House Of The Dragon Episode 8 Trailer shows that this episode will be delivering on the seeds planted by House Of The Dragon Episode 7. Having read the source material I know there are some big things coming that we’re gonna be breaking down.
It’s important to bear in mind that this has another major time jump in it that is likely going to take us to the year 129 AC. This is a major year in the fire and blood storyline in which a major character dies so if you don’t want any spoilers then I suggest you turn it off now.
This will be the last episode of the first season and I don’t think Dance of The Dragon will be shown in this episode. Maybe it will start at the end of the episode and House of the Dragon Season 2 will entirely focus on the even. And Dance of the Dragon is definitely the arc to should be excited for.
House Of The Dragon Episode 8 Trailer Breakdown
Ok so if we’re right about this being 129 AC then that would mean we’ve had an almost ten-year time jump to the year of Viscerys death. Though his voiceover appears in the teaser he’s likely gravely ill at this point and this explains why Otto Hightower is doing the talking for him. Otto obviously has his own goals in mind and thus it’s impossible to even say if what he’s saying is what Viserys wants.
He says that he is the King’s voice and that he speaks on what he wants and all other matters. What Otto wants though is his grandchild Aegon on the throne at all costs. This pushes Daemon and Rhaenyra away who end up going to Dragonstone in order to get away from the kingdom.
I’ll talk about how this is a big mistake later on but it’s all a play by Otto who now rules the realm. This is shown by the fact that he stands in front of the throne and at points even looks like he’s sat in it. Though it was common for the Hand to do this he’s clearly now in charge of the realm. It’ll be interesting to see if he gets cut or not and if he doesn’t then it might indicate that the Hightowers are in charge in the eyes of the throne.
Alicent And Hightowers
Aegon looks like a right little s**t in this trailer doesn’t he and he’s going to be played by Tom Glynn Carney whom you might recognize from Dunkirk. Aemond is also there too and he’s sporting a badass eye patch that makes him look like Liquid Snake and Big Boss combined. There’s also Heleana who is likely married to Aegon at this point. She married when she was 13 and the pair had twins. There was one girl and one boy who had six fingers and toes due to them being inbred like subway fillings.
Elsewhere we see that Alicent is now in Viserys seat on the council to show how she has taken over it all. This could be during one of two moments that are talked about in the book. They discuss how Viserys started to hate ruling and all the issues that came with the heir. He stopped going to the throne room and rarely attended court. Instead, he placed people in the seats who would seemingly do his bidding for him but all they were really after was taking over things.
His personal maester also died during these years and there was an effort on both Rhaenyra and Alicents part to try and appoint their own. However, it was the citadel that ended up chosen but it still shows how things have devolved into them trying to pack everything with their own people. Now the shot with Alicent may also be after Viserys death due to her sitting in the main seat. There’s also a shot where she stands by a window whilst looking upset. We also see the crown on its own placed upon a pillow hinting that he’s now gone.
Rhaenyra And Daemon To Dragonstone
In the book, both Rhaenyra and Daemon went to dragon stone and thus when Vis died Alicent ended up deciding not to send a raven to her so that they could put their plan into play. She took over the council so that they could quickly announce Aegon the second as the King and all this happened whilst Rhaenyra was giving birth.
There is a shot in the trailer with someone in bed and though this could be Corlys and Rhaneys I think it’s actually Viserys with Rhaenyra going to visit him. And the window pattern there can be seen at other points in the trailer with Rhaenyra standing in front of it at one point.
It’s gonna be interesting to see what option they take with Viserys death as one account in the book says that he died naturally in his sleep. However the other says that Alicent murdered him and earlier in the season there was suspicion from Laenor and Rhaenyra that she might end up poisoning him.
Anyway, Rhaenyra’s baby comes out stillborn and it’s believed to have a dragon’s tail. The birth brought Rhaenyra a lot of pain and she said that Alicent not only killed her child but that she also took the throne from her in one fell swoop.
Vaemond And Driftmark
However, there’s also a big focus on Vaemond and with this episode being titled Lord Of The Tides I think that it’s gonna predominantly center around him. Just when you thought the entire thing with the heirs was complicated enough it’s about to come out even worse.
Laena was of course killed by Vhaghar and Laenor has faked his own death making it seem like both of Corlys’ children are now gone. Because of this both the heirs of Driftmark are no longer there to inherit the throne and thus Vaemond wants to be announced as the heir.
In the book, this causes a lot of issues because Rhaenyra of course has two children that should seemingly be the next in line. Jace will get the Iron throne whereas Lucerys will inherit Driftmark. This will give them the complete rule of both the land and sea and due to many thinking they’re not legitimate they get contested a lot. They’re supposed to be Laenors kids even though everyone knows the truth.
