The Lord of the Tides
In the eighth episode of House of the Dragon, we jump forward six years to see Lord Corlys gravely injured in battle. Rhaenys has been ruling in his stead. His brother, Vaemond, sets the tide in motion as he questions who will be the next Lord of the Tides if Corlus passes away. ..
Lucerys Velaryon, Laenor’s son, would have wanted Lucerys Velaryon, Laenor’s daughter, to be named heir. The trouble with that though, is that she’s not true Valeryon and Vaemond does not take kindly to it. He wants Driftmark for himself. “The winds have shifted. The crown have good reason to support me.” He says.
Meanwhile, Daemon head off on an expedition, picking up a dragon egg from Syrax. Three to be precise. His men hurry off to take them to the warming chamber immediately, while Daemon receives a message from Lady Baela on Driftmark. When he returns to his wife, Daemon catches up with her and the kids, handing over the note. Luke and Jace’s legitimacy are called into question, while the succession of Driftmark is a massive talking point here and could change the destiny of many people in the realm. This is a serious matter and the only thing for it is to sail for King’s Landing and confront those claims head on.
Alicent continues to oversee the council meetings, and it seems issues in the Stepstones have managed to stabilize for a while now and trade is good. Alicent continues to juggle the exploits of her kids though, especially Aegon who sexually assaults a maid whom the queen pays off to keep quiet. She also gives her some tea too.
Alicent is livid when she confronts her son Viserys about the petition regarding Driftmark. Viserys continues to deteriorate in the wake of all this, now bedbound with bandages wrapped round his head and eye. Daemon and Rhaenyra show up to see him, informing the King about the petition. ..
Aegon and Rhaenyra meet two new kids, Daemon and Rhaenyra’s father Aegon meets two new kids, Viserys and Alicent. When Viserys weakens, the pair are graced by Alicent’s company. Daemon immediately confronts her over the changes around King’s Landing, namely that of the religious emblems of the Seven, including those stars, which are evidence of larger waves of change sweeping the realm.
Vaemond shows up and speaks to Alicent and Otto. The latter is convinced that war is coming, what with the petition as precarious as it is. They need to work quickly to stifle that.
Rhaenyra tells Rhaenys that she will back Lucery’s claim to the throne if Rhaenyra can get Jacaerys and Lucerys betrothed to Baela and Rhaena. That way it would secure Velaryon blood to rule both the Seven Kingdoms and Driftmark.
With Viserys the worse for wear, in his absence we get Otto Hightower speak as the Hand of the King instead. There are a number of arguments for and against, including Ser Vaemond who smirks when Rhaenyra challenges his ambition. When Rhaenyra starts to make her case, she’s interrupted by a very sickly Viserys heading into the chamber, covering half his face with a golden facemask.
He’s a powerful man who has helped to the throne and shaded what’s happening. He also tells them all that the only one here who has insight into Corlys’ true wishes is Rhaenyra herself. She speaks up on behalf of Rhaenyra and the proposed marriages, as well as Corlys’ wishes to have Lucerys on the Driftwood Throne.
Vaemond is livid. He’s not going to let the children be bastards. He goes on to call Rhaenyra a whore, and when Viserys tells him he’ll have his tongue, Daemon moves quickly as lightning and cuts the man’s head off.
Viserys toasts to his strengthened bonds with his family and friends, but also worries about the distance that’s grown between them all. He reminds them that he won’t be there for long and in his absence, they need to stand strong for the sake of the House of the Dragon. If not, then war is going to erupt and chaos rain down on the Kingdom.
Rhaenyra toasts to Alicent for everything she’s done, doing her duty and standing by Viserys’ side all these years. Alicent, by comparison, toasts to Rhaenyra, telling her she’ll make a fine queen.
Aemond begins toasting and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. However, Viserys looks on with sadness as he remembers his last memory of his children.
With Viserys out of the room, Aemond toasts to how “Strong” Jace and Luke are, which of course is a double entendre given who their father is. The kids are separated and Rhaenyra decides to head back to Dragonstone before things escalate further. Interestingly, Rhaenyra promises to come back on Dragon to see Alicent.
That night, Viserys talks to Alicent about the coming threat, that being the awful writing in seasons 7 and 8 of Game of Thrones of course. I jest, it’s the White Walkers. There’s dialogue here that’s going to be the catalyst for war erupting across the realm, and poor Viserys is too drugged up and garbled to actually articulate what he means properly.
He speaks of the Song and Ice of Fie and mentions Aegon. He’s talking about Aegon the Conqueror of course but Alicent interprets this as their son, Aegon. “It is you. You are the one. You must do this.” Viserys says.
Alicent replies “I understand my King. I am grateful for his guidance.” And this is where misinterpretation comes from. While Viserys dies off-screen on his death-bed, Viserys’ words are going to cause havoc.
Viserys wishes for Alicent to take up his mantle as protector of the realm and keep the houses together. However, Alicent clearly interprets this as needing to usurp the succession and put Aegon on the throne. Oh boy!
The Episode Review
House of the Dragon is a great show. It has a purpose, it has drive, and its poetic dialogue is cleverly written. The combustible elements make for a bloody good show and every episode seems to be getting better and better.
The characters in this story are compelling and every one of them has a motive and a desire. There are murky shades of grey all over the place and no one person is inherently good, although you could argue Jace and Luke are being built up to fit those roles. Even something as simple as a look – like that shared by Daemon and Aegon at the end – is enough to build up tension. Given we’ve seen the latter prove himself as a formidable warrior, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see those two duel in the future.
Alicent is set to anger many people with her actions, which could lead to disastrous consequences for the realm. War is looming, and someone will likely suffer great losses. Which side of the coin will this fall? I wonder. ..
