House of the Dragon's New Crown Is a Major Piece of Game of Thrones History

By Charlie Ridgely

WARNING: This article contains major spoilers from the latest episode of Game of Thrones... Sunday night brought the penultimate episode of House of the Dragon's first season, and with it, the confirmation that Aegon II will officially succeed Viserys as King of Westeros. With Rhaenyra away from King's Landing, and Alicent believing her late husband had changed his mind on his deathbed, Aegon was crowned King. However, the crown given to Aegon II at his coronation isn't the same one we saw Viserys wear throughout his reign. Not only is this new crown a major piece of Game of Thrones history, it's also a bit of foreshadowing about what's to come.

The crown given to Aegon in the episode is black, much different than the gold headpiece worn by Viserys. Aegon's crown actually belonged to the first Targaryen to rule the Seven Kingdoms, the King who forged the Iron Throne: Aegon the Conqueror. A choice was made to give Aegon the crown of his namesake, who conquered Westeros on the back of a dragon, rather than give him the crown of his father, who ruled during an era of peace. It's also worth noting that Aegon II didn't like his father very much.

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(Photo: HBO)

Where Did Aegon's Crown Come From?

Aegon the Conqueror wore the black crown during his rule. That crown was passed down to the next King, Aenys, who wore it to start his time on the Iron Throne. He was given a golden crown by the High Septon later in his tenure. His successor, Maegor, hated the Faith of the Seven and opted to use the original crown once again. Jaehaerys, who was seen naming Viserys as his successor at the beginning of House of the Dragon, chose to wear the gold crown. He wanted to differentiate himself from the violence of Maegor and used the crown as a way to represent the changes he would make as King.

The golden crown was often worn by the peaceful Kings, while Aegon's crown was only worn by the volatile Maegor after Aegon passed. 

Why Did Aegon II Get a Different Crown?

The Conqueror's crown is representative of more dangerous rulers. That's foreshadowing the future for Aegon II, since his coronation starts a civil war amongst House Targaryen. 

The crown is also Aegon's namesake, in a way. It's the crown worn by the only other King to share his name. That's especially interesting when you think about Alicent's final conversation with Viserys. He believed he was talking to Rhaaenyra and spoke about Aegon's vision of uniting the Realm. While he was speaking about the Aegon of the past, Alicent thought he was talking about their son. It's only fitting now that the same crown is given to both rulers.

The Season 1 finale of House of the Dragon airs on Sunday, October 23rd on HBO and HBO Max.

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