Recap / House of the Dragon S1 E1: "The Heirs of the Dragon"

"There's a boy in the Queen's belly. I know it. And my heir will soon put all of this damnable hand-wringing to rest himself."

— King Viserys I Targaryen

At the castle of Harrenhal, 101 years after Aegon Targaryen's conquest of Westeros, and around 200 years before Game of Thrones, a Great Council is being held. The current king, Jaehaerys I, is left without an official heir after the tragic deaths of his sons, and the lords of Westeros have gathered to decide succession. Among dozens of claimants, two come out on top — Viserys, the King's eldest grandson, and Rhaenys, the King's eldest grandchild period. Viserys wins out, creating a precedent that only men may inherit over women.

Voiceover: Jaehaerys called the Great Council to prevent a war being fought over his succession. For he knew the cold truth. The only thing that could tear down the House of the Dragon was itself.

Nine years later, in King's Landing, Viserys' daughter Rhaenyra flies her dragon Syrax over the city and lands next to the Dragonpit, where her Kingsguard Harrold Westerling and close friend Alicent Hightower are waiting for her. As Syrax is led into the Dragonpit, Alicent and Rhaenyra discuss her growth, while Alicent rejects Rhaenyra's offer to go on a ride.

Rhaenyra visits her pregnant mother, Queen Aemma Arryn. Although Rhaenyra shows less enthusiasm about the idea of childbirth, Aemma tells her that it is her duty, their battlefield, even as the handmaids and maesters around them care more for the baby than their lives.

Meanwhile, Viserys is holding a meeting of the small council. His Master of Ships, Corlys Velaryon warns that the Free Cities have formed an alliance called the Triarchy, and are planning on freeing the Stepstones of its pirate problem. He warns that these events could negatively impact Westeros' trade, but his concerns are pushed aside by Viserys and his Hand (and Alicent's father) Otto Hightower.

The conversation then moves to Viserys' brother, Daemon, who is spending massive amounts of coin on arming and training the City Watch, the Gold Cloaks. Viserys declares that he will hear no criticisms of his brother, and so they move on to the upcoming Heir's Tourney, as Viserys is confident this next child will be a boy, despite Grand Maester Mellos suggesting that there is no way to be sure.

Meanwhile, Rhaenyra and Harrold enter the throne room to find Daemon already there, seated upon the Iron Throne. When Rhaenyra questions him, Daemon claims that the upcoming tourney is for him, since until the child is born, he remains the heir to Viserys' throne. Speaking softly to his niece, Daemon gifts her a necklace of Valyrian Steel, allowing them both to own a piece of their ancestry.

Later that night, Daemon leads the Gold Cloaks on a purge of the city, rounding up criminals and doling out harsh punishments, chopping off body parts left and right. "Thief!" — cut off his hand. "Raper!" — cut off his member. "Murderer!" — cut off his head. The next morning, the small council confront Daemon for these actions, but he claims that he is only doing what is necessary to keep the city safe, noting that with lords and nobles coming for the tourney, they wouldn't want the place to be too unsafe.

Otto suggests that Daemon should really be putting all this effort into the relationship with his wife, Rhea Royce, as he hasn't been back in the Vale for years. Daemon dismisses this argument, claiming that his "bronze bitch" will be happier for his absence. When Otto tries to defend her honor, Daemon sarcastically suggests that he should give Rhea to Otto, as a replacement for his late wife. Before this argument can escalate further, Viserys defuses it, allowing Daemon to remain in control of the City Watch, though telling him to tone down the purges.

Later, Daemon complains to his mistress Mysaria about the lack of respect from his brother and the rest of the small council, but she assures him that with the power and prestige he wields, he would be incredibly difficult for even they to replace.

Meanwhile, Mellos inspects Viserys, who has a nasty cut on his back from the throne which refuses to heal. Despite the Maester's hesitation, Viserys agrees to have it cauterized, in hopes of doing something. Later, Viserys goes to Aemma as she is having a bath. Viserys repeats his confidence that this newest child will be male, recounting a dream he had of his heir seated upon the throne as the dragons roared as one. Regardless, Aemma declares this pregnancy will be her last — after five miscarriages and stillbirths in ten years, she doesn't have it in her to try for another.

As the Tourney begins, Viserys announces that Aemma has gone into labor. Throughout the Tourney, Daemon proves to be a quick favorite, continuously winning jousts, even as he continues his feud with Otto by challenging his son, Gwayne Hightower, unseating him with a cheap shot aimed at the man's horse, before asking for Alicent's favor.

Seated nearby, Rhaenys (now styled "The Queen Who Never Was") and her husband Corlys Velaryon watch the increasing brutality and violence during the melee, and wonder if this is really how they should be welcoming the new prince. Rhaenys thinks that with many of the knights never having seen war or real combat during their lifetime, such an event has only served as an outlet for them.

Rhaenyra and Alicent become interested in another knight, a handsome Dornishman named Criston Cole from the Stormlands. When he goes up against Daemon in the joust, he succeeds at knocking him off his horse. Enraged, Daemon challenges Criston to a melee, initially seeming victorious before Criston hits him in the back with a flail while he is distracted, earning him a victory and Rhaenyra's favor.

