House of the Dragon trailer breakdown: Episode 9, “The Green Council”

King Viserys, first of his name, King of the Andals and the First Men, has finally died. While he may have had flaws, King Viserys kept the realm relatively stable just by existing. Now that he’s gone, we’re officially in the endgame of House of the Dragon season 1. The Dance of the Dragons looms.

The trailer for the season’s penultimate episode, “The Green Council,” focuses exclusively on team green; there’s not a sign of Rhaenyra or Daemon to be seen. We don’t know if that means they won’t appear in the episode, or if they’re just being held back from the marketing. But there’s plenty to talk about anyway; the greens will be busy in the wake of King Viserys’ death.

Let’s break down the trailer for “The Green Council” shot by shot. As always, there will be some SPOILERS from George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood below.

A dark hour for the Iron Throne

We begin with an atmospheric shot of the Iron Throne at night, lit by slivers of moonlight from the throne room windows. Dark days have arrived for the house of the dragon, and King Viserys is no longer around to sit the throne. Who will take his place?

Surely Otto Hightower, Alicent, and the rest of the greens will have some opinions. Our next shot shows the two Hightowers with Ser Criston Cole, as Otto intones that “the king is dead.”

This scene is the titular Green Council that the episode is named after; following the death of King Viserys, the Hightowers gather the Small Council and their allies to decide the future of the realm.

A member of the Kingsguard cleans his blade, so let’s count on things getting bloody. I’m betting this is Criston, who we’ll see later in the trailer will be doing a bit of murdering this week.

“He told me he wished for Aegon to be king,” says a tearful Alicent. NO HE DIDN’T, ALICENT! YOU MISUNDERSTOOD!

Ah well, if only those Targaryens didn’t name everyone and their brother Aegon, there’d be no problems. As it stands, Alicent misinterpreted Viserys’ dying words about the Song of Ice and Fire, believing he was talking about their son instead of Aegon the Conqueror. Great.

Someone in a hood maneuvers their way through a crowd in King’s Landing. I’d like to guess this could be Aemond, but since we see quite a few people wearing hoods this week it’s impossible to be sure. You know things are about to get dicey when the hoods come out on this show.

Another shot of the crowds being ushered somewhere by the Gold Cloaks:

Later on in the trailer we’ll see a shot of the masses heading to the Dragonpit. I imagine that could be what we’re seeing here: the greens ushering people out to go witness King Aegon II’s coronation.

Of course, we all know that Rhaenyra was King Viserys’ chosen heir. The greens will have to really pull some power moves if they’re going to make this coup work, and that means getting everyone else in line. Here’s Otto Hightower in the throne room, as supplicants bow before him:

Otto always has a plan. Next he tells the members of the green council that “the door stays shut until we finish our business.” Is he talking about the council door, or King Viserys’ bedchambers? The greens will almost certainly be leaving him to marinate for a bit while they decide how to supplant his chosen heir.

Our first glimpse at Aemond, who appears to be at a coronation:

That looks like Aegon in the foreground, wearing a certain crown that we’ll get a better look at later in the trailer. A woman appears to be whispering in Aemond’s ear; can’t be certain who it is, though. Perhaps Alicent’s handmaid?

This succession will be complicated.