We called it! This is what happens when everybody and their brothers end up being named Aegon. Well, it seems like shit is about to hit the fan in the penultimate episode of the first season of House of the Dragon. Here’s what we’ve figured out is probably going to happen in the next episode, tellingly titled ‘The Green Council’.

A green coup is in the making

The shot of an empty Iron Throne is symbolic of two things — a confirmation of the death of Viserys and the central role the throne is going to take in the coming episodes. Viserys’ death is announced by Otto Hightower in a shot which shows him with Alicent and Ser Criston Cole in what we think is the titular Green Council, which the Hightowers, referred to as ‘the Greens’, and their allies try to convince the Small Council of Aegon II’s claim to the throne. A tearful Alicent says, “he told me he wished for Aegon to be king”, misinterpreting The Song of Ice and Fire prophecy as we had pointed out in our review, providing the only nudge needed for the tenuous peace at the ‘last supper’ to crumble.

We see a Kingsguard wiping his blade and we are guessing that it is Ser Criston (we’ll see more of that later in the teaser).

Otto will be the power player

Amidst shots of crowds on the roads of King’s Landing and being herded somewhere by the Gold Cloaks, we see people taking the knee before Otto in the throne room. “The door remains shut until we finish our business,” says Otto, but we don’t know if it is at the Green Council or in the throne room.

Well, there would be some who would want to stand by the oath they had made to King Viserys about Rhaenyra, so we guess the Hightowers need time to prepare the ground for Aegon II’s coronation. So, this shutting the door could be about not letting the news of Viserys’ death get out till they’ve sorted that out, especially from the shots of Rhaenys locked in her room and the staff of the Red Keep being taken to the dungeon.

Otto has been biding his time for a while now and will not let anything get in the way of putting his grandson Aegon on the throne. We see him tell someone “know one must know who you are or what you seek”, making it sound like a deadly mission. But we are guessing it is to look for Aegon II, who runs away before his coronation (according to historical records).

Aemond gets more screen time

Our first shot of Aemond seems to be at a coronation with a blurry Aegon in the foreground wearing a crown. We see a hooded figure many times, moving through the crowd, jumping from a ledge and given that Aemond takes after Daemon so much, it could be him. Well, he does appear in a hood meeting someone else in a hood later in the teaser.

Where are the Blacks?

The Blacks, the name for the Targaryens, are nowhere to be seen in the teaser. “What of Rhaenyra?” asks Alicent. “What” indeed. Rhaenyra had gone back to Dragonstone at the end of the last episode and was meant to return soon. How are they going to keep her out till the coup is established? Either the presence of the Blacks has been kept out of the teaser intentionally, or this is an all-Green episode. But the division of loyalty is already being hinted at.

It is going to be bloody

Note the Cargyll twins, both of whom are in the Kingsguard and in the book, end up on conflicting sides of the succession war. We also see Ser Criston doing what he does best, using his sword. We are assuming this is at the Green Council and given that Lord Lyman Beesbury is shown accusing treason a little later, it could very well be him that Criston is coming at. Kingsguard members stand against each other and that will definitely end up a bloody mess.

The king who doesn’t want to be king

Earlier in the teaser, we see Larys Strong telling Alicent that he has found out something he should know, the shot cutting to a Targaryen-haired toddler somewhere under bars or wooden slats. It could be one of Aegon’s many illegitimate children. It could have something to do with Rhaenyra, we don’t know.

We have already talked about how Otto’s secret mission about “seeking” something could be Aegon, and later we see Aegon running from one of the Cargyll twins (we can tell them apart, yet) confirms that. We already know he has no interest in being king, so this is no surprise.

In the last shot of the teaser, we see a crown that is different from the crown worn by Viserys being placed on a green cushion. We are assuming that this is the Valyrian steel crown of Aegon the Conqueror but there are no rubies on it, so who knows. Rhaenys’ voice in the background whispers, “Have you never imagined yourself on the Iron Throne?” The Dance of the Dragons is all set to begin.