We are at the halfway point of the first season of House of the Dragon and winter might be very far away, but change is definitely coming. The teaser for Episode 6, ‘The Princess and the Queen’, has a lot to unpack as it introduces new actors in familiar roles, new actors in new roles and navigates a 10-year time jump where a lot seemed to have happened.
An adversarial Rhaenyra and Alicent
We bid goodbye to Milly Alcock and Emily Carey in the roles of Rhaenyra and Alicent with Episode 5 and welcome Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke in the respective roles. But it seems only the actors have changed because the tension between them seems to have grown in the decade that’s passed. The teaser opens with the Small Council discussing Daemon and his shortcomings and we can see that Alicent now has a seat on it. Alicent (is that a deep green dress she is wearing?) doesn’t look happy at having her claim questioned by Rhaenyra, who adds a sly “my Queen” to the end of her sentence.
A whole new generation of Targaryens and Velaryons have been spawned
While a voice in the background (we think it is Larys Strong’s, you know that creepy guy who talks to Alicent in the garden) talks about how children are weaknesses, we see a glimpse of Alicent’s second son (whose name, according to George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood is Aemond Targaryen) looking scared while facing dragonfire (more on the dragon later).
We also see shots of Aegon II, Alicent’s first child, kicking another brown-haired child, who turns out to be Rhaenyra’s eldest son and heir apparent Jacaerys Velaryon, in training. Ser Harwin ‘Breakbones’ Strong, Ser Lyonel Strong’s eldest son, looks worriedly, probably at his father if the next scene is taken into account. The Hand of the King looks worried as well, but a really withered Viserys seems to be having fun. This is followed by a shot of a pregnant Laena Velaryon (aged again and now played by Nanna Bondell) with a young daughter.
The dragons, they are coming
While Alicent tells Aegon II that he will be the king, we see Laena’s daughter taking a dragon egg from the warmer. Then we see Laena telling Daemon Targaryen that they are the blood of old Valyria, so yes, they did get married sometime after that wedding dance.
Next is a stunning shot of Daemon and Laena flying on dragon's back and yes, that is probably our first look at Vhagar, the oldest and largest dragon alive. This shot is quickly followed by a shot of a baby (maybe teenaged) dragon which, if the ending shot of the teaser is anything to go by, is Vermax, Jacaerys’ dragon who hatched when Rhaenyra’s oldest was in the cradle.
Oh and remember the dragon Aemond seemed to be facing? We don’t think it is a dragon we have seen before. So that’s another new one.
Rumours are ripping apart the Red Keep
The next few shots of Rhaenyra with Jaecarys and a baby, Ser Lyonel and Ser Harwin, who in another shot is seen beating Ser Criston Cole on the training ground, as the voice in the background says “a father compromised by the acts of a son” hint at something not entirely wholesome.
That is confirmed by the shot of a baby with brown hair being cradled by Rhaenyra, whose white-blonde hair is visible, with Alicent telling Viserys that “having one child like that is a mistake, having three is an insult”. A gloved hand is seen lifting Jacaerys’ chin and Ser Lyonel says “people have eyes”. It is evident from the white-skinned, brown-haired children of Rhaenyra that they are not her and Laenor’s. Given from all that went before in the teaser, the children are Ser Harwin’s, who takes Criston’s place as Rhaenyra’s sworn protector.
Viserys is once again calling it a lie, telling either Alicent (we feel a Cersei Lannister vibe with that wine drinking shot) or someone else that the consequences of such allegations would be dire as we see shots of a prisoner, a blade in fire and a dead body being carried by the guards.
Well, whoever the father is, Jacaerys definitely has Valyrian blood, given that he successfully made the baby dragon roast a sheep for dinner with the command “Dracarys”.
