House of the Dragon Recap, Season 1 Episode 9: The Green Council

Mixed feelings about this one, but we’ll get into those in the commentary. Let’s review how the Greens finally made their big move to place an Aegon far inferior to the Conqueror on the Iron Throne.

The Morning

A young boy leaves the King’s chamber and finds Talya, who brings news of the King’s death to Queen Alicent. The Queen goes to Otto and tells him Viserys wished for Aegon to be King while Talya lights a set of candles in a window of the Red Keep.

One if by land, two if by sea, five if the King finally dies after years of decay

The Small Council gathers and the Hightowers share the King’s wishes for Aegon. Ser Tyland Lannister is ready to move forward with the coronation of Aegon, but Queen Alicent seems surprised at the extent of existing plans for supplanting Rhaenyra. Only Lyman Beesbury objects, describing their plans as treasonous. Ser Criston Cole kills Beesbury, the Master of Coin, by forcing the old man into his seat forcefully enough to smash his head on the Small Council ball at his seat. Lord Commander of the Kingsguard Harrold Westerling challenges Cole, but Alicent orders her personal protector to put his sword away before any violence breaks out. Otto moves on to discussing next steps, including messages to Storm’s End, Riverrun, and Highgarden. When he proposes sending Harrold Westerling to Dragonstone to arrest Rhaenyra, the Lord Commander removes his cloak and refuses further orders until a new monarch is crowned.

There’s a lot of room for optimization here, and Otto seems like the kind of guy to hire a consultant

I don’t like the Hightowers, but you can’t say they dawdle and miss opportunities like the late King. I think the time jumps cost us a bit here, especially with the Queen’s shock at finding herself a late add to the coup party rather than the organizer. Based only on the time hops directly referenced in the scripts, it’s been at least 16 years since Alicent interrupted the King’s toast at Rhaenyra and Laenor’s wedding feast in her green dress and six years since Otto Hightower returned to King’s Landing. So has Alicent spent six years running the Small Council with her father entirely unaware of the plans shared by everyone but Lord Beesbury despite working to undermine Rhaenyra and promote her own children the entire time? Or did she just forget about all of the groundwork laid in their brief moment of reconciliation before Aemond’s “three strong boys” speech? The same goes for Beesbury, to a lesser extent; sure the guy is old, and maybe Otto knew he wouldn’t share their views, but six years is a long time to ignore the conversations and subtext around you.
I was happy to see Lord Commander Harrold Westerling finally drawing the line for Criston Cole’s behavior, even if his bond with the Queen protects him from most consequences. Unfortunately we don’t know much from the books or the show about Westerling’s exploits or abilities, but I’d love to see them follow through on their challenge before the show ends.
My big takeaway here was that the King’s final words to Alicent probably aren’t consequential in how things play out. Too many people have been opposed to Rhaenyra’s claim for too long to allow a peaceful transition of power. Alicent’s behavior and reactions here made me think the writers are trying to build a case for equal sympathy to her cause and Rhaenyra’s, but it didn’t work or feel genuine for me. She’s just as interested and responsible for usurping the throne as any of the Greens.

The Search Begins

Alicent goes to see Helaena and her two children, looking for Aegon. After confirming her faith in Criston Cole, the Queen sends him and Aemond into the city to find her son before anyone else can and bring him to her alone.

I just threw up in my mouth a little bit

While the servants aware of the King’s death have been locked up by Larys Strong, Otto Hightower sends Arryk and Erryk Cargyll into the city to find the Prince and bring him to the Hand directly. Rhaenys wakes to find herself locked in her room.

I think this was our first glimpse of Helaena’s twin children with Aegon, Jaehaerys and Jaehaera (in case you were worried the names would get less confusing, they won’t). We haven’t met them, but in light of Aemond’s near-admission to coveting the throne and willingness to leave Aegon unfound, it’s important to note Jaehaerys would actually inherit the throne in the event of Aegon’s death or disappearance. The Iron Throne would traditionally pass through the eldest male’s line rather than to the younger brother of the heir. Alicent and Criston’s moral righteousness almost made me throw up, but we know strong convictions like theirs, religious or not, are extremely dangerous.
Let’s do another “quick” Helaena break here. Whether it’s a glimpse into the future or just some casual philosophizing, her comment that “It is our fate, I think, to crave always what is given to another. If one possesses a thing, the other will take it away” applies to just about everything happening between our main characters; Alicent’s and Aemond’s desire for the throne, Larys Strong’s ascendancy at the expense of his father and brother, and even Rhaenyra’s and Daemon’s envy of Alicent’s proximity to King Viserys and the levers of power. Helaena also, more urgently warns against the “beast beneath the boards” here, which I’ve heard linked to Rhaenys’ dramatic entrance later in the episode. I’m not saying that’s incorrect, but it’s odd to me that a known dragonrider (Helaena is bonded to the aptly-named Dreamfyre) would refer to dragons as beasts and that the prophecy would pay off so quickly when the Targaryen dreams have been a central theme of the show. I think it’s worth keeping her warning in the backs of our minds going forward; there’s no reason it can’t be referencing multiple events.

