The Game of Thrones prequel showcases the notable events preceding the Targaryen Civil War. The show started when Six of the Seven Kingdoms were under the reign of King Viserys Targaryen. As he names his daughter Rhaenyra Targaryen as his heir, he breaks years of tradition and laws. With the offspring of his second wedding, the realm gets divided in the matter of succession.
Otto Hightower misjudged the situation when he said that the end was clear. Brothers will fight sisters, uncles will fight nephews, and dragons will set towns ablaze across Westeros. As season one delivers a glorious finale, fans embrace themselves for the Seven Kingdoms to witness one of its largest warmongerings.
Viserys Targaryen – The Amiable Patriarch
The first scene shows us that the Great Council in 101 A.C. confirmed male preference and assisted Viserys Targaryen in ascending the iron throne even though Rhaenys was the daughter of Jaeherys’s eldest son. Paddy Considine, playing the role of Viserys I, is immaculate in his role and won the viewers’ hearts. The source material (Fire & Blood) did not provide many backdrops to crack past his surface character, but in the show, with each passing episode, Viserys went from a people-pleaser to a capable and loving king. Was he the most fearsome and calculated leader? No. After all, his choice of succession and personal decisions sow the seeds of the dance. But unlike the Mad Targaryens, he kept his word and supported his daughter Rhaenyra relentlessly until the end.
The Hightowers – The Power Hungry and The Pawn
Then comes The Hand, Otto Hightower played by Rhys Ifans. Desperate to increase his standing, Otto repeatedly exploits the King’s trusting nature, makes his daughter Alicent a pawn in his political powerplay, and conspires against Rhaenyra to put his grandson Aegon on the throne. He is a crucial character in the Dance as he effectively passes the poison down from generation to generation, starting with Alicent and then to her children.
Next we have Alicent Hightower, initially played by Emily Carey, the daughter of the Hand to the King. She was best friends with Rhaenyra Targaryen for some time. Alicent has been conditioned to be the perfect woman in the court by her father. Little does she know (at least in the first five episodes) that she has been a weapon in her father’s political aspirations. Later, we see Olivia Cooke taking over the role of Alicent from episode 6. The grown Alicent realizes that she holds a lot more power herself and in her own political prowess than she realizes. People around her give her less credit than she deserves, and she is desperate to protect her children. Her mental breakdown when she demands for Lucerys Velaryon’s eye was when we saw how much she was rooting for survival against the looming vultures. Alicent’s character is nuanced and empathetic, although she sways from her morals from time to time. Hightowers were at their top game in the penultimate episode. Ironic how Alicent misunderstands her alcoholic son to be the desirable heir when Viserys speaks of Aegon the conqueror.
Daemon Targaryen – The Rogue Prince
Arrogant, unpredictable, quick to take offense, and currently the internet’s favorite boyfriend, Daemon Targaryen keeps his audience shook with his antics.
Matt Smith does the perfect job of acting out this character keeping us on our toes.
His ill-doings are endless, including grooming a teenage Rhaenyra, killing his first wife, celebrating the death of his brother’s dead child, cutting Vaemond Velaryon’s face in half in front of everyone and many more. Weirdly, Daemon has a sense of duty to his family. He is one of those characters who feel queasy in peace and thrives best in chaos. The bickering between the brothers did not mean that Daemon hated his brother; rather, it was quite the opposite. When Corlys Velaryon, played by Steve Toussaint, tries to turn Daemon against Viserys, Daemon snaps, “I will speak of my brother as I wish, you will not”. Matt Smith himself said recently in an interview that Daemon feels alive when he is in the middle of the rope.
In the finale episode, one of the scenes took the internet into a spiral. Daemon grabs Rhaenyra by the throat out of anger. Daemon is capable of darkness, and it is always simmering on the surface. When Daemon realizes that Viserys never considered him a potential heir, hence, never disclosed the tale of “The Prince who was promised”, it breaks his heart. As much as he would plunge himself to death for Viserys and Rhaenyra, he still takes the anger out on his niece-wife in a vicious way.
Rhaenyra Targaryen – The Rightful Heir
The star of the show, portrayed by Milly Alcock as a younger Rhaenyra in the first five episodes, is rebellious, free to live, and to break away. After spurious tales regarding her and Daemon cause political tension, Rhaenyra marries Laenor Velaryon, heir to the Driftmark. In episode 6 we see a time-lapse of 10 years with Emma D’arcy recurring in the role of a grown Rhaenyra. She is mature, burdened with the jibes of Queen Alicent and her followers, mother of three sons, and determined to set things right as the heir. By the time Viserys Targaryen dies, Rhaenyra is married to her uncle Daemon Targaryen, has another 2 sons (Aegon the Younger and Viserys the Younger) and holds the seat of Driftmark. The Green Council crowns Rhaenyra’s half-brother, Aegon II, the King, and conceals the news of her father’s passing until Rhaenys Targaryen flies to Driftmark and delivers the news. The finale episode showed how the Black faction deals with the doings of the Greens. Rhaenyra remains resistant to wage war as Otto so subtly fondles Rhaneyra’s emotions by giving a sentimental piece of paper that Rhaenyra gave to Alicent decades ago. However, the loss of her second son, Lucerys Velaryon wakes the dragon in her. The close cut of Rhaenyra’s expression said it all. It was time to summon war and throw niceties to the sea.