Last week Rhaenys brought this up and she wanted Corlys to appoint Rhaena and Baela as the heirs but Corlys wasn’t haven’t any of it. He said that names meant more than blood and thus the Strongs are still seen as the heirs to Driftmark. Just like how Viserys wouldn’t see the truth he refuses to as well and this causes issues in both of the Kingdoms. Now Vaemond gets pretty annoyed by this and he publicly announces that the Strongs are bastards.
Rhaenyra And Daemon In Action
At the start of the trailer, we see a royal ship going into Kingslanding which I think maybe him but it’s more likely just Rhaenyra and Daemon. They talk about returning to the kingdom in the teaser to take back control and I think it’s more likely a shot of them. The sails are black and there’s also the royal chamber that appears on the royal boat with them on board.
Rhaenyra talks about how they’ve struck the first blow which likely calls back to last week when Alicent cut Rhae’s hand. This was seen as first blood but technically Aemond was on the receiving end of it due to losing his eye. Anyway calling the Strongs bastards is a bingo-noo and as we saw last week this caused a lot of issues with Aemond.
Viserys now classes it as high treason and said that anyone who said this would have their tongue cut out. That doesn’t happen and instead things escalate quickly with Rhaenyra turning it up to 11. She sends Daemon to get him and he beheads him before feeding his body to Rhaenyra’s dragon Syrax.
Now, this happens during 126 AC so it is possible that the time jump may go to this point rather than to 129 with them just combining events from the years. I don’t know exactly what order they’ll place the events in but we also get another Bethrobal during this time as Rhaenyra plans to wed her kids to Daemons.
To add some drama to the show I’m guessing this will happen when Vaemond first disputes they are the heirs and thus to quickly counter that Rhaenyra will form the wedding alliance so that they get it either way.
Viserys Ties To Unite The Family
Now we might also get the tongue-cutting scene that we’ve talked about in the last two breakdowns. There were some of Vaemonds family that were disgusted by the death of their cousin and they went directly to Viserys to plead to him to realize The Strongs were bastards. He sat and listened to them listing all the evidence without saying a word and then had their tongues removed. I think it’s probably too similar to the scene with Larys to do this but just thought I’d bring it up incase they end up doing it again.
Now there’s also a big banquet after the death of Vaemond in which Viserys tries to unite the houses one more time. I think the book talks about how they wore their opposite side’s colors in a show of good faith and by this I mean Rhaenyra wears green whilst Alicent wears red and black. They compliment each other throughout which makes Viserys really happy. The book talks about how even Daemon salutes Otto and the pair have of course have hated each other since episode 1.
Viserys ended up going to bed and though they were trying to be civil it didn’t last that long. Aemond ended up toasting the family and he referred to his nephews as the strongest boys he’d ever seen. You what mate…did he just….we’ll let that slide though and then he followed this up by saying let us drain our cups to these three strong boys. It all kicked off after this and I think the fight that we see at the table with them probably happens right after this moment.
Rhaenyra And Daemon’s Children
The realm never recovers and this is when I think Rhaenyra will decide to leave. She probably goes to see her father one last time before he dies. It’s possible that Vaemond may even be working with the Hightowers as we see him alongside their soldiers at one point. They have the green flags and also house sigil so Otto and Alicent may have brought him in to help oust the Strongs.
Now it’s also very likely that she and Daemon will have had their own children during this time. To make things even more confusing they’re called Aegon and Viserys. Alicent takes the Aegon one as a slight to her which the book notes that it definitely was. The book also talks about how from that point onwards that the child will be called Aegon the younger whilst Alicents is the elder.
The source material talks about how Rhaenyra never really lost her baby weight and that she ended up becoming fat and almost grotesque. I don’t think they’re gonna go this route but it’s important to bear in mind how she went from the realm’s delight to this after all the stress that being the heir and having children carried with it. With Alicent it talks about how Rhae grew jealous because she kept her slim figure and didn’t seem to carry any weight at all.
Other Details In House Of The Dragon Episode 8 Trailer
Other details in the teaser are that Alicent is wearing a faith of the seven necklaces. She wasn’t wearing this in the last episode and has probably now leaned into the religion heavily.
We also get a shot of this above the small council window which I also don’t think was there in the past. The faith of the seven is the most dominant religion in the realm and if she can get this behind her as well she’ll be even more powerful.
Alicent and her family are also joined by Criston Cole. Her child Daeron isn’t there and I dunno if he will be in this series or not as he should be born by now. He spent most of his youth in Old Town so they might just be skipping out on him so things don’t get even more complicated.
There’s also a shot of what I’m guessing is Daemon going to Mysaria. She now runs most of the underworld and the cloak is similar to what Daemon has worn in the past. They’ll likely try and get her to work with them but as we’ve seen she’s happy playing both sides.
Either way that’s the trailer and I can’t wait to watch the next episode. The series has been getting better and better and I think this one is gonna be a big one.
Also Read: Aegon’s Conquest Explained: The New Game Of Thrones Spinoff
