(House of the Dragon spoilers ahead.)
There have been a lot of changes for the House of the Dragon clan. After numerous time jumps and cast changes, we are starting to see just how bonkers this family is. And it’s only the beginning!
At the end of the most recent episode, Viserys’ body has finally succumbed to his zombie-like illness (what was he even sick with, anyway?) but not before he unintentionally stirred up some more drama in the form of a significant misunderstanding. While speaking with Alicent, Viserys, in all his drugged-up glory, confuses Alicent for Rhaenyra, who he was speaking with the night before.
“His dream. The Song of Ice and Fire. It is true. What he saw in the north. The Prince That Was Promised,” Viserys said to Alicent, thinking it was Rhaenyra. “To unite the realm. Against the cold and the dark. It is you. You are the one. You must do this. You must do this,” Viserys adds. But Alicent just hears the words “Aegon” and “The Prince Who Was Promised” and assumes that Aegon is who Viserys was talking about. Only… he was not!
“The intention was that she genuinely thought he was telling her that her son was going to be the heir,” director Geeta Patel told The Hollywood Reporter of the pivotal moment. “The only way to get even close to achieving that was to feel the vulnerability and innocence in Alicent. We had to feel less of the conniving and more of the girl that we grew up with in episode one. The fact that you were even confused makes me feel good because I felt like that was such a high bar for us coming out of Miguel’s [episode seven] when she was hanging out with Larys in the last scene,” Patel explained.
So, while Alicent thinks that The Prince Who Was Promise is Aegon, that isn’t the case after all. Viserys seem to imply that Rhanenyra is the one who must unite the land (the king did confirm her as his heir earlier in the episode), but of course, things can never be that easy, right? So who is the Prince Who Was Promised?
There are a few theories, though many believe that the real Prince is Jon Snow, which connects the two storylines House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones. On the other hand, Viserys thought he was talking to Rhaenyra, and he said that she is the one at the center of this big, centuries-long prophecy. Still, after Alicent’s misunderstanding, it doesn’t seem like there will be another big happy family reunion anytime soon. Though that’s probably for the best!
(Via Decider & The Hollywood Reporter)
