.
Whether it be battle or some other means, the Targaryen civil war left Westeros with very few dragons. How exactly the rest of the creatures died out hasn't been explored, although a common theory is that the Maesters poisoned them to ensure that no family could wield such power again.
Nevertheless, all of the dragons fans know and love in House of the Dragon do eventually meet their ends, and, as A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has proven, it's guaranteed to happen before the first spin-off series sees its end. While spoilers like this are unavoidable in the interconnected world of Westeros, it isn't the first time one Game of Thrones show has spoiled another.