Cristen Cole – Kingsguard’s Professional Hater
Fabien Frankel’s Ser Cristen Cole () is one of the more detestable characters in the show and Lyman Beesbury’s killer. Lord Beesbury was one of the first casualties of the dance, as we see in episode 9. In the first five episodes of House of the Dragon, the princess and knight spent years together and had a close friendship. Ser Criston once risked his life for Princess Rhaenyra. He admired Rhaenyra, but given the nature of his job, he would have never dared make a move on the princess. Rhaenyra abuses her power and puts Ser Cole in a position where his refusal might cost his head. Criston Cole goes so far as to propose to Rhaenyra, but her counteroffer does not sit well with the knight. Over the course of 10 years, Ser Criston becomes Queen Alicent’s confidant. The despise is evident in episode 6 where he calls Rhaenyra a spoiled cunt.
Plenty unravels from the get-go. But the fact that not all viewers are aware of the Fire and Blood telling seems to escape the showrunners. There were a few time-lapses, for instance, in episode 4, we can see baby Halaena Targaryen in Alicent’s protective hold. Now, any book reader can connect the dots as this baby is not the baby Aegon. There was no acknowledgement of Halaena for the audience. In episode 3, HOTD makers initially intended to showcase the grandeur of Viserys and Alicent’s wedding. Moreover, it would have been interesting to watch the angry exchange between Rhaenyra and Alicent upon the decision of Viserys’s second marriage or Daemon giving an affectionate embrace to his daughters Rhaena and Baela, after the loss of his second wife. But none of the scenes made it to the final cuts. A filler episode would be insightful to watch where they show how the rift between Rhaenyra and Alicent kept growing, how Daemon fell in love with Laena Velaryon, killed her betrothed in a duel, then married her, or how Ser Harwin Strong became Rhaenyra’s lover and how Cole got away with Joffrey Longmouth’s murder.
Penultimate Episode
Episode 9 belonged to the Green Council. It is baffling to see how Aegon, played byTom Glynn-Carney, was reluctant to take the position of King. He knew that Viserys never trusted him to be a worthy ruler. When Alicent tries to negotiate with captive Rhaenys Targaryen, played by Eve Best, the princess sees right through Alicent’s false sense of morals and reminds the queen that Alicent is just as trapped as she is. Bravely put, according to Rhaenys, Alicent is a “window of the wall of her prison”. During the coronation before the masses, Rhaenys flaunts her dragon Meleys in front of the green faction sending a clear message regarding whose side she is on. The gravity of the moment is too much since everyone thought she would Dracarys Aegon to dust, but later she states that the war is not hers to start.
Finale Episode
Her father’s passing and Alicent’s treachery send Rhaenyra to early labor, and another gruesome childbirth is presented. Here we see the death of Rhaenyra’s second son, Lucerys Velaryon. It was heartbreaking to watch Vhagar tearing Luke’s dragon Arrax apart. “The idea that we control dragons is an illusion” the wistful saying of Viserys in episode 1 was perhaps a careful foreshadowing of the scene.
In Fire and Blood it is never clear whether Aemond Targaryen intended to kill Luke or not.
Here we see Arrax, a young dragon with its full fury attacking Vhagar. Vhagar is the oldest and largest dragon to live and is not something to mess with. She ignores Aemond’s protests and kills Arrax, which shows that dragons have minds as well, especially the likes of Vhagar. When Aemond sees Luke and Arrax vanquishing in the clouds, he is shocked for two reasons. One, for the first time, he had blood in his hands, that too, of his kin. Two, he understood that a deadly retaliation awaits him and his family.
The first season is nothing but a long monologue to the real testament of Fire and Blood. Gut-churning childbirth scenes, relatively poor lighting, and frequent time-lapses were regular companions of the show. To expect the bloodshed, the daring sounds of swords clashing, and savage ‘Dracarys!’ from the get-go would be too much to ask at that point. But do not let the humdrum of the first few episodes discourage you because they lay the foundation for the trouble forthcoming. The proceedings are significant if we keep aside the foot fetish practice of Larys Strong.
Underneath the aesthetic name of Dance of the Dragons, lies the dread and horror of the civil war. For now, we can only wait for season 2 for dragons to rain fire and kins to spill each other’s blood. Aegon II wears Aegon the Conqueror’s crown, which symbolizes war and conflict. On the other hand, Rhaenyra wears her father’s crown, which symbolizes peace and unity. Undoubtedly, the last two episodes roll the steams and ring the bells. What can we expect from Season 2? The Classic GOT inspired shocking deaths of characters, battle in lands with armies fighting with swords, and battle in the sky with a dragon chasing another dragon with Targaryens on their backs. According to HBO, the shooting of season 2 will start in early 2023 and will air in early 2024. The wait is too long, but it is worth it, for we will get a hermetically crafted and riveting new season.