In last night''s fourth episode, sharp-eyed viewers will not have missed the appearance of the Catspaw Dagger.
Fans of the popular fantasy series remember the Valyrian steel dagger from the very first episode, in which a Catspaw assassin tried to murder Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright), only to be killed by the youngster''s direwolf, Summer.
In the epic third episode of the last season, Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) gave it to Bran, who then gave it to his sister Arya Stark, who used it to kill the Night King.
Though it seemed like a fitting plot plot arc for the prop, we had no clue about the knife''s full story until King Viserys (Paddy Considine) began explaining how tightly the weapon''s fate is linked to Westeros'' past, present, and future.
Where did the Catspaw Dagger come from?
The Catspaw Dagger was forged in Valyria centuries before the events of and. The blade was made from Valyrian steel and decorated with dragonglass, which explains why it was able to kill the Night King.
King Viserys told his daughter Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) that the dagger once longed to Aegon the Conqueror, who left Valyria and arrived in Westeros with a host of dragons and became the first Targaryen to ascend the Iron Throne in this week''s fourth episode of HOTD.
He also revealed that before it was owned by Aegon, it was Aenar Targaryen, who moved his family to Dragonstone after his daughter Daenys the Dreamer predicted the Doom of Valyria, making them the only surviving family of dragonlords.
It has been separated from Targaryen rulers, from King to heir, until it became in the hands of Viserys.
What is the Catspaw Dagger prophecy?
King Viserys tells his daughter that as Daenys watched the end of Valyria, Aegon had a dream that shook the world of men, beginning with a terrible winter that destroyed all before it. The dream became known as "A Song of Fire and Ice," the name George R. Martin for his entire series of novels.
He told Rhaenyra that when that winter arrived, a Targaryen who was capable of uniting Westeros must be seated on the Iron Throne, as long as the world would fail.
As Viserys explained before Aegon''s death, the last of the Valyrian pyromancers concealed his song in the Valyrian steel of the Catspaw dagger on Sunday night.
When the dagger was heated in the fire, Rhaenyra was clearly able to read the High Valyrian script, which said... "From my blood, come the prince that was promised, and his will be the song of ice and fire."
What does the Catspaw Dagger prophecy mean?
Even those who have never seen an episode of are aware of the infamous words "Winter Is Coming," so it doesn''t take a Grand Maester to determine what part of Aegon''s dream calls.
Aegon is referring to Jon Snow, who was revealed to be Rhaegar Targaryen''s son and Ned Stark''s sister, for the referring to a prince from "my blood."
Rhaegar was the father of the Mad King Aerys II and his older brother to Daenerys, making him the direct ancestor of Aegon, Viserys, and maybe Rhaenyra too. When the white walkers arrived in Westeros, it was Arya, who ended the war, but the logic is quite correct.
Pourtant, when we begin to look at the 170 years that have spanned between King Viserys and, things become more interesting.
If we presume the prophecy continued to be passed through the Targaryen generations, then it may explain the final words of Aerys, aka The Mad King, who was knocked off the Iron Throne by Robert Baratheon immediately before the events seen in.
He''s said to have spent hours saying before Jamie Lannister killed him. Could he have been referring to white walkers he knew were coming? Aerys was also known to have used Tyrion''s silo to defend King''s land during the Battle of the Blackwater. It makes sense that Aerys would have been interested in finding another way of combating the wights he knew were coming.
Alicent Hightower (played by Olivia Cooke) appears in Princess Rhaenyra during a trailer for the show (below) and it''s evident that we haven''t seen the last of the weapon yet, who knows what other secrets it''s keeping.
What does the Catspaw Dagger''s future hold?
With two books to go into his novels series, it''s possible that George R. R. Martin has added the prophecy as part of his major plan.
The author, who has been a consultant on, has revealed that his literary series will not conclude in the same way as the TV series who can blame him? Maybe he''s laying the foundations for the end of the series. Let''s just hope he has the courage to finish it!
What do the Catspaw Dagger producers in The House of the Dragon say?
The Catspaw dagger has been dubbed "connective tissue to the original series," according to Ryan Condal.
"There''s gonna be a lot of relationship between places you go and buildings you see," he told EW. "That''s 200 years before the original show. So there''s a ton of shared imagery."
"It''s a way to walk in terms of things you return from the original show and pass in a different way." I believe that connective tissue is needed to show people that it is the same world and history reflects on objects and the cast of people and sigils as we pass through time without becoming too self-referential."
In response to Condal''s comments, the Targaryen''s ability to produce Valyrian steel was diminished during the Doom of Valyria, so the dagger would be an extremely valuable commodity in both and.
"It''s a technology that doesn''t exist anymore. Their blades are not made anew," he says. "So all the Valyrian steel is a fixed number of assets in the world." "So even in a time when Targaryens are incapable of making Valyrian steel, they''re going to take care of it. "So it''s believable that something that did exist in the original show would''ve existed here, perhaps in a slightly different packaging."
Newepisodes will be available every Sunday on HBO andHBO Maxin in the United Kingdom, as well as on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV in the United Kingdom.
