House of the Dragon Recap With Spoilers: “The Green Council”

The King is dead. Alicent is informed and the gives instructions for no one else to be told. She tells Otto about Viserys’ last words to her, and that she thinks he wanted Aegon to be the King. Otto calls the small council and tells them of Viserys’ supposed plan, and we learn that the group was already planning on putting Aegon on the Iron Throne. Lord Lyman challenges the rest of the council, calling their plots treason, and Criston forces him to sit down, accidentally killing him in the process. Knowing she won’t ever bend the knee to Aegon, the small council clearly plans on killing both Rhaenyra and Daemon. Alicent is firmly against that course of action but Otto gives the order for Ser Westerling to make for Dragonstone and rid of the family quietly. Westerling removes his cape and resigns from his post as Lord Commander of the Kingsgaurd.

Prince Aegon is missing, he’s gone out into King’s Landing in secret. Otto enlists the help of twin knights Arryk and Erryk Cargyll to him. Meanwhile, Rhaenys is locked up in her room and all of the servants who knew of Viserys’ death are taken to the dungeons. Otto tells Arryk to bring Aegon back to him without telling anyone, while Alicent instructs the same of Criston Cole. Aemond joins Cole, as he knows many of Aegon’s secrets. Otto calls together the representatives from several houses to inform them of the changes to the Iron Throne’s heir. A couple refuse to bend the knee to Aegon, having pledged their loyalty to Rhaenyra years ago. Those that resist are taken out in handcuffs.

Rhaenys and Alicent discuss the handling of the Iron Throne’s heir. Rhaenys has obviously been loyal to Rhaenyra and Daemon, but Alicent hops to win her over. Rhaenys believes Alicent thinks to small and continues only wanting to cater to the men around her. Meanwhile, Otto meets with the mysterious White Worm, who is revealed to be Mysaria. Not only does she know where Aegon is, she proves her prowess as a Master of Whispers by acknowledging the King’s death, despite the fact that almost everyone who knows about it has been locked away. In exchange for information, she wants children in Flea Bottom to stop being harmed and used for sport. Aemond and Cole witness the meeting taking place.

Arryk and Erryk find Aegon, thanks to Mysaria, and plan to take him to Otto. They’re ambushed by Aemond and Cole, who take Aegon and plan to return him to his mother. Aegon plead with Aemond to let him go because he has no wish to rule, and would rather sail away never to be seen again. Cole breaks up the conversation before Aemond can respond.

Alicent gets Aegon before Otto can and tells him that she has no plans of killing Rhaenyra and her family, a decision Otto obviously disagrees with. But he’s not in control at the moment. Alicent then meets with Larys and he informs her that there is a network of spies throughout King’s Landing and inside the Red Keep, including her maiden, Talia. He tells her the only way to fix the problem is to cut it off at the source, meaning that the White Worm must be killed.

Erryk finds Rhaenys and tells her he wants to get her out of King’s Landing because he can’t stand for the injustice being done. She wants to get to the dragon pit to get her dragon, but he says they’ll be expecting her there, so she needs to leave by boat. They get separated in a massive crowd and she winds up at King Aegon’s coronation. After Aegon is crowned and sees the attention he gets from those in attendance, he seems to finally accept his role. As the crowd cheers, something bursts through the ground beneath them, causing panic and chaos. Rhaenyra and her dragon come from under the floor and stare down Alicent, Aegon, and the entire family. She could end things right then and there, but chooses not to. She leaves them there, alive, and flies out of King’s Landing.