House of the Dragon: Bloody Brawl Sets the Stage for a Devastating War
While Game of Thrones followed the stories of several prominent houses in Westeros, House of the Dragon is much more focused, honing in on just one important family and how their decisions affect the rest of the realm. The series is all about House Targaryen and a portion of their time on the Iron Throne, beginning at the end of a long era of peace. Rhaenyra, Daemon, Alicent, Viserys, and their children will ultimately lead Westeros into a bloody war. In Sunday night's new episode, a conflict between a couple of key characters let fans know that war is rapidly approaching.
WARNING: This article contains MAJOR spoilers from the latest episode of House of the Dragon! Continue reading at your own risk...
The sixth episode of House of the Dragon established some very hard feelings between the Alicent and Rhaenyra's children, some of which is fueled by the queen herself. Aegon II, Alicent's oldest, doesn't seem too concerned with anything, but his younger brother, Aemond, downright hates his cousins. That hatred got worse in this episode when Aemond found himself at the center of a scuffle.
Aemond went out in the middle of the night and found Vhagar, the biggest dragon in Westeros, who used to belong to Laena Velaryon. By riding the dragon, he claimed it as his own, but that doesn't sit well with Laena's daughters or Rhaenyra's sons. A fight breaks out, and it ends with Lucerys, the second-born son of Rhaenyra, cutting Aemond's face in order to save his older brother. Aemond loses an eye in the process.
That violence between the children sets the tone for the eventual civil war that will come to be known as the Dance of the Dragons. Blood has been shed within the family, and Alicent doesn't not take it lightly. Even though her son was the aggressor, she tells Viserys she wants one of Rhaenyra's sons to have his eye removed as well. Viserys doesn't go along with it, and Alicent takes things upon herself, losing control and cutting Rhaenyra with a dagger. Rhaenyra is ultimately fine, it's just a wound on her arm, but the wound represents so much more about the future of the Targaryen house.
The two sides of House Targaryen have essentially reached a point of no return. It also appears that, based on this conflict, House Velaryon will take the side of Rhaenyra in the coming conflict. Daemon and Laena's daughters were also on the end of Aemond's wrath when the fight broke out.
Any love or friendship between Alicent and Rhaenyra is essentially nonexistent at this point. War is coming to House of the Dragon in the very near future.