Viserys is brought to his wife in the midst of labor. But something is wrong. The Maesters tell him that she is having a breech birth (the baby is positioned to come out feet first rather then head first, at great risk to both) and that their attempts to turn the baby around have failed. Viserys is given a Sadistic Choice — either leave it to the gods, likely resulting in the deaths of both mother and child, or a Traumatic C-Section, which could save the child at the expense of the mother's death.

With tears in his eyes, Viserys chooses the child. He tries desperately to calm his wife when she screams and cries as she is cut open without anaesthetic. As Aemma bleeds out, Viserys is congratulated on his new heir. It's a boy.

But not for long...

Outside King's Landing, the Targaryens gather in front of a funeral pyre for Aemma, and the boy, who did not last for more than a few hours. Daemon quietly speaks to Rhaenyra, encouraging her to be there for her father in his time of need. Rhaenyra wonders sadly if Viserys finally found happiness during the brief time her brother had lived, before tearfully ordering Syrax to light the pyre.

In the small council room, the council minus Daemon has gathered along with the king to decide on succession. Based on the Great Council of Jaehaerys, the succession should go to Daemon, the oldest male relative. Despite this, Otto and others declare that Daemon is not fit to be a king, bringing up his relationship with his wife and his actions with the City Watch as proof of this. They suggest Rhaenyra as an alternative candidate, in spite of the precedent set by the Great Council, but Viserys storms out, claiming that with his wife and son dead, he will not "suffer crows that come to feast on their corpses!" Unbeknownst to all, Daemon is standing outside the small council room, and heard everything.

Later, Otto sends his daughter Alicent to the king's chambers in hopes of her "comforting" him...

Later that night, Daemon is attending a drunken orgy in a brothel with other high-ranked members of the Gold Cloaks, before making a speech about how the small council would like to replace him as heir, but has found him not so easily replaced. The next morning, Otto reports on these events, including his toast to the dead prince, who he styles "The Heir for a Day".

Sitting in the throne room, with the Targaryens' ancestral sword Blackfyre in hand, Viserys confronts Daemon about the report. Daemon doesn't deny it, only claiming that he was "mourning in [his] own way". An enraged Viserys calls him out for choosing to spend his time with "whores and lickspittles" in this dark time, rather than with his family, even as Viserys has to defend him from the rest of the council, while Daemon argues that Viserys has only tried to send him away, never appreciating him for his work, or naming him Hand. He calls Viserys weak, and claims that he, not Otto, could protect him from the "council of leeches". Unfazed, Viserys orders him to return to the Vale, declaring that he has named a new heir.

As Daemon leaves, Viserys cuts himself on one of the blades of the Iron Throne.

Viserys talks to Rhaenyra in front of the skull of Balerion, the Black Dread, the dragon of Aegon the Conqueror. The two discuss dragons and the Targaryens' relationship with them. Viserys has come to believe that they are a power men should never have trifled with, pointing to the Doom of Valyria ^note Old Valyria was the original home of the Targaryens before they came to Westeros. Prior to the Doom, it was the most powerful empire in the world, filled with dragon riders and slaves. Although the Targaryens were a relatively minor house, Daenys the Dreamer foresaw a great disaster would come, leading her and the other Targaryens to move to Dragonstone and Westeros. Although many of the other Valyrians thought them cowards, a few years later, Valyria exploded into a massive volcanic eruption with fires so hot it knocked dragons out of the sky. The empire collapsed, and to this day no one has made it back from the ruins alive, with even whole armies having disappeared into the smoking sea. One possible exception is Princess Aerea Targaryen, who returned alive on Balerion after likely having flown to Valyria, but she was infested with horrific parasites of heat and fire and didn't survive long. as an example of what the Seven Kingdoms may face if it is not put under the control of a strong, good king... or queen.

Viserys apologizes to Rhaenyra for ignoring her as a potential heir all these years, chasing after a son, and to cement his faith in her, he tells her a deep family secret, one which only a small number of Targaryens know. Aegon's Conquest wasn't motivated solely by ambition, but by prophecy — as Daenys the Dreamer foresaw the Doom of Valyria, Aegon saw a great darkness coming from the north, riding on the winds of a devastating winter. Aegon called these dreams the Song of Ice and Fire and knew that only a strong king or queen of a united Westeros could hope to stand against them.

Viserys: This secret, it's been passed from king to heir since Aegon's time. Now you must promise to carry it and protect it. Promise me this, Rhaenyra. Promise me.

As the lords of Westeros (including House Velaryon, House Baratheon and House Stark) swear fealty to Rhaenyra as the Princess of Dragonstone, heir to the Iron Throne, Daemon flies off on his dragon Caraxes with Mysaria to lands unknown.

