House of the Dragon Episode 7 “Driftmark” trailer review Part 2
As the season has progressed on, House of the Dragon’s tempo has significantly amplified.
Looking ahead to House of the Dragon Season 1 Episode 7, it appears like relations between Rhaenyra and Alicent are growing tense. We have known that Alicent would brandish a knife on her former buddy from the series’ first teaser, and it appears it will take place at the burial.
It does cause us to wonder what occurs before that time.
Distraught House Velaryon
Undoubtedly one of the most intriguing and challenging shots is the one above. Inside High Tide, we observe two individuals fighting in front of a fictitious altar. Beyond the fact that one of these people has platinum Targaryen hair and the other has dark hair, it’s difficult to discern any other specifics. In some ways, the Targaryen resembles Daemon.
Later in the trailer, we see these two grapplings once more, though the specifics are still difficult to make out. That person with black hair is challenging to identify. But I’m leaning toward it being Daemon because of how quickly the Targaryen captures them and then puts them in the chokehold we saw before in the previous picture. The movement seems too refined for one of the youngsters, and Daemon’s hairstyle fits the movement perfectly.
Who is this individual, and what exactly is happening? Let’s dive deep into an idea right now. The following video clip depicts someone slashing Laenor Velaryon with a sword.
Although we cannot see the assailant, we can deduce that the incident is taking place inside, in what appears to be a High Tide environment. Shortly after Laena’s passing, Laenor is killed in Fire & Blood by his lover Qarl Correy. Laenor’s final act in “Driftmark” is probably coming because another time leaps with adult actors playing Aegon, Aemond, and the others are about to occur.
The details, though, are where things start to become interesting. The cause of Laenor’s death is unclear in Fire & Blood; was Qarl a jealous lover fighting with him, or was he hired by someone to end Laenor’s life? The novel’s most enigmatic theory is that Daemon Targaryen hired Qarl to assassinate Laenor so that Rhaenyra might subsequently marry him instead. A short while afterwards, Daemon killed Qarl and threw his body into the sea. Although Leanor dies outdoors in the book rather than inside, I still anticipate Leanor passing away the following weekend.
Laenor is murdered in the book in a market in Spicetown on Driftmark. Even though it doesn’t quite resemble a town, this has the appearance of a busy dockside market.
The only thing that stands out in this image is that the hooded figure in the foreground has platinum-blonde Targaryen locks; you can just make them out as the individual turns their head at the bottom left corner of the hood. And in Episodes 4 and 5, when he escorted Rhaenyra into King’s Landing, we saw Daemon carrying about a hooded cloak that was somewhat reminiscent of the one he wore when he killed his wife Rhea Royce.
Returning to the conflict involving the children, Alicent asserts that “there is a due to be paid,” without a doubt because of the harm done to Aemond. Behind her, her older son Aegon can be seen looking embarrassed. Aegon doesn’t play a part in Aemond’s misery in the book, but hey, he stirs things up enough that we can’t rule him out of any trouble.
Then, Rhaenyra Targaryen or Rhaenys Velaryon enters the Hall of Nine, where Laena’s daughters Baela and Rhaena are waiting, followed by Corlys Velaryon. There’s a crowd gathered. This is perhaps the time that the first reports of the fight between the kids start to circulate.
Baela and Rhaena watch in dread as a fight breaks out. Observe that they are both gazing at something different; possibly Rhaena is gazing at Aemond and Baela is gazing at Jace who is lying on the ground. Rhaena almost appears to have a lip bruise at this point.
Otto Hightower will return for his first appearance since the time leap in “Driftmark,” after missing last week’s episode. Given that Otto is sporting a Hand of the King pin in this photo, we know that he was called up to take Lyonel Strong’s position when Strong perished in a suspicious fire at Harrenhal.
Larys Strong, the person who started the fire, is also present as she observes Otto and Alicent interacting with several other aristocrats. It’s almost certain that what’s causing all of the turmoil is Aemond’s flight on the dragon. It also gives us a better view of Vhagar, whose sagging, fanning throat practically makes her resemble an iguana. The designers were ecstatic.
Next, we get a series of rapid pictures that reveal a great deal. Alicent is now attempting to grab Aegon the Conqueror’s dagger. In Episode 6, Viserys was still sporting the dagger, and the stray white hair on his head appears to be his. She quickly removes the dagger from its sheath on his belt. Ser Harrold Westerling screams in terror as the attacker lunges forward with the blade raised.
From there, we see a brief sight of Otto Hightower picking up and shaking his misbehaving grandson Aegon. His nose, which is a little bit sharper than that of his younger brother Aemond, identifies him as Aegon. It would be fascinating to watch if Aegon’s privileged upbringing changes in any way now that Otto is returned to have some grandfatherly influence over him.
Rhaenyra stealthily follows a few aristocrats, maybe watching them converse with Alicent or Otto? She undoubtedly has a guarded expression on her face. At the funeral, this white-bearded man was also in the distance. Otto adjusted the pin on his Hand of the King. He must have missed it for the last ten years.
Otto adds while the camera lingers on Alicent, “I promise you, in time, you and I together will prevail.”
The hand of Rhaenyra is covered with blood. Maybe this happens soon after the dramatic scene where Alicent lunges at the woman while brandishing a blade, as has been teased. Rhaenyra is seen grabbing Alicent’s wrist, but it’s possible that the struggle hurt her. Rhaenyra pulls the dagger away from her face and murmurs to Alicent, “Now they see you as you are.” Rhaenyra, yes. Sure, we do.
This Sunday, HBO and HBO Max will broadcast the seventh episode of House of the Dragon.
