House Of The Dragon Episode 9 has just released on HBO Max, and in this episode, we get the
fallout from Viserys accidental final words surrounding Aegon being the new king and a much
larger focus on Alicent and the Greens in Kings Landing. In this spoiler review and analysis,
I'm going to be breaking down and giving you my thoughts on House of The Dragon episode 9,
entitled, The Green Council. Before I get into it though, if you want to see more videos on Season
1 of House Of The Dragon, then don't forget to support this upload by giving it a like
rating, subscribing to the channel, turning on your notifications and
following me on social media via the links in the description. But without
further a do, lets dive into my review for House Of The Dragon Episode 9.
So the penultimate episode of House of the Dragon season 1, doesn't include a big time jump,
and instead, it picks up right where episode 8 left off. Viserys has died and the transition
of power has left us with a potential bumpy ride between the greens and blacks. This episode
focuses a lot on Alicent Hightower and gives us a moment between her and her father where she
tells him about the late king’s deathbed speach, in that he wanted her son Aegon on the Iron
Throne, which of course was a misinterpretation of the late king's confused words, where he
thought he was talking to Rhaenyra about the prince who was promised and the song of
ice and fire. But that misinterpretation doesn't matter because Otto Hightower and a lot of the
small council have already planned to go against Rhaenyra and put Aegon on the throne, who we
learn is currently missing beyond the red keep. After last episodes connecting moment between
Rhaenyra and the Queen consort, Alicent is now completely torn, not wanting there to
be a war with the Blacks and Rhaenyra's life be threatened, alongside her own moral standards
being brought into the light too. Penultimate episodes in Game Of Thrones usually include
blockbuster like portrayals of warfare or it typically shocks viewers with devastating twists
and turns. But episode 9 is quite the strange one that yes has a big moment with a big dragon,
but one that for the most part shows us an interesting set of developments within one side
of this upcoming civil war. Next week is going to focus on the Blacks and spefically Rhaenyra,
Daemon and their kids, but this episode gives us much more on the Hightowers and what the
crowning of the next king really means for the ongoing tension.
The focus on Alicent is quite the suprising one, in which we get scenes with her that are
more sympathetic, following the 24 hours after she learns of Viserys’s death. Her emotion
towards his death is real, but there's also the determination that she has to
oversee his wishes, which again we know is a case of misinterpretation.
Even if Viserys final words were not misinterpreted, we also know that
Otto and the Small Council would have gone against Rhaenyra and put Aegon
on the throne anyway. So it is great that the writers have made Alicent
more layered with this installment, and really honed in on the idea of grey characters that
this franchise and the prequel show have done so well, even if we don't get the most action
packed of penultimate episodes that we are quite used to getting. And the opening small council
scene really does setup this kind of approach well from the outset. Otto reveals Viserys'
apparent final words to them as well as their plotting, but we also see those not involved in
thise plan, including Lord Beesbury, Master of Coin, and Queen Alicent herself. Lord
Beesbury is outraged and calls the move as treason, saying, "I am six and 70 years old,
I have known Viserys longer than any who sit at this table, and I will not believe that he said
this on his deathbed alone with only the boy's mother as a witness." Ser Criston Cole then
takes it upon himself to seat Beesbury, and in doing so, he smashes his face onto the table,
killing him instantly. The Lord Commander Westerling orders Criston to put down his sword,
and while he refuses, Queen Alicent orders him to follow those orders. It's at this moment
where Otto says that no one should leave the room until this is sorted, and this is where
Alicent brings up Rhaenyra, saying, "The former heir cannot of course be allowed to remain free
and draw support to her claim … she and her family will be given the fair opportunity to
publicly declare Aegon as the new king." She goes on to say that Rhaenyra and Daemon would never
bend the knee, and in turn, realizes that Otto and members of the councils plan is to have them
both killed. And this is what begins to create a big rift between the Greens currently in
charge. Otto asks Westerling to take his knights to Dragonstone and murder them all,
and in response, he refuses and says that he takes orders from the king, but that right now, there
is no king. He takes off his cape, leaves it on the table and with that discussion going poorly,
the only thing left to do, is to tell Aegon that he's about to be the new king. The
problem with doing that is again what I mentioned before,
in that no one can currently find him. Aegon isn't in his chambers, and Ser Erryk,
the Kingsguard knight sworn to protect him, doesn't know where he is either.
