The Heirs of the Dragon
The council decides that Jorah Mormont, a man of the Reach, will be the new king. The other claimants are: Bronn, a free man from the city of King’s Landing; Tommen Baratheon, son of King Joffrey; and Margaery Tyrell, daughter of Lord Tyrell.
Prince Viserys Targaryen, the son of the late King Aerys II, has been declared the future King of Westeros by all the lords. This is a shocking development, as a woman will not inherit the Iron Throne – for now. The irony here is that this council was called to stop a war breaking out but yet it seems that the family themselves are on the brink of declaring war themselves.
Daenerys is a young woman who has been raised by the Dothraki, a nomadic group of warriors who live in the far north. She is determined to find her way in the world and become queen of all Westeros. She must first defeat her enemies, including her own father, King Viserys I.
Princess Rhaenyra is the focus of this story, and after meeting her friend Alicent Hightower she has desires to fight in big battles and head out on the battlefield but her mother is quick to quell those doubts. For now, she’s stuck with filling goblets for the council.
The Prince Admiral, Crab Feeder, has convened a meeting on Bloodstone to discuss the growing Alliance in the Free Cities. Lord Corlys Velaryon’s concerns are met with an indifferent shrug.
King Viserys is expecting the birth of his child soon and he’s convinced that it’s to be a boy. Rhaenyra listens quietly, eyeing up the various men of influence around this table. For now, Rhaenyra visits Prince Daemon Targaryen. She finds him sitting on the Iron Throne, but this is much much accurate to how the books described the chair, surrounded by hundreds of swords, sticking out like thin gravestones. Daemon hands over a necklace for the young princess; Valerian steel.
Daemon is the ruler of the armies and he’s quick to get riled up and decide to conquer King’s Landing. This comes from some pretty gnarly punishments that Daemon himself delivers. For example, he himself delivers several killing blows, going after criminals and taking away remains of those who have committed crimes.
The King has been under a lot of stress recently and that’s been taking a toll on his health. The Grand Maester finds a nasty wound on the King’s back and comes to the conclusion that it needs to be cauterized. As for Viserys, he’s absolutely adamant he wants a son and tells his wife about his vivid dreams of their son wearing a crown and ruling. After losing 5 babies, the Queen is quick to point out that this is the last time. “I’ve mourned all the dead children than I can.” She says at last. An ominous bit of foreshadowing perhaps? ..
King Viserys is not happy when he hears of the night-time slaughter of Daemon Targaryen’s men by the Gold Cloaks. At a council meeting, Daemon is questioned over this and Corlys agrees with him that it is promoting law and order by making the people fear the watch. Otto Hightower does not agree and speaks his piece all the same, telling him to use the Gold Cloaks but not to step outside his jurisdiction. ..
At Kings Landing, Viserys is holding a big tournament. The jousting is an impressive display, although George R.R. Martin would likely have spent more than 7 pages describing all the banners and potential food on offer! The drama really picks up though when Daemon arrives on horseback. ..
Daemon comes out victorious in the duel, slashing the legs out from under the horse and winning the favor of Alicent Hightower, daughter of Otto Hightower. The duelling is a bloody affair, with the Tagaryens watching on. ..
Viserys is faced with a difficult decision during a difficult birth. He can either lose his wife and child or lose his wife but cut her open and take the child out, potentially saving him/her in the process.
In a scene that is edited beautifully against Daemon’s final jousting match, Viserys holds the Queen’s hand as she’s cut open. After telling her he loves her, Viserys lies to her, claiming they’re taking the child out. After telling her he loves her, Viserys holds the Queen’s hand as she’s cut open. This scene is edited beautifully against Daemon’s final jousting match, where he takes his eyes off his opponent – who happens to be Dornish – and is forced to yield.
Viserys is forced to watch his wife bleed out while his babe is born. And it turns out his child is a boy. At least, to begin with. Unfortunately, the baby dies so Viserys’ impossible choice ends in misery.
Otto Hightower, the new head of the government, announces that Daemon Targaryen should take the throne immediately because he’s not patient and could destabilize the realm.
The court is in disarray as Viserys leaves, with no clear decision made about who else would have a claim. Rhaenyra Is is suggested and immediately shot down.
Otto sends his daughter to comfort the King in his chambers. This is, of course, all a ploy to get closer to Viserys’ throne and seize it for himself. This is something made all the easier by Daemon’s antics.
Daemon tells the King that he and Otto were only joking around and that they did not mean to insult Prince Baelon. The King is angry and orders Daemon to be punished.
Daemon admits that he said what he did, but also throws back that Viserys has turned away from his own family. Unfortunately, Daemon is banished, forced to return to his estranged wife and no longer in succession for the throne. Daemon does what he’s told, but he’s not particularly happy about it.
In his absence, Viserys turns to Princess Rhaenyra and councils her on the dragons and their history. In fact, in his most crucial moment, he decides Daemon is not meant to hold the throne – Rhaenyra is. He puts her forward as his successor. In doing so, Viserys also brings a warning. He speaks of Aegon’s dream about the end of the world of men. It begins with a terrible winter from the North. “All of Westeros must stand against it.” He tells her, going on to reveal that this secret has been passed from Aegon to each successive heir. She promises and as such, the first episode ends with Rhaenyra due to take the throne
The Episode Review
The final two seasons of Game of Thrones were a letdown because they didn’t follow through with the promise of Viserys’ speech. If they had stuck to the plan, this prequel set 200 years before those events would have been much more powerful.
The show is well-made and has a lot of potential. The worldbuilding is strong and the characters are interesting. However, there are some problems that I feel could be improved upon. For example, the violence and nudity can be a bit too impactful for my taste, and there are also some inconsistencies in the story which could be resolved more effectively. Overall, I think that this show has potential and I would definitely recommend it to others.
The Targaryens have always been a fascinating dynasty in Westeros. All the pieces are certainly aligned for a really interesting season that could well make for a great companion piece to Game of Thrones. ..
While this season of Game of Thrones is closer to the first season than any other, it’s still not as good as seasons 3 and 4. Whether it can reach the same level of acclaim remains to be seen. ..
House of the Dragon has all the right elements to be a success, but it’s way too early to say for sure if it can be. The characters are decent, there’s some action here and there, and there’s a potential sign of things to come in the future.
