Last week’s very bloody, very on-brand Game of Thrones wedding marked a turn for the series to jump ahead in time on House of the Dragon. On Sunday’s episode we’re going to meet older Princess Rhaenyra, with Emma D’Arcy taking over from Milly Alcock, and Prince Laenor, now played by John Macmillan. The handsome and politically arranged couple look to be fully committed to their vows and loyalty to their family, while Alicent (now played by Olivia Cooke) pushes on with getting favour for the Hightower agenda.
Things are still messy years later (and due to get messier) in this HBO preview, in which we catch up with Rhaenyra moments after she’s given birth to her son because Queen Alicent calls for an audience to see the child.
The drama. While we only got to see younger Alicent (Emily Carey) begin to turn heel at the pre-wedding feast/chaotic brawl, it’s obvious there’s been quite a passive aggressive war brewing between the princess and the queen, something that will no doubt escalate now that there’s a new prospective heir on the scene. D’Arcy’s steely strength depicts the older princess as a woman who won’t buckle to a challenge — and who also went from a strong-headed girl who didn’t want to have children to a mother who know understands the battlefield of birth. We’re invested in this festering feud that we can’t wait to see go full Thrones when the king dies… eventually.
Things are getting spicy in Westeros and Sunday can’t come soon enough.
House of the Dragon airs Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.
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