‘House of The Dragon’ recently premiered its fourth episode, the series is running at a good pace as many time jumps have already taken place. In the fourth episode, the audience saw a little glimpse of the old feud between Blackwoods and Brackens. The show depicted Rhaenyra taking a tour of the realm, and following that she stops at Storm’s end, the seat of House Baratheon.
After the pressure of marriage from her father, King Viserys, and a storm of proposals from all across the realm, Rahenyra decides to take her chances. She starts to sort out the candidates, Lord Boremund Baratheon helps her in the introduction of lords from different parts. Lord Dondarrion starts the scene with his proposal along with the detail and specs of his house and seat but she finds him too old for her.
Following that, a small lad who belongs to House Blackwood of Raventree Hall starts his speech and he demands the princess’s hand for the marriage. Lord Baratheon tells the princess that the kid belongs to an ancient house, and the blood of the First Men runs through their veins. When Willem Blackwood gives his proposal, Jerrel Bracken of House Bracken started to bully him.
This mocking led to a fight, Willem and Jarrel both drew their sword and this ended with the death of Bracken guy. The interesting thing is that this rivalry has its roots back to thousand years, during the age of heroes. First, we should explore the background of Blackwoods and Bracken.
House Blackwood
House Blackwood of Raventree Hall is an ancient house in the Riverlands area. They are one of the major families, who sworn their allegiance to House Tully of Riverrun. The sigil of the house is a Weirwood tree surrounded by black ravens. That’s why their seat is called Raventree Hall. They are among the few houses that have their faith in Old Gods. They are the descendants of the First Men and have a large army. Initially, they ruled in the Wolfswood area until driven away from there. Blackwoods helped Aegon the Conqueror in his war of conquest.
House Bracken
House Bracken is an old house, that belongs to Stone Hedge in the Riverlands area. They have sworn loyalty to House Tully of Riverrun. Their sigil is a red Stallion upon a gold shield on a brownfield. They have a large army than their overlords and also have the blood of First Men. They were the king of Riverlands during the age of heroes. Blackwood rules near their region. They rallied under Aegon the Conqueror during his war of conquest.
Rivalry Of Ages
Although Blackwoods and Brackens have joined forces many times, whether it was against the Andal invasion or it was under the Targaryen banner. But they fought many times over small issues. Blackwoods claims that the Brackens were small lords and the horse breeders who tried to dethrone the Blackwood kings. Brackens claim that they were the kings and Blackwoods were their vassals who tried to force them out of their seats.
However, other theories suggest that the main feud is over land disputes as both houses are neighbors and there are lots of unmarked villages between their regions. Blackwoods and Brackens both are always eager to flex their muscles on each other over this land. They never miss any opportunity to humiliate each other.
Read More: ‘House Of The Dragon’: What Are The ‘Greens’ And The ‘Blacks’ In Targaryen Civil War
