credit: House of the Dragon
Things are unraveling quickly as the final episodes of the first season of House of the Dragon winds down, or, rather, continues to heat up. Starting out with the word that Lord Corlys might be at death’s door after taking off after The Triarchy, it was made clear that Vaemond believes that he is next in line for the Driftwood Throne, no matter the fact that his brother meant for Lucerys to take the throne after he was gone. Vaemond is unwilling to accept this, however, as he firmly believes that any child that is not of Velaryon blood will not sit on the throne so long as he’s alive, as he does not wish to see his lineage destroyed. Unfortunately for Vaemond, he forgot how this particular game is played, and that Viserys, no matter his failing health, is bound to back his own family when he feels they’ve been slighted, and believed that the line of succession had already been solved. But with Laenor gone and thought to be dead, and his children’s parentage being seen as a mockery to several individuals, it was bound to happen that infighting wouldn’t just begin, but that it would continue until things reached a boiling point, which it would appear they just about have at this time.
Credit: House of the Dragon
A six-year time jump has definitely created a lot of changes.
The kids have grown, there are more children, and very few of the attitudes that were suspect to begin with have changed. While Aegon has become a rather silly, foppish individual that enjoys causing trouble by assaulting serving girls, Aemond has become a deranged-looking individual that revels in being the bully and is now skilled enough to make it work. Where once he was an awkward little boy with a dead-eyed stare, now he’s a dangerous young man who appears to revel in battle and is every bit as horrible as his brother, but far deadlier. It feels certain that if Aemond and Aegon were to come to blows, Aemond would be the victor. As for Rhaenyra’s kids, they’ve grown into fine young men, but despite their well-mannered behavior and desire to be decent, upstanding individuals, they’re little more than targets to Aemond, who decides to use a toast to his nephews to land another barb that doesn’t go unnoticed.
The Targaryen clan is about to fall apart.
This has been happening since the beginning of the show, but as things continue to unravel it’s becoming more evident with each episode just why this family was doomed from the start, as there are simply too many differences between each family member and far too much resentment. Between the Targaryens and the Velaryons, there’s simply too much history, and with the addition of the other houses, the issues that were already present have been augmented in a big way. Between the marriage of Alicent Hightower and the king, and the obvious snafu that’s occurred with Rhaenyra’s children, not to mention that she now has other kids by her uncle and prince consort, Daemon, the problems of the Targaryen clan have continued to escalate. It’s also been seen that Alicent and her father have been running the kingdom in Viserys’ stead since the king has continued to deteriorate, becoming little more than a moaning, flesh-covered skeleton that’s been kept in bed and stone out of his mind on the milk of the poppy.
Credit: House of the Dragon
Succession to the throne was never simple, honestly.
The only simplicity in this act occurred before this story began since the king who came before Viserys made his decision, and it was honored. After that things started to go to hell since the fact that very few people in this family respect or even care for one another. Whatever might have existed between Rhaenyra and Alicent when they were young has been all but broken, and even the act of trying to come together before King Viserys’ death doesn’t sound like it’s going to be enough. The moment the king dies, war is going to break out, and the prize, the Iron Throne, will be up for grabs, much as it was during Game of Thrones.
Daemon is strangely calm about all this.
Despite the tumult that Daemon has caused throughout the season, it feels as though he’s strangely subdued in this episode, though it’s likely that there are a couple of reasons for this. The fact is that after having children, it does feel as though the prince calmed down quite a bit, or perhaps felt stifled by the role he was being forced to take on as the family man. But upon seeing the wasted form of his brother it almost feels as though Daemon has been reminded of how fleeting life really is, and how his brother will be gone very soon. In any case, his demeanor in this episode appears to be that of a brother attending to his king and elder sibling, but it could also be the slow burn that will result in a massive upheaval as the show moves onward.
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