It’s difficult to believe, but the end of the season is almost here! HBO has just officially released the first promotional stills for the penultimate episode of this first year of House of the Dragon, ominously titled “The Green Council”!
UPDATED WITH NEW PHOTOS!
Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) watches over the corpse of King Viserys:
The Small Council convenes for a historic session in the aftermath of the king’s death, with Queen Alicent, Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), Lord Commander Harrold Westerling (Graham McTavish), Lord Lyman Beesbury (Bill Paterson), Grand Maester Orwyle (Kurt Egyiawan), Lord Jasper Wylde (Paul Kennedy), and Ser Tyland Lannister (Jefferson Hall).
Ser Otto plotting (probably, right?) in his quarters:
Lady Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) is still in King’s Landing—what will she do?
Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban) has uttered a cryptic prophecy in every single episode she’s appeared in, so it’s fair to say we should pay attention!
Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) returns to the fore after her cameo last week, in which it was revealed Alicent’s handmaiden Talya (Alexis Raben) is the White Worm’s spy.
Speaking of schemers, we will also see Lord Larys Strong (Matthew Needham), who according to the episode preview has some very interesting news for the queen:
Queen Alicent speaks to her second son, Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell), who we then see in the streets of King’s Landing—apparently cosplaying his uncle Daemon in his most murderous moments, judging by that cloak he’s wearing.
Finally, the twin knights of the Kingsguard, Ser Erryk (Elliott Tittensor) and Arryk Cargyll (Luke Tittensor), who we met last episode, are also sent incognito to the streets and the Grand Sept—what’s their mission? Why are they in disguise too?
These photos don’t show much the trailer for this episode doesn’t already, except for Viserys’s corpse, but they’re a nice appetizer for “The Green Council”!
Not going to lie… I really hope the writers and showrunners can pull this episode off. It’s probably the most important one in the season thus far. In my opinion at least (I might be biased because by the looks of it it’s going to feature the characters I think are the most interesting thus far).
Did GRRM just say that he plans for at least 4 seasons of HOTD?
Mr Derp,
That’s what he said he wants. Ultimately, it’s up to Ryan Condal though. I hope George gets his wish here.
Malcolm Ferguson,
I guess. Just seems like 3 more seasons to resolve this is a lot…
4 seasons sounds about right. There is still a lot to get to and that would mean 30 more episodes to do it. 15 for the first half of the Dance and 15 for the second half sounds right to me.
Mourning suits Alicent, that is a seriously good dress.
I’m surprised about the possibility of 4 Seasons, especially with this season covering 20 years. A decision that gets more confusing by the day. I think they initially said 3 and that sounded right. Well, they will hash it out in the writers room, i’m not against a slower pace. There will be more set pieces to mix things up anyway
I get there being enough content for 3 more seasons–if the focus on the Targ family loosens somewhat–but doubt it’d work structurally. Each season needs a Big Damn Ep Nine, and while there’s plenty of great stuff in the Dance, there’s a limited number of contender events for a Big Damn Ep Nine.
Sidebar that that’s my guess on why this season had to rush more than might have been ideal: to get to this Green Council episode for a Big Damn Ep Nine
Yeah 4 seasons is kind of pushing it and could be jarring considering the fast pace of the 1st one. We’ll see.
Hoping we don’t lose Westerling this episode, I feel as though Graham McTavish has been a bit under-used. Looks like Crispin is challenging him in the trailer (anyone with a pause button can see a spoiler if they wanted to in that glimpse), so fingers crossed.
More than a bit underused, I’d say!
Haha, I was trying to be diplomatic, I suppose. 😀 He was one of the actors I was really looking forward to seeing, so I wish he would have had more screen time.