Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for House of the Dragon’s Season 2 finale.
It seems that Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) has finally accepted his role in the war. In “The Queen Who Ever Was,” the Season 2 finale ofHouse of the Dragon, he has a vision of what’s to come for House Targaryen, and everything feels very weird - starting when he first steps into the godswood in Harrenhal. In the dark of night,he catches a glimpse of a strange creature by the weirwood tree, a horned being who makes hooves sounds as it walks and breathes like a horse, and it feels like it was pulled straight out of aGuillermo del Toromovie. This weird creature is actually part of an order that is directly tied to the most mysterious aspects of Westeros, and they might still have a part to play in the Dance of Dragons.
House of the Dragon
The reign of House Targaryen begins with this prequel to the popular HBO seriesGame of Thrones.Based on George R.R. Martin’sFire & Blood,House of the Dragonis set nearly 200 years beforeGame of Thrones, telling the story of the Targaryen civil war with King Viserys.
The Green Men Were Created By the Children of the Forest
The history of Westeros goes back thousands of years beforeGame of ThronesandHouse of the Dragon. The original inhabitants of the continent are theChildren of the Forest, a group of non-human beings whose origins are unknown.They inhabited the forests, where they worshiped weirwood trees as gods and spent their days in peace. They also had a deep connection to natural elements, including animals, and were said to possess supernatural powers over living beings. Greensight, which consists of having premonitory dreams, was one of such powers, as well as the ability to speak to the dead.
The Children of the Forest lived in peace in Westeros for a long time, until the First Men arrived. This is one of the main human groups that came to Westeros, and their customs and traditions are still dominant in some areas, especially the North. Although some speculate that the First Men originated in what is now known as the Dothraki Sea in Essos, it’s not confirmed. After they arrived in Westeros, though, it didn’t take long for a conflict against the Children of the Forest to begin. Armed with bronze weapons and clad in bronze armor, they crossed over from Essos through the Arm of Dorne, a landmass that connected Westeros and Essos. The conflictlasted for millennia, to the point where the Children actually shattered the Arm of Dorne to isolate Westeros forever. Eventually, though,they made a pact to end the war and coexist, with the Green Men being witnesses to it— but more on that later.
Thousands of years later, another group of humans invaded the continent, the Andals. The Children and the First Men joined forces to fight against the Andals, butwere ultimately forced to retreat into the North until the Children eventually vanished completely. InGame of Thrones, they show up to take Bran Stark (Isaac Hampstead-Wright) to the Three-Eyed Raven (Max von Sydow), although this is yet to happen in the books. The series also shows that it was the Children of the Forest who created theWhite Walkersas a way to fight the Andals, but that it ultimately backfired, as they turned on their creators and attempted to take over the world in an everlasting winter during the Age of Heroes.
The Green Men Protect the Last Bastion of the Ancient Times in Westeros
When the Children of the Forest fought the First Men, this war lasted for millennia. The First Men understood that the Children used weirwood trees, then common throughout Westeros, to spy on them, so they naturally started chopping off trees. However, the trees eventually became essential for both sides in establishing peace between them. Eventually, the Children and the First Men gathered on theIsle of Facesto make peace. To celebrate it,the Children carved faces on the weirwood trees, so the gods could bear witness to the Pact. The Children retreated into the forests and left most of the land to the First Men, while they vowed to never cut down trees.
To protect the weirwood trees in the Isle of Faces, the Children of the Forest created the order of the Green Men. It’s never said whether those are actual humans or some other kind of creature, but their myth eventually spread until they gained a supernatural aura in the eyes of the people. For example, in theSong of Ice and Firenovels, Bran hears from Old Nan,the Winterfell caretaker, thatthe Green Men still inhabit the Isle of Faces, and that they have horns, dark green skin, and ride elks. It’s also said that, during the Andal invasion, some of the Children of the Forest sought refuge on the island, and were protected by the Green Men. Other theories claim that there is some kind of connection between the Isle of Faces and the lands beyond the Wall, which is why Harrenhal has such a ghostly and otherworldly atmosphere.
Should I Watch ‘House of the Dragon’ Before ‘Game of Thrones’?
It’s a prequel in some ways, but should you watch it before the original series?
In the books, when Jojen (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and Meera Reed (Ellie Kendrick) tell Bran the tale of the Knight of the Laughing Tree, in whicha crannogman went to the Isle of Faces and visited the Green Men before heading to a huge tourney in Harrenhal. The story is actually real, and the crannogman is really Howland Reed (Leo Woodruff), Jojen and Meera’s father, who was also an ally and friend of Ned Stark (Robert Aramayo) and even fought beside him in thebattle at the Tower of Joy. Nearly a century before that, though, the Green Men may still play a key role in the Dance of Dragons.
As Northerners, houses Reed and Stark still worship the Old Gods of the forest and are firm believers thatthe Children of the Forest are not completely gone from the world, only that, due to increased human interference and activity after the Andal invasion, the reach of their magic has been severely diminished. So Howland Reed didn’t simply stumble upon the Green Men and the Isle of Faces, but purposely found them. Their magic still lingers in some corners of the North and beyond the Wall. South of the Neck, however, the Gods Eye and the Isle of Faces are the only places where it can be felt more strongly. Nearly a century before that, though, the Green Men may still play a key role in the Dance of Dragons, as it seems that the people of Harrenhal and the Riverlands also share a strong connection with the ancient ways of the Children of the Forest.
The Green Men May Still Play an Important Part in ‘House of the Dragon’
The creature Daemon Targaryen sees in the godswood in Harrenhal matches Old Nan’s description of the Green Men, although we can barely see the color of its skin. The Green Man simply vanishes behind the weirwood tree as Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) takes Daemon closer to it. They may yet show up, though, since Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) is planning to retake Harrenhal for the Greens inSeason 3, andhis path is bound to cross with Daemon’s in that same place.
There is a different hint of the Green Men’s role inFire & Blood, though. In “The Queen Who Ever Was,” Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) asks Addam of Hull (Clinton Liberty) to accompany her on dragonback as she flies to Harrenhal to meet Daemon. In the book, sometime later, Addam finds himself in a position of having to prove his worth to Rhaenyra, andit’s said he flies to the Isle of Faces to seek the counsel of the Green Men. Addam is able to get back to Rhaenyra’s good side after this, although not without some drawbacks — but that plot is meant for Season 3. Hopefully,House of the Dragonwill keep this part of the book, since Westeros is always at its best when it’s weird.