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Tropes in this episode include:

• Adaptational Badass: Daemon loses both the massed melee and then the more chivalric joust against Ser Criston Cole in the book so badly that Rhaenyra all but begs her father to make the steward's son her sworn shield. In the show, Daemon is unhorsed and is disarmed of Dark Sister in the subsequent challenge of arms. But then regains control of the fight and would have won if he hadn't decided to grandstand.
• Adaptation Distillation:
  • In Fire and Blood, Ser Criston Cole first came to the attention of King Viserys' court in a tournament held at Maidenpool, which had separate melee and jousting tournaments; Criston won the melee after besting Daemon and later unhorsed him in the joust ^note though Criston would later be unhorsed in the joust by Lord Lyonel Mallister. House of the Dragon switches the tournament location to Kings Landing and omits the melee tournament, with Daemon challenging Criston to melee combat after being unhorsed.
  • In the book, Alicent first came into the Targaryen family circle by nursing the bedridden King Jahaerys. In the show, Alicent would have been about 5 years old at the time of the Great Council.
• Adaptational Explanation: The books don't give any reason, outside of ambition, as to why Aegon and his sister-wives decided to land in Westeros to establish a new kingdom. Here, Viserys reveals to Rhaenyra that Aegon had a vision of something terrible happening in the future and felt that he needed to unite Westeros under his house to save the whole world. The vision's wording reveals that Aegon foresaw the Second Long Night. According to showrunner Ryan Condal, this plotline came directly from George R.R. Martin.invoked As to why the books don't give the reason, Fire and Blood is a retelling of the story in-universe compiled by a Maester many decades later, pieced together from unreliable third-party sources who weren't witnesses to private conversations of such secretive nature.
• Adapted Out: The opening narration says that Jaehaerys was predeceased by "both" his sons, meaning Aemon (the father of Rhaenys) and Baelon (the father of Viserys and Daemon). In the books, he had a third son, Vaegon, who was not considered for — or interested in — the succession due to being a maester, whose idea it was to call the Great Council in the first place.
• Age Lift: Gwayne Hightower is Otto's eldest son in the show and youngest son in the books.
• Ambiguous Situation:
  • The Goldcloaks go through King's Landing and kill dozens, if not hundreds of people, as well as mutilate others (which may well be as good as doing the former). Daemon claims they are all criminals, but it seems fairly indiscriminate by the editing. How much of this is justice with the people involved truly guilty and how much of this is just state-sponsored terror? How much of a difference exists in medieval Westeros?
  • Whether Daemon actually meant anything nasty by his "heir for a day" toast. Viserys certainly interprets toasting to the death of a newborn baby as Mocking the Mourner. The actual scene, though, is not played nearly as flippantly as it comes across in the retelling. The retelling also happens to be provided by Otto Hightower, who hates Daemon and is motivated to make it sound as bad as possible.
• Amputative Sentencing: Prince Daemon leads the City Watch on a raid through the slums of King's Landing to punish criminals by cutting off body parts associated with their crimes. A rapist is castrated and a thief loses a hand, among others. By the end of the scene, there's an entire cart full of amputated body parts. Several members of the King's Small Council are appalled by Daemon's brutality, but he insists that his actions were necessary to keep the city safe.
• Anorgasmia: Daemon struggles to finish with Mysaria, at least in part because he's upset that his brother will replace him with a new heir. He breaks off their sexual encounter and sullenly wraps a Security Blanket around himself as Mysaria assures him that no one can replace him.
• Answer Cut: Between Viserys's lecture to Rhaenyra about Aegon the Conqueror's vision of the Long Night and the actual swearing-in of the lords (Lord Rickon among them), key emphasis was given on how it will start with "a terrible winter gusting out of the distant North"—emphasizing not only the importance of maintaining House Stark's loyalty, but their centrality to the larger myth of "the Song of Ice and Fire."^note It also serves as a roundabout way of referencing House Stark's words, "Winter Is Coming"
• Armor-Piercing Response: During their confrontation in the Throne Room, Daemon tells Viserys to his face that he's a weak king and his Small Council capitalizes on said weakness for their own ends. Viserys is notably taken aback with a mixed expression of shock, hurt, and fury as he replies by disinheriting Daemon.
• As You Know:
  • Aemma recalls to Viserys all the children that they lost — two miscarriages, two stillbirths, and one who died in infancy. It serves as a preamble and emphasis of her point, but is also useful exposition for the audience.
  • Daemon reminds Otto of the fact that his wife has recently died. Justified by the fact that he hates Otto and is saying this to mock him.
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: At the end of the episode, Rhaenyra is formally made Princess of Dragonstone (Crown Princess) with a ceremony and elaborate clothes, with every major house head (including Baratheon and Stark) swearing allegiance to her.
• Birth-Death Juxtaposition: Queen Aemma Arryn is birthing her child during a particularly bloody tournament. This becomes especially notable in the fact she dies during her son's birth (due to a lethal caesarean section) and the tournament results in multiple fatalities. Both battle and birth are bloody, difficult, and ideally valorous — yet in this instance ultimately deadly and fruitless since Aemma's long awaited son only lives for a few hours after he's born, and the tournament (being a tournament rather than a real fight) doesn't accomplish anything.
