Sort through the messy aftermath in new pics from House of the Dragon Episode 202

The season 2 premiere of House of the Dragon ended with young Jaehaerys Targaryen, son of King Aegon Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Queen Helaena (Phia Saban), being murdered by a pair of mercenaries hired by Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), who was trying to get revenge for the death of his wife Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen's son Lucerys Velaryon (Elliot Grihault), who was killed by King Aegon's younger brother Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell). Yeesh, these people weave a tangled web.

Anyway, the as-yet-untitled new episode will pick up in the immediate aftermath of that event. King Aegon, obviously, will not be happy when he learns of his son's death:

Aemond, whose actions inspired this revenge plot, is deep in thought as ever. This is him standing in the room where the mercenaries snuck their way into the upper levels of the Red Keep:

Jaehaerys's grandfather Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), one of King Aegon's closest advisors, is hit as well:

And of course there's Queen Helaena, seen here riding in a carriage with her mother Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) during a royal funeral procession:

Alicent, you may remember, was sleeping with Lord Commander of the Kingsguard Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) when the murder was happening, and Helaena walked in on them. So the situation has to be social awkward as well as emotionally devastating.

In George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, Jaehaerys' death further accelerates the march to war between King Aegon and his rival for the Iron Throne, Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy). Through their grief, Aegon and his counselors — Alicent, Otto, Criston Cole, Master of Laws Jasper Wylde (Paul Kennedy) and Grand Maester Orwyle (Kurt Egyiawan) — plan their next move:

Doubtless spymaster Larys Strong is also somewhere in the Red Keep plotting and scheming, but he's not a part of that particular council meeting:

Later, Otto, Criston and King Aegon hatch a separate scheme. Or if you've read Fire & Blood, you might suspect that someone in this photo is about to get fired:

Criston is wheeling and dealing a lot in this episode. Here he is talking with Ser Arryk Kingsguard (Luke Tittensor), another king of the Kingsguard. Arryk has an identical twin brother named Erryk (Elliot Tittensor), who's currently serving Rhaenyra. If you've read Fire & Blood, you know where this is going. The Greens would love to get someone to infiltrate Rhaenyra's ranks and do some damage. Who better than the identical twin brother of someone she knows and trusts?

Speaking of Rhaenyra, we catch up with her on her island stronghold of Dragonstone. It looks like she'll have more than one line this week.

For one thing, she's sure to be aghast when she finds out that her husband took out a hit on a child, even if he was hoping for the mercenaries to kill Aemond instead. Here's Daemon looking attentive during a meeting of the Black Council:

Rhaenyra and Daemon have a talk. Will they come out of it stronger or divorced?

Meanwhile, the business of running a war effort goes on. Here's Rhaenyra conferring with her cousin Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best), one of her dragonriders; and Ser Alfred Broome (Jamie Kenna), one of her household knights:

Elsewhere on Dragonstone, Rhaenyra's son Jacaerys (Harry Collett) hangs out with finacé Baela Targaryen (Bethany Antonia), who is Daemon's daughter from a previous marriage. Since Daemon and Rhaenyra are uncle and niece, that makes Jacaerys and Baela are first cousins once removed. Targaryens have never let a little like blood relations get in the way of matrimony.

Not everyone on Dragonstone is a royal family member. The low-born spymaster Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) was thrown in a dungeon in the season premiere. How will she get out of it?

Finally, we have brief looks at some new characters, all of them commoners. We briefly met Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim). Now we meet his brother Addam (Clinton Liberty). They're both nautical professionals living on the island of Driftmark, and if you've read Fire & Blood, you know they have big futures:

And this is Hugh Hammer (Kieran Bew), a blacksmith with a lot ahead of him. Ellora Torchia plays his wife:

The new episode of House of the Dragon airs this Sunday at 8:00 p.m. EST on HBO and Max.

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