House of the Dragon changes opening credits with grim detail after Jaehaerys’ death

House of the Dragon revealed new opening credits at the start of Season 2, but they’ve been changed once more after Blood and Cheese’s shocking murder of Jaehaerys.

House of the Dragon Season 1’s original credits journeyed through Old Valyria and the Targaryen family tree. They changed slightly over the 10 episodes; for example, when Viserys died, his sigil was soaked in blood.

Season 2 kicked off with a big change, with each episode now showing a tapestry of Targaryen history, all the way from the Doom of Valyria and Aegon’s conquest to the events of the prequel so far.

For example, there’s stitchings of Aegon II and Rhaenyra on their separate thrones, as well as a dragon being chomped in half with its rider falling from the sky (poor Lucerys).

Now, fans have noticed another addition from Season 2: the death of Prince Jaehaerys, killed in his bed in the dead of night by Blood and Cheese.

HBO

Towards the end of the credits, you can see an image of Jaehaerys’ corpse with a slash of blood across his neck (in case you forgot, his head was chopped off). It’s okay though, because Aegon’s cull of King’s Landing’s ratcatchers has also been added to the credits.

“The position of the red slash. Nahhh, f**k this show,” one fan reacted. “I didn’t notice this before. This is so sick,” another wrote.

“This caught me so off guard that I had to rewind,” a third posted. “Dear lord I forgot they change title sequences to reflect what happens in the story,” a fourth wrote.

Speaking to Elle, showrunner Ryan Condal explained: “The Season 1 sequence had changed a couple of times as the season unfolded, and I think that was a tradition started by the famous map sequence of the original series, and we wanted to continue that tradition, because we felt like that was part of the thing that’s baked into the DNA of a Westerosi show like this.

“In Season 2, now that this war has kicked off, it felt like it was something else, something different. We’re taking you through this really important living history of the Targaryen dynasty… I’m thrilled with what they did, and I’m excited to evolve that sequence as we go on down through the history.”

Feel free to catch yourself up with our recaps of Episode 1, Episode 2, and Episode 3, and make sure you know when to catch the next episode of House of the Dragon Season 2. We’ve also got guides on Aemond Targaryen’s death in the books, Alys Rivers, and Milly Alcock’s Rhaenyra cameo.