Every image from the House of the Dragon trailer, explained

The conflict between Rhaenrya Targaryen and Alicent Hightower drives House of the Dragon

Opposing Rhaenyra’s claim to the throne is Alicent Hightower, played as a young woman by Emily Carey and as an adult by Olivia Cooke. Sharing the king’s bed obviously gives you influence, although it isn’t until after the king dies that Alicent really puts her plan to install her son Aegon on the throne into motion.

Alicent is the daughter of Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King. He is one of her most trusted advisors, and she his.

We’ve already met Rhaenys Targaryen and Corlys Velaryon. They have a whole family, including son Laenor and daughter Laena:

Below, young Rhaenyra and Laenor dance, probably at their wedding. Theirs is a political union — Laenor is gay and Rhaenrya has a lover, but they more or less get along.

Below, we have two shots that seem to be from Laena Velaryon’s funeral. She is married to Daemon Targaryen and good friends with Rhaenyra, so her death hits both of them hard…and might drive them closer together.

Here we have a stare down between adult Rhaenyra…

…and adult Alicent:

The guy behind Alicent is important. He’s Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), a knight of the Kingsguard who used to be very close to Rhaenrya…until something happened (accounts differ on what) and he became her bitter enemy. The show will surely fill in some of those blanks.