So what happened in House Of The Dragon Episode 10, the season finale? How does it compare to what happened in the book, and what might it mean for season two? In House Of The Dragon Episode 9, we focused on how house Hightower and the greens reacted to the death of King Viserys.
House Of The Dragon Episode 10 focuses on Rhaenyra and team black. We saw what position the Blacks were in and all the advantages and disadvantages they had against the Greens
Episode 10 was certainly a great way to end the first season and set up the second season. And this episode clearly teased a lot of Dragons that we are going to see in the next season. Misunderstanding and revenge are what will the Dance of the Dragons, The Targaryen Civil War.
House Of The Dragon Episode 10 Recap
House Of The Dragon Episode 10 starts with Rhaenys, she brings the news of Viserys’s death, and Aegon’s coronation is brought on Dragon back. She obviously crashed to that coronation quite literally before making her exit. And Daemon asks her straight out the question many of us asked at the time “Why didn’t she just kill the usurpers there and then when she could?”
She says that the war was not hers to start. Her only loyalty is to her house and her husband. Remember, at this point, Rhaenys still thinks that Rhaenyra and Daemon were responsible for killing her son and she has always been extremely phlegmatic about her view that the powers that be in Westeros would never allow a woman to sit on the Iron Throne. Aegon being crowned like that did not surprise her in the least.
Her advice is that the Hightowers were now after Rhaenyra, and the wisest course would be to flee. Rhaenys attitude through all this has been somewhat inscrutable but she clearly gets respect from just about everyone despite not ever really committing to one side or another. She is noticeably the only person not to bow to Rhaenyra later in the episode when Rhaenyra is crowned.
And even more noticeably, neither Rhaenyra nor Daemon say anything even though, from their perspective, it would technically have been treason for her not to bend the knee. She is family but just as importantly, until Corlys turns up, she is the acting head of house Velaryon, the richest house with the biggest Navy and Dragons. Rhaenys’ initial advice that Rhaenyra should leave Dragonstone may seem defeatist, but it is understandable.
Daemon Plotting His Fight Back
We get a few strategy meetings around the painted table in Dragonstone. This seems to be a different design to the one we had later in Game of Thrones incidentally, and the situation is grim. Aegon was indeed crowned with all signs of legitimacy, in front of the people, acclaimed by the people, holding a loft of the sword blackfyre, blessed by the faith of the seven, and in possession of the Iron Throne. The greens have access to the Crown’s treasury, the advantage of the initiative and several important houses like the Lannisters are already on the side.
The blacks may have more dragons, but most are young, and their Riders are also young and inexperienced. Their only allies are so minor as to be insignificant, like House Celticar and Massey. To be fair to Daemon, he grasps this quickly and takes steps to shore up the position that they do have, getting the two kings’ guard knights present to swear fealty, increasing the watch around Dragonstone for potential assassins (remember that was going to be Otto’s initial Plan before Alicent stopped him), identifying potential allies and cataloging the dragons and dragon eggs that they have.
All of these things will be important later in the story but we should probably particularly note Daemon going to find the dragon Vermithor, singing his soothing songs in High Valyrian. After Vhagar, and the possible exception of Cannibal, but that’s a whole different story, Vermithor is the oldest and fiercest Dragon left to the dragon ridden by Jaehaerys The First. Getting Vermithor into action on their side would potentially be pivotal.
Also Read: House Of The Dragon Season 2 Expectations: Dragons Will Be Everywhere
Rhaenyra Crowned As The Queen
While Daemon is doing all that, Rhaenyra is going into labor. This season of House of the Dragon has had a lot of traumatic birth scenes, and this episode is no exception, the baby is early and dead. I think the showrunners would want us to think back to episode 1 here, where Emma Aaron says that the birthing bed is a woman’s Battlefield. These two Grim birthing scenes bookend the season and this now ushers in the battles to come. Rhaenyra thought somehow managed to retain enough of a clear head to order that no action be taken regarding the coup until she says.
In the book so you know, the baby she has is heavily rumored to be malformed, almost like a small dragon. It is at the funeral pyre that Daemon and Rhaenyra come back together. And that’s where Erryk Cargyll, the member of the kings guard who helped smuggle Rhaenys out, arrives to pledge his sword and also to bring Viserys’s Crown.
Aegon had been crowned with Aegon the conqueror’s crown. The Targaryens had several different crowns. Daemon crowning Rhaenyra here is a poignant echo of how he had placed the same crown on Viserys’s head just a few days earlier.
Rhaenyra Thinks Of Peace
The next visitor to Dragonstone is Otto Hightower, and the scene is set up to very clearly echo his visit in episode 2 when he turned up to demand Daemon hand over a dragon egg, simpler times. Here in House Of The Dragon Episode 10, they have a standoff at the same place on that bridge, and Rhaenyra again shows up on Cyrax. The difference obviously is that this time she is very much there to support Daemon rather than Otto or more accurately, Daemon is there to support her.
Otto offers peace terms, although they really came from Alicent. As we noted last episode, Otto would have just sent assassins. The terms are not great, but they would preserve peace, and there would be no deaths. Rhaenyra could keep Dragonstone. Any suggestion that her children were bastards would be swept away and anyone who bent the knee would be pardoned. Rhaenyra asks for 24 hours to think about it then she does seem to be seriously considering it.
