House of the Dragon revives a Game of Thrones debate: the strongest House may not win the Iron Throne

With House of the Dragon, HBO’s prequel to Game of Thrones, the old argument over the strongest house in George R.R. Martin’s Westeros is back again, and the show gives a wider sense of how power actually works across the Seven Kingdoms.

If you’re going by the history in Game of Thrones lore, House Targaryen still has the strongest claim. Dragons gave Aegon the Conqueror and his sisters the power to bring most of Westeros to heel and found a dynasty. Take the dragons out of the picture, though, and strength starts to mean something else: armies, money, food, ships, territory, and influence at court.

That’s why the conversation in Game of Thrones lore keeps circling back to House Lannister for its 3 million gold dragon loan to the crown, House Tyrell for the Reach’s food, population, and enormous armies, House Stark for the sheer scale of the North, its toughness, and its reputation for loyalty, and even House Hightower and House Velaryon, because Oldtown holds sway through the Citadel and the Faith, and Corlys Velaryon built immense wealth through naval power.

If you follow the lore, that’s probably the clearest answer. The era matters, and so does the standard you’re using, but once House Targaryen has dragons in play, everyone else is really competing for second place.

You can watch Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon on Max, and HBO’s planned Aegon’s Conquest project could make that case look even stronger.