Name: House of the Dragon season 1 episode 9
Director: Claire Kilner
Released: 2022-10-17T06:30:00

The ninth episode of House of the Dragon marks the passing of King Viserys. The Hightowers find themselves at crossroads as they discuss the ascension of the throne. The episode is now streaming on HBO Max.

Recap

There is a silence that reigned the King’s Landing at night. A boy reports to Talya about the King’s passing, and she eventually lets Queen Alicent know.

Alicent comes before the council and tells them about the king’s final wishes. According to her, he wanted their son, Aegon II, to ascend the throne. A message King Viserys gave her, believing she is Rhaenyra.

As Otto plans to make this official, Alicent discovers that most of the members were secretly working toward the ascension of Aegon.

Except for Lord Beesbury, who spoke against this. Beesbury claimed that he knew Viserys well and that if the king wanted this, he would have announced it before everyone else.

Ser Criston Cole didn’t take Beesbury’s word against Queen Alicent lightly and quickly killed him.

Alicent wonders what will become of Rhaenyra and realizes that the council is planning to kill her if she doesn’t bend her knee. Apart from Alicent, even Lord Commander Westerling is disgusted with this thought and walks out.

Alicent goes seeking Aegon, the next king to be, only to find him missing. From Otto’s side, Ser Erryk and his brother leave in search of Aegon, while Alicent sends Ser Criston Cole, who is joined by Aemond.

Alicent is trying to avoid her father manipulating her son to kill Rhaenyra.

Both the duos look for all the places where Aegon could be spending time and discover the prince’s unusual taste. They somewhere know he is not fit to be a king.

Aemond confesses to Ser Criston Cole that if he was in the place of Aegon, he would’ve liked to be on the throne and would’ve wanted to be found.

Meanwhile, Ser Otto gathers the lords of various houses and asks for their support for Aegon. Those who don’t agree with the King’s sudden change of mind are arrested or hanged.

One of White Worm’s spiders approaches the Cargyll brothers and lets them know that she can take them to Aegon, but at a cost, and demands to talk to the Hand of the King.

Otto meets the White Worm, as in Mysaria, and strikes a deal with her. The Cargyll brothers find Aegon, who is reluctant to go as he doesn’t want to be the king and never wanted to be found.

Ser Criston Cole and Aemond intervene to steal Aegon from them. While Criston fights one of the brothers, Aemond tries to get his hands on Aegon and hears his confession.

He asks to be let go as he has no wish to run the empire. He claims that he will find a ship and sail away. For a minute, Aemond considers the offer, but Cole arrives after winning the dual to take him away.

Among the many at King’s Landing is Rhaenys, who has been kept captivated. Alicent tries to talk things out with Rhaenys, in order to bring her on her side.

Alicent later bickers with her own father over his decision to kill Rhaenyra. Otto believes some must die for the greater good of other people. He asks Alicent if she is trying to protect her old friend.

Alicent likes to think that they can let Aegon have the throne by offering Rhaenyra some conditions.

Ser Larys Strong informs Alicent how Ser Erryk and Otto got to Aemond first. He tells her about the White Worm and one of her spiders being Talya, Alicent’s handmaiden.

At night, Arryk Cargyll breaks Rhaenys out of her room and helps her escape from the King’s Landing. Rhaenys gets lost in the city when a crowd full of peasants comes walking at them.

On their way to the coronation of the new king, Alicent asks Aegon to ascend the throne but not to agree with Otto when it comes to putting his sword against Rhaenyra.

The event is held in front of all the people, with Rhaenys being one of them, who is in the crowd. Aegon is declared the next king, and everyone rejoices until a dragon comes out of nowhere.

Rhaenys, riding on her dragon, Meleys, gives the Hightowers a look before flying away.

Review

A light-hearted House of the Dragon episode that grieves the death of King Viserys quietly, but at the same time, all of this is overshadowed by the politics going on in the King’s Landing.
For the very first time, the Hightowers are at odds with each other, which is an interesting move and it’s worth seeing how things turn out with the whole kingdom divided.
The absence of Rhaenyra was felt and the episode has certainly built up an event that will receive quite an uproar from her side in the coming finale.
Overall, an episode completely dedicated to the Hightowers and their politics, which could suggest that the viewers will witness the side of Rhaenyra in the finale before wrapping up the season on a high note.