WARNING! This article contains major SPOILERS for House of the Dragon season 2, episode 1 and George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood book, on which the show is based!

The absence of one character in House of the Dragon season 2, episode 1’s return to Winterfell kills the dream of a scene that I’ve been waiting for since Game of Thrones ended. After establishing the location as a familiar setting throughout Game of Thrones, Winterfell was entirely absent from House of the Dragon season 1 in favor of more Targaryen-related destinations like King’s Landing, Dragonstone, and Driftmark. However, after plenty of anticipation, Winterfell and the Wall returned during Lord Cregan Stark’s introduction in House of the Dragon season 2, episode 1.

As was expected, given George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood is told through the accounts of unreliable narrators, the prequel show makes some significant changes and leaves out some important details from the book’s segment at Winterfell. Ultimately, what could have been an entire episode’s subplot of Jacaerys and Cregan’s story at Winterfell was confined to a brief opening scene. In addition to House of the Dragon omitting the Pact of Ice and Fire sealed by the Starks and Targaryens, the episode ignores the 2018 Fire & Blood book’s descriptions of a character named Sara Snow and avoids showing Jace’s dragon Vermax at Winterfell.

Vermax’s Absence In HOTD Season 2, Episode 1 Kills My Dream Of Seeing Dragons Fly At Winterfell Before Daenerys

Dragons had been to Winterfell on very few occasions before Daenerys Targaryen

While it’s clear that Vermax is present at Winterfell off-screen after Cregan Stark tells Jace he had the “mercy not to threaten [him] with [his] dragon,” House of the Dragon season 2, episode 1 doesn’t actually show the dragon in the North. In addition to my disappointment with Cregan’s House of the Dragon introduction being so short, it was a letdown that the prequel didn’t show Vermax flying at Winterfell. Dragons rarely ever came all the way north throughout House Targaryen’s history in Westeros, so I was extremely excited to see one of these few occasions predating Daenerys in House of the Dragon.

As Cregan states, he had only heard stories from his father about welcoming King Jaehaerys and Queen Alysanne to the North with their dragons before Jace’s visit. This was also the case with Game of Thrones’ Northern characters recalling long-ago stories of dragons at the Wall, until Daenerys Targaryen finally brought hers in season 7. However, House of the Dragon season 2, episode 1 had the opportunity to actually show another dragon at Winterfell over a century beforehand. Instead, Vermax’s appearance at Winterfell was confined to characters talking about the dragon rather than showing it.

It’s possible that the decision to leave out Vermax was budgetary given the CGI costs, but could also have been a matter of time restraints. The prequel doesn’t even bring audiences into Winterfell, where Vermax was being held, with Cregan and Jace – just to the Wall. Still, this was the last time that a dragon had been to Winterfell before Daenerys in Game of Thrones, marking an important moment in the historical relationship between Houses Stark and Targaryen.

Not to mention House of the Dragon’s reveal about Aegon’s Song of Ice and Fire dream that further ties the Starks, Targaryens, their dragons, and the Wall together, I’m surprised the Northerners’ reactions to a dragon in their region wasn’t explored. Despite how many more dragons there were in Westeros during House of the Dragon’s timeline, they were just as foreign of a concept to Northerns then as they were when Daenerys brought hers 170 years later. I was looking forward to seeing a dragon at Winterfell when the White Walkers weren’t actually attacking in House of the Dragon, but sadly the prequel didn’t fulfill that wish.

House Of The Dragon Avoids Confirming A Wild Winterfell Dragon Rumor From George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood Book

Fire & Blood included a rumor that Vermax laid eggs in Winterfell

By not showing Vermax on-screen in House of the Dragon season 2’s opening scene, the HBO show also avoids confirming or debunking a rumor posed in Fire & Blood. While the most scandalous rumor about Jacaerys’ trip to Winterfell was that he married Cregan’s half-sister Sara Snow, who was cut from season 2, there was also a rumor that Jace’s dragon laid eggs in the crypts of Winterfell. The claim has never been substantiated in Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon lore, but would suggest that dragon eggs may have been in Winterfell throughout the original show’s timeline.

The rumor is more than likely false, but it’s also possible that one of the Targaryens knew about the claim of eggs in Winterfell and took them once the dragons originally died out before Game of Thrones. Additionally, Fire & Blood reveals that there’s no evidence Vermax ever laid an egg at Winterfell or anywhere else. With Vermax’s role at Winterfell in House of the Dragon season 2 being left a mystery, the truth of that rumor remains a question that will likely forever go unanswered.

House Of The Dragon Season 2’s Missing Winterfell Dragon Scene Makes Me Excited For 2 Potential GOT Prequels

There are other opportunities to show dragons at Winterfell before Daenerys

House of the Dragon may not show a dragon at Winterfell, but that doesn’t mean another Targaryen prequel show won’t. One of the upcoming Game of Thrones prequels that I’m most excited about follows Aegon’s Conquest, and it’s all but guaranteed that Aegon will bring his dragon to the North to make Lord Torrhen Stark bend the knee. Additionally, I’ve been holding out hope that HBO will make a prequel about the reign of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, which would likely include scenes of Jaehaerys and Alysanne bringing their dragons to the Wall. If so, these shows could fulfill the scene that House of the Dragon was missing.

New episodes of House of the Dragon season 2 release Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.