The Hand

Otto Hightower has gathered an assortment of lords and ladies in the throne room and “asks” if they’ll swear fealty to Prince Aegon given the King’s dying wish. A few remain standing while the majority kneel; the Lady of Felwood and Lord of Longtable both refuse and are promptly arrested, while Lord Caswell reluctantly bends the knee. Before he can leave the Red Keep, however, he is arrested by Larys Strong’s men and given over to the King’s Justice. Larys suggests his allegiances can benefit Otto as much as they have his daughter.

If not for Larys Strong, Otto’s face and posturing in the throne room would have been the pinnacle of self-satisfaction in this episode. We saw some 20 or 30 people in the room here, most of whom had no issue bending the knee to Prince Aegon, but we didn’t see many of the most noteworthy sigils. I’m guessing these were the lesser lords and ladies already in King’s Landing, and with the coronation coming up Otto wanted them to state their fealty before word of the King’s death and the coup could escape the city. Given the lack of major houses, it’s more a demonstration of the Hand’s methods than a critical power shift. We’ll miss our guy Caswell, but he should have come up with a more discreet exit strategy and a better excuse for wanting to leave the Red Keep when captured.

The Hand’s Men

The Cargyll twins begin their search in Flea Bottom, making their way to a pit where children with sharpened nails and filed teeth are fighting as a crowd looks on and places bets. At least one child with silver hair is shown as evidence of Aegon’s exploits. Before they leave, they’re approached by a servant of the White Worm offering information.

Hopefully we can all agree the child fighting pits are gross and that Aegon clearly sucks even more than most douchey royalty. The tension between twins Arryk and Erryk here was difficult to parse, probably because we’ve only seen Erryk, once, briefly before this sequence. Arryk seems far more content to keep his eyes down and focus only on his duty as a member of the Kingsguard, but Erryk has seen enough of Aegon’s despicable behavior to voice opposition to his ascension. If he’s opposed to Aegon, he doesn’t have many options, so I assume he’s trying to talk his brother into escaping the city and joining Rhaenyra’s cause with him.
Targaryen bastards end up causing a lot of problems for the royal family down the line, but the presence of one here doesn’t mean much beyond “Aegon is irresponsible!”. I’ll try not to complain about it too much, but it’s odd to see the exceptionally silver hair here despite the child being only 25% Targaryen; Rhaenyra’s children are 50% Targaryen, but I guess Harwin’s dark hair genes are stronger than Alicent’s.

The Queen’s Men

Criston Cole and Aemond Targaryen begin their search in the Street of Silk, but are informed by a woman they question that the Prince’s tastes are less discriminating than what the upscale brothels in her neighborhood offer. Finally heading to Flea Bottom, they find the Cargyll twins and Otto meeting with Mysaria, who offers to hand over the Prince for a price: the safety of the children in Flea Bottom and some coin.

I would make fun of sending twin Kingsguard members in disguise as obvious twins, but this is so much better than Criston and Daemon that I have to give them the win

Cloaks may be stylish, but they aren’t enough to hide an exceptionally Targy figure like Aemond with a dramatic eye patch. Maybe it’s a reflection of Alicent’s innocence, but the disguises we see here are pretty poor. Aemond and Criston seem to share unwavering confidence in their own causes and a second-sons type desire to take power and glory they won’t be freely given.

Found: One Pissant Prince

Erryk and Arryk arrive at the Sept of Baelor and pull Aegon out from under the central pedestal. On their way to meet Otto outside the city walls, Criston and Aemond intercept them; Arryk gets into a swordfight with Criston while Aemond tackles his brother and Erryk looks on from above. Aegon tells his brother he’s willing to disappear, but the Queen’s men are intent on delivering him to Alicent.

Maybe Erryk was trying to open Arryk’s eyes for a while before this, but his refusal to help while his brother battled Criston Cole felt dramatic. Both are lucky Criston didn’t kill Arryk after disarming him. We’ll see if it matters, but we also saw plenty of commoners witness Aegon’s reluctance to be King.

Back in the Red Keep

Queen Alicent visits her father, who says they’re striving for the same thing. Alicent is upset with the way the nobles loyal to Rhaenyra have been treated and wants to send favorable terms to Rhaenyra in the hopes of avoiding war. Despite Otto’s objections to her approach, the Queen plans to name Criston Cole Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and anoint her son with Aegon the Conqueror’s Valyrian steel crown and sword, Blackfyre.