So the new hunt for Aegon that a lot of this episode then transitions to is what gives the
opportunity to multiple knights to focus on. And that means, with the current tension between
Alicent and Otto's side of the greens, they each send out a duo to search for Aegon.
Alicent sends both Criston Cole and Aemond into the city giving us quite the intriguing duo.
Criston is vengeful, but he believes in Alicent and Aemond being someone who has
studied the kingdom’s history, can beat nearly anyone in a swordfight, and rides the largest
dragon, decides to help even if he believes he is more deserving of the crown. When it comes to
Otto Hightower's side, he sends identical twins in Arryk and Erryk of House Cargyll,
to equally gain control of Aegon and bring him back. And speaking of Otto, he also assembled
lords and ladies in the Great Hall and forces them to bend the knee to the new king, even
after swearing their banners to Rhaenyra. Most of them bend the knee but one lord and
lady say they won't break their oath to Princess Rhaenyra and the guards escort them out of the
Great Hall. We later see that lord hung dead during Rhaenys escape and
it just hints at the cruel succession that Otto wants to push with Aegon.
So when it comes to both set of knights and fighters searching for Aegon, we get some
interesting developments and new understandings surrounding some of the things we saw last week.
Ser Erryk and Arryk go to a fighting den that the prince is known to visit frequently,
and while we learn that this place is basically a trafficing centre for peasant children to fight,
they see a small silver-haired boy, that is apparently one of Aegon's many bastards. So after
last weeks rape incident we learn that Aegon has been up to much worse, again reframing
the decision to make him King as all the more worrying. But while Erryk and his brother are
there, they are approached by a mysterious woman who says she knows where Aegon is, and that
same character takes the brothers and Otto Hightower, to her master, who turns out to
be none other than Mysaria. Mysaria, who was also Daemon's interest in the earlier episodes, had
returned in episode 8, and revealed that she had informants deep inside the Red Keep. She
now goes by the name White Worm and promises to take them to Aegon if Otto promises that the
children of the city will stop being used for entertainment in King's Landing. He says he'll
look into it, and therefore, Erryk and Arryk are sent to the Great Sept to find a kidnapped
Aegon underneath the pillar there. But once they get outside with the future king in hand,
they're confronted by Ser Criston and Aemond, who have been following the brothers since, and
eventually a sword fight breaks out. Ser Criston beats Arryk with Erryk watching on from the
sidelines, and while Aegon tries to run away and shouts that he shouldn't be king, Aemond
catches up to him and says that he did hope he would dissapear. Aegon says, "I have no wish to
rule, no taste for duty, I'm not suited," and suggests that he should leave on a ship and
never be seen again if his brother lets him go. Aemond obviously would like that to happen,
but it's when Ser Criston interrupts and reminds them that the queen awaits the prince's
return, that this idea is completely flattened. So after Alicent beat her father to capturing
her son first, she visits Otto and tells him straight to his face that their hearts were
never unified and that to her, she's been a piece on the board that he's moved around since
the start. Otto says that Rhaenyra and her family need to be sacrificed for the stability of the
realm and that his daughter is being weak by not understanding this. She says that she
has Aegon, so they'll proceed as she sees fit, and in the next day, she names Criston Cole Lord
Commander of the Kingsguard, and states that Aegon will be made king and take Aegon the
Conqueror's crown and sword. Most importantly though, she makes it clear that there will be
fair terms sent to Rhaenyra, that she can accept without shame. This along with the small council
scene at the beginning was probably my favourite in the episode cause it really demonstrated the
conflicting view that Alicent has after mistaking Viserys words and it sets up the
conflicting views between her and her father really well. It did lead to a
quite disgusting scene between her and Larys, where he masturbates
to her feet, but again we do learn something here too. Larys tells her of the web of spies
in the Red Keep, one that Otto is aware of, and he also mentions that her lady in waiting is
one of those spies and that there are more like her. So to stop this, they would need to kill
the queen Bee, which we now know is Mysaria. So it looks like Alicent pays for Larys' intel
and she gives into his foot fetish, which again is all the more discomforting.
Coming now to the ending events of Episode 9, we learnt earlier on in this episode that
Alicent like others believed that Rhaenys should have been ruler over Viserys. She payed her a
visit before, informing her that the king died, and asked her to support Aegon over Rhaenyra.