This is a big decision, she knows that with a word she could save thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of lives, and potentially secure the safety of her family. Daemon doesn’t want her to back down from the people who stole her birthright and she does seem to understand that but where she ends up is declaring that she will not strike the first blow in the war.
Daemon Doesn’t Know The Prophecy
Daemon doesn’t take this well and grabs Rhaenyra in a chokehold when she starts talking about prophecy. We could perhaps come up with some excuses for Daemon here, he has just lost a child and a brother. But no, he is a violent man, and although the show has softened quite a few of his edges in the book, it is very clear that he is mad bad, and dangerous to know. He is far from just a loving family man, and perhaps Rhaenyra experiences that here firsthand for the first time.
On the prophecy though, which is the thing that seemingly triggers Daemon, she realizes that Viserys never told him about it. This secret passed down from King to Heir for Generations, in spite of Daemon being Viserys’s Heir apparent for many years. Perhaps Daemon realized that the brother he loved never truly viewed him as his heir. And did Rhaenyra tell her own Heir, Jace, before sending him off on the mission? It appears not, and I’m sure we will get more on this in later Seasons.
Corlys Velaryon Supports The Blacks
Because we get another visitor to Dragonstone, Corlys Velaryon, now on the road to recovery from his wounds sustained in the stepstones. All that angst about the Velaryon succession a couple of episodes ago that led to Vaemond’s death was to no avail. Corlys is not a young man and will die sometime, but the need to worry about succession was less urgent than everyone thought it was at the time. He pledges house Velaryon’s support for Rhaenyra. Rhaenys still has misgivings about Daemon and Rhaenyra’s involvement in Laenor’s supposed death.
But the priority now is that their grandchildren from both of their children are now very much tied in with the fate of Team Black. Remember, Rhaena and Baela are now betrothed to Jace and Luke. All of this gives Rhaenyra a way to progress that is not War. What we would now probably describe as an economic embargo.
Corlys has regained control of the narrow sea, and Dragonstone and Driftmark are perfectly placed to prevent sea access to King’s Landing. If they can secure some strategically placed allies and Daemon can get a toehold on the mainland, they might be able to pull off a proper blockade. Rhaenys will patrol the Skies over Blackwater Bay and the gullet.
Corlys will secure the narrow sea, Daemon presumably will head to the mainland. And Jace and Luke will go on diplomatic missions to try to get the support of the Baratheons, Aarons, and Starks. Rhaenyra makes them both swear not to fight but just act as diplomats.
Jace And Luke As A Messengers
We’ll see more I’m sure of Jace’s Journeys next season, but both of his objectives are winnable. The Aarons are recent relations to Rhaenyra and everyone knows that the Starks are pretty good at sticking to their word, having sworn fealty to Rhaenyra a couple of decades earlier.
Borros Baratheon at Storms End will be trickier, but it’s a lot closer, and Luke is just there to pass on a message. But of course, we see that Team Green has got there first in the shape of Aemond. The greens had a head start and are also looking for allies and Borros seems more open to bribery and advancement than promises and threats.
Lucerys delivers his message and heads out through Aemond of course, won’t let the opportunity pass. Naming him a Strong boy a bastard, demanding an eye as retribution for what happened when they were children and basically bullying him. Borros understandably doesn’t want any of that to happen under his roof.
Vhagar Kills Lucerys And Arrax
So Aemond on Vhagar follows Lucerys on Arrax out into the storm. The book is a little vague on what happens next. There are no witnesses, obviously, but what we see here is a different take on anything that is suggested there. What we see are Dragon Riders not in control of their dragons.
This harks back to Viserys a few episodes ago when he muttered that Dragons were, and I paraphrased, “a power two greats to be meddled with, and perhaps the Valyrians never should have, they cannot be controlled”. Maybe Viserys learned that from riding Balerion the Blackdread, the greatest and most powerful Dragon of its age, it felt a bit strange to hear that from a Targaryen.
But now Arrax is angered by Vhagar swooping down and around and snapping at him. This is Aemond toying with Lucerys. There’s no hint he actually wants to kill him but Arrax breathes flame at Vhagar, despite Lucerys pleading no. And Vhagar just destroys Arrax and Lucerys in revenge in one snap of its mighty jaws, despite Aemond pleading no.
The dragons are their own characters here, and neither Ryder is in control. Perhaps Aemond will try to style it out when he gets back to King’s Landing pretending that he intended to do it but it doesn’t really matter, the damage is done. Daemon informs Rhaenyra, and her look as she turns back is pure Warfare. She said she wouldn’t strike the first blow in The Civil War. But now she thinks that they have, war is inevitable.
The Misunderstandings
The big change here from the books is of course that the things which actually tipped the continent into war are often accidents and misunderstandings, not deliberate acts of malicious people. Alicent seems to genuinely think that Viserys changed his mind about the succession. Lucerys death was not intentional, but Aemond not being in control of Vhagar.
But ultimately, it doesn’t matter. George RR Martin did not write Fire and Blood as an objective account of the outbreak of War. It is a biased account based on limited information. No one other than Alicent witnessed Viserys’s last words, and no one other than Aemond knew what truly happened above shipbreaker Bay.
Alicent and Rhaenyra may have both wanted peace, and we don’t know it doesn’t really make a difference. The Seven Kingdoms are now at War, but that will have to wait for House Of The Dragon Episode 10 Season 2.
Also Read: House Of The Dragon Season 1 Ending Explained: Did Aemond Mean To Kill Lucerys?