Viserys’s body is shrouded and his gold crown is placed on his body. Alicent visits Rhaenys, who immediately sees through her words to the coup taking place. Alicent tries to appeal to Rhaenys’s sense of fairness based on her dismissal at the Great Council. Before the Queen leaves, Rhaenys asks if she’s ever pictured herself on the Iron Throne.

So the pitch here is “you were better suited to be Queen than Viserys was to be King, so support my douchebag son over his seemingly well-suited half-sister”?

The Queen returns to her chambers where Larys is waiting with information on how Otto’s men were able to find Aegon first. Alicent removes her shoes and puts up her feet, getting a visible reaction from Larys who describes the spy network operating in the Red Keep and identifies Talya as a member. Larys proposes taking out the head of the network to destroy the Hand’s advantage, and Alicent removes her stockings as Larys begins masturbating.

There’s so much I’d love to know about Larys Strong, and his being a foot guy is not one of the things I was curious about. It does show Alicent’s willingness to manipulate another man, if in a dramatically different way than her conversation with Criston.
The hunt for Aegon Targaryen took up most of this episode, but I either missed or don’t understand the importance of finding the Prince first. One theory is that Otto would have used the time to force Aegon to sign crucial letters or declare war, but do the Queen or the Hand really think one conversation is going to keep a young Prince they have no confidence in on their side indefinitely? They’re both hanging out at the Red Keep almost all day long; just keep an eye on your counterpart personally and you won’t have to worry about missing an opportunity or critical conversation. It didn’t feel as urgent to me as it seemed to be to the characters.
The Queen’s conversation with Rhaenys provided an all-time quote, with the Lady of Driftmark saying “And yet you toil still in service to men. Your father, your husband, your son. You desire not to be free, but to make a window in the wall of your prison.” Unfortunately it might also show the shortcomings of Alicent’s more gentle approach. Without a real threat over her head, Rhaenys has no reason to consider Alicent’s terms rather than waiting for an opportunity to escape. If the Queen is trying for softer, prolonged negotiations with potential allies, she might want to beef up security outside their doors.

A Clumsy Coronation

As Alicent and Aegon make their way towards the Dragonpit for the Prince’s coronation, Erryk Cargyll gets Rhaenys from her room and begins to escort her out of the Red Keep. Their path takes them past the body of Lord Caswell, hanged, and Mysaria’s property, burning. Erryk and Rhaenys are separated in the crowd, and Rhaenys is pushed towards the Dragonpit by the droves of commonfolk driven that way by members of the City Watch. Aegon tries to convince his mother he’s unfit and uninterested in being King, but seems slightly more on board when she gives him his father’s Valyrian steel dagger.

Aegon’s laughing at his mother’s interpretation of the King’s last words is the highlight of this scene, if not the episode. His interest was only piqued when Alicent presented him with the Valyrian steel dagger we know to hold the Song of Ice and Fire; coupled with his performance with Blackfyre and the Conqueror’s Crown, it’s clear he’s only reluctant about the responsibility, not the power.

Rhaenys watches the beginning of Aegon’s coronation with the crowd before gradually making her way out a side passage. Criston Cole places the Valyrian steel crown on Aegon’s head and raises Blackfyre into the air to a hesitant applause.

Just a reminder: Otto and Alicent thought talking to this dude for an hour or two before his coronation would assure his compliance with their directions?

A large dragon bursts through the floor of the Dragonpit, scattering bodies and rocks in all directions. The dust clears to reveal Rhaenys, in armor, on the back of her dragon Meleys. They advance on the stunned members of the Greens before turning around and flying out through the doors and away from King’s Landing.

And with that, Rhaenys decided NOT to end the war before it started

Okay, let’s get to my main beef with the episode. In the “making of” portion of the episode, the showrunners say it was Rhaenys’ mercy towards another mother that prevented her from having Meleys burn all of the Greens where they stood. That’s…a thing, given the body count she just racked up with her dramatic entrance. So we’re left to believe either A) Rhaenys only cares about the lives and mothers of fellow nobility, or B) we needed a good dragon scene and they want us to set logic aside. B certainly seems more likely, and inspires some unfortunate comparisons to the end of Game of Thrones.
That said, Rhaenys and Meleys looked AWESOME, and it suggests the Blacks will have a significant firepower advantage in the war to come. The Greens have Aemond and Vhagar, but all of the other fully mature dragons are with the Blacks, and as dragons get older they might get a bit slower but also grow larger and develop harder scales. Meleys, Caraxes, and Syrax should all be more formidable than any non-Vhagar dragon with the Greens.
We’ll wait until the break between seasons to attempt a full accounting of the dragons and houses on both sides of the Dance. For now, let’s get ready for some hardcore negotiations!