• Blood Sport: The Tourney doesn't look lawless at first, but quickly turns into this with the knights happily killing each other with the attending crowds cheering (except maybe from Ser Criston, who probably wouldn't want to endure the consequences of killing Daemon, a prince of the blood, and simply coerces him into yielding).
• Both Sides Have a Point: During Viserys and Daemon's confrontation, Daemon is right that Viserys is a weak king who needs someone at his side who can get stuff done, and also that Otto Hightower is likely using his indecisiveness to further his own position. Viserys, meanwhile, correctly points out that he's been the one person to take Daemon's side while everyone else has wanted to get rid of him, and that Daemon has rewarded this brotherly loyalty by publically gloating over the death of Viserys' wife and son.
  Viserys: You have no allies at court but me! I have only ever defended you! Yet everything I've given you, you've thrown back in my face!
  Daemon: You've only ever tried to send me away. To the Vale, to the City Watch, anywhere but by your side. Ten years you've been king, and yet not once have you asked me to be your Hand!
• Call-Back: Aemma tells Rhaenyra that as a woman, the birthing bed will be her battlefield. Later, the brutal fight among young warriors is intercut with her excruciating labor.
• Call-Forward:
  • The very first episode involves Daemon and the City Watch engage in a purge of criminals, with Daemon actively involved in the execution of his targets. While presented as very morally-ambiguous (even if he claims Well-Intentioned Extremist about it), the ethos is not wholly different from the Northern maxim on crime and punishment espoused by Lord Eddard Stark in the Game of Thrones pilot "Winter is Coming":
    Eddard Stark: The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword.
  • Daemon's conduct throughout the tourney (up to demanding his sword for a melee fight with Criston Cole) is eerily comparable to Ser Gregor Clegane's meltdown during Game of Thrones's Season 1 episode "The Wolf and the Lion"—if it hasn't been highlighted enough that he's too much of a Blood Knight and borderline Ax-Crazy like Otto insists.
  • Viserys talks to Rhaenyra about a prophecy of something terrible that can only be the Long Night — the descent of the White Walkers upon Westeros from up North two centuries later in Game of Thrones. He also wears the Valyrian steel dagger Arya Stark would use in "The Long Night", which was earlier wielded by an assassin sent after her brother Bran and came from the royal treasury. ^{From the books...} While Game of Thrones eventually established that the assassin was sent by Littlefinger, in the books it was Prince Joffrey who armed him to kill Bran. Littlefinger merely took advantage of the incident to drum up Lannister-Stark hostility by pointing the finger at Tyrion.
• Character Tics: Alicent picks at her nails during the tourney, and later bites at them as her father asks her to go comfort Viserys. It's conspicuous enough that Otto tells her to stop.
• Comforting the Widow: Otto tries to invoke this by sending his beautiful young daughter to go comfort the king on the very day of his late wife's funeral. Downplayed Trope in that he's not telling her to go have sex with him right now, but just to begin ingratiating herself with him.
  Otto: I thought you might go to him, offer him comfort.
  Alicent: In his chambers?
• Cool Helmet: Multiple men in The Tourney have helmets decorated with their emblems. Justified Trope because this is tourney armor, rather than battle armor, so sacrificing some function for fashion makes sense here. Tourneys are partly about putting on a show.
  • Gwayne's helmet features the crenellated top of a tower◊.
  • Daemon's helmet has dragon wings on the sides◊.
• Country Matters: Daemon does not hesitate to go here when demeaning his nemesis Otto Hightower to King Viserys—if only to highlight that these two do mutually loathe each other (politically and personally).
• Decadent Court: All of Westeros is like this, after over sixty years of peace and prosperity. There hasn't been a major war in living memory. The clothing and jewelry are all opulent, and without war to find glory in, young knights wear ridiculously extravagant armor to tourneys where they proceed to brutally beat each other to death in front of cheering crowds. The powerful royal family also doesn't much fear the judgement of the Faith, as the royal palace is filled with erotic tapestries. That being said, King Viserys himself is a doting husband and father, and not particularly "decadent" in the sense of "corrupt". His brother and courtiers... not so much.
• Distant Prologue: The series begins with the Great Council of 101 AC that determines Viserys should be heir over his cousin Rhaenys.
• Don't Celebrate Just Yet:
  • Maybe holding a tourney to celebrate the birth of a kid who hasn't actually been born yet (particularly considering Aemma and Viserys' track record with babies, save for Rhaenyra) and who may not even be male (though it turns out he is) is a little premature? Aemma at least recognizes it's a questionable idea, even though Viserys doesn't.
    Aemma: The tourney to celebrate the firstborn son that we presently do not have.
  • Daemon starts prematurely celebrating a potential victory over Ser Criston in their ground combat… only for Criston to rise behind him, and hit him In the Back with his Epic Flail.
• Dramatic Irony: King Viserys relates Aegon's prophecy of the second long night that could not be survived without the realm united behind a Targaryen. Viewers have already seen the second long night unfold, and the realm was very much fractured, with the throne claimed by a Lannister.
• Dreaming of Things to Come:
