Six years after their wedding, Daemon and Rhaenyra go to the Red Keep to practically fire King Viserys.
New time jump in ‘The House of the Dragon’. What speed are they running? Six years have passed since Rhaenyra and Daemon’s wedding. And Viserys is still alive. The health of this Targaryen is worthy of study. His weak appearance and his continuous ailments foreshadowed that he would not last long and yet he has survived battles, fights, deaths and weddings. To the despair, above all, of his wife, Alicent, and of the Hand, Otto Hightower, who rule while the monarch remains in bed.
The fact that the series uses this resource and hits a spurt in each episode deprives us of getting to know some characters better and the development of various events. For example, taking into account the controversy generated by the first flings between Daemon and his niece, it would have been nice to see how the king and queen took that marriage. Even having attended the reactions of the rest of the characters (being Criston Cole, Otto…) before this alliance, which once again altered the board in which blacks and greens live waiting for the king to die.
‘The House of the Dragon’ is clear about where it wants to go and what it wants to tell -the battle for the succession- and any narrative decision that could hinder this is dismissed. Episode 8 will lead us to the final confrontation between sides and will remind us of the many quarrels that exist between its members. We must get to know the rest of the events as we go along and not think about it too much. Thus, for example, we have to assume that the war in the Stone Steps has been reactivated and has put the Velaryon in check. We don’t really understand why Daemon hasn’t come to put order there now. We must understand that he has dedicated himself to raising children, the two he has with Rhaenyra (Aegon and Viserys) and the one that is on the way. We also know that Alicent’s son has married his sister and is still as foolish and rogue (chasing the maids) as ever and that Aemond only lives to prepare for the great war.
Vaemond Velaryon, Rhaenys Targaryen and Baela Targaryen. /
Before this happens, the last conflict must be resolved, the inheritance of High Tide. Faced with the possibility that Lord Corlys has died his brother, Vaemond, claims to become the lord, since he is not willing for a bastard to occupy the throne. He is supported by Alicent and Otto Hightower who, in this way, want to erode Rhaenyra, so that when the time comes she loses support so that she can be queen. The princess is not willing for her son Lucerys to be separated from her and she goes to King’s Landing (it had been six years since she had set foot in the Red Fortress) to defend him. Once again -perhaps the last- her father will come to her aid, a very deteriorated Viserys who can barely move but who makes an effort so that no one breaks the established protocol. Vaemond ends up dead (Daemon kills him for insulting his wife and his children) and Laena’s and Rhaenyra’s daughters, compromised, to safeguard the good relationship of the families.
The Last Supper
At the subsequent dinner, the Targaryen monarch tries once again to calm things down, to call for harmony. And Rhaenyra and Alicent each stage a sequence flattering the other to please her father and husband. But the poison between the greens and the blacks is already widely spread and it is difficult for it not to spread. As soon as the king leaves for his chambers, rivalries between the younger ones (Aemond, Lucerys, Jacaerys, Aegon) flare up. The princess prefers to return to Dragonstone with her family to avoid more confrontations, something that she does not understand too well considering that Viserys does not have much left and she should be preparing the succession.
Indeed, that night the talk between the king and his wife sounds like a farewell. He thanks her for what she has done for her marriage and reminds her that she has a duty to see to what is best for the kingdom. Another thing is how she interprets that legacy of hers.
Along the way of the chapter other less important plots happen but that, surely, will have relevance in the near future. Mysaria appears briefly, whom we had forgotten, and we don’t know exactly what she is plotting. We don’t really care either. Syrax, Rhaenyra’s dragon, lays three eggs and Daemon guards them. This interests us more. What is going on with them? There will be no shortage of theories about it.
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