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House of The Dragon: Was The Night King From Game of Thrones A Targaryen? Explored
The Night King isn't a Targaryen in Game of Thrones. The Night King predates House Targaryen and the Valyrian Freehold, making it impossible for him to be a Targaryen.
The Night King in Game of Thrones is speculated to be a Targaryen. Several characters in the North, including Jon Snow, Maester Aemon of the Night's Watch, and the Three-Eyed Raven, were discovered to be Targaryens-meaning there is some connection between the books and the show.
Understanding the mysterious origin of the White Walkers is not very easy, but Game of Thrones did manage to provide a scene showing the Night King being created, which really revealed some insight into his life and motives. The vision by Bran Stark, even though it fails to depict the White Walkers fully, does confirm that the Night King is not a Targaryen despite the incomplete picture in Game of Thrones ending.
Was the Night King a Targaryen?
Game of Thrones' Night King is not a Targaryen because, quite simply, his family origins came from Westeros, not from the Valyrian Freehold. Much of the mystery around the Night King had to do with the fact that he could literally just walk through fire and survive some form of dragonfire in season 8. That is not a natural trait, as shown by House of the Dragon.
There is only one thing, the Night King can ride a dragon due to his powers over the white walkers, not some inbred trait. This part with the Night King and his special abilities in the show is not something that the history of the Targaryen family has ever spoken about.
So, in turn, Season 8 of the Game of Thrones TV series has to deal with the White Walkers-merely some sort of mystical enemy-simplistic origin and motives. During the sixth season, a vision of the Children of the Forest pushing a glass dagger down into a man's skin was revealed as the Night King may, in fact, be one of the First Men from the North. Well, Game of Thrones never really confirmed this theory.
There is no Night King in the ASOIAF novels of the same villain in Game of Thrones; instead, a legend from Castle Black tells the story of the 13th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch who fell in love with a woman as pale as moonlight and with skin as white as snow, with eyes as blue as the frost. The Night's King is killed and the Night's Watch is freed.
The links to the Night King and the Long Night
HBO's adaptation of George R.R. Martin's ASOIAF universe draws a deep connection between the dragonriders and the Long Night. House of the Dragon season 1 King Viserys explains to Rhaenyra that Aegon the Conqueror had a dream of a long winter, at which time it would clean Westeros out and only bring death. Known as "a song of ice and fire," this dream had Aegon move from Dragonstone and conquer the Seven Kingdoms.
House of the Dragon contains a plot in which Aegon the Conqueror had a vision of the Long Night and brought him to travel to Westeros. It's anyone's guess if this is a retcon or if George R.R. Martin had plans for explaining Aegon's intentions more. Season 2 revisits the dream of Aegon as Rhaenyra tells the story to Jacaerys.
Given how resolved Game of Thrones season 8's Long Night was so quickly, it's frustrating how, from the Targaryens' point of view, this event was supposed to be so important. It gives another layer to their dynasty's story from an in-universe point of view. Every Targaryen king knew of the threat beyond the wall, or at least of some supernatural threat scary enough to cause Aegon to conquer an entire continent. Rhaenyra tells Jace that those who sit upon the Iron Throne are protectors and not just rulers when talking to him about the Song of Ice and Fire.
HBO's adaptation of George R.R. Martin's GOT universe establishes a critical connection between the dragonriders and the Long Night: one in which House Targaryen is deeply rooted. Throughout season 1 of House of the Dragon, King Viserys explains to Rhaenyra a dream Aegon the Conqueror once had - a dream of an endless winter that would destroy Westeros and bring about death. Viserys said that he called this "a song of ice and fire," wherein the reason Aegon needed to leave Dragonstone was to ultimately conquer the Seven Kingdoms.
Aegon the Conqueror's dream about the Long Night brought him to Westeros for reasons far bigger than the desire to conquer a foreign land. This plot point is very specific to HBO's House of the Dragon, and it is not clear if this was a retcon suggested by the writers of the show or if George R.R. Martin had plans to do more with the reveal of what Aegon's true intentions were.
House of the Dragon season 2 revisited Aegon's dream, as it was now Rhaenyra telling the story to Jacaerys. It means that the Targaryen kings knew of this supernatural threat beyond the wall and gives another layer to the story about their dynasty. Rhaenyra says those on the Iron Throne are protectors, not just rulers, when speaking of the Song of Ice and Fire.
ALSO READ: House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 8 Leak Showed THIS Targaryen Return From Game of Thrones
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