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Published Aug 15, 2026, 2:38 PM EDT
Julio is a Senior Author for Collider. He studied History and International Relations at university, but found his calling in cultural journalism. When he isn't writing, Julio also teaches English at a nearby school. He has lived in São Paulo most of his life, where he covers CCXP and other big events. Having loved movies, music, and TV from an early age, he prides himself in knowing every minute detail about the things he loves. When he is older, he dreams of owning a movie theater in a small countryside town.
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Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 3 finale.
"They say every time a Targaryen is born, the gods toss a coin, and the world holds its breath." It was almost impossible to watch the third season finale of House of the Dragon without thinking of this iconic quote, repeated many times throughout George R.R. Martin's work. When Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) learns about Aegon's (Tom Glynn-Carney) survival, she takes a tyrannical turn in a desperate attempt to secure her position and to appear as the rightful occupant of the Iron Throne. It might seem like her coin has finally landed on the madness side, once again confirming the old adage. But if Rhaenyra is mad, then it feels like this entire generation of Targaryens ended up on the bad side of the coin flip. This begs the question: Is it really a 50/50 split on madness and sanity, or is there something else at play here?
The Targaryen Saying Is Actually About Power, Not a Prophecy of Madness
Ever since the finale aired, the "coin toss" has been talked about as the final nail in the coffin of Rhaenyra's stability, as she has been challenged all season long to try and rule the realm peacefully. She loses her son and heir, is sabotaged multiple times in court, is rejected by the Faith, and loses the populace's support... This all happens within a few weeks; it's hard to blame her for losing her patience. In fact, Rhaenyra holds on longer than most, considering she has Daemon (Matt Smith) in her ear constantly talking about conquest.
Collider Exclusive · Game of Thrones Personality Quiz Which Game of Thrones House Do You Belong To? Stark · Lannister · Targaryen · Baratheon · Tyrell
Five great houses. Five completely different answers to the same question: how do you hold power in a world that will take it from you the moment you stop paying attention? Eight questions will determine where your loyalties — and your nature — truly lie.
🐺Stark
🦁Lannister
🐉Targaryen
🦌Baratheon
🌹Tyrell
FIND YOUR HOUSE →
01
Someone powerful is acting dishonourably and everyone knows it. What do you do? In Westeros, the answer to this question has ended more than one great house.
ACall it out, openly and on the record. If honour means anything, it has to mean something when it's costly. BUse it. Information about someone else's dishonour is leverage — and leverage is power. CAct decisively to correct it — with or without the approval of those around me. DChallenge them directly. Strength settles disputes more honestly than courtroom manoeuvring. ENavigate carefully — build alliances, apply quiet pressure, and create a situation where the right outcome becomes inevitable.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
What is the source of your power? Every house endures because of something. What is it for yours?
AThe loyalty of people who trust me — earned over generations, not bought with gold. BWealth, intelligence, and the willingness to use both without sentiment. CA legacy so fearsome and a vision so total that opposition becomes unthinkable. DPhysical strength, military force, and the respect that comes from being the kind of person nobody wants to fight. ECharm, connection, and the ability to make powerful people feel that my success is also theirs.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
Who do you truly fight for? Strip away the banners and the words. The honest answer tells you everything.
AMy family and my people — those who depend on me and have kept faith with me through everything. BMy family — the ones who share my blood, even when they exhaust me, even when they disappoint me. CMy cause — a vision larger than any single person, including me. DMyself, and those few who've proven themselves worth fighting beside. EMy house — its name, its future, the position I intend to leave it in when I'm gone.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
How do you deal with your enemies? A house's method reveals its character as clearly as its words ever could.
AHonestly — I face them directly, and I give quarter when it's warranted. BThoroughly — I don't leave loose ends, and I don't make the same enemy twice. CDecisively — fire answers questions that diplomacy only delays. DHead-on — I'd rather meet a threat on the battlefield than behind closed doors. EElegantly — I prefer to make former enemies into allies, or at least into people who owe me something.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
What kind of ruler do you believe in? Westeros is full of answers to this question. Most of them end badly.
