House of the Dragon episode 9, titled “The Green Council” does not feature Daemon and Rhaenyra Targaryen. This is the first episode in the series where they did not appear. Rhaenyra and Daemon’s absence is crucial as it sets up the season 1 finale, which will be focused entirely on the Blacks a.k.a Rhaenyra’s supporters.
“The Green Council” begins just a few hours after the ending of episode 8. As we know, episode 8 ended with Alicent misunderstanding her husband’s last words, thinking he wished for her son, Aegon II to be King.
Episode 9 began when Alicent was informed about the King’s death. Throughout the episode, the Greens try to keep King Viserys’ death a secret from everyone else, including the common folk. They ban everyone from leaving the city lest the news of her father’s death reaches Rhaenyra or people end up in rebellion.
Rhaenyra and Daemon Targaryen are missing from House of the Dragon episode 9 because they are on their way back to Dragonstone with their family or have already reached and settled down in Dragonstone. The couple left King’s Landing with their family at the end of episode 8.
Rhaenyra and Daemon‘s absence from the episode was necessary as episode 9 focused solely on the Greens and the events in King’s Landing. There was no point of featuring Rhaenyra in this episode, as she is completely unaware of her father’s death. So, she did not have anything significant to do in this episode.
However, the season finale will focus on Rhaenyra’s stance in this whole situation. Rhaenys Targaryen, who left King’s Landing at the end of episode 9, will reach Dragonstone in the next episode. She will inform Rhaenyra about the happenings of King’s Landing, which will officially begin the Dance of Dragons.
Rhaenyra’s absence also depicts how she had absolutely no opportunity to stop Aegon’s coronation or demand her birthright. She wasn’t informed about her father’s death and neither did anyone from her family even intend on informing her before Aegon’s coronation.
Besides, episode 9 lays down how Rhaenyra is not in an advantageous position to defend herself any longer. First of all, her father, who was her biggest supporter in King’s Landing is dead. Secondly, she was not physically present to defend herself. Thirdly, since Aegon had already been crowned King by the end of episode 8, any rebellion against him could be considered treason.
Moreover, it is difficult for Rhaenyra and Daemon to gather allies or speak to other houses who may have supported her had she been physically present to defend herself. Rhaenyra’s physical absence has much more significance than we think, and we’ll probably find out more about that in the season finale.
“The Green Council” was also largely set during real-time, so cutting to Rhaenyra and Daemon in Dragonstone would only distract the viewers for nothing.
The structure of the episode also manages to capture that time is of utmost importance for the Greens during the episode. They had to crown Aegon as soon as possible, especially before anyone could inform Rhaenyra about her father’s death.
Since episode 9 focused solely on the Greens and King’s Landing, the season finale will focus solely on the Blacks and the events of Dragonstone. For this reason, the season finale has been aptly titled “The Black Queen” referring to Rhaenyra. In the finale, we are likely to see Rhaenyra’s side of the story and find out where was she during the events of episode 9.
House of the Dragon will return with the season finale on October 23, 2022, on HBO Max.
About House Of The Dragon
House of the Dragon is the prequel series to HBO’s blockbuster Game of Thrones based on George R. R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood.
Set three hundred years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon will show Westeros under the Targaryen family’s rule before the dragons went extinct. It will follow the Dance of the Dragons, the Targaryen civil war between siblings Aegon II and Rhaenyra, who fought for the throne after the death of their father, Viserys I.
Directed by Ryan Condall and Miguel Sapochnik, the show stars Paddy Considine as Viserys I Targaryen, Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen, Tom Glynn-Craney as Aegon II Targaryen, Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower, Steve Toussaint as Corlys Velaryon, Eve Best as Rhaenys Velaryon, Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria, Fabien Frankel as Criston Cole, and Graham McTavish.
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