House Of The Dragon Episode 9 is here, and after Daemon said to “keep my wife’s name out your f***ing mouth,” we watched as a great banquet was held by the two families. After a food fight, Viserys ended up going to bed, where he mistakingly told Alicent Aegon’s prophecy.
Just one problem, she believed that he was actually telling her their son Aegon was the true heir and that he wanted him on the throne.
S**ts about to go down, and that takes us into episode 9. The trailer for the entry is now out, and throughout this article, we’re gonna be going through it all frame by frame to talk about what happens in it, the clues for what’s coming next, and also some of the hidden details that you might have missed. Because of this, there will be heavy spoilers, so if you don’t want it potentially ruined, then I recommend that you turn it off now.
House Of The Dragon Episode 9 Trailer Breakdown
Ok, so House Of The Dragon Episode 9 will be called the Green Council, and as you can probably guess, this involves Alicent trying to place Aegon as the heir. The phrase Green Council was coined by Grand Maester Munken in the book, and the image that accompanies it shows the shady conspirators plotting together.
Some of them were still loyal to Rhaenyra, and this led to their downfall, so the name Green Council is fitting because it shows how much Alicent forced everyone to bend to her will.
In the books, the speech with her and Viserys never happened, and instead, she just did this because she wanted to seize power. However, they’ve given her a reason to here, and it makes even more sense as to why she’ll stop at nothing to try and carry out her late husband’s apparent final wishes.
We open with an extremely somber intro and a focus on the Iron Throne, which now sits bare, symbolizing its fallen king. The entire week after Viserys death was filled with scheming and plotting from the greens as they tried to put everything in place to make Aegon the king.
Typically when a monarch died, the bells of Kings Landing would be immediately rung to announce this. However, they didn’t do this due to it potentially sounding the alarm for those who were loyal to Rhaenyra.
Alicent Wants Aegon For The King
Cut to Alicent once more sitting in Viserys spot on the council, and she’s joined by her two loyalist supporters. To the left is Otto High tower and on her right is Ser Criston Cole, who sees her as sparring with him after the Wedding shambles.
Because of this, he feels like he owes a life debt to her and will do anything he can to keep her in charge. This includes potentially killing Lord Beesbury, who we later see in the teaser shouting about how this is all treason.
Due to the book having several accounts of what happened, we don’t know for definite what went on after he did this though we do know that he indeed died. According to Grand Maester Orwyle, he was arrested and thrown into a cell, where he eventually died due to the cold. However, Septon Eustace said that Criston Cole slit his throat, which we could potentially see the aftermath of in the teaser.
Criston, at one point, can be seen cleaning his blade, and it potentially comes off the back of just killing Beesbury. Later on, we see swords being drawn on him in the council room, and if you look in the bottom left, you’ll see Beesbury slumped over. The account by Mushroom said that Criston also threw him out of a window onto some spikes, but either way, the character doesn’t make it past this meeting.
In the book, there was talk about how he got thrown in jail and that he developed a chill from this, which killed him. However, we’ve already spoiled it for you, so yeah, dead. Now, this is known as the first blood spilled during the Dance Of The Dragons and his death sets the idea that no matter how high up you can get executed for questioning, Aegon isn’t the heir.
It’s possible that he also kills Ser Harold, who seems to be drawing the sword at him. If you cast your mind back to episode one, you’ll remember that he was very loyal to Rhaenyra, so it makes sense that he’d kick off at this point. Criston ended up being the leader of the Kingsguard in the book, so they’ll probably have him kill him here and then take over his place.
Not Telling About Viserys’ Dead
After Viserys dies, he’s discovered by a servant who immediately goes and tells Alicent about it. She quickly calls together the council, and they start to put things in place. They keep his death a secret until nothing can be done to change Aegon’s rule, and it looks like they are changing some things here and there. For example, in the source material, Rhaenyra went back to Dragonstone whilst all this was going on, and she wasn’t in the kingdom when her dad died.
This made it even easier for Alicent to keep things a secret because she didn’t send any ravens, and thus, Rhaenyra only found out through word of mouth. Rhaenyra might have actually gone back home, as the person we see with golden hair fiddling with the door is Rhaenys instead of her.
She is clearly locked in this room as she can’t get it open, and she might be held captive due to supporting Rhaenyra’s last episode. Either way, the Greens basically got everyone on their side by killing Beesburgy and not letting people out of the meeting.
The Cargyll Twins
There’s also a strange character that we don’t meet, and he’s told that none can know who he is and what he seeks. Looks like he’s in the Kingsguard and that he’s one of the higher-ups because of the mission he’s been picked to carry out. We don’t really learn this either, as his back is turned, but we can make out some of his facial hair.
I think this might be one of the Cargyll twins, who we later see in the teaser together. They appear to be in the same place that the fighting arena is, and later on, we see one going to grab Aegon, so I’m guessing this is what they’ve been sent to do. Even though these characters were brothers, they supported opposite sides, and this caused a mini-civil war in their household.
