Photo: Ollie Upton/HBO
Warning: This post contains spoilers forthepenultimateepisodeof season 1 ofHouse of the Dragon.
The king is dead — seriously, this time. King Viserys I (Paddy Considine) bought the farm in the last episode ofHouse of the Dragon, and the scene was set in this week’s episode — titled “The Green Council” — for all hell to break loose concerning his succession.
The penultimate episode for the first season of HBO’sGame of Thronesprequel series opens with Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and Hand of the King Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) discovering Viserys died. A shocked and grieving Alicent told her father Otto that Viserys' final words were his wish that their eldest son, Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), succeed him on the Iron Throne.
Ollie Upton/HBO
Alicent and Otto quickly and quietly informed the small council that Viserys died, and his final words were for Aegon to be king. The group admitted to a shocked Alicent that they already made a pact to supplant Rhaenyra with Aegon — so if that was indeed the king’s final wish, so much the better.
The four men ordered to find Aegon eventually crossed paths and squared off, which was when Aegon told his younger brother he had no interest in being king. What’s more, if they would let him go, he would just disappear and live happily ever after as a swine human being. Having already confided in Criston that he believed himself fit to be king, Aemond seemed to consider the offer for a split second before Aegon was brought to their mother as Criston bested — but did not kill — his fellow guardsmen.
While all the events of the episode were unfolding, Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best) was being held captive in her room at the castle. Alicent informed her the king — also Rhaenys' cousin — had died and of his last wishes. Rhaenys did not buy it and took great affront to another would-be queen stepped over just as she had been ages ago in favor of Viserys. One of the members of the Kingsguard, who was tasked with finding Aegon — but knew he was just the worst, which made the guard sympathetic to Rhaenys' situation — helped her escape the castle.
As she was making her way through the city to the port, Rhaenys got swept up in the mass of everyone in King’s Landing being herded to Aegon’s coronation at the Sept of Oldtown. While riding with his mother to the coronation, a dejected Aegon told the queen he did not believe her concerning his father’s final wishes and held a grudge he was not named heir years ago. She promised him it was real, but balked when he asked if she loved him.
In the final scene, Aegon is crowned the new king, and the more the throngs of subjects cheered him, the more he got into the moment and seemed to realize all the power he now wielded. Rhaenys watched for a few minutes but then was able to slip away. As the ceremony was coming to a close and everyone seemed super stoked, Rhaenys, atop her enormous dragon, Meleys, smashed apart the Sept. Rhaenys spared all the royals' lives, but she had made her point: “the Queen That Never Was,” would be Team Rhaenyra in the ensuing civil war for the throne— and she would be a formidable foe on that side.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The season finale ofHouse of the Dragonairs Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.
source: people.com
