House of the Dragon trailer breakdown: Episode 7, “Driftmark”

Otto Hightower, still the smuggest man in Westeros

After sitting out last week’s episode, Otto Hightower will be back for his first appearance since the time jump in “Driftmark.” Otto is wearing the Hand of the King pin here, so we now know he’s been recalled to replace Lyonel Strong, who burned to death in a mysterious fire at Harrenhal…

And then there’s Larys Strong, the one who set that fire, watching Otto and Alicent interact with some other nobles:

Next, we get a dark but gorgeous shot of Vhagar in flight:

This is almost certainly Aemond’s flight on the dragon that causes so much trouble. It also lets us get a better of a look at Vhagar; I love how she has a sagging, fanned throat that almost looks like an iguana. The designers had a field day.

Next we get a few shots in quick succession that tell us an awful lot. Here Alicent reaches for Aegon the Conqueror’s dagger. Viserys was still wearing the dagger in Episode 6, and that hint of stringy white hair looks like it belongs to him. She pulls the dagger right out of its sheath on his belt:

And lunges forward with the blade raised, while Ser Harrold Westerling gasps in horror:

From there we get a brief glimpse of Otto Hightower yanking his errant grandson Aegon up and shaking him. You can tell this is Aegon by the shape of his nose; it’s slightly sharper than his younger brother Aemond’s. Aegon has been a spoiled princeling; it’ll be interesting to see if that changes at all now that Otto is back to exert some grandfatherly influence on him:

Rhaenyra walks discreetly behind some nobles, perhaps observing them interacting with Alicent or Otto? She’s certainly got a guarded look on her face. This white-bearded man was in the background at the funeral as well:

Otto, snugging up his Hand of the King pin. Bet he missed it these past 10 years:

“I promise you, in time, you and I together will prevail,” Otto says, while the camera lingers on Alicent:

Blood drips down Rhaenyra’s hand. Perhaps this is right after that big moment that’s been teased where Alicent comes for her with the dagger. We see Rhaenyra catch Alicent’s wrist, but it’s possibly she’s injured in the struggle:

“Now they see you as you are,” Rhaenyra whispers to Alicent as she holds the dagger away from her face. Yes, Rhaenyra. Yes we do.

House of the Dragon Episode 7 premieres this Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.

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