The Wall is returning in House of the Dragon season 2 – and it seemingly confirms HBO is deviating from George R.R. Martin’s book
A major change could be on the horizon
It looks like the Wall is coming back in House of the Dragon season 2 – and that could signal a change to George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood novel.
As reported by WinterIsComing.net, a photo and video from the set of the second season seemingly shows the very top of the icy Wall. The catch is, though, that the Wall doesn’t actually appear in the section of Fire and Blood that HBO is adapting.
That would indicate a change to the source material is coming, though there is a pretty natural way the Wall can be incorporated. Mild book spoilers to follow!
The WALL SET for House Of The Dragon was being built 2 days ago.@housethedragons noticed it.
Did anyone else? pic.twitter.com/ykbqAfCkFW
— UnBoxPHD (@UnBoxPHD) August 1, 2023
Cast your mind back to the House of the Dragon season 1 finale, and you’ll remember that Rhaneyra sent her son Jace Velaryon off to Winterfell to seek Lord Cregan Stark (her other son, Luce, was sent to Storm’s End – and met a grisly fate).
If Jace is going to the North, then there’s no reason he can’t end up visiting the Wall, too. In the book, Jace and Cregan end up becoming close, so a trip together isn’t out of the question.
There’s also the fact that Jace’s great-great-grandfather, King Jaehhaerys Targaryen (the grandfather of Viserys, who is Rhaenyra’s late father) visited Winterfell with his wife Alysanne, and she then went to visit the wall with her dragon Silverwing. Bizarrely, Silverwing refused to cross the Wall, which caused Alysanne some disquiet.
“‘Thrice I flew Silverwing high above Castle Black, and thrice I tried to take her north beyond the Wall,’ Alysanne wrote to Jaehaerys, ‘but every time she veered back south again and refused to go,'” says Fire and Blood (read the excerpt at Martin’s Not a Blog). “‘Never before has she refused to take me where I wished to go. I laughed about it when I came down again, so the black brothers would not realize anything was amiss, but it troubled me then and it troubles me still.'”
Eventually, dragons did go beyond the Wall with Daenerys Targaryen, as depicted in Game of Thrones season 8 – though not in Martin’s books just yet (if at all). We could get some more clarity on why exactly Silverwing was so wary of crossing the Wall in House of the Dragon season 2; season 1 already referenced the threat of the White Walkers with the inclusion of the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy, after all.
There’s also always a chance that the set isn’t actually the Wall, and we’re instead looking at Winterfell under snow, or somewhere else in the North. We’ll just have to wait and see to find out for sure.
House of the Dragon season 2 doesn’t yet have a release date, but it is continuing to film during the WGA writers’ strike and the SAG-AFTRA actors’ strike. In the meantime, recap on the first season with our House of the Dragon season 1 episodic reviews, or check out our guide to the best Netflix shows to fill out your watchlist.
