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So now the prolonged wait begins.
House of the Dragon‘s fiery first season bought right here to a tense conclusion on Sunday, with the prospect of a violent civil battle accelerated by an unfortunate mid-air collision between angry dragons.
The Hightowers and Rhaenyra are at each other’s throats, both aspect are already making tactical strikes, and – to put it plainly – each little factor in Westeros is about to kick off.
Ending on such a large cliffhanger in Targaryen historic previous, though, has left us with questions. So many questions. And whereas we will not offer you the probability to definitively answer them until season 2 arrives, now we have taken a stab at some of the bigger ones beneath…
1. What will Rhaenyra do subsequent?
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The final shot of the finale is Rhaenyra’s indignant, tear-streaked face staring into the digicam. She’s merely heard the info of her son Lucerys’ dying, and you could inform from her expression that any earlier concepts of peaceful compromise have gone out the window. But the place exactly does she go from proper right here?
Part of this question was already answered for us in the finale. Rhaenyra has already begun making strikes, sending her oldest son Jacaerys to meet with the Northern properties in an strive to win additional allies, whereas Rhaenys heads out to the Narrow Sea to patrol the water on dragon once more and provide air assist to Lord Corlys. If we had to guess, these plans will keep in place, nonetheless Rhaenyra will not be taking any prisoners. It’ll be a “scream Dracarys first, ask questions later” kind of deal. And speaking of dragons, we’re guessing she’ll be taking Daemon’s advice of recruiting as many wild ones as attainable (additional on that later).
2. Which Houses will side with Rhaenyra?
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You can’t win a battle with out allies. In the finale, we see Rhaenyra and co. discussing which Houses in Westeros might want to side with them, main to Rhaenyra’s sons going off to meet with Houses Baratheon, Arryn, and Stark.
House Baratheon, Lucerys quickly discovers, is a dead end. The Lannisters are moreover a no-go. But what about the Arryns and the Starks? Well, the good news is Lady Jane Arryn is the cousin of Rhaenyra’s mother, Aemma, and as Rhaenyra says in the finale, “The Vale will not turn cloak against their own kin.” As everyone knows from the good earlier Game of Thrones days, the Starks are moreover famously honourable. In episode 1, we seen Lord Rickon Stark swearing allegiance to Rhaenyra. So, providing his son, Lord Cregan, follows in the traditions of his House, Jacaerys might have additional luck as an envoy than his brother did — and Rhaenyra might uncover a worthwhile ally in the North.
The Riverlands, in the meantime, are “key” in accordance to Daemon, and remaining we heard he was planning to go there himself. But as Rhaenyra says, “Lord Grover is fickle and easily swayed.” It seems like this one would possibly go each methodology.
3. Will Daemon recruit additional dragons?
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While Rhaenyra works to shore up allies, Daemon has one different aim in ideas: Getting additional dragons. In the finale, we see him journeying under the Dragonmont on Dragonstone, where he encounters Vermithor, one of three “unclaimed” dragons that he mentions earlier in the episode. The others are Silverwing, which will also be on Dragonstone, and Seasmoke – Laenor Velayron’s earlier dragon – which is on Driftmark.
Clearly a large half of early season 2 will include him attempting to amass as many dragons as attainable. But will he obtain success? Well, the early indicators are constructive. When he meets Vermithor, Daemon sings in High Valyrian and the dragon wouldn’t immediately coat him in flames or chomp his head off, which seems like a steady start. There’s moreover some foreshadowing earlier in season 1 meaning Rhaenyra’s side will get at the least yet one more dragon. Back in episode 6, there’s a scene the place Rhaena Targaryen – the daughter of Daemon and Laena – expresses her disappointment at not having a dragon. Her mother’s response? “If you wish to be a rider, you must claim that right.”
It’s actually no coincidence that when Daemon speaks of unclaimed dragons in the finale, the digicam cuts to Rhaena’s face. Maybe she’ll be the one to expertise Vermithor?
4. Will there be a rift between Alicent and her father, Otto?
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The downside with making it to the prime is that you just normally have to rely upon the assist of some fairly ruthless people in order to get there. Alicent was compelled to be her father’s pawn for a amount of years, and in the finale she makes it clear that she sees him for who he truly is. They’ve already clashed over methods – Alicent wanted to ship phrases to Rhaenyra, whereas Otto favoured killing her outright – which resulted in Larys Strong offering to take out the White Worm (a sturdy King’s Landing informant) for Alicent in order to decrease off Otto’s information provide.
The question is, will Larys double-cross Alicent? And each methodology, can her relationship collectively along with her father go anyplace other than downhill as outright battle attracts nearer?
5. And will there be a rift between Rhaenyra and Daemon?
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Speaking of frayed relationships, Rhaenyra’s marriage to Daemon isn’t wanting good each. In the final episode, his hunger to rush to battle clashes collectively along with her need for restraint, culminating in an unpleasant scene throughout which he chokes her after she tells him about the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy handed down to her by her father.
So will the impending battle ship them collectively, or push them apart? As we talked about earlier, the final shot of Rhaenyra makes it seem like she’s achieved collaborating in good. This would possibly suggest that her and Daemon could very properly be nearer aligned on what to do about the Greens, as Daemon is already naturally revenge-set. On the completely different hand, it’s powerful to title. Fundamentally, although she might be ruthless, Rhaenyra is nowhere shut to as impulsive as Daemon. In a battle setting, it’s easy to take into consideration them having additional disagreements, significantly as Daemon’s downside with authority might suggest he refuses to listen to her directions.
6. Will the Triarchy type a brief lived alliance with the Greens?
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The Free Cities have been the solely precise exterior menace in House of the Dragon season 1, with the pesky Triarchy at all times attempting to take over the Stepstones — the archipelago stretching all through the Narrow Sea between Westeros and Essos.
Daemon beat them back by defeating the Crabfeeder earlier in the season, and Lord Corlys has merely returned from defeating them as quickly as as soon as extra, this time establishing full administration of the Narrow Sea. The issue is, though, the Triarchy are clearly nonetheless on the market — and they also’re not going to be grateful for being overwhelmed once more.
Would it is such a stretch for the Hightowers to attain out to them in season 2 in order to strive to type a brief lived allegiance? Given that Daemon and Lord Corlys have been the ones most important the battle in opposition to them, and by no means the Hightowers, it will not be out of the question.
7. What’s at the second taking place previous the Wall?
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Will season 2 of House of the Dragon – or any future season, for that matter – take us previous the Wall? It’s arduous to know, nonetheless the frequent mentions of the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy (plus the maybe-accidental-maybe-not similarity between Aemond’s sapphire eye and the White Walkers) truly make it seem attainable.
We know the Night King was made by the Children of Men many a whole bunch of years in the previous, so he’s at the second on the market someplace — whether or not or not or not he makes a cameo, though, significantly with the movement so focussed on King’s Landing, is hard to predict.
