King Viserys shocks his small council when he decides to marry Alicent Hightower.
Rhaenyra is aware she’s not being taken seriously.
“It would be a show of force,” she says.
King Viserys (Paddy Considine), Rhaenys (Eve Best), and Corlys (Steve Toussaint) discuss the King’s next wife.Ollie Upton/HBO
Corlys and his wife, Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best), are among those with succession in mind.
Targaryen dragons linked up with Valyrian fleets?
That’s the “show of strength” Viserys' combat-avoidant kingdom needs.
Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) causes a headache for his brother.Ollie Upton/HBO
Despite these efforts, Rhaenyra remains confident that she’ll someday be queen.
But Viserys' “date” with Laena makes him uncomfortable.
Still, most of the small council approves of the courtship.
Emily Carey as Alicent Hightower, King Viserys’s new bride and queen, on ‘House of the Dragon’.Ollie Upton/HBO
Viserys is clearly developing feelings for her.
It’s not Laena, but Alicent.
Corlys, as you might expect, is furious.
He’s so furious that he seeks out Daemon, who he likens to himself.
Crabfeeder, Corlys says, is more than just a pirate.
He’s backed by “powerful entities” in the autonomous Free Cities that neighbor the Stepstones.
Crushing them, he tells Daemon, should “prove worth to any who might doubt it.”
“It was never my brother’s strongest trait, being king,” Daemon intones.
