HBO can’t let the Mother of Dragons go.

It’s no secret that Daenerys Targaryen has been one of the most popular Game of Thrones characters throughout the show’s run. After all, she was the only character on the show powerful enough to reclaim the dragons and ride them into battle, so it was only fair that people would root for her to succeed.

In fact, the mystery of the Targaryen House was so intriguing that HBO adapted another of George R.R. Martin’s novels, Fire & Blood, which chronicled the events that took place centuries before Daenerys was even born. Though House of the Dragon has no direct connection to it, the show doesn’t shy away from Easter eggs and references.

Here are 5 of them that you may have missed in the first season and the first 4 episodes of the second one.

Viserys Targaryen’s Prophecy

The prophecy that sparked the entire war in House of the Dragon was never actually a part of Fire & Blood. The characters’ motivations were far less mysterious and twisted, as Alicent simply wanted her son to take the throne and had a problem with Rhaenyra since she was a little girl.

To add depth to the characters and remind the audience of the continuation of the story, the prophecy was added as a catalyst. Given what it led Daenerys to, it would be hard to forget either way.

The Cape Styling

One of Daenerys’ most iconic looks in recent installments of Game of Thrones was the red cloak draped over one shoulder with a brooch. Now, the House of the Dragon’s Team Black characters are wearing the exact same look, though fashion must have been different 200 years before Dany wore her suit.

To make this more realistic, we can all imagine that Daenerys was inspired by all the paintings of Targaryens she must have seen. In reality, however, the showrunners were trying to create a stronger connection between the members of the Targaryen family.

Dracarys!

It may come as a surprise, but there wasn’t a single person in House of the Dragon who would have known Daenerys’ iconic ‘dracarys’ as a dragon command, as it simply didn’t exist in the Fire & Blood timeline.

Raised with no Targaryen influence other than her brother’s, and having never seen a dragon, as they were all dead at the moment of her birth, Daenerys had to be clever about how she trained her children. She was the first ever Targaryen who chose the word ‘dracarys’ as a special command, but House of the Dragon chose to ignore that.

The Queen of Ashes

Even if you are trying to forget the final Game of Thrones seasons like a fever dream, chances are you still remember one of Daenerys’ most iconic lines of the entire show: ‘I am not here to be queen of the ashes’. Drawing yet another parallel between Daenerys and Rhaenyra, House of the Dragon writers included it into the show word-to-word.

‘I will not be the queen of ashes. I will rule, not simply reign,’ is one of Rhaenyra’s season 2 lines. It’s almost like the show cannot let Daenerys go!

The Dragon Eggs

Another major inaccuracy that every Fire & Blood fan has noticed is the eggs from which Viserion, Rhaegal, and Drogon would later hatch. House of the Dragon decided to make viewers feel the connection between Team Black’s Rhaenyra and Game of Thrones’ beloved Daenerys, even though in reality there was no connection at all.

According to the book, Dany’s dragon eggs came from Dreamfyre, the dragon that canonically belongs to Team Green’s Helaena. However, the show leaned more heavily on her dreaming abilities than her relationship with Dreamfyre, so that may have been a reason for the sudden change.