  • Viserys tells his pregnant wife Aemma that he had a dream that their unborn child is a son who will eventually become king. When the baby is a boy, it seems to be coming true… only to be Subverted when the boy dies shortly after birth.
    Viserys: This child is a boy, Aemma. I'm certain of it. I've never been more certain of anything. The dream. It was clearer than a memory. Our son was born wearing Aegon's iron crown. I heard the sound of thundering hooves, splintering shields, and ringing swords, and I placed our son upon the Iron Throne as the bells of the Grand Sept tolled and all the dragons roared as one.
  • The episode also mentions Daenys the Dreamer, a daughter of Lord Aenar Targaryen whose dreams saved the Targaryens from the Doom of Valyria by prompting them to move to Dragonstone, and Aegon the Conqueror, who conquered the Seven Kingdoms due to a dream of the White Walkers.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Daemon feels that as the king's brother he should be the Hand of the King, and that Viserys should listen to him rather than a man like Otto Hightower. Viserys in turn is furious that his brother has publicly disrespected him and his dead son. Things get worse when Daemon states in front of witnesses that he thinks that Viserys is a weak king. Viserys asserts his authority by exiling Daemon from court and making Rhaenyra his official heir.
• Epic Flail: Criston Cole's unusual weapon of choice is a spiked flail, his mastery of which allows him to even defeat Daemon Targaryen when he's armed with Dark Sister, by locking the chain around the blade to trip him up. Note that the books consistently refer to this type of weapon as a "morningstar", when that actually refers to a spiked club, while any ball-on-a-chain weapon (whether spiked or not) is called a "flail".
• Establishing Character Moment:
  • Rhaenyra: Flying into King's Landing on dragonback, and early scenes have her state her preference for adventure over feminine and courtly pursuits, establishing her as a Tomboy Princess.
  • Harrold: Gently chiding Princess Rhaenyra about the risks he's putting him (her guardian) for dragon-riding, who very kindly and flippantly responds. It shows they have a long-shared history of guardianship and have grown very comfortable with each other.
  • Alicent: She turns down an offer by Rhaenyra to take her for a ride on Syrax, showing she's the more modest counterpart to her friend.
  • Viserys: He jokes with his administrators, brushes aside Corlys Velaryon's warnings of a possible threat to the realm from the Free Cities, and turns the subject to his upcoming tournament. This is an affable but lightweight king.
  • Daemon: He's slouching arrogantly on his brother's throne and boasts about being the heir to his niece, but they're clearly comfortable and affectionate with each other and he also has a gift of a necklace for her.
  • Otto: He gets into an argument with Daemon after telling Viserys of his antics the previous night. It's clear that he and Daemon are feuding for the spot as Viserys' Number Two.
  • Rhaenys: She watches the tournament with a bored disinterest and snarks with her husband about the knights when fighting breaks out. It's clear that being denied her crown has left her bitter and disillusioned with Westeros' patriarchal society.
  • Corlys: During his first scene at the small council, he's a no-nonsense powerful political figure who, a rarity among the decadent court, is actually very focused on doing his job — which is being admiral of the fleets. He doesn't indulge in the king's amiable sex joke like the others, is focused on the threats to their shipping lanes while the others are more focused on the upcoming tournament. When Rhaenyra comes around to pour wine, he alone amongst the council turns her down.
  • Criston: He's the only one of Daemon's opponents to prove a challenge, and mostly conducts himself like a classic Knight in Shining Armor… but he's not above winning the fight by swinging his flail at a distracted Daemon in order to nail him In the Back.
• Evil Is Petty: Daemon Targaryen is feuding with Ser Otto Hightower, so during the king's tournament, he selects Otto's eldest son to joust against first and cheats so that he can force Otto to watch his son get brutally injured. Then he "requests" that Alicent give him her favour after she just saw what he did to her brother, and she can't refuse for fear of committing a massive public faux pas.
• Foreshadowing: When Rhaenyra meets with Aemma, Rhaenyra notes that the attendants are focused on the baby, not Aemma. (They aren't actually doing anything in the scene, just milling around as extras in the background.) Later in the episode, when Aemma experiences childbirth complications due to the baby being in the wrong position, Viserys makes the gut-wrenching decision to force her into a Traumatic C-Section against her will in hopes of saving the baby.
  Aemma: I don't need mothering, Rhaenyra.
  Rhaenyra: Well, here you are, surrounded by attendants all focused on the babe. Someone has to attend to you.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: Based on their sigils (some from the Great Houses), the knights on The Tourney who got caught up in the violence of the melee (ending up dead) can be identified as follows^note They are assumed to be household knights/retainers and not scions, as the death of members of these houses would have been a major political headache and cause-for-war, as witness Daemon's injuring of Gwayne Hightower:
  • A knight on a horse draped in the colors of House Darklyn^note from the Crownlands; white shields on red with black-and-yellow diamonds is unhorsed and had his face axed;
  • A knight bearing a shield with the sigil of House Corbray^note from the Vale; three ravens bearing hearts bashes his opponent's head in with it.
  • A knight of House Kenning^note from the Westerlands; four black and orange sunbursts has his head smashed in by a knight of House Mallister^note from the Riverlands; an eagle on a purple field—the latter later falling dead with his face mutilated;
