In the third episode of House of the Dragon Season 1, Rhaenyra Targaryen spots a white stag in the woods. The white stag has great significance in Game of Thrones lore and is also considered to be a symbol of royalty and prosperity in various folktales. So, Rhaenyra spotting the animal up close signifies that she is the true heir to the Iron Throne.
House of the Dragon Season 1 Episode 3 begins with a slight time jump. As Viserys announced in the second episode, he is now married to Alicent Hightower and the couple is celebrating the second name day of their firstborn son, Aegon.
In the episode, Alicent is pregnant once again. The entire realm gathers to celebrate Prince Aegon’s second naming ceremony, which involves a feast and a royal hunt. Rhaenyra seems displeased with her father insisting that she get married to a suitable match.
Throughout the episode, there’s an underlying tension regarding Viserys’ successor. Now that Viserys has a male heir, the lords expect him to replace Rhaenyra and name his firstborn son his heir. However, the king does not seem very intrigued by the thought, at least for now.
One significant incident in Episode 3 was Rhaenyra Targaryen spotting the uncommon white stag in the woods. Towards the end of the episode, the white stag approaches Rhaenyra and Ser Cristen in the woods.
Ser Criston immediately attempts to take out his sword, but Rhaenyra stops him. The princess shares admiring glances with the animal and both silently accept each other as the ruler of their prospective lands. Rhaenyra allows the stag to disappear into the woods and returns to the camp.
The white stag has special significance in Game of Thrones lore. It symbolizes nobility and royalty, much like the animal’s real-life connotation. The huntsman from House of the Dragon explains that the white stag was once a symbol of grace, royalty, and strength before the Targaryens began ruling Westeros, making dragons the symbol of royalty.
In the A Song of Ice and Fire books, Sansa Stark says that white stags are believed to have magical abilities. So, the emergence of the royal animal proclaimed a message from the gods in determining Viserys’ true heir.
Hunting one is a sign of great luck and prosperity, which is why the king’s men kept trying to look for it in the woods. Moreover, Otto Hightower tried to imply to Viserys that the spotting of the white stag on Aegon’s naming day suggests that the Gods favor Aegon as the heir instead of Rhaenyra.
But little did he know that the white stag itself found Rhaenyra in the woods and accepted her as the true heir. Rhaenyra was not actively looking for the white stag. Instead, the white stag approached her itself.
Moreover, Rhaenyra did not try to kill the stag to prove her superiority or demonstrate her power. She accepted the stag’s magnificence in the woods and let it be, which further implies that she would make a good Queen.
In contrast, although several men kept looking for the white stag to bring it back for Prince Aegon, none succeeded, signifying that Aegon is not the true heir to Viserys and the gods definitely do not favor him.
In the Arthurian legends, too, the white stag is a symbol of the quest for wisdom and glory, and is said to be impossible to catch. It represents purity and otherworldliness. These are themes frequently associated with House Targaryen.
In one of King Arthur’s legends, the arrival of the white stag symbolized the beginning of King Arthur’s reign. George R.R. Martin was inspired by many such legends when he created the world of Westeros. So, the white stag spotting Rhaenyra could have a similar connotation.
New episodes of House of the Dragon premiere every Monday on HBO Max.
About House Of The Dragon
House of the Dragon is the prequel series to HBO’s blockbuster Game of Thrones based on George R. R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood.
Set three hundred years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon will show Westeros under the Targaryen family’s rule before the dragons went extinct. It will follow the Dance of the Dragons, the Targaryen civil war between siblings Aegon II and Rhaenyra, who fought for the throne after the death of their father, Viserys I.
Directed by Ryan Condall and Miguel Sapochnik, the show stars Paddy Considine as Viserys I Targaryen, Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen, Tom Glynn-Craney as Aegon II Targaryen, Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower, Steve Toussaint as Corlys Velaryon, Eve Best as Rhaenys Velaryon, Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria, Fabien Frankel as Criston Cole, and Graham McTavish.
No Comments on The Significance of the White Stag in House of the Dragon Episode 3