House of the Dragon clearly has fans hooked already, but some Game of Thrones viewers might be itching to see more direwolf banners. So far, fans have seen just one character from House Stark – Lord Rickon, played by David Hounslow. House Stark’s participation in this story has already been described at length in George R.R. Martin’s latest book, Fire & Blood.
Fair warning: there are spoilers for Fire & Blood and possibly for House of the Dragon ahead! Fire & Blood is an “imaginary history book” that describes events with a severely unreliable narrator, whereas House of the Dragon is a more straightforward TV show with a single version of events to depict. Book fans are eager to see it shine a light on some mysterious events from the text, and that might be most illuminating when it comes to House Stark. As fans saw in the pilot episode, Lord Rickon Stark swore fealty to Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock), and we know that northern lords take their oaths very seriously.
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Rickon is a relatively minor character in the books. He married a woman from the northern house Glover and had two sons, as well as a bastard daughter named Sara. After swearing to recognize Rhaenyra as his next monarch, Rickon passed away about eight years before King Viserys (Paddy Considine), so he never saw the crisis of succession that followed.
In the book, Rickon’s son Cregan Stark is only 13 years old when he succeeds his father and becomes Lord of Winterfell, though that will probably be changed in the books as have the ages of some other characters. Still, from what little we know about Cregan, it’s important to his story that he is young when he comes into his lordship, and his uncle Bennard serves as a kind of regent until Cregan comes of age.
That should make Cregan about 21 years old when King Viserys dies and civil war breaks out in the Seven Kingdoms. Although Viserys explicitly named Rhaenyra his heir, several great houses support her younger half-brother, Aegon in his bid for the Iron Throne. Cregan, however, honors the oath his father made and he has no trouble marshaling the rest of the North to do so as well.
Still, Cregan is reluctant to travel south and participate in a war for the throne, noting, predictably, that “winter is coming” and his people need to prepare for that instead. In the book, Rhaenyra’s son flies to Winterfell on dragonback to convince Cregan to join them in one of the most mysterious but enticing episodes of the entire war. Many fans are hoping that the show leaves enough time to flesh out this situation.
Whatever happened between Cregan and Prince Jacaerys is remembered in Westerosi history as “The Pact of Ice and Fire” – a title that could have a deeper meaning now that the show has revealed the Targaryen prophecy passed between monarchs. Whatever it meant, Cregan agreed to call his banners and march south to participate in the war.
Cregan is an interesting character whose notable deeds extend beyond the end of this war. He named his eldest son Rickon after his own father, but sadly Cregan outlived his son and need to pass Winterfell to his second son, Jonnel. However, Jonnel died young and Winterfell passed between several more of Cregan’s sons before finally passing to the next generation – the offspring of Cregan’s fifth son, Brandon. The Starks we know and love in the main series all descend from this line.
Of course, the main series is peppered with familiar names from this period of history. In Game of Thrones, the youngest Stark brother is named Rickon and the middle brother is named Brandon. At one point in the books, Bran even remarks on Cregan while he is hiding from Theon in the Crypts of Winterfell. Fans have high hopes for more connections to the main series when House of the Dragon gets to “The Pact of Ice and Fire.”
You can read Martin’s “imaginary history” for yourself in Fire & Blood, which is available now in print, digital and audiobook formats. House of the Dragon airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.