  • A knight of House Lannister being fatally concussed to the wall by his opponent; and
  • A man-at-arms bearing the sigil of House Stark on his armor had his helmeted head crushed by his opponent's weapon.
• Gory Discretion Shot:
  • When Daemon and the Goldcloaks are inflicting punishments on the criminals of Flea Bottom, the camera cuts away from one man whose hand is cut off and another whom Daemon beheads, and only shows the backside of a man who's being gelded.
  • During the C-section, the camera stays just shy of where the actual incisions are being made.
• Groin Attack: An accused rapist is gelded during the purge of criminals in Kings Landing.
• Harmful Healing: The Traumatic C-Section performed on Aemma has a chance of saving the baby (a male heir to Viserys), but at the inevitable cost of killing her due to Westerosi surgery being akin to, well, butchery.
• Heir Club for Men: Part of the patriarchal setting.
  • In the prologue, Princess Rhaenys was passed over for the Iron Throne by the Great Council of 101 AC and her cousin Viserys was chosen to be king instead. This is despite the fact that she was the only child of Jaehaerys's eldest son, and even in normal Westerosi succession a lord's daughter would inherit before his younger brothers if he had no sons. Clearly a female monarch is harder for many of the assembled lords to stomach than a female head of house.
  • Daemon has long been considered an Inadequate Inheritor, acceptable only as a temporary heir until Viserys has a son. Viserys wants to have a son more than anything to guarantee his succession, but his son dies within hours of his birth, along with his mother, whom Viserys sacrificed in order to save their baby. When he disinherits his brother for a perceived slight at the event and names Rhaenyra as his heir, there is immediate pushback from the council, who cite that the country will not accept a female ruler. Indeed, when the lords of Westeros are brought to King's Landing to proclaim their loyalty, many of them are visibly reluctant to do so for Rhaenrya.
• Hypocrite: Otto and Daemon hate each other, but they're more alike than either one wants to admit.
  • Otto Hightower is outraged at Daemon visiting brothels in the wake of Queen Aemma and her son's deaths. Yet he instructs Alicent to go and "comfort" Viserys barely a day after his wife's death, essentially pimping out his daughter.
  • Daemon mocks Otto as a second son who needs to seize power and prestige because he can't inherit it… while Daemon himself is also exactly that.
• Jerkass Has a Point: The high lords of the small council are scandalized by Daemon's brutality toward the accused criminals of King's Landing, but he isn't wrong when he points out that thousands of people from all over the realm are already arriving for Viserys' tourney and he's reduced the chances of their being mugged, raped or murdered. It's easy for the nobility to criticize his harsh measures against crime when they rarely leave the Red Keep and don't have to suffer the city's lawlessness.
  Daemon: You mightn't know this unless you left the safety of the Red Keep, but much of King's Landing is seen by the smallfolk as lawless and terrifying. Our city should be safe for all its people.
• Jousting Lance: The episode depicts a tournament meant to celebrate the birth of Viserys and Aemma's second child, complete with jousting and Daemon and Ser Criston dueling.
• Judge, Jury, and Executioner: Daemon's Goldcloaks are shown seizing people left and right (no doubt grabbing some innocent bystanders in the process), hearing their supposed crimes with no real evidence or due process, then immediately carrying out maiming or execution as punishment.
• Kick the Dog: If Daemon's brutality toward the supposed criminals of King's Landing wasn't enough to signal his deficiencies in morality, his cheating and bullying behavior during the king's tournament should be. Viserys is actually willing to look past both of those things but speaking in jest about a newborn boy that died is a bridge too far.
• Kill the Cutie: Aemma was a beloved and loving consort to King Viserys and a good mother to Rhaenyra, and she gets butchered with a Traumatic C-Section that she didn't consent to in order to save her child (who died shortly thereafter anyway).
• The Lady's Favor: A few knights ask for this during the tourney. The ladies brought them and are prepared.
  • Rhaenys gives hers to her cousin Borros Baratheon.
  • Daemon asks for one from Alicent. To add insult to injury, he asks this immediately after viciously injuring her brother with a cheap shot.
  • Criston Cole gets one from Rhaenyra after besting Daemon in a duel.
    Criston: I was hoping to ask for the Princess's favor.
    Rhaenyra: I wish you luck, Ser Criston.
• Lap Pillow: Rhaenyra lies with her head in Alicent's lap in one scene, illustrating the closeness of their relationship.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Viserys has a dream of having a son who will eventually become king, which he insists is prophetic. On one hand, the succession has been weighing on his mind for years, his certainty that the dream will become true could just be wishful thinking, and the child he thinks the dream is about dies within a day of being born, never even coming close to the throne. On the other hand, other Targaryens are known to have had prophetic "dragon dreams", and Viserys will indeed one day be succeeded as king by a son of his, but not under circumstances he could predict at this point or would ever want.
• Meaningful Gift: Valyrian steel is classically used for blades. It's known for its functional characteristics, not its aesthetics. Its color is fairly dull, so it's not an obvious choice for jewelry. When Daemon gives Rhaenyra a Valyrian steel necklace, the point is that it's Valyrian, a symbol of their heritage. Daemon and Rhaenyra speak High Valyrian to each other, while her parents speak Common to her and to each other. Daemon and Rhaenyra are dragonriders, while her parents are not. Daemon has his own Valyrian steel heirloom in the form of Dark Sister. The necklace is just one more symbol of the idea that the two of them are more in touch with their Valyrian history and culture than their other family members are.
