*Contains spoilers for House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones.*
House of the Dragon is ramping up.
The Game of Thrones prequel is almost at the halfway stage of its first season and the tension between the characters is only increasing.
In this week’s brand new episode, entitled King of the Narrow Sea, Viserys (Paddy Considine) fired Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) from his position of Hand of the King.
Before that, Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) took his Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) around the streets of King’s Landing – and stopped off for an uncomfortable scene with his much younger niece.
With the tension so thin you could cut it with a Valyrian steel dagger, the trailer for episode five has teased that the tension may be about to boil over.
Let’s take a closer look to see what’s in store for us next week when we wave goodbye to Milly Alcock, who is replaced by Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra, and Emily Carey as Queen Alicent Hightower.
It’s time for another bloodbath Game of Thrones wedding
Any experienced Game of Thrones fans will know that wedding bells in Westeros often ring out with their own warning: prepare for lots of misery, and, potentially, blood.
It looks as though the royal wedding in next week’s episode will be no different.
What begins as another polite, courtly affair – with Viserys proclaiming to the crowd that he hopes Rhaenyra’s marriage to Laenor Velaryon (Theo Nate) will bring in ‘a second age of dragons’ – soon descends into violence.
As Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best) warns that ‘knives will come out’, chaos erupts in the throne room, with blades and fists clashing while people are pushed and punched in equal measure.
Corlys Velaryon returns to King’s Landing
Conspicuous by his absence in episode four, Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) will return to King’s Landing in episode five for his son’s marriage to Rhaenyra.
We last saw Corlys assisting Daemon in defeating the Crabfeeder – he didn’t show up in the latest episode, however, apparently having laid claim to the Stepstones so that he can earn back the money he lost to the Crabfeeder’s Triarchy army.
We saw Corlys arriving for this wedding way back when the very first teaser trailer for the show was released in 2021. Someone from his family has their head slammed against a table in the episode five teaser.
Corlys hasn’t been in King’s Landing for almost three years by this point, and it looks like he’s only going to be given more reasons to leave once again.
Things look bleak for Viserys
Ever since the first episode of House of the Dragon, it’s been apparent to anyone paying attention that Viserys is not exactly the healthiest king around.
In the series premiere, we were shown that he was developing sores on his back from sitting on the Iron Throne. Those sores have now grown in size and only increased in number, while a cut from the Iron Throne led to an infection resulted in the loss of two fingers.
Otto Hightower, dismissed as Hand in episode four’s climax, says in the trailer that, soon, ‘the king will die’. As Otto’s words greet us, we’re shown an image of the king looking rather worse for wear in front of a fireplace while maesters tend to him.
Alicent jumps out of her skin
After her thumbs were given a break in episode three, the events of the fourth episode saw the return of Queen Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey) picking the skin around her thumbnails.
And that anxiety doesn’t seem like it’s going to be given the chance to calm down in next week’s episode, which is entitled We Light the Way – the family Hightower’s house words.
Right at the end of the trailer, we see Alicent watching on from a balcony as King Viserys tries to enter a royal carriage, only to collapse to the floor. Alicent is visibly shaken by the king’s fall, as a group of servants rush to his side.
House of the Dragon is available to stream on Sky Atlantic and NOW.
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