5 burning questions before the House Of The Dragon finale

We’re anxious to see the fallout from last week’s eventful episode, and to discover how it plays out as House Of The Dragon wraps up season 1

By Cindy White | October 23, 2022 | 12:00pm

TV Features Tyrion Lannister

5 burning questions before the House Of The Dragon finale

Emma D’Arcy Image: Ollie Upton/HBO

Here it is, our last House Of The Dragon burning questions feature for season one. The first season kept us guessing week after week, and even threw book readers for a loop a couple of times. We laughed (not as much as we’d hoped), we cried (more than we expected to), and we struggled with who to cheer for in this world where nothing is simple or stationary. And even if the prequel series didn’t quite fill that Game Of Thrones-shaped hole in our hearts, it was nice to be back in Westeros and see dragons take to the sky.

Last week’s episode kicked off the Targaryen civil war we all knew was coming. We saw what happened in King’s Landing as the Greens put their coup in motion. Now we’re heading to Dragonstone to see how Rhaenyra’s side takes the news that her crown has been stolen by her half brother. That’s not really a burning question—since the answer is obviously, “not well”—but there are a few other questions we have before House Of The Dragon takes its final bow of the season.

1. Will Rhaenyra respond with the necessary force?

Rhaenyra may have voiced doubts about whether she even wants the throne, but she’ll be damned if she’s going to let Aegon take it from her. Last episode’s power moves by the Greens demand an equally powerful response, but remember that Rhaenyra is heavily pregnant at this point with her and Daemon’s third child. Word of Aegon’s coronation is going to reach Dragonstone soon enough. We’ve already seen in the preview for the episode that it comes directly from Rhaenys herself. She also delivers the warning that the Hand of the King wants them dead. Will Rhaenyra’s condition keep her from getting back to the Red Keep in time to claim her rightful place on the Iron Throne? Is it already too late? Or does she have enough firepower on her side to fight back without leaving Dragonstone?

2. What’s the deal with those twins on the Kingsguard?

Some things that work on the page are way more difficult to implement in live action. It was hard enough keeping identical twins Ser Arryk and Ser Erryk Cargyll straight in Fire and Blood; on the screen it’s damn near impossible. To make things more confusing, they both wear the standard white cloak and armor of the Kingsguard and have similar hairstyles and facial hair. We wouldn’t blame you if you gave up trying to tell them apart. The important takeaway when it comes to these two is that by the end of episode nine they had chosen different sides.Erryk with an “E” is the one who helps Rhaenys escape from the keep, so it looks like he’ll be backing Rhaenyra. Arryk with an “A” is sticking with chaimbermaid-raping, child-brawling enthusiast Aegon II. If that sounds a little judgy, it is. We’re totally judging you, Arryk. The split between these brothers, as close as two brothers can be, shows that the fault lines tearing apart House Targaryen run right through King’s Landing and affect everyone else too.

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Who will survive the season?

The first blood in the Targaryen civil war has already been spilled, with Ser Criston Cole smashing Lord Lymon Beesbury’s head into a large marble during an emergency session of the Small Council. All Lord Beesbury did was make the well-reasoned point that Alicent’s claim about Viserys’ dying wish was self-serving and didn’t make any sense. Someone had to say it. Unfortunately, he said it at the wrong time in the wrong place and got a deadly shove courtesy of Ser Criston for his trouble. More deaths followed among the nobles who refused to break their oath of loyalty to Rhaenyra.Otto badly wants the heads of Rhaenyra and her children mounted on spikes. Now we know why he warned Alicent all those years ago that Rhaenyra would kill her children to secure her position on the throne, because that’s exactly what he was planning to do. It’s not going to be as easy as he thinks, though (he really should have known better). Who will he have to go through to get to Rhaenyra? And will her side get in a few licks of their own before the finale is over?Game Of Thrones fans learned the hard way that no character is safe in this world. The only thing you can count on is that there will be casualties, and some of them are going to hurt. Will this episode give us our first bitter taste of the bloody war to come?

Will we see the Hightowers again before next season?

Since the Greens got all the focus in the previous episode, this final one may stick with Rhaenyra and the Blacks. Although Alicent and Otto didn’t leave things on great terms, we may not know until next season whether they can put their differences aside and focus on the fight for the throne. This is a slight departure from Fire And Blood, in which Alicent is portrayed (by unreliable narrators, granted) as far more ruthless and more closely aligned with her father. Will the show continue to soften this version of Alicent? Or will the war harden her heart? The showrunners aged her down and gave her a closer bond to Rhaenyra when they were young girls, but to what end? Was it to explain her resistance to Otto’s plan to murder Rhaenyra and her family? Or to break our hearts even more when they become bitter enemies? And how will Rhaenyra respond to her former friend scheming to get her son crowned king after proclaiming at dinner the night before that Rhaenyra would make a “fine queen?” At least that’s one question we can expect an answer to by the end of the episode.

Is Mysaria out of the picture for good?

We saw Mysaria’s establishment go up in flames in the previous episode. That was Larys Strong’s attempting to solve Alicent’s spy problem the same way he solved the problem of his father and brother—with fire. While we saw their charred bodies being pulled out of the ruins, we got no such confirmation here. So they’ve left the door open for her to come back. Book readers know that “The White Worm” will play a role in the coming war. They also know that nothing from the text is set in stone. Nothing would surprise us at this point, though we wish we’d seen more of her this season. As someone who isn’t royal, and isn’t even from Westeros, she brings a different perspective to the show. If Larys is supposed to be , then Mysaria could very well be its Varys. She has her own flock of little birds, after all. By the time we get to Game Of Thrones, the Master of Whispers is an official position on the King’s Small Council. Maybe this is the point where the leaders of Westeros start realizing the value of such intelligence.