  Daemon: Now you and I both own a small piece of our ancestry.
• Moment of Silence: At one point, as Aemma is dying, we can still see her screaming but the audio goes silent and only the music can be heard.
• Morton's Fork: Of the Hobson's Choice variety: Mellos warns Viserys that if they don't act, both mother and child will die. Or he could attempt a C-section, which might save the baby, but will make Aemma die in agony (though she will die no matter what they do). In light of that, Viserys decides to go ahead with the C-section. Both mother and child die anyways.
• Mythical Motifs: Viserys in this episode is rather like Azor Ahai. Azor Ahai stabbed his wife Nissa Nissa in the heart in order to make the magic sword and end the Long Night. Viserys sacrifices his wife for the heir his house needs in order to be strong and eventually face the second Long Night. Viserys' case is less heinous, because doing nothing probably would've ended with Aemma dying anyway, but still — upgrading her death from dying in childbirth on her own, to her torso being cut open? It certainly resembles the Nissa Nissa story. However, the baby dies too, and the sacrifice is All for Nothing.
• Mythology Gag: When the small council is debating the issue of Viserys' successor only a few hours after the death of his wife in childbirth, he shouts, "My wife and son are dead! I will not sit here and suffer crows that come to feast on their corpses!"
• Oblivious to His Own Description: Daemon calls Otto Hightower a second son, grasping for power since he won't inherit anything. This despite that he's also a second son whose been angsting about his place in succession.
  Daemon: I see Otto Hightower for what he is. [...] A second son who stands to inherit nothing he doesn't seize for himself.
• Odd Friendship: Rhaenyra and Alicent are very different. Rhaenyra is a fiery, Spirited Young Lady who loves dragon-riding and dreams of adventure and glory. By contrast, Alicent is a quiet and somewhat awkward Proper Lady who prefers reading books. At the tourney, Rhaenyra is paying rapt attention while Alicent is clearly unnerved by all the brutality. The main thing they have in common is being of the same age and same sex, and in the same place at the same time. By the end of the episode, they have one slightly more significant thing in common: they've both lost their mothers recently.
• Off with His Head!: The dubious honor of first person to be beheaded in the series goes to a nameless alleged murderer in the streets of King's Landing, by the hand of Daemon using his sword, Dark Sister, during The Purge Daemon leads the City Watch into committing to secure the capital city for The Tourney the next day. Interestingly, Dark Sister is made of Valyrian steel just like the weapon that was used for the first onscreen beheading in Game of Thrones, Ned Stark's BFS Ice.
• Oh, Crap!: Aemma is initially happy when Viserys tells her they're going to get the baby out soon, but when the midwives hold her down and she sees the maester holding a knife, she realizes how they intend to do that and begins panicking, pleading with Viserys not to do it.
• Opening Monologue: By adult Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy, who won't be seen in the series until the sixth episode of the season):
  "As the first century of the Targaryen dynasty came to a close, the health of the Old King, Jaehaerys, was failing. In those days, House Targaryen stood at the height of its strength, with 10 adult dragons under its yoke. No power in the world could stand against it. King Jaehaerys reigned for nearly 60 years of peace and prosperity but tragedy had claimed both of his sons, leaving his succession in doubt. So, in the year 101, the Old King called a Great Council to choose an heir. Over 1,000 lords made the journey to Harrenhal. 14 succession claims were heard but only two were truly considered: Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, the King’s eldest descendant and her younger cousin, Prince Viserys Targaryen, the King’s eldest male descendant. Rhaenys, a woman, would not inherit the Iron Throne. The lords instead chose Viserys, my father. Jaehaerys called the Great Council to prevent a war being fought over his succession, for he knew the cold truth: the only thing that could tear down the House of the Dragon was itself."
• Outliving One's Offspring: Several of Viserys and Aemma's babies have died young, and Rhaenyra is their only surviving child. Aemma hopes that her current pregnancy will be her final one because of the toll of losing so many children is becoming too much for her. She dies due to blood loss from the C-section that was forced upon her and her newborn son only lives for a few hours, leaving Viserys and Rhaenyra utterly distraught.
  Aemma: I've lost one babe in the cradle, had two stillbirths, and two pregnancies ended well before their term. That's five in twice as many years.
• Pet the Dog: Daemon is ruthless, arrogant and quite the bastard for most of the episode but at Queen Aemma's funeral, he is quite tender with his mourning niece. He encourages her to be there for Viserys and to light her mother and brother's pyre. Earlier he also gave her a gift after gloating about the fact that he's the heir.
• Police Brutality: A massive example as dismemberments, geldings, and decapitations are carried out on all of Flea Bottom's criminals in a single night to prepare the city for the King's Tournament.
• Rearing Horse: Downplayed and more realistic: instead of full rearing, Daemon and Criston's horses do the "airs above the ground" just before they clash with each other in the joust. Notably, it is only these two horses shown doing so, possibly for both Rule of Cool and Played for Drama.