We do see one of them swinging a sword in a split-second shot, and this could be them fighting each other. My guess is that Otto is sending him to try and capture Rhaenyra and Daemon. However, there could be another mission in it.
In the teaser, we see what I believe is Aegon’s bastard. The book talks about how he had one to one of his mother’s maidservants and also one of the streets of silk. I think this is likely the latter, as we had the scene in 8 where Alicent made her servant drink the tea. Aegon’s bastard could cause a lot of problems, and potentially even his other children could be pushed out if he came into the limelight.
Potentially Arryk could be sent in after him to hush things up before they become publicly known. Now his brother was an ally to Rhaenyra, and he might end up helping out her side. Because they look the same, they could do some twin hijinx and have them disguise themselves as the other to either help or hinder them.
I think this will be told to them by Larys Strong, whom we see saying that he has found out something. Potentially Mysaria found out the same thing last week, too, and this is why we saw Alicents servant traveling out to her in the middle of the night. We see this servant being put in a cell at one point, so I’m wondering if she is the person who discovers Viserys, and then she’s locked up.
The book talks about how the person who discovered him was put in custody. However, this was a man, whereas the servant here is a woman and they’ve gone woke, and they’ve bloody gone awakened. However, she may just be being escorted to safety as it appears she has a Targaryen child with her. Either way, she was the one wearing the cloak last episode, but several do in the teaser.
Cloaks Everywhere
We see Aemond donning a similar cloak to hide his hair, which once more hammers home the idea that he is the opposite of Daemon. Two others in the trailer wear this, including one in the alleyway as people rush through and one that moves through the crowd.
These could be a number of different characters. We see one speaking to either Arryk or Eryyk at one point. This appears to be a girl, and they could be being smuggled out of the city.
At one point, we also see someone in a cloak jumping over an edge, and this could be said person making their final escape. The shot of Aemond also has a distinctive set of steps and stones surrounding them. This also looks like the same place where the Cargyll swings their sword, and they’re doing it against a hooded figure.
This is likely a fight against Aemond that might show much of a G he is. It is important to bear in mind that Larys was also one of the first people to swear loyalty to Aegon, and he slashed his hands and gave a blood oath to show his loyalty.
We see commotion in the street, and this could be for a number of reasons. Aegon was publicly announced, and lots of people gathered to see him; however, it could also be that there is some uproar over Rhaenyra’s claim being completely thrown out.
Aegon For The King
We get what looks like several ceremonies, and this includes knights raising their swords and people gathering at the dragon pit. This might be to show off Aegon’s dragon Sunfyre, and the Targaryen symbol was also changed to gold to reflect this.
Aegon can be seen rushing across this, possibly attempting to escape his duty. He didn’t want to be king when told he had a bj from a lady. The book reads; The virtuous Septon admits that Prince Aegon was with a mistress when he was discovered, but he maintains that the girl was the daughter of a wealthy trader and was also well-cared for.
Aegon Being Crowned As The King
The trailer ends with the voiceover of someone asking if they could imagine themselves on the iron throne. I think this is likely Alicent to Aegon when she’s trying to convince him to become the king. Lastly, we see a crown being placed onto a green cushion. This is symbolic for a number of reasons because it’s being placed firmly on a color that represents the Hightowers.
I also believe that this is Aegon The Conqueror’s Crown, and in the book, we have an image of Ser Criston placing this on Aegon the second’s head. He wore one laced with rubies; though they are missing here, we can see the spaces where they would end up sitting. In the shot with Aemond, we can see a blurred-out figure to the left that is wearing the crown, and this appears to be Aegon.
To the right is a member of the king’s guard, and this could be the moment when Criston places it on his head. In the book, Alicent ordered for Viserys crown to be put in a vault, and this was stolen by a servant who might tie in with the task Otto is giving to one of the knights.
Either way, Aegon clearly has chosen the conqueror’s crown for a reason, and it’s a very important shot for the teaser. Aegon was, of course, named after his grandfather, and Viserys used to have dreams about how he saw one of his heirs on the throne wearing it. So the prophecy came true, but it’s not good news, and this has major ramifications going forward.
Other shots include the lords kneeling down in front of Otto as he stands near the throne. To the left, you might notice Lord Caswell, who was one of Rhaenyra’sloyalist supporters. I feel like he might get killed in this scene, too, as he is executed in the book for refusing to switch sides from Rhaenyra. Alicent really wanted her surrender, and if she didn’t admit that Aegon was the rightful heir, then she’d have her murdered.
Beesbury was a perfect example of this, and with Viserys out of the way, there was no one left to protect her. Though he looked like the crypt keeper, he won’t be wandering up the steps any time soon, and thus she and her family are on their own. I can’t wait to see how it goes down, and with it being the penultimate episode, I really think it’s gonna mount up to something big.
Also Read: Aegon’s Conquest Explained: The New Game Of Thrones Spinoff
