After last week’s intense row between the royals, House of the Dragon is soon returning with its eighth episode, and if HBO’s promo images are anything to go by, you’re going to have to skip this one if you’re prone to panic attacks.
The tension between the Greens and the Blacks has grown ludicrously tangible, to a point that you could probably drown in the way they seem to eye each other whenever they’re sharing a scene. These are the same people who are going to rip each other to shreds when the Dance of Dragons really takes off, but for now, they have to at least purport to civility as long as King Viserys is around.
Not that such a thing will stop a ruthless and aggressive character like Aemond One-Eye from getting what he wants. The last time we saw Alicent’s younger son, he was a helpless chap mocked by his peers. Now, he rides the biggest living dragon in the world and could go toe-to-toe with Daemon Targaryen in terms of swagger. Aemond will be portrayed by Ewan Mitchell, whom most of you will recognize from The Last Kingdom.
As you can see below, other images from the forthcoming episode show older versions of Alicent, Otto, and even Daemon. Luckily, HBO decided that there was no need to change actors for this particular time jump.
After their embarrassing scuffle, it seems that Rhaenyra and Alicent are apparently trying to air out their differences as Daemon confronts Otto and finds a new dragon egg.
All of this and more will comprise “The Lord of the Tides” on Sunday, the episode that leads House of the Dragon to its penultimate outing and finale in two weeks.