I can’t believe I’m writing this, but we’re very nearly at the end of the first season of House of the Dragon. It’s been quite a journey from those early days when Rhaenyra and Alicent were teenagers chatting in the godswood about cake. Now the greens have stolen Rhaenyra’s throne, and the winds of war carry dragons across the Seven Kingdoms.
From new dragons to a fateful encounter amidst a terrible storm, “The Black Queen” promises to be a spectacular finale. Check out the trailer, and then let’s break it down shot by shot for the last time this season. As always, there will be SPOILERS from George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood below.
House of the Dragon Episode 10 trailer breakdown: “The Black Queen”
It’s clear right from the opening seconds of the trailer that House of the Dragon’s finale will go heavy on the dragons. We’ve made it to the end of the season, and now is the time for the show to pull out all the stops. I believe this first shot is of Lucerys Velaryon on his dragon Arrax:
Image: House of the Dragon/YouTube
We haven’t met Arrax in the show yet, but we see him multiple times in this trailer. He has three frills that run along his neck which make him easier to identity; you can just see them in the shot above. Plus he’s much smaller than many of the other dragons we’ve seen, which is apparent from how big the rider looks on his back.
Rhaenys Velaryon made an explosive escape from King’s Landing during “The Green Council,” and the trailer shows us that she’s made it to Dragonstone to warn Rhaenyra of the coup. “The greens are coming for you, Rhaenyra. And for your children.”
Image: House of the Dragon/YouTube
Rhaenyra and Daemon seem pretty shaken by the news. Rhaenyra is rubbing her baby bump in the shot below; let’s not forget that she’s pregnant.
Image: House of the Dragon/HBO
Image: House of the Dragon/YouTube
Daemon snatches up his Valyrian steel sword, Dark Sister:
Image: House of the Dragon/YouTube
Many of the shots in the trailer are of Dragonstone, so we’ll be spending a decent amount of time at the ancestral seat of House Targaryen in the finale. Here’s an exterior shot of the fortress, darkened by ominous clouds:
Image: House of the Dragon/YouTube
“You cannot bend the knee to the Hightowers, they stole your birthright,” Daemon tells Rhaenyra. She watches as he leaves the hall of Dragonstone, Dark Sister in hand:
Image: House of the Dragon/YouTube
Image: House of the Dragon/YouTube
While the season finale looks as though it will focus almost exclusively on Rhaenyra’s black faction, that doesn’t mean the greens won’t be represented at all. The trailer treats us to a glimpse of Aemond Targaryen, removing his eyepatch:
Image: House of the Dragon/YouTube
Image: House of the Dragon/YouTube
Getting into spoilers for a moment. The House of the Dragon season finale will feature a fateful encounter at Storm’s End which book-readers have been eagerly anticipating. In Fire & Blood, Aemond One-Eye is sent to the castle to secure an alliance with House Baratheon by marrying one of Lord Borros Baratheon’s daughters. Rhaenyra also sends Lucerys there. When they meet, Aemond tears off his eye-patch and throws it to the ground, insisting that one of Luke’s eyes be taken to even their childhood blood debt.
We’ll see plenty more from this climactic sequence before the trailer’s done.
