'Game of Thrones' prequel 'House of the Dragon' Episode 2: Five things to expect from 'The Rogue King'
The world of ‘Game of Thrones’ is really mysterious and you won’t be able to guess what will happen in the next freaking minute. That was one of the main reasons why the show turned out to be so huge. It seems ‘House of the Dragon’, the prequel series to ‘GOT’, is following the same pattern and ended the first episode in a way that opens the door for so many situations. During the premiere, we saw King Viserys I Targaryen losing his wife Queen Aemma after a gruesome birth scene.
This makes him realize that his daughter Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) deserves to be the new ruler of the kingdom and smash the stereotypes of women not being able to sit on the Iron Throne. In the end, Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) seems to have left King’s Landing with his dragon, Caraxes. On the other hand, Ser Otto Hightower is scheming something by sending her daughter to talk to King Viserys after his wife’s death.
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So, what can we expect from Episode 2 of ‘House of the Dragon’? Let’s take a look.
Prince Daemon is the ‘Rogue King’
After the death of Queen Aemma’s newborn child, Prince Daemon was set to become the new King of Westeros. However, Ser Otto Hightower got word that Daemon toasted the king’s late infant son, calling him “The Heir for Day”. This angers King Viserys, who decides that Daemon won’t be sitting on the throne. He orders him to return to Runestone and never come back.
This makes us believe the next week’s episode title, ‘The Rogue King’, might be about Prince Daemon and his schemes to get to the Iron Throne. With such personality, we don’t think Daemon is just going to fly away with his dragon and forget everything. In fact, he will bounce back stronger.
Blooming relationship b/w Rhaenyra and Ser Criston
Even though we know who Rhaenyra ends up with, there’s a lot to unpack in the young princess’s life. He shared a loving relationship with her uncle Daemon and took us back to the time when Cersei and Jaime’s relationship made us go berserk. However, Rhaenyra’s story might see the entry of someone really special. During the first episode, Rhaenyra seemed really impressed with Ser Criston Cole when she defeated Prince Daemon during the Tourney.
With Daemon gone, we might see Ser Criston making his moves and wooing the young princess by becoming her personal sworn shield. It would be interesting to see how their “relationship” moves forward, but one thing is for sure, they are attracted to each other.
Ser Otto Hightower’s schemes to move closer to the throne
At first, Ser Otto Hightower looked like a considerate Hand of the King like Tyrion Lannister. However, as the episode progressed, we get to know that he might be the Littlefinger of this universe. With whatever happened in the first episode, it seemed like he is grooming his daughter Alicent Hightower to move closer to King Viserys. He will continue to push his daughter closer to him so that Viserys takes the decision to marry Alicent.
It’s still unclear as to what Ser Otto will do, but it might include him telling his daughter to be with King Viserys for as long as possible. Will he tell her to seduce him? There’s nothing impossible in the ‘Game of Thrones’ universe.
King Viserys grows more ill
One of the important scenes took place when King Viserys was being checked for an injury that he endured on his back. At the time, Viserys said that he got this injury while sitting on the Iron Throne and is not worried about it. However, one of the maesters and his assistant believe that the injury is not healing at all and the only way to heal the wound is “cauterization”. Meanwhile, at the end of the episode, he received a cut once again, and this time on his finger. The new cut, along with the unhealed injury, might prove lethal for the King and make him feel even more ill.
The king’s death might be sad for most people, but it might turn out to be a good situation for those who are trying to claim the throne even when Princess Rhaenyra has been announced the new heir.
Will Princess Rhaenyra spill the beans about ‘A Song of Ice & Fire’?
King Viserys told Princess Rhaenyra about Aegon’s dream and how the world of men would come to an end. He said that darkness would take over the world from the North and this would start with harsh winters. This is one of the biggest secrets of in the ‘GOT’ universe and looks like only a few people know about it. Rhaenyra is a new addition to the list and being a youngster, she might not be able to hold herself back from sharing this story with her best friend, Alicent Hightower.
It is quite possible that Rhaenyra might tell Alicent everything about the ‘Song of Ice & Fire’ and make her feel nervous as well.
These are only some of the things that might take place in the second episode of ‘House of the Dragon’. However, it won’t come as a shock if things get even more intense.