Seems like the Starks have been fighting their biggest enemy for much longer than everyone thought.

Cregan Stark’s appearance in House of the Dragon season 2 may have been revoltingly short, yet it still was quick enough to add another plot hole to the Game of Thrones franchise’s collection.

The prequel’s brand new installment finally introduced the Northern leader that by now has no choice but to join one side of the upcoming war, with the Starks potentially teaming up with Rhaenyra and her supporters.

While it’s always been clear that House Stark was still far enough from King’s Landing to even care about anything that was happening there, Cregan’s explanation of why he’s worried about his own land at the moment actually doesn’t make much sense, especially after what Game of Thrones once claimed.

In House of the Dragon season 2 episode 1, Cregan Stark is seen welcoming Rhaenyra’s son Jacaerys in Winterfell as both keep discussing their potential alliance in the approaching full-scale war.

In the scene, Cregan appears to have doubts about his people’s ability to give full support to Rhaenyra as he explains that “in winter, my duty to the Wall is even more dire than the one I owe to King’s Landing,” implying that there may be some trouble for him at home as well.

This particular phrase comes as a direct reference to Game of Thrones and its White Walkers who have been threatening Westeros and especially Winterfell ever since the original show’s season 1, but House of the Dragon’s seemingly heartwarming nod to its predecessor actually makes not so much sense.

It’s common knowledge that House of the Dragon’s events take place around 200 years before Game of Thrones picks the story up, suggesting that things were supposed to be a lot different than when the original series’ Daenerys arrives with her determination to seize power.

Still, the White Walkers now appear to be quite a long-standing problem for Winterfell that couldn’t beat them for two hundred years to come. By the time Ned Stark came along as Stark House’s head and Lord of Winterfell, the White Walkers weren’t that eager to start a whole new war and seemingly stayed in the shadows for a while.

It thus suggests that the several-centuries-long history of the frozen creatures’ tense relationship with the Starks doesn’t appear to be that compelling anymore and is unlikely to ever be addressed in a way that it deserves.