House of the Dragon: The Green Council-Recap

credit: House of the Dragon

The king is dead, and the realm is already trembling as it nears the precipice that fans have been waiting on for much of the season. With the passing of King Viserys, the line of succession appears to be crystal clear for several individuals, but not so clear for others. Between Alicent and her father, and those who have sworn fealty to the crown, Aegon II, the rapist of serving girls, and the young man who has no business sitting on the Iron Throne, is the perfect candidate.

Somehow this makes sense to people, no matter that Aegon has never shown one ounce of integrity or even good sense. Even as a child he was a fool, and things haven’t gotten any better. Worse, his brother no doubt covets the crown or at least the power that it conveys. At this point, many eyes appear to rest on the Iron Throne, but two factions are currently gathering houses to their banner, as the Targaryens and Hightowers are about to go to war. 

credit: House of the Dragon

Ser Cole has gone way out of line, and he’s still getting away with it. 

Is anyone else tired of Ser Cole? This guy has been kind of a jerk from the start, even when he was a supposed nice guy that people might have thought would come to be a favorite character. Once he went off the rails and beat a man to death, and was then pardoned by the queen.

Since then, he’s been a self-righteous pain in the ass that thinks he’s the best thing to come around since the invention of the double-edged blade. Now he can add killing a member of the council as well as drawing his blade against the Lord Commander to the list of crap that he’s been racking up, so his karmic justice should be building in a big way toward a crescendo that will hopefully see him broken and beaten down eventually as the show continues. 

The queen hears what she wants to hear. 

Alicent has spent a great deal of time in this season having to deal with change, resentment, anger, and many other emotions, as well as being manipulated by her father. And yet, Alicent has shown herself to be intelligent as well as capable of manipulating others since she’s made it clear that she’s not a fool or a weakling.

Unfortunately, she’s susceptible to hearing what she wants to hear and to act in ways that make it clear that while she values her family, she can’t bring herself to admit that her two eldest boys are horrible, and should not ascend to the throne, ever. And yet, the resentment that still sits between her and Rhaenyra is great enough that there’s no telling if such a rift could ever be closed.

As of now, it’s likely that there is no way, especially since the throne is the prize, and the realm is bound to suffer for this war of dragons that is about to kick off. 

credit: House of the Dragon

Is anyone else ready to see certain characters get taken out? 

Ser Cole, Otto Hightower, and pretty much anyone who kowtows to the queen and her sons, kind of need to be reminded why it’s not a good idea to avoid threatening others who have a power base of their own or have a dragon that they can let loose from the keep at any given time.

As battle lines are being drawn behind the scenes, and Aegon is given the crown (let’s face it, he doesn’t earn things), one has to expect that certain houses will be keeping their fighters on hand just in case something happens and a battle breaks out here or there. At least, that’s the practical way to look at it, since Westeros was already on edge before the king’s death.

Those who have read the book are already thinking of what might be to come, and whether or not it’s going to change. But for those of us that haven’t read this book yet, it’s a big hope that the fight between the green and the black, as it’s been described, will become yet another epic battle that will perhaps outdo what was seen in Game of Thrones. 

Rhaenys made a point, but it’s not crystal clear yet. 

Exploding through the floor with a dragon that’s primed and ready to tear stuff up is a grand statement that needs to be given the attention it’s due, but thinking of how close the queen and her gathering came to being roasted alive has to have an effect that won’t soon be forgotten.

Rhaenys had to utter one word that would have changed things, but then the story would have been changed in a very drastic manner. Still, it was tempting to hope that such a thing might happen, as it wouldn’t be the first thing that was changed from the book.