AA just one — someone who serves the realm rather than using it, who leads by example rather than fear. BA capable one — someone smart enough to navigate the game, ruthless enough to win it, and realistic about what winning costs. CA transformative one — someone who doesn't just rule what exists but reshapes what's possible. DA strong one — someone whose authority is beyond question because the alternative is obviously worse. EA wise one — someone who understands that the realm is fed by more than armies, and that a full stomach keeps more peace than a sharp sword.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
You suffer a devastating loss. How does your house respond? How a house handles defeat tells you more about it than how it handles victory.
AWe grieve, properly and together — and then we endure, because endurance is what we do. BWe adapt. We reassess. And we ensure that whoever caused this loss comes to regret it completely. CWe burn hotter. Setbacks don't soften us — they clarify what needs to happen next. DWe hit back. Grief and revenge are the same motion in our house. EWe regroup quietly, rebuild our position, and return when we're ready — on our terms, not theirs.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
Which of these truths about Westeros do you most believe? Every house has a philosophy. This is yours.
AThe lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Nothing matters more than the people you protect. BA Lannister always pays their debts — in gold or in kind. Reputation is built on consistency. CI am the blood of the dragon. Some destinies are written before the person who carries them is born. DOurs is the fury. When we move, we move completely — and we don't stop until it's done. EGrowing strong means knowing when to bloom and when to wait. Patience is its own kind of power.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
The Iron Throne is within reach. What do you do? The answer reveals not just your ambition — but your character.
AClaim it only if the realm needs me to — and rule in a way that makes it worth having. BEnsure someone who owes us sits in it. The power behind the throne is safer than the throne itself. CTake it. It was always meant to be mine — I feel that in my bones and in my blood. DSeize it — with both hands, without hesitation. Opportunity in Westeros does not wait to be asked. EPosition my house to be indispensable to whoever sits there — influence outlasts any single reign.
REVEAL MY HOUSE →
The Maester Has Spoken Your House Is…
Your answers point to the great house whose words, values, and way of surviving in Westeros match your own. Bend the knee — or don't. That's very much up to you.
🐺 House Stark
Winter is Coming — and you have always known it. You prepare not out of fear but out of duty, because the people who depend on you deserve someone who takes the long view.
- You lead with honour even when it costs you, because you understand that a reputation built on integrity is the only one worth having.
- Your loyalty to family and people runs deep — not as sentiment but as a code that doesn't bend when things get difficult.
- The North endures because Starks endure — not by being the cleverest players in the game, but by being the kind of people others are willing to follow into the cold.
- You are that kind of person. The pack survives. The lone wolf dies. You already know which one you are.
🦁 House Lannister
You understand the game — its rules, its exceptions, and exactly when the rules become the exception. You play it without illusions and without apology.
- You are sharper than most people realise, and you have learned to use that gap to your advantage.
- A Lannister always pays their debts — and you always keep your word, because your word is an instrument of power, and instruments must be kept in working order.
- You love your family with a ferocity that sometimes blinds you, and you know it, and you do it anyway.
- The lion doesn't concern itself with the opinion of sheep. Neither, in the end, do you.
🐉 House Targaryen
You carry a sense of destiny that is difficult to explain and impossible to ignore — the feeling that you are not simply participating in the world but meant to reshape it.
- You are capable of extraordinary things, and you know it, and that knowledge is both your greatest strength and your most dangerous quality.
- Fire and blood are not just words to you — they are a philosophy about what change requires and what it costs.
- The Targaryens at their best were transformative rulers who broke chains and defied the limits of what anyone thought possible.
- At your best, so are you. The dragon has three heads. You are one of them.
🦌 House Baratheon
You are a force — direct, powerful, and difficult to ignore when you enter a room or a conflict. You do not negotiate with challenges. You meet them.
- Ours is the fury — and yours is a kind of intensity that commands attention, respect, and occasionally fear from those who underestimate what's behind it.
- You value strength and straight dealing. You'd rather know where you stand in a fight than navigate a web of courtly whispers.
- The Baratheons built their house on the back of one of the greatest military victories in Westerosi history — and then struggled with what came after.
