brake alert: Don’t read if you haven’t watched episode 9 of “House of the Dragon” titled “The Green Council”.
King Viserys is dead, long live King Aegon!
Season 1 of “House of the Dragon” is headed for an explosive finale next Sunday, as the battle lines are drawn between the greens and the blacks. The penultimate episode did not show Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) or her side of the impending civil war, instead focusing on how Aliscent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) and her supporters usurp the Iron Throne and their new entry, somewhat reluctant, King Aegon II Targaryen ( Tom Glenn Carney).
The episode begins with the rapid spread of word overnight in the Red Keep of King Viserys’ (Paddy Considine). As we saw at the end of the previous episode, Aliscent misinterpreted Viserys’ last words about Aegon the Conqueror to be about her son Aegon and how he should be king instead of Rhaenyra. Relay this timely news to Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), whose master plan will finally come together. He called the royal council together and it turned out that some of them had already drawn up a plan of action for Aegon’s ascent.
Matters are tense at the late-night council meeting, as some Viserys loyalists, such as Harrold Westerling (Graham McTavish) and Lyman Beesbury (Bill Patterson), are angry at the reversal of Viserys’ succession plan. In response, Kriston Cole (Fabian Frankel) smashes Lyman’s head onto the table, killing him instantly. It’s yet another horrific death after Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) kills Vaemond Velaryon (Wil Johnson) in the final episode, and further proof that heads are going to roll and no one will be safe in Westeros.
Secrets quickly leak out in the Red Keep, so Otto and the Greens gather all the servants and keep them in the dungeon – and Larize Strong (Matthew Needham) seems very happy to keep an eye on the prisoners. They also lock Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) in her room so she can’t send word to Rhaenyra at Dragonstone. Aliscent asks Otto if he plans to kill Rhinera, her ex-boyfriend, to protect her hold on the Iron Throne, and she’s not too thrilled with his answer. Later, Otto brought some lords and ladies into the homes of Westeros and ordered them to bend the knee of King Aegon. Most do, but those who are not are sent away to the dungeon or suspended outside the Red Keep as a warning to those opposed to the Greens.
Meanwhile, with all this talk of the king, no one was able to find Aegon and tell him the gospel, so Alicent and Otto sent two different teams to find him. Alicent sends Creston and Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) with one eye, and Otto sends twin knights Arryk and Erryk Cargyll (Luke and Elliott Tittensor). Kriston and Emond visit one of Aegon’s favorite brothels and stumble upon an illegal child-fighting ring underground, but they never find the young king. Aemond also hints to Creston that he wouldn’t mind sitting on the Iron Throne if they don’t find his older brother.
Back in the Red Keep, Larys offers to be a double agent for Otto – giving the shade of Littlefinger to this skinny teacher for whispers. Aliscent confronts Rhaenys and asks for her support in Aegon’s usurpation of the Iron Throne, offering her Driftmark Island in return. Rhaenys taunts the Queen, wondering why she would bow to the men in her life instead of sitting on the throne herself.
Otto ends up obtaining secret information about the whereabouts of Egon from Misaria (Sonoya Mizuno), a former lover of Daimon who has been amassing her own network of “little birds”. She tells him where Aegon is, but in return, Otto must close the children’s fight ring and owe her a favor. The Cargylls find Aegon, who is hiding from his responsibility, and they have a sword fight against Criston and Aemond. The Targaryen boys fight their own battle, and Egon tells Aymond they can sail away and leave King’s Landing behind. Creston wins the fight, brings back Aegon, and everyone prepares for his royal coronation.
In one of the scariest scenes on the show yet, Laris has a late-night meeting with Aliscent and reveals that her maid Talia (Alexis Rabin) is a spy for Missaria. To pay for Larize’s information, Aliscent seemed uncomfortable, so she showed him her bare feet, as he masturbated as she looked away. Just as he did against Harwin and Lionel Strong, Laris orchestrated another fire to kill Talia. At the same time, the Rhaenys are freed and infiltrate the streets of King’s Landing.
On his way to his coronation, Aegon rides a carriage with Alicent but regrets that Viserys never wanted him to rule. The entire city, including the masked Rhaenys, gathers to watch the ceremony, as Otto officially proclaims Aegon king. While being crowned, Aemond watches jealously, Otto looks on proudly and Egon appears happy for a while as he raises his Blackfyre sword. But the coronation goes off the rails when the ceremony dragon crashes, flattening dozens of citizens under his feet. It was revealed to be Rhaenys, who had snuck away at Meraxes’ dragon. When the chaos unfolds, the dragons walk into the royal family, but instead of burning them in flames of fire, the dragons roar in their faces and the Rhaenys fly away.
In next week’s finale, we’re sure to see how Rhaenyra, Daemon and their allies respond to this royal betrayal, with the Dance of Dragons finally taking place.
[ad_2]