While the Velaryons' pact with Rhaenyra has resulted in bad things for Rhaenys, she says to
Alicent that queen consort still toils in the service to men, like her father, her husband,
and her son. She says that Alicent desires to be free, yet she makes a window in the wall of
her prison. She leaves her with the question, "Have you never imagined yourself on the Iron
Throne?". Alicent seems to rejects it and tells Rhaenys to call her when she's decided, but
there won't be much waiting around for Rhaenys, because on the morning of Prince Aegon's
ascension, she is woken up by Ser Erryk, who says he cannot go along with this treason, making us
realise why he didn't help his brother when he fought Criston Cole earlier on in the episode.
He wants to escort Rhaenys out of King's Landing and on the way out, we see Mysaria's old
headquarters being burned down, which is again the work of Larys. Before Rhaenys can make it out
of the city though, she's re-located by lines of people charging toward the Dargonpit to
see Aegon crowned as king. And while this is happening, Aegon rides with his mother towards
the ceremony and complains to her that Viserys never wanted him to be king and that he's only
being given the crown because it's what his mother and
Otto want. Although Alicent believes that the king changed his mind, Aegon
laughs at her knowing it not to be the case. She presents Viserys' dagger to him, the one that was
once wielded by Aegon the Conqueror, and reminds her son that once he's king, Otto Hightower
will want him to execute Rhaenyra. Alicent pleads with him to reject this and not kill
his sister. And once inside the Dragonpit, Aegon is introduced, and led through a line of knights
onto the stage, being named king, with the crown placed on his head. The people cheer once
he raised the sword, but like every penultimate episode, we can't end without an incident at a
big event. Rhaenys sneeked below the dragon pit after being driven there, got on her dragon
Meleys and burst through the floor to everyones surprise. Nearly everyone runs out of the Sept,
except for the king, the hightowers and the greens, and while Rhaenys and her dragon
approach them, she decides to do the unexpected. She could have easily burn them all alive,
but instead, Rhaenys dragon lets off a big roar, and she flies out of the dragonpit and on to
dragonstone. So next week with the focus on the blacks, Rhaenys wil lnow give Rhaenyra the warning
of the threat against her life, so that she can start building forces in the fight
for the throne. And with all of that, we know that the Dance of Dragons will truly begin.
So what are my overall thoughts on this latest episode of House Of The Dragon. Well House of the
Dragon has been really great all season, and while this episode isn't as strong as the
last one or a few others, I think it was great to really see and develop the perspective of the
opposite side. While Viserys stole the show in episode 8, it was Alicent Hightower's
turn in this latest instalment, and after being pushed around the board by Otto, she's playing
a more prominent role in the events to come. She pushes Aegon for king like Otto, but
she wants to show more honour when it comes to those who are firmly planted on the opposite
side of the table. And to show that, I think it really delivered in displaying all the grey
that we love within this world and its characters. By keeping Rhaenyra and Daemon off screen,
episode 9 did a great job at building suspense for the finale and seeing the blacks side of
things in reverse to what we've just seen here, will be all the more interesting. There were a
few week moments like everything surrounding Mysaria and Larys, which I think were being
set up as good manipulating points throughout the season, but the outcome were scenes that
were just not as fascinating as those with say Alicent and Otto. And yes it was weird to have
this kind of an episode be the penultimate one, in that after all the build up we'd expect
episode 9 to have the biggest moments of all. But while that wasn't the case, they did deliver
with that dragon scene at the end to really make you feel that war has now started and all the
complex buildup with Hightowers leading into that scene, only adds to the excitement going
forward. There's no turning back and while characters like Alicent wants things to be less
troublesome, there are just too many factors and players who want to seize the opportunity for
power. I think it did it's job it demonstrating this and it especially builds the anticipation
for the finale, which I'm sure will be an eventful one to watch unfold.
But that was my spoiler review and explained video for House Of The Dragon Episode 9. I'm
giving it a rating of 8.5 out of 10. I will be doing a video on the finale and more after that
episode airs, so stay tuned to my channel each week for breakdowns for the Game of Thrones
spin-off. But to those who have already seen the episode, what are your thoughts on all the
events that went down and what do you think will happen in Episode 10? Let me know down
below in the comments section. For more videos on House Of The Dragon,
then subscribe to the channel and turn on your notifications. Also if you enjoyed this video
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But anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it, I've been Cortex and as always make some noise.