• Rule of Symbolism:
  • The small council's seating arrangement showcases most of their political dynamics — Otto alone sits to the King's right, facing the other, less effectual members of the small council, while the ignored Corlys sits opposite the king, further away than anyone else. Daemon is usually absent from most meetings and scenes, showing he's outside the usual political circle… but when present, steals the seat on Visery's left, showing he's Otto's The Rival.
  • Viserys is established to have a Wound That Will Not Heal prior to the tourney, signifying the small but noticeable cracks in his reign with both an uncertain pregnancy, remaining tensions from the Great Council, and the Triarchy rising to power. When Viserys disinherits and exiles Daemon near the end of the episode, the former makes another cut on his finger, indicating that not only is Viserys still making the wrong decisions, but his reign will only get worse from here.
• Sadistic Choice: The maester tells Viserys that without any intervention, both Aemma and their unborn baby will die, but that if they perform a C-section, they may be able to save the baby. Given the technology available, this specifically means Aemma will be held down, cut open while conscious without anesthesia, and then die of blood loss—a far grislier death than if she died from lack of intervention. Viserys agrees to it, hoping to save the baby… but then the baby dies shortly after anyway, making it All for Nothing.
  Mellos: During a difficult birth it sometimes becomes necessary for the father to make an impossible choice.
• Shield Bash: The fighters of The Tourney (even Daemon and Criston) have taken to doing this either in one-on-one combat, or in the melee. As noted in the main trope page, this is actually Truth in Television for war—although the usage of it in this tourney actually helps highlight the degeneration, bloodlust and meat-headedness of the participants (as per Princess Rhaenys).
• Ship Tease: Mysaria offers to set up a sexual encounter for Daemon that sounds like a Rhaenyra fantasy.
  Mysaria: I could bring in another. Perhaps a maiden. I have several. I could even arrange one with silver hair.
• Stock Sound Effects: When King Jaehaerys opens the wooden casket containing the deliberations of the Great Council to choose his heir, it makes the same sound the Warcraft III Undead unit Meat Wagon makes when gathering corpses.
• Tempting Fate: Both Aemma and Mellos question the need of holding the Heir's Tourney before the babe itself is born, since even the Maesters can't predict the child's sex.
  Aemma: You do understand nothing will cause the babe to grow a cock if it does not already possess one?
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Rhaenyra, a Tomboy Princess, is into dragon riding, likes violent combat and longs for adventure. Meanwhile her best friend is Alicent, a more shy, demure, bookish girl.
• The Tourney: The event is jousting. A few melee fights, both legitimate duels and violent assaults, break out between incensed competitors.
• A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Daemon overhears Viserys arguing with his small council over whether to replace him as heir with Rhaenyra. While Viserys refuses to choose between his brother and his daughter, it affects Daemon emotionally enough that he goes to self-medicate via drinking and visiting a pleasure house and making a toast to his deceased nephew. Whatever form his speech actually takes, it gives Otto Hightower the chance to turn the brothers against each other and prompts Viserys to banish Daemon and choose Rhaenyra as his heir after all.
• Tranquil Fury: Viserys develops a severe case of this when confronting his brother over his toast. He is wearing his crown, on the throne, and has the sword Blackfyre ready with the Kingsguard while insisting on being referred to as "your grace." He then ends up Suddenly Shouting anyway and the guards look ready to cut Daemon down.
• Traumatic C-Section: Aemma and Viserys' son is a breech birth. Maester Mellos tells Viserys they can do nothing (in which case mother and child will probably both die) or they can intervene and do a C-section (which has a chance to save the baby, but means Aemma will die of blood loss and in terrible pain). Viserys tells them to do the C-section. It's gruesome even with the Gory Discretion Shot, and Aemma pleads for them not to as they do it. We see blood pouring out of her, drenching the midwives' hands and the bed beneath her. The baby is successfully delivered, but it becomes All for Nothing when he dies a few hours after birth anyway.
• Visual Innuendo: The arena where The Tourney takes place is shaped like a vulva, likely to complement the Birth-Death Juxtaposition with Aemma's bloody Death by Childbirth (or rather death by Traumatic C-Section).
• Wham Line: When Viserys tells his daughter why Aegon conquered Westeros — it was a dream of the end of the world, and it starts in the North.
  Viserys: Tis to begin with a terrible winter gusting out of the distant north…
• Wham Shot: As Queen Aemma's body lies on her funeral pyre, the camera pans down and shows the body of her son wrapped in the shroud, showing that he did not survive, either.
• Wound That Will Not Heal: Viserys has a wound on his back from sitting on the Iron Throne that refuses to get better no matter how much the maesters treat it. Eventually he agrees to have it cauterized in hopes that will have an effect.
• Zip Me Up:
  • Daemon gifts Rhaenyra a necklace, then pulls it out of her hands and tells her to turn around so he can put it on her himself. She's wearing her hair down and she pulls it aside for him, baring her neck. He murmurs in her ear as he puts it on her.
  • In the lead up to Rhaenyra's formal declaration as heir, Alicent dresses her with the regalia. They're also shown to be very touchy-feely in this moment.

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