Game of Thrones missed the opportunity to show the perfect symbolism for the House Targaryen sigil by incorporating one more important Targaryen character.
The three-headed dragon has been the insignia of the House Targaryen for many years, and over the course of Game of Thrones, there had been speculations as to what the sigil truly meant. It’s already a known detail that Daenerys Targaryen had three dragons, and one of the prophecies she learned at the House of the Undying in the books was that there would be three dragon riders.
Evidently, this did not take shape in the show, and while many assumed Dany and Jon Snow (who was revealed to be Aegon, son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark) were the two Targaryens in the prophecy, there was one more dragon in need of a rider.
Game of Thrones left out an important Targaryen character
It’s a shame we did not see all of Daenerys Targaryen’s visions at the House of the Undying since they play an important role in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. We know from the history of Westeros that the Targaryen sigil represents Aegon the Conqueror and his two sisters-wives, Rhaenys and Visenya.
In the prophecy, Rhaegar spoke to his wife about their son Aegon and said that he is “the prince that was promised” and while he looked at Dany, he said: “There must be one more. The dragon has three heads.”
From here, fans expected to know who the third Targaryen would be. Book readers know that there’s another Targaryen that never made it to the show: Young Griff. In the novels, he claims to be of Valyrian origin, specifically Aegon Targaryen, the son of Rhaegar and Elia Martell. He meets Tyrion Lannister aboard the Shy Maid, and later on, the latter realizes that the young man is indeed the long-lost Targaryen prince.
Had the series included this character, it would have made the perfect symbolism for the three-headed dragon sigil of House Targaryen. The showrunners decided to omit his narrative to streamline the plot, but removing Young Griff only proved to be a huge missed opportunity, as his existence provides a more sensible reason as to why Dany succumbed to derangement.
Young Griff’s presence is a better reason for Daenerys Targaryen’s descent into madness
Dany’s crazy stunt in Season 8 felt off for the audience for several reasons, but the most prevailing one at the time was that it was too sudden, that it seemed unearned.
With Jon Snow revealing he is the son of Rhaegar and Lyanna, and Dany finally realizing he has a stronger claim to the Iron Throne than she does, it would have driven her mad knowing that there is another Targaryen son out there who would push her down the line of claimants.
This is a more probable cause of her insanity than what we’ve seen in the show, but given how the story panned out, this now remains a wishful thinking.
