There’s a new King of the Seven Kingdoms, and his coronation was wild.
See episodes one, two, three, four,five, six, seven, and eight power rankings before digging in to this week’s power rankings!
1. King Aegon
Prince Aegon starts off this episode not wanting to be King of the Seven Kingdoms. On top of that, he’s an absolutely terrible person. But he’s the King now, and that’s what matters. He’s at the top of these power rankings for at least one week whether we like it or not. Initially, Aegon is so against becoming the king that he runs off and hides in Flea Bottom. When Otto Hightower and Queen Alicent send out (separate) search parties to find him, we see how terrible of a person he truly is. He apparently frequents child fighting rings in Flea Bottom, and he may have fathered some of those children himself. He’s seriously messed up, and it’s probably due, in large part, to how he was raised.
When Otto Hightower crowns King Aegon and the crowd goes wild for him, a switch flips in his head. King Aegon finally finds people who “love” him. You can see that he loves this newfound appreciation toward him, and it seems to change his mind about becoming king. By the end of the episode, it looks like Aegon is all-in on his mom and grandpa’s decision to make him king.
2. Princess Rhaenys
Princess Rhaenys is a real one. After Princess Rhaenys is imprisoned by Queen Alicent and Otto Hightower in an effort to force her to recognize Aegon as king, she escapes with the help of Ser Erryk. As Ser Erryk whisks her away to safety and attempts to bring her to a boat to sail away from King’s Landing, Princess Rhaenys decides that she can’t leave without her dragon, Meleys. She knows that dragons will be the most important weapon in the upcoming fight between King Aegon and Princess Rhaenyra. When she saves Meleys from the dragonpit, they swoop up from underground and literally destroy Aegon’s coronation. Princess Rhaenys looks so awesome in her armor while sitting on dragonback. In that moment, you kind of wish that she would have sat on the Iron Throne instead of King Viserys.
3. Queen Alicent Hightower
She has finally done it. Queen Alicent gets to see her son sit on the Iron Throne, and she’s so happy. However, she’s still hoping that Aegon can be king without Princess Rhaenyra being killed, but Otto Hightower knows that Princess Rhaenyra needs to be taken out if Aegon is going to stay king for an extended period of time. Also, Queen Alicent’s deal with Ser Larys is … interesting.
4. Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen
Last week, Princess Rhaenyra was at the top of the power rankings. However, she takes a huge tumble down the rankings this week after being completely absent in the penultimate episode of the first season. Even though she’s the rightful heir to the throne, we have no idea. We can’t wait to see what she does in next week’s season finale.
Familiarize yourself with this fiery cast of characters in our House of the Dragonguide.
5. Otto Hightower
It’s pretty wild to see Otto Hightower plotting against his daughter. Queen Alicent wants to convince King Aegon to spare Princess Rhaenyra’s life, while Otto Hightower wants to convince him to kill her. Queen Alicent gets her wish (for now), but it’s looking pretty clear that Otto Hightower is right and that Princess Rhaenyra will have to be taken down if they want Aegon to be king.
6. Prince Daemon Targaryen
We don’t get to see Prince Daemon this week, but we can’t wait to see his response to Aegon becoming king in next week’s episode!
7. Ser Criston Cole
Well, it looks like Ser Criston leverages his absolute hatred for Princess Rhaneyra as a way to rise all the way to the top of the Kingsguard. His blind following of Queen Alicent leads to him quickly dispatch anyone who stands in her or King Aegon’s way. This is on full display during the Small Council meeting when Lord Lyman Beesbury is the sole attendee who questions King Aegon’s ascension to the Iron Throne. When Lord Beesbury shows his support for Princess Rhaenyra’s claim to the throne, Ser Criston quickly kills him. Shortly after, Ser Harrold Westerling steps down as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard because he’s unwilling to do Queen Alicent and Otto Hightower’s bidding. By default, it appears that Ser Criston is now the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, and he’s ready to kill anyone who stands in the Hightower family’s way.
Get an exclusive insider look at House of the Dragon from the cast who are living it.
8. Meleys
We love us a good dragon scene. Seeing Meleys swoop in during King Aegon’s coronation and destroy the building that the coronation is happening in is a beautiful sight to see. We just feel bad for the all the innocent bystanders who lose their lives in the process.
9. Prince Aemond
If one of King Viserys and Queen Alicent’s kids deserved to be king, it’s Prince Aemond. He’s actually been putting in the work on the training field with Ser Criston, and he seems to care about what’s happening in King’s Landing. Unfortunately, Prince Aemond has to live the unfulfilling life of a second son.
10. Ser Larys Strong
This whole time we were wondering how Queen Alicent would repay Ser Larys for his intel and dirty deeds. Turns out, the clubfooted kinslayer has a foot fetish, and Queen Alicent is open to helping him out with that. We just wish we didn’t have to see it on screen.
Stay tuned for more House of the Dragon power rankings right here.
