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.
I hope for my father that he gets a son.
As long as I can recall it’s all he wanted.
House of the Dragon, Season 1, Episode 1, the series premiere - The Heirs of the Dragon.
I thought it was a damn good series premiere, which effectively reintroduced us to a familiar
world in a familiar setting, where they introduced the ancestors of a family we have already
been acquainted with.
At the end of the day, we would quickly learn that the more things change, the more they
remain the same.
Game of Thrones has always had an omnipresent theme of rightful succession and the fate
of the realm, and that was right at the forefront here.
The Targaryan tendency to become involved in incestual relations sometimes leads to
complications when naming an heir.
Jaehaerys handled this by calling for a vote among the Lords that boiled down to his oldest
living heir, Princess Rheanys, or her younger cousin Viserys, his oldest living male heir.
Viserys was named the heir, and a precedent was effectively set that no woman would be
permitted to sit atop the Iron Throne, and by deferring to his Lords, it prevented a
messy battle in the aftermath.
Fast forward to the 9th year in the reign of King Viserys., and we are again faced with
the same dilemma.
Queen Aemma is pregnant, and Viserys really wants himself a male heir and proper successor.
Her efforts to provide him an heir, through no fault of her own, haven’t worked out.
His daughter Rhaenyra is inherently out of consideration with the whole being a woman
thing, and she doesn’t seem to have the desire or inclination for a role in power,
as she just wants to ride her dragon, see the great wonders across the narrow sea, and
eat cake.
We learn that the King has a wound that refuses to heal, which amplifies the importance of
having a proper heir.
Then we have the King’s brother Daemon, whom Viserys recently named Commander of the
City Watch.
Between his aggressive command of the Gold Cloaks going wild on some of the shadier elements
in King’s Landing, and the fact he was sitting atop the Iron Throne when he got a visit from
his niece - Daemon immediately exudes the personality of someone who is a bit of a wild
card with a certain neglect for the rules and also a thirst for power and command.
The Council isn’t overly fond of his actions, particularly Otto Hightower, the Hand of the
King.
Daemonalso fared well in the tournament, despite falling short and being bested against Ser
Criston Cole.
Meanwhile, the Queen went into labor, there are complications, and Viserys is advised
that either mother and child will both die, or they can sacrifice Aemma in order to save
the child.
The child is saved, and what do you know, it’s a boy!
Unfortunately that boy didn’t live long, although for a brief moment Viserys finally
had the son he had always wanted.
Tough roll of the dice for the Kiongng, being forced to make the only sensible choice he
was told he had - lose them both for certain, or take a chance to save the baby.
Unlike most Targaryans we’ve known, Viserys seemed genuinely conflicted despite having
only one viable option.
Immediately after losing his wife and newborn son, Otto is all fired up to name a rightful
heir!
Right then and there!
Corlys Velaryon noted that Daemon already is the rightful heir, but Otto isn’t having
it.
Otto doesn’t particularly care for Daemon.
The fact that Daemon is a bit of a loose canon is something Otto finds objectionable.
His objections to Daemon are somewhat similar to the objections many had over Stannis Baratheon,
where many favored the inferior claim of Renly Baratheon.
After a debate, the name Rhaenyra is mentioned, and the debate over the subject of potentially
having a woman seated atop the Iron Throne is again revisited.
But the King ain’t havin’ it!
And he storms away!
Otto pimps his daughter Alicent out to go comfort the poor King, presumably to gain
the King’s favor in his opposition to Daemon.
Meanwhile, Daemon is enjoying himself at a House of Pleasure, when he joked that his
dead nephew was “Heir for a Day”.
Viserys didn’t particularly care for this news, believing his brother was celebrating
his own rise.
The King orders his brother out of King’s Landing, back to the Vale, but not before
Daemon reveals a jealous side that he was never named Hand of the King, where The King
informed him he was naming a new Heir.
And that new heir would be a future Queen, his daughter Rhaenyra.
The Lords swear fealty to the newly named heir, House Valoryan, House Hightower, House
Baratheon, and House Stark.
And intercut with that scene, we get the warning from the King to his daughter, about the world
ending with a great winter, which acts as somewhat of a bridge between Game of Thrones
and House of the Dragon.
I thought the series debut did an outstanding job introducing the new characters and setting
the table for things to come.
It got off to a very promising start, and I thought they did a stellar job.
The thing I enjoyed most about the premiere is how the direction of the story quickly
became apparent with the fate of Rhaenyra, and yet the journey from A to B was captivating,
where you were never entirely sure exactly how it was gonna play out, you just knew that
it would.
And with all of that, I thought it still provided a fun ride and a satisfying payoff, even if
the payoff was strongly suggested early in the episode.
Hopefully these new dragons don’t suck as much as the ones owned by Daenerys.
Because those dragons sucked!
I for one am looking forward to watching more.
Thank you very much for watching everyone, I hope you enjoyed, and have a wonderful night!
I hope for my father that he gets a son.
As long as I can recall it’s all he wanted.
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.
Our son was born wearing Aegon’s Iron Crown.
And I place our son on the Iron Throne.
You want him to have a son?
I want to fly with you on dragon back, see the great wonders across the Narrow Sea, and
eat only cake.
I’m being serious.
I never jest about cake.
You can save the child?
We must either act now, or leave it to the Gods.
You have a son.
It’s a boy?
A new heir your grace.
Rhaenyra?
A girl?
No Queen has ever sat the Iron Throne.
10 years you’ve been King, and yet not once have you asked me to be your Hand.
And why would I do that?
Because I’m your brother.
But instead of being by my side or Rhaenyra’s, you chose to celebrate your own rise, laughing
with your whores and your lickspittles.
If we don't mind our own histories it could do the same to us.
A Targaryen must understand this to be King, or Queen.
She’s a Maniac, Maniac…
You renounced your support for Daemon.
If we cannot agree on an heir than how– My wife and son are dead!
I will not sit here and I will not suffer crows that come two faced on their corpses.