Are you almost ready for the next episode of House of the Dragon? In just two days, HBO is taking us back to the world of the Seven Kingdoms, this time to live through another royal wedding. Though considering the franchise’s track record with such events, fans don’t know if they should brace themselves for the death of some of their favorite characters. At best, we’ll be looking toward a Purple Wedding with only one casualty, like the king or his close kin. At worst, the Game of Thrones prequel has in it the potential to make the Red Wedding look like a tea party in Highgarden.
Not that the insurmountable wailing of the Westerosi fandom has ever affected the powers that be in the least. If anything, HBO must currently be celebrating the overwhelmingly successful debut of House, with the show continuing to break records for the television producer left and right.
But whatever the outcome in the upcoming fifth episode, narrative-wise, here are the most important updates from the Seven Kingdoms to prepare you for it.
Milly Alcock doesn’t know what to do with all the new ‘Game of Thrones’ fame
I don’t suppose anyone ever gets used to fame, but it’s one thing to walk down the street with most folks giving you barely a second glance and then having that whole psyche turned upside down in the span of a single month. But that seems to be what’s in the store for House‘s breakthrough star Milly Alcock, who recently revealed that she finds the whole experience quite surreal. In her own words: “It feels like someone’s opened Pandora’s box and you’re kind of just looking through the looking glass. It’s a bit Alice in Wonderland-y. It’s f**king weird.” We’re not exactly willing to disagree with her on a point that seems, by all accounts, well-made.
You could cut the tension with a knife in these new ‘House’ stills from episode 5
As stated earlier, King’s Landing is just about ready to explode with all the political tension riding across its numerous factions. King Viserys’ health keeps declining, and the vultures that feast on the chaos of succession will not hold their peace this time. Yet hope remains for Princess Rhaenyra, who will be married off to Corlys Velaryon’s son, allying her with the Seven Kingdom’s most powerful house, save the Targaryens themselves. Who will live and who will die? That is the question in these new stills from episode 5.
The premiere episode of ‘House’ racked up at least 327 million minutes of viewing time
With nearly 10 million viewers accounted for, you might think that you have an inkling of the kind of success HBO boasts with House of the Dragon, but according to the latest Nielsen weekly ratings, it seems that we don’t even know the half of it. The aggregator’s weekly ratings for Aug. 15 to Aug. 21 included House as well, even if the series didn’t premiere until the late hours of the final day. And while it failed to make the top 10 on the list, it came pretty close with those precious few hours, racking up a whopping 327 million minutes of watch-time. Not too shabby, HBO, not too shabby at all.
That’s all for the moment, but tune in tomorrow at around 9 pm CT for another roundup of updates regarding Game of Thrones and all its numerous spinoffs.