There is one Targaryen who connects everything together.

House of the Dragon covers the civil war known as The Dance of Dragons in which the Targaryens fought against each other for the right to rule the Seven Kingdoms. Fire & Blood author George R.R. Martin claimed the show will need at least 4 seasons to tell the full story of Rhaenyra Targaryen’s (Emma D’Arcy) war with Aegon II, (Tom Glynn-Carney) but the story of the Targaryens doesn’t end there. House of the Dragon takes place more than 150 years before the events of Game of Thrones, and many Targaryen rulers rose and fell during this period.

There are many great stories from Fire & Blood that could make for great television. Recent reports confirmed another Game of Thrones spinoff is currently in development centered around Aegon the Conqueror, the first Targaryen ruler of Westeros. While there is a lot to explore in Targaryen history, the Blackfyre rebellions also provide ample source material to adapt into a live-action series. But more importantly, a key character could link the entire Game of Thrones franchise together.

The Blackfyre Rebellions Would Be a Perfect Jumping-Off Point

The Blackfyre rebellions spanned nearly 70 years and left a lasting impact on Westerosi culture all the way up until the main Game of Thrones series. The first rebellion began after King Aegon IV legitimized all his children upon his deathbed, which sent Westeros spiraling into chaos as several different claimants disputed the throne’s succession. Aegon IV’s illegitimate son, Daemon Waters, was loved by the people and preferred by his father, but his eldest legitimate son, Daeron, was the rightful heir to the throne. After the King gifted the ‘Blackfyre’ sword to Daemon, many saw this as a symbolic recognition of Daemon as the King’s preferred heir. Daemon founded his own cadet branch House Blackfyre and declared himself the rightful King of Westeros. A war began in Westeros, where all the great houses declared for either Daeron Targaryen or Daemon Blackfyre.

Bloodraven Is the Missing Link Between Every ‘Game of Thrones’ Show

However, the story doesn’t necessarily focus solely on these two claimants. Daeron and Daemon were puppets of Aegon IV’s other illegitimate children, who used them to further their own agendas. The true rivalry during the Blackfyre rebellion was between Aegor ‘Bittersteel’ Rivers and Brynden ‘Bloodraven’ Rivers. Bloodraven may sound familiar to fans of Game of Thrones. Bloodraven survived the events of the rebellions until the main story in Game of Thrones, where he appeared as the Three-Eyed Raven, (Max Von Sydow) and mentor to Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) who eventually became King of Westeros.

Bloodraven earned his name due to his unique appearance. Bryden Rivers was born an albino with pale skin, white hair, red eyes, and a peculiar birthmark on his face in the shape of a raven. Bloodraven had a fierce rivalry with Bittersteel and both men vied for the love of their sister, Shiera Seastar, who ultimately chose Bloodraven. He was committed to ensuring the survival of the Targaryen dynasty in an age without their most powerful asset – their dragons. Eventually, he was exiled to the Wall by King Aegon V, the titular ‘Egg’ in Dunk & Egg, where he became Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch and then ventured beyond the Wall, never to be heard of again. Bloodraven is a vital character in Targaryen history and would be the ideal character to use as a connecting tissue between the various shows given his abilities.

Bloodraven Could Give the Franchise Better Continuity

Integrating the Blackfyre rebellions into House of the Dragon would provide a running narrative thread between the various anthology stories. Other popular anthology TV series often have an underlying narrative that connects the various seasons. Bloodraven is a greenseer, meaning he can see into the past and the future, much like Bran Stark in Game of Thrones Season 7. Bloodraven was aware of Aegon the Conqueror’s Prophecy of Ice and Fire, the secret prophecy Viserys (Paddy Considine) passes down to Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) in the first episode of House of the Dragon.

Bloodraven was a morally gray character and committed many ruthless, dishonorable crimes during the various rebellions. He was likely motivated by a desire to maintain Aegon’s duty to secure Westeros under Targaryen rule before the White Walker invasion. Given that Bloodraven survives until Game of Thrones, he would be a character that connects the events of the original series back to Aegon’s conquest using his greenseer abilities.

Bloodraven’s Greenseer Abilities Give the Franchise a Lot of Wiggle Room

With Tales of Dunk and Egg also being adapted into its own TV series, this adds more potential for more appearances from Bloodraven. He is featured in the third Dunk & Egg short story called “The Mystery Knight.” The story follows follows Dunk and Egg uncovering a conspiracy during a tourney, where Bloodraven uses the same magic as Melisandre (Carice Van Houten) to disguise himself as a noble to expose and crush the second Blackfyre rebellion before it can gain support.

And while Bloodraven can link to Bran Stark and Aegon the Conqueror, he can also pay homage to iconic characters such as House of the Dragon‘s Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), given that he was the last wielder of Daemon’s Valyrian steel sword, Dark Sister. Following characters like Bloodraven would establish a link between House of the Dragon, Game of Thrones, the Hedge Knight spin-off, and the Aegon’s Conquest spin-off series currently in development. Bloodraven could serve as the narrative strand that keeps together different corners of the universe. Time will tell whether we’ll see Bloodraven, but it’s clear that HBO is trying to flesh out the Game of Thrones series into a franchise, and as it announces more spin-offs and expansions to the franchise, a connecting thread is essential to the universe.