The House of the Dragon Harrenhal and the ghostly story associated with it

[Ed. note: This story contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season 2 episodes 3 and 4.]

House of the Dragon is no stranger to the supernatural. The HBO fantasy drama series not only offers plenty of subtle magic – not to mention Dragon — but it is also the prequel to game of Thronesa show full of snow zombies and smoke monster babies. This is clearly a universe where otherworldly forces are at play. Still, Daemon Targaryen’s (Matt Smith) disturbing stop at Harrenhal in Season 2 probably marks House of the Dragonis the most obvious supernatural subplot yet.

Everyone’s favorite cheeky, sad prince opens his shop in the supposedly cursed castle in Episode 3, and soon strange goings-on start to occur. It seems as if he is in Westeros’ answer to Ghost Huntersbut is he (and everyone else) only scared of shadows? How cursed is House of the DragonIt’s Harrenhal, really?

Why does everyone think Harrenhal is cursed?

Image: HBO

One of the few things that the high and low born people of Westeros seem to agree on is that a curse has been upon them since the city of Harrenhal was built. Why? George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire Books, House of the DragonAnd game of Thrones Harrenhal’s dubious reputation is due to two main factors.

The first is the Olympian arrogance of Harrenhal’s founder, King Harren Hoare, in the run-up to the castle’s grand opening. Harren made a big deal about how invincible his fortress, which generations had worked to build, would be – and on paper his boasting made sense. Harrenhal is comically oversized, and its battlements (supposedly made of mortar mixed with Harren’s blood) can theoretically shrug off any conventional attack.

The bad news for old Harren was that dragons are extremely unconventional. King Aegon I Targaryen and his sisters literally invaded Westeros the day Harren moved into Harrenhal and promptly set the place on fire. The Targaryen dragons roasted Harren and his sons during the attack, and Harrenhal itself was never the same again. Not surprisingly, rumors soon began to spread that Harrenhal was cursed, haunted, or both.

The second factor contributing to Harrenhal’s bad reputation is that almost all of those who succeeded Harren as lords of the castle did not fare much better. We have seen some of these failures in game of Thrones‘ eight seasons long: Tywin Lannister, Janos Slynt and Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish are shot in the toilet, banished and then beheaded or put into Pez dispensers. House of the Dragon In Season 1, Lyonel Strong and his boy Harwin are also added to the suspected victims of the Harrenhal curse.

To be honest, you can hardly blame people for thinking that this is bad luck.

What happens in Harrenhal in the Game of Thrones books?

Photo: Ollie Upton/HBO

Both the core of A Song of Ice and Fire Novels and House of the DragonSource code from, Fire & Bloodshow no overt paranormal activity at Harrenhal. Of course, we hear legends about the various horrors of the fortress, such as the flaming phantoms of Harren and his children, a child-eating ghoul called Mad Lady Lothston, rafters filled with raven ghosts, and household staff that turn to ash in their sleep. We never really see but some of this stuff.

At one point, Littlefinger complains about the ghostly tenants of Harrenhal, but this is probably just the former Master of Coin’s typical sarcasm. Although several characters (including Jaime Lannister and Arya Stark) admit that apparitions of Harren and his sons supposedly roam the castle’s corridors, no one witnesses this phenomenon firsthand. In addition, Westerosi rumors say that Harren’s ghost killed a pair of Lannister-affiliated lower-class people in Battle of the Kings are simply wrong; Arya’s mentor, Jaqen H’ghar, is the one actually responsible. There is a similarly prosaic explanation for the eerie screams that come from Harrenhal’s aptly named Wailing Tower: it’s just wind blowing through cracks in the walls.

Even so, Fire & Blood also describes other, less easily dismissed supernatural deceptions on Harrenhal’s grounds. Notably, the castle’s heart tree not only has a terrifying face, but also “bleeds” every spring from dragon claw marks in its trunk. Admittedly, heart trees are a very separate branch (pun intended) of magic in A Song of Ice and Fire lore and doesn’t necessarily fall under the curse term. Still, this definitely fits the definition of “creepy” – and probably confirms that something sinister is afoot at Harrenhal.

So is Harrenhal really cursed? Or is it just Westerosian superstition?

Photo: Theo Whitman/HBO

Honestly? No one knows for sure. Ambiguity is an essential part of Martin’s interpretation of magic, the supernatural, and religion in A Song of Ice and Fire. So the details of all three – including curses, real or imagined – are intentionally blurred. Harrenhal could be haunted by a malevolent force that wants to destroy Daemon, but don’t expect House of the Dragon Showrunner Ryan Condal can say that with certainty.

Certainly nothing in episodes 3 or 4 categorically confirms or rules out Harrenhal’s curse. Yes, Daemon sees his bedroom door shaken by unseen forces; Harrenhal is pretty damn drafty, though. Our guy’s (admittedly jumbled) visions of the younger Rhaenyra aren’t exactly a reason to call an exorcist, either. For one thing, Rhaenyra is still alive (so that’s is not a ghost), and secondly, Season 2 is littered with hints of Daemon losing control. It’s the classic “is this all in his head?” cliche.

But even if Harrenhal’s curse remains up for debate in House of the Dragon Season 2 makes one thing clear: haunted or not, the castle is the least attractive vacation spot in Westeros.