All is not well in King's Landing.
Episode 8 of HBO's House of the Dragon, which aired last night, has sealed the fate of King Viserys Targaryen and opened hell's floodgates for his surviving family members. The consequences of Episode 8 will set the stage for the Dance of the Dragons, which will pit Targaryen against Targaryen in a bitter bid for the Iron Throne.
Ahead, we explain the emotional ending of the newest episode, including the miscommunication at the core of the forthcoming Targaryen civil war and the prophecy of the Prince that was Promised. Beware—spoilers are below.
Recapping Episode 8
Six years after the funeral of Laena Velaryon, the line of succession for Driftmark has been challenged after Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) suffers a potentially fatal injury during a battle in the Stepstones. Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best), Ser Vaemond Velaryon (Wil Johnson), and Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) all travel to King's Landing to make their appeal to the crown.
Upon arrival, King Viserys (Paddy Considine) is essentially indisposed; the disease that has been plaguing him for the entire season has confined him to his bed as he suffers from near-constant pain. Viserys also looks much worse than from when we've seen him last: his teeth are rotting, he has lost an eyeball, and his face and body are covered in decaying sores. In his stead, Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) have stepped in to rule over matters of the Seven Kingdoms—including the dispute of who inherits Driftmark.
Rhaenyra attempts to make an alliance with Rhaenys, offering to marry her sons, Jacaerys (Harry Collett) and Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) to Rhaenys's granddaughters, Baela (Bethany Antonia) and Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) so long as Rhaenys supports Luc's claim to Driftmark.
In the middle of the night, Rhaenyra comes to her father's bedside, begging him to support her as her children's parentage is once again questioned in front of the entire court. She asks her father if he believes in the Song of Ice and Fire, a prophecy that originated from a divine dream from Aegon the Conqueror and which Viserys had confided in Rhaenyra in Episode 1. However, Viserys is too impaired from his illness to react to Rhaenyra's prompt.
The next day, Alicent and Otto prepare to hear appeals from Rhaenys, Rhaenyra, and Vaemond on who is to become the next Lord of the Tides. After Vaemond, the younger brother of Corlys, bids for himself, Viserys emerges in the hall, taking back his royal duties from Otto and Alicent for the day. Rhaenys throws her support behind Luc's claim to Driftmark, announcing that Luc and Jace are now betrothed to her granddaughters. Vaemond, outraged, loudly proclaims Luc and Jace to be bastards and calls Rhaenyra a whore. Just as Viserys angrily demands Vaemond's tongue, Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) beheads Vaemond, his sword decapitating him from just above his tongue.
In the evening, Viserys arranges an intimate dinner with his entire family, who are all together in King's Landing for the first time in years. He makes a passionate, emotional speech, imploring them all to make amends and to stand as one house before he dies. Both Alicent and Rhaenyra make peace, with Alicent even telling Rhaenyra that she'll one day become a good queen. The peace is short-lived, however, when Alicent's younger son, Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), calls his nephews the "strong boys," referring to their true father, Ser Harwin Strong. A fight breaks out between them. Rhaenyra announces that they must return to Dragonstone, but Alicent takes her hand and sincerely asks her to stay in King's Landing, an unexpectedly sweet request to which Rhaenyra relents.
Later that night, Alicent attends to an ailing Viserys in bed. Delirious, Viserys mistakes Alicent for Rhaenyra from the previous night, telling her that he does believe in the Prince that was Promised from Aegon's dream. Alicent, unaware of the prophecy, believes that Viserys is referring to their firstborn son, Prince Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), taking the Iron Throne after his death. At last, she leaves Viserys, and the king takes one final breath.
What is the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy?
The Song of Ice and Fire refers to Aegon the Conqueror's divine dream, which prophesied "the prince that was promised" who will save the world from a Great Winter powerful enough to destroy all of mankind. Significantly, the prophecy claims that this prince must descend from the Targaryen line.
Aegon, the first Targaryen king of the Seven Kingdoms, inscribed the prophecy on a dagger. It reads:
From my blood come the prince that was promised and his will be the song of ice and fire.
Every Targaryen ruler since Aegon has been notified of the prophecy by the previous ruler. In the first episode of House of the Dragon, Viserys revealed the Song of Ice and Fire to Rhaenyra after naming her his heir. He explained to her,
Aegon foresaw the end of the world of men. 'Tis to begin with a terrible winter gusting out of the distant North. Aegon saw absolute darkness riding on those winds and whatever dwells within will destroy the world of the living. When this Great Winter comes, Rhaenyra, all of Westeros must stand against it. And if the world of men is to survive, a Targaryen must be seated on the Iron Throne, a king or queen strong enough to unite the realm against and the cold and the dark. Aegon called his dream the Song of Ice and Fire. This secret, it’s been passed from king to heir since Aegon’s time. Now you must promise to carry it and protect it.
As viewers may well know, this prophecy is at the crux of Game of Thrones, which depicts the epic struggle between the Night King and his army of the undead against the world of the living.
How did Alicent interpret her last conversation with Viserys?
As Viserys's mental state deteriorated, he mistook Alicent for Rhaenyra on his deathbed, the latter of whom had asked him the previous night if he genuinely believed in Aegon's dream.
"You wanted to know if I believe it to be true," Viserys says to a confused Alicent. "Aegon ... His dream. The Song of Ice and Fire. It is true what he saw in the North. The Prince that was Promised."
After Alicent asks Viserys if he is referring to their son, Prince Aegon, Viserys says, "To unite the realm against the cold and the dark. It is you. You are the one. You must do this."
Though Viserys is actually referring to Rhaenyra's duty to rule Westeros and carry and pass on the burden of Aegon's dream, Alicent tragically mistakes his message as a command for her to place their son on the Iron Throne and to disinherit Rhaenyra. "I understand, my king," she tells Viserys.
It's an unfortunate miscommunication that followed Rhaenyra and Alicent's brief reconciliation with each other, as well as Alicent's acknowledgement of Rhaenyra's entitlement to the crown. It also sets a clear path for the Dance of the Dragons, cementing the divide between Team Green (Alicent, her children, and the Hightowers) and Team Black (Rhaenyra, Daemon, and their children).
What did Viserys's last words mean?
After Alicent leaves Viserys's bed chambers, the king groans in pain. "No more. No more," he says in his final scene, reaching one hand up above him. Before taking his last breath, he exhales the words, "My love."
This references Viserys's seeming post-mortem reunion with his first wife and true love, Queen Aemma, who died in Episode 1 after Viserys ordered maesters to cut open her pregnant belly in an ultimately futile attempt to extract a baby boy. Since her death, Viserys has expressed his regret and remorse for his decision. The show has depicted Viserys grieving Aemma's death multiple times in the years that have elapsed since.
