In the fourth episode of House of the Dragon, "King of the Narrow Sea," a young Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock) absconds from the Red Keep to meet her uncle Daemon in the streets of King's Landing after he leaves her a note telling her how to access a secret passage in her room. The whole thing has a great sense of dangerous adventure to it.
Game of Thrones aficionados also know that there's a history behind those secret tunnels. The Red Keep, one of the most castles in the Seven Kingdoms, was completed during the reign of King Maegor I Targaryen, known as Maegor the Cruel. He built them so he could move in and out of the castle undetected, making sure he had everyone who worked on the tunnels killed so they couldn't spill any secrets. But people have figured things out over the years. In Game of Thrones, Tyrion sneaks through the tunnels after he's condemned to death for treason, and can't help using one to break into his father Tywin's room and settle a score.
The tunnels will also play a role in the second season of House of the Dragon. In fact, some fans have already spotted them in the pair of trailers HBO released the other week. In one shot from the "Green" trailer, the vengeful, one-eyed Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) looks aghast through an opening in the wall. The shot looks very similar to one from "King of the Narrow Sea" where young Rhaenyra opens a secret doorway. In both cases, a slight gust of air gently wafts through the silver-blonde hair of these characters, as if they just opened a door to a sealed chamber:
🚨🐉 AEMOND FINDS THE SECRET TUNNELS
— Wake the Dragon (@WtDasoiaf) March 28, 2024
You can see the wooden frame and and the gust of wind that hits their hair as they stand in the doorway. Did Aemond find the secret tunnels in the Red Keep? pic.twitter.com/iecxgKuwwY
I can believe that Aemond is discovering a secret in the shot from the trailer, although I don't know if it's the same one that Rhaenyra discovers in "King of the Narrow Sea": there's no dragon statue on the wall in the Rhaenyra shot, for one thing. Still, I'm convinced.
Why is Aemond opening the door to these secret tunnels? For that, we'll need to get into SPOILERS. Beware.
Blood, Cheese, secret passageways, and you
The first season of House of the Dragon ended with Aemond Targaryen mounting his dragon Vhagar and killing Rhaenrya Targaryen's son Lucerys Velaryon, Aemond's own nephew. That officially starts the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, which will be covered in detail in season 2.
House of the Dragon is based on the book Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin. In that book, the next thing that happens after Luke's death is that Rhaenyra's husband Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) plots revenge. He arranges for the hiring of a pair of mercenaries known to history only as Blood and Cheese to sneak into the Red Keep and kill one of the children of Rhaenyra's half-brother King Aegon II Targaryen, who is married to Rhaenyra's half-sister Helaena Targaryen. (Yes, the family tree is basically a circle, it's weird, just go with it.) Cheese used to be a rat-catcher in the Red Keep, so he knows how to navigate these secret tunnels. There's a shot of these two sneaking about in the new trailers:
Without giving away too many details, Blood and Cheese do some damage on their quest. My bet is that the shot of Aemond peering into the secret passageway from the trailer happens after Blood and Cheese have come and gone, while Aemond and his family piece together how this could have happened.
House of the Dragon season 2 will premiere on HBO and Max on June 16.
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