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The Red Keep, the throne room, and the small council table are at rest in the hush of a predawn King’s Landing, accompanied only by distant birdsong. But it’s only the calm before a storm that will last for entire years. King Viserys I is well and truly dead, as a servant boy informs Talya (Alexis Raben) in the scullery, and the queen’s handmaiden reports the news to her sovereign. “Tell no one,” Alicent warns, but the chain of information is already compromised. Talya also reported to her whispers master, Mysaria, “The White Worm,” with a candelabra signal in a castle alcove. And the race is on to secure power in the vacuum left by King V’s departure.

“The Green Council” of House of the Dragon Episode 9’s title is hastily called together by the queen and Otto Hightower, but any grieving for their ruler and friend is dispensed as the group processes what Alicent believes was her husband’s dying wish: that Aegon, their firstborn son, succeed him as king. And that’s all Otto needs to spin up his longmade plan for just such an event. Backed by Tyland Lannister (Jefferson Hall), the Hand of the King starts talking about securing financing, replacing any gold cloaks still loyal to Prince Daemon, and alerting the Greens’ far-flung allies. Alicent is listening to all of this fretfully. And Lyman Beesbury (Bill Paterson) takes a stand against what he declares to be treason. But his dissenting voice is silenced by Ser Criston, who crushes the Lord of Honeyholt’s temple against one of those marble conversation balls on the small council table. With blood already spilled, but also with her understanding of the king’s deathbed wishes, Alicent knows she still must prevent the worst of Otto’s darkening scheme – his cold calculus that Princess Rhaenyra, the “former heir,” and her family at Dragonstone must be killed. The queen’s at a loss in the moment, however, challenged for an alternate course by Otto and Lannister. 

In order to make Aegon their king, the Targaryen-Hightower group’s gotta find his slovenly ass. Helaena, his sister-wife, knows nothing of the prince’s whereabouts. But she does offer a prophetic morsel to Queen Alicent. “The beast beneath the boards!” More on that later. Otto tasks Ser Arryk Cargyll (Luke Tittensor) with locating Aegon, and the Kingsguardsman sets out for King’s Landing with his twin brother Ser Erryk (Elliott Tittensor) as Alicent dispatches her own search party in Ser Criston and Prince Aemond. They canvass the the tavern keepers and sex workers of the Street of Silk to no avail. 

Back at the castle, the servants are herded into cells, Princess Rhaenys is locked in her chambers, and Otto addresses a gathering of lords to explain how Viserys “amended his wishes,” and that they must now pledge their banners to Aegon. Those who don’t immediately comply are detained and later hung. And Lord Larys, the player of both sides, watches all of this.

Still searching the city, Arryk and Erryk discover a cage match where children as young as ten have their teeth filed to points and fingernails sharpened so they might kill each other faster in the dirt floor arena. It turns out this horrible place is one of Aegon’s favorite haunts – and in the widening scope of his depravity, he’s even fathered some of the children forced to fight there. On their own search, Aemond tells Criston that his brother is “a waestral who’s never taken half an interest in his birthright,” which the prince contrasts with his own book study and swordsmanship. If they ever wish to make him king, Aemond intends to be easy to find.

The king’s body is being cleaned and dressed under the watchful eye of a contemplative and tearful Alicent. She then visits a still confined Rhaenys, who calls out the queen as a usurper. Will the princess hew to the greens’ side? What has Rhaenyra ever really done for her? But Rhaenys sees in Alicent’s actions the long finger of the patriarchy. “You desire not to be free,” she tells the queen, “but to make a window in the wall of your prison,” a prison that represents her life in service to men – father, husband, son. To sit on the Iron Throne herself is a prospect Queen Alicent has never seemed to consider. 

It turns out that Mysaria has Aegon tucked away, and she makes a deal with Otto to sell his location in return for the destruction of the child fights in Flea Bottom and their tacit sanction by the crown. “There is no power but what the people allow you to take,” the White Worm warns the Hand, and Aegon is scrabbled from his hidey hole by the Kingsguard twins as they’re set upon by Aemond and Criston. “I have no wish to rule!” the king-to-be whines to the prince, and Criston engages Arryk in a staircase sword fight as his increasingly disgusted brother Erryk looks on.

Alicent and Otto’s paths to power are in a weird state of convergence and divergence. They each see Aegon on the throne, but the queen will not be party to the outright murder of Rhaenyra and Daemon. Alicent wishes to show the princess mercy, but is still keen to anoint her firstborn son as king ASAP. She says he’ll wear Aegon the Conqueror’s crown, ruby-inset and formed from Valyrian steel, and carry the Blackfyre longsword, emphasizing his Targaryen legacy. Larys, meanwhile, tells the queen about the spy network inside the Red Keep, one that includes her lady in waiting Talya, and reveals that Otto has left the chattering spiders in place to use for his advantage. He offers to deal with the spymaster, Mysaria the White Worm, which Alicent agrees to by indulging Lord Strong’s foot fetish. Kinks and schemes – HOTD ’s got ‘em.

Ser Erryk has ferried Rhaenys out of the Keep – “I cannot let this treachery stand!” – but there’s no opportunity to catch a boat to Driftmark. They’re caught up in the mob being pushed toward the Sept of Baelor, in order to bear witness to Aegon’s coronation. A bell tolls as the queen implores her son to deny Otto’s plans to kill Rhaenyra, and inside the sept, the Hand announces the king’s death and Aegon’s succession to raised swords and trumpet heralds. Oils are applied, oaths are given, and the new king who so recently swore off the role suddenly realizes the power he’s been given. “All hail Aegon, Second of his Name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, Protector of the Realm.” And that’s when Rhaenys Targaryen, clad in full battle armor, smashes through the stone floor of the sept on the back of her dragon Melys. Uh-oh, it’s the foretold “beast beneath the boards” – the dragon pits, after all, are located beneath Baelor – and Alicent moves in front of King Aegon II by way of protection. Melys stomps some smallfolk as the creature comes to bear on the gathered royals, and Rhaenys displays a show of force with the emission of a terrifying dragon bleat at close range. But while there’s lots of high velocity saliva, there’s no incineration – this is just the gauntlet being tossed. The events of the last 48 hours in King’s Landing have made civil war inevitable, and Rhaenys flies off on Melys, determined to spread the word.

Johnny Loftus is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter: @glennganges

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