Spoiler-Free Review Of HBO's 'House Of The Dragon' Episode 9
Image Source: IMDb
WARNING: SPOILERS FOR EPISODES 1-8
The king is dead, and tensions are at an all-time high in King’s Landing.
Tonight’s episode picked up right where Episode 8 left off. King Viserys has died, and Alicent is now faced with the realities of what that means for her and her children. When discussing the news of his death with her father, the Hand Otto Hightower, she tells him about the King’s “last wishes” for Aegon to sit on the Iron Throne instead of Rhaenyra. At the end of last week’s episode, in his last moments, Viserys believed that Alicent was Rhaenyra and began discussing the song of fire and ice that he told her earlier in the season. Alicent misunderstood these ramblings and took them to mean that the king had changed his mind about his successor.
During a closed-door meeting with the council, Alicent learns that members of the council had been conspiring with her father for years to put Aegon on the Iron Throne after the king’s death. Her announcement of the king’s dying wishes only cemented their decisions. Not everyone was involved in those plots, and when they voice their concerns that the king may not have died of natural causes, they are killed. As tensions rise, one of the major players of the show relinquishes their title because they refuse to conspire against the rightful heir to the throne.
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In Episode 8, Rhaenyra and Daemon left King’s Landing to take their children to Dragonstone promising to return and spend time with Alicent after their brief moment of reconciliation. Because of this, they are both absent for the entirety of the episode. In an attempt to keep the king’s death a secret from his daughter and brother, all those that know about the king’s death are locked up in the dungeon or their rooms, depending on their title. Otto uses the threat of imprisonment and death to force people to “bend the knee” to Aegon and deny Rhaenyra’s claim to the throne.
This episode is glorious for anyone that is not a fan of Alicent or how she betrayed Rhaenyra at every turn this season. Not only does she begin to lose control of her house in this episode, but she is also forced to face the consequences of her actions from Episodes 6 and 7. Although she still has Ser Criston Cole on her side, her father puts a plan into motion to isolate her from anyone who may act as a confidant. Thankfully, Alicent does finally recognize that her father has been using her as a pawn to push his own agenda since Episode 1.
Image Source: IMDb
While Alicent is still focused on her own self-interest, she does begin to lean more on her love for her late husband and her childhood friend when navigating the new politics in King’s Landing. When Otto proposes the next steps for Rhaenyra, Daemon, and their family, she quickly puts her own plan into motion. Much of the episode feels like a cat-and-mouse game between father and daughter.
In Episode 8, fans learned that Aegon routinely raped the female servants of the castle. We watched as Alicent stepped in to keep the victim quiet and gave her moon tea to ensure that she would not become pregnant. In tonight’s episode, fans learned an even more troubling fact about the soon-to-be king that I expect will be explored in Season 2.
Overall, I really enjoyed tonight’s episode, and I think that it perfectly sets up next week’s season finale. The ending of the episode is not only visually stunning, but it also creates many questions that will have to be explored in the season finale. I look forward to seeing how Season 2 will unfold.
All-new episodes of House of the Dragon will air on Sundays at 9 P.M. ET on HBO and will be available to stream on the same day on HBO Max.
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