‘House Of The Dragon’ Season One: The 20 Best Quotes From The ‘Game Of Thrones’ Prequel

From opulent settings to massive battles, memorable quotes to gigantic dragons, House of the Dragon certainly does not disappoint.

Based on American author George R. R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, HBO’s latest medieval fantasy series is set about 200 years before the events of the phenomenally successful Game of Thrones (2011-2019).

House of the Dragon's 10-episode debut season follows King Viserys I Targaryen during his relatively peaceful reign in Westeros, until inter-family squabbles and political backstabbing lit the fire that led to the bloody civil war coined the Dance of the Dragons.

Thanks to a well-cast ensemble, breathtaking locations, and a $20 million per episode production budget—compared to Thrones’ $6m per episode for its first season—House of the Dragon is a spectacularly gripping and entertaining drama, with characters you will either love or despise to bits.

And just like Thrones, there are memorable quotes aplenty - from a prince’s musing about losing an eye for a dragon to a princess’ cryptic mutterings of possible future events.

In no order of merit, here are 20 best quotes from House of the Dragon.

The 20 Best Quotes from ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 1

1. “I may have lost an eye, but I gained a dragon.”

—Young Prince Aemond Targaryen (Leo Ashton) to Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), adamant that losing an eye is nothing compared to claiming the massive dragon Vhagar as his own in Episode 7, “Driftmark.”

2. “Come, let us drain our cups to these three strong boys.”

—An older Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) to his Velaryon nephews, insinuating rather, er, strongly who the boys' biological father really was in Episode 8, “The Lord of the Tides.”

3. “He’ll have to close one eye…”

—Young Princess Helaena Targaryen (Evie Allen) to herself, just as her mother informs her brother Aemond that he will have a dragon one day in Episode 6, “The Princess and the Queen.” This led some fans to believe that Helaena may be a greenseer with the ability to have prophetic dreams.

4. “I will sit the throne today.”

—An ailing King Viserys (Paddy Considine) to Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), telling his Hand to move aside so that he can preside over the proceedings to protect Princess Rhaenyra’s rights in Episode 8.

5. “If the world of men is to survive, a Targaryen must be seated on the Iron Throne.”

—Viserys to young Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock), informing his heir of Aegon the Conqueror’s fears of the winter threat up north in Episode 1, “The Heirs of the Dragon.” Ironically, both Jon Snow and Daenerys—the last Targaryens who fought victoriously against the Army of the Dead in Thrones—never sat on the Iron Throne.

6. “That I wouldn’t have to bed you until I turned 14.”

—Young Laena Velaryon (Nova Mose-Foueillis) to Viserys, when the then 30-something monarch asked the 12-year-old what her mother told her about their possible marriage in Episode 2, “The Rogue Prince.”

7. "The beacon on the Hightower, do you know what color it glows when Oldtown calls its banners to war?"

"Green."

—Lord Larys “The Clubfoot” Strong (Matthew Needham) asking his brother Ser Harwin “Breakbones” Strong (Ryan Corr), as young Queen Alicent (Emily Carey)-wearing a stunning green gown-struts into the wedding banquet hall in the middle of Viserys’ speech in Episode 5, “We Light The Way.”

8. “I’m going to bed, Aemma.”

—Viserys to Alicent, calling the latter by his first wife’s name much to the current queen’s misbelief and anguish during Lady Laena’s funeral in Driftmark in Episode 7.

9. “You imbecile.”

—Alicent to Aegon Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney), when her eldest son asked her if she loves him while on their way to his coronation in Episode 9, “The Green Council.”

10. “That is my castle you’re living in, uncle.”

—Young Rhaenyra to Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) in High Valyrian, putting her uncle in his place when he took over Dragonstone just to spite Viserys in Episode 2.

11. “The gods have yet to make a man who lacks the patience for absolute power.”

—Otto to Viserys, when the latter does not think his brother Daemon is ambitious enough to kill him for the Iron Throne in Episode 1.

12. “Men would sooner put the realm to the torch than see a woman ascend the Iron Throne.”

—Princess Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) to young Rhaenyra, telling the princess the hard truth in Episode 2.

13. “Exhausting, wasn’t it? Hiding under the cloak of your own righteousness. Now they see you as you are.”

—Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) to Alicent, when the latter tries to take “an eye for an eye” after her son Aemond’s eye was stabbed by Rhaenyra’s son Lucerys in Episode 7.

14. “Have you never imagined yourself on the Iron Throne?”

—Rhaenys to Alicent, when the queen requests the former to bend the knee to her son Aegon in Episode 9, “The Green Council.” If she never did, every Thrones and HotD fan definitely have!

15. “Hands turn loom, spool of green, spool of black, dragons of flesh, weaving dragons of thread…”

—Helaena (Phia Saban) to herself, whilst playing with a spider at Lady Laena’s funeral in Episode 7. Some fans believe that this indicates that The Greens and The Blacks would soon raise their banners supporting different Targaryens at war.

16. “Dreams didn’t make us kings. Dragons did.”

—Daemon to Rhaenyra, savagely grabbing his niece-wife’s throat after she told him about King Viserys’ “A Song of Ice And Fire” dream when she was named his heir in Episode 10, “The Black Queen.”

17. "I knew you couldn't finish. Craven!"

—Lady Rhea Royce (Rachel Redford) to Daemon, after the former has fallen from her horse and her husband walks away in Episode 5. It would prove to be her final words.

18. “Beware the beast beneath the boards.”

—Helaena to herself yet again during the family dinner in Episode 8, and which she repeated in Episode 9. It may have meant Rhaenys’ dramatic below-ground entrance on her dragon Meleys at Aegon’s coronation, although some fans felt that it foreshadows a horrific situation coming for Helaena as chronicled in Fire & Blood.

19. “The House of the Dragon does not seem to know who rules it!”

—Lord Borros Baratheon (Roger Evans) to Prince Lucerys (Elliot Grihault), when the latter refers to his mother Rhaenyra as queen, whereas Aemond arrived earlier at Storm’s End announcing his brother Aegon as king in Episode 10.

20. “You owe a debt, boy!”

—Aemond to Lucerys in High Valyrian, as the former on his dragon Vhagar pursues the latter on the smaller Arrax in a fiery storm, leading to the tragic demise of the younger lad and his pet in the season finale.

Special Mention: When Silence is Golden

It was dialogue-free but one of the best moments in House of the Dragon, it has to be said, is the impactful sequence in which Daemon leads the charge against the Crabfeeders without uttering a single word in Episode 3, “Second of His Name."

House of the Dragon is streaming on HBO Max, with Season 2 expected in late 2023 or 2024.

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