The Targaryens have had their own ancient customs and rituals from times immemorial, which might seem a bit over the top and immoral to a lot of viewers today. However, George R. R. Martin’s works are inspired by real history, even things like incest and NSFW artwork decorating the walls in House of The Dragon. Showrunner Ryan Condal recently discussed the inspirations behind these paintings in a recent interview.
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Condal told Westeros.org, “I actually don’t remember where we got that. Obviously, we’re going for Roman decadence because how do you set this Targaryen era when they’re sitting on the top of the world with all of their dragons and long decades of peace? How do you show how they were different?”
“It was less about the lurid nature of the imagery, and more about showing that the Targaryens hold to different customs, they are foreigners who marry brother to sister, and Aegon had two wives, and this idea of their origin even if they are now living in Westeros. They brought their different values with them. Also, the idea is not that these aren’t really Targaryen murals, but Valyrian murals with the idea that when the Red Keep was built, that was something from the Valyrian texts that they brought.”
He added, “If you look closer at them, there are people with dragon heads and dragon bodies, and there’s gender mixing going on as well with the characters who are half woman, half man. It’s deeply complex and interesting. That was more of what we were going for, to show that the Targaryens were not traditional Westerosi. They had integrated into this life and brought this whole other culture along with them.”
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