- The lesson of your house is that winning is not the end of the story. Governing is. You are learning that too.
🌹 House Tyrell
You understand that power does not always announce itself — that sometimes it arrives with flowers, good wine, and a smile that doesn't quite reach the eyes.
- Growing strong is your house's motto, and you live it: patiently, strategically, always investing in the relationships and resources that will matter most when it counts.
- You are charming by choice and calculating by nature — a combination that makes you one of the most effective players in any room you enter.
- The Tyrells fed King's Landing and shaped its politics without ever sitting on the Iron Throne — and they were arguably more powerful for it.
- You know that the person who controls the food controls the kingdom. And you always know where the food is.
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On the Green side, Aegon's reunion with Sunfyre and Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) seems to have exacerbated the worst in him. Although he is his father's firstborn son, he was never prepared to be king like Rhaenyra and grew up hedonistic, with the throne highlighting the worst in him. Aemond, on the other hand, worked twice as hard as his brother to earn only half the attention he got, hence his obsessive focus and usurping tendencies. When he sees a chance to take the crown for himself and wipe Aegon off the board, he takes it, even if kinslaying is considered a cultural taboo.
The common thread between all of these Targaryens in House of the Dragon — with the exceptions of Helaena (Phia Saban) and Daeron (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) — is that they've been exposed to power and the Iron Throne from a very young age; it has nothing to do with their house. In House of the Dragon, we have the benefit of having seen these characters grow up. None of them were born mad. For Rhaenyra, being denied what she has always been told was her mission is maddening, while for Aegon and Aemond, the sudden promise of power is tempting, especially when, as men, they believe it is their right to rule.
The Old Saying About House Targaryen Is One of Their Main Drivers in the Franchise
Image via HBO MaxWith so many Targaryens running around throughout the franchise, it's easy to lose track of who is mad and who isn't, but when they are, it's always because of the Iron Throne's promise. In Game of Thrones, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) lived with the pressure of being the Mad King's daughter and the burden of taking back the throne all her life, only to lose everything to her own "madness" in the end. In reality, she was in an even worse place than Rhaenyra, having lost two of her dragons and learning that Jon Snow (Kit Harington) has a better claim than her, and that's not even mentioning the threat of the White Walkers.
Because of how Game of Thrones ends, Daenerys is now seen as a mad queen, but before that, she was a conqueror and a liberator who had her heart in the right place. She was ruthless, yes, but never cruel. Only at her lowest did the whispers about madness resurface, implying that madness is simply a Targaryen trait, which just isn't true. Even her father, the Mad King Aerys II (David Rintoul), grew paranoid because of all the treachery and competing interests around him, but mad is something you become, not something you are.
Like every family, House Targaryen has its fair share of terrible people — Aerys II himself, Aerion (Finn Bennett) from A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Aegon IV (who was remembered as "The Unworthy"), House of the Dragon's Daemon, Maegor the Cruel... However, none of them are born and raised in a vacuum. What truly sets them on their destructive path is the allure of power and what they'll do for it, with their dragons greatly amplifying the consequences of such actions. And in the case of Westeros, doing unspeakable things for power isn't exclusive to the Targaryens.
The Targaryens Aren't the Only Power Hungry House in Westeros
The thing about how the game of thrones is played is that we get to see who each player really is along the way and, more often than not, end up rooting for terrible people. In Game of Thrones, for example, Daenerys is the only Targaryen player, but she is far from being the worst person. Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson), Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen), and Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) all put up a great fight for this title, but none of them had madness thrust upon them like the Targaryens do and no one simply assumed they could be mad because of their family name.
One reason for this saying could come from the Dance of the Dragons, which set the standard for how dangerous Targaryen madness can be to the whole realm. Their dragons wreak far more havoc than one king or queen, and collective memory is powerful, leading to sayings like the Targaryen coin-toss, which viewers usually take as an omen. It's important to put all this into context, though, because let's face it, the dragons are not the problem, the Iron Throne drives everyone around it mad and that's been proven time and time again.
House of the Dragon is available to stream on HBO Max.
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