Eagle-Eyed 'House of the Dragon' Fans Spotted This 'Game of Thrones' Easter Egg

Eagle-Eyed 'House of the Dragon' Fans Spotted This 'Game of Thrones' Easter Egg

Slight spoilers for episodes one, three and five of House of the Dragon.

It might take place almost two centuries prior to the events of Game of Thrones, but HBO's fantasy prequel House of the Dragon has included a wealth of allusions to the original show, most notably in the pilot when King Viserys shared the secret of "the song of ice and fire" with Princess Rhaenyra, indicating that the Targaryen rulers were aware of the Night King and the White Walkers generations before anybody else.

Other references have been hiding in plain sight.

Take the short-lived villain Craghas Drahar. Our first glimpse of the so-called "Crabfeeder" in episode one was incredibly creepy and ominous, with a face disfigured by greyscale (the same illness that afflicted Shireen Baratheon and Jorah Mormont in Game of Thrones) partially concealed behind a mask.

We get another look at Crabfeeder's mask in episode five, "We Light the Way." It sits on a pedestal to the left of Lord Corlys Velaryon's throne in the hall at Driftmark, a trophy of his and Daemon's shared victory at the Stepstones. The scene where Corlys and Rhaenys discuss their son's betrothal to Rhaenyra begins with a close-up shot of the mask, and it is clear that this is indeed the same mask worn by an old Targaryen enemy in Game of Thrones... the Sons of the Harpy.

Following Daenerys Targaryen's successful conquering of the three major cities of Slaver's Bay—Astapor, Yunkai, and Meereen—the Sons of the Harpy emerged as a significant threat to the new ruler, predominantly in response to Daenerys' decree that the owning and trading of slaves be outlawed.

First introduced in an episode aptly titled "The Sons of the Harpy," this group of masked assassins proved to be lethal antagonists in seasons five and six, killing off a number of Daenerys' closest allies and very nearly defeating her too.

Photo credit: HBO
Photo credit: HBO

So what does the Sons of the Harpy mask mean in House of the Dragon?

Actor Daniel Scott-Smith, who played Crabfeeder, confirmed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that it was the same mask, saying: "It was definitely a nod to that for, I guess, the fans, because it's something familiar for them... And we spoke about the idea of him being the first person to wear this mask and it becoming iconic and, therefore, it's built from that [for Game of Thrones]... Why is he wearing the mask? How does he feel about that? It's a power statement, so he's quite happy wearing it."

It is unlikely that we are going to see the Sons of the Harpy in the flesh on House of the Dragon, considering they are based all the way across the Narrow Sea in Essos. It is, however, an interesting piece of world-building, implying that this cabal has existed in this fictional world for hundreds of years, and was not simply formed as a result of Daenerys' colonial rule as previously thought.

The presence of the mask in this show is also something of an omen. The Sons of the Harpy very nearly succeeded in wiping out the Targaryen line in Game of Thrones, and that mask, no matter how battered and deformed, remains a symbol of violent defiance against the heirs of the dragon.

In other words, battle lines are being drawn, and nobody with white hair should get too comfortable.

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