House of the Dragon Episode 6 “The Princess and the Queen” showed us what ten years of toxicity without therapy can do to a family. Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) hates her former bestie Alicent (Olivia Cooke) for scheming against her at every turn. Alicent loathes Rhaenyra because she’s terrified the princess will murder Alicent’s kids to secure her path to the Iron Throne. Oh, and Larys Strong (Matthew Needham) just decides to murder his own father and brother with a well-timed fire at Harrenhal. HBO’s brand new House of the Dragon Episode 7 preview teases that tensions are only going to boil over more at Laena Velaryon’s (Nanna Blondell) funeral on Driftmark.
Now that Laena Velaryon has passed away, it leaves her restless husband Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) stuck as a single dad. Will he finally make a move to spirit niece Rhaenyra off to Dragonstone? Can he do that when her husband Laenor Velaryon (John Macmillan) is still alive? More importantly, how is King Viserys (Paddy Considine) still breathing? Dude’s had more close calls with death than Lord Beric Dondarrion…
The House of the Dragon Episode 7 preview happens to tease one of the most explosive moments in all of Targaryen history, when childish rivalry triggers actual bloodshed and battle lines within the family are officially drawn. No spoilers, but let’s just say the lines, “Someone stole Vhagar!” followed by “There is a debt to be paid,” definitely sent shivers down this book reader’s spine.
Without slogging too much into spoiler territory, here’s everything you need to know about the House of the Dragon Episode 7 preview….
What’s In The House of the Dragon Episode 7 Preview?
The House of the Dragon Episode 7 promo opens on what appears to be Laena Velaryon’s driftwood casket. Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) says, in voiceover, “What is this brief mortal life, if not the pursuit of legacy?” Before Laena’s coffin is given to the deep, we have a shot of her mourning family. Rhaenyra is clad in black, as is Laenor, and their children. But there’s an awful lot of green over in Alicent’s cluster.
After the title card, someone drops a few rings on a table as Otto Hightower says, in voiceover, “We play an ugly game.” A heartbroken-looking Rhaenys (Eve Best) looks up at someone. A dragon — probably Vhagar — leaps from a battlement and soars overhead.
We get a shot of Alicent on the royal barge as an unknown speaker says, in voiceover, “If you’re going to be a strong queen, your subjects must fear you.” The end of that line cuts to Rhaenyra walking into frame.
There’s a shot of a dragon’s mouth opened like a fiery maw and the catspaw dagger shadowed against flame as Rhaenyra says, “Fire is such a strange power. Everything that House Targaryen possesses is owed to it.” We then get a shot of a worried looking Rhaenyra flanked by Daemon and Corlys. Her boys are huddled behind her.
A dragon eye pops open and we see what appears to be Daemon’s daughters spying on Vhagar. Baela (Shani Smethurst) whispers to a dark-haired boy in bed: “Someone stole Vhagar.” There’s a quick montage of a large dragon foot coming down, what appears to be Daemon strangling someone in Corlys’s Hall of Nine, a sword fight, and then a hooded figure studying a docked ship.
Alicent, tears in her eyes, says, “There is a debt to be paid.” One of Rhaenyra’s sons is pushed down in a brawl as Daemon’s daughters look on upset. Daemon watches from the shadows. Rhaenyra says, “This is the highest of treasons.” There’s then a supercut of Otto Hightower, Larys Strong nodding at someone, Vhagar flying in the dark, Alicent taking Viserys’s dagger from his belt, Otto confronting one of his grandsons, and Rhaenyra studying someone through a crowd.
Otto says, in voiceover, seemingly finishing his earlier line: “I promise you, in time, you and I together will prevail.” There is another shot of that fight in the Hall of Nine before Otto caresses the Hand of the King pin on his lapel. Alicent looks worried and then there is a shot of blood dripping down Rhaenyra’s hands.
The last shot of the trailer appears to be Rhaenyra holding Alicent and her dagger off. Rhaenyra says, “Now they see you as you are.”
Where Should I Pause the House of the Dragon Episode 7 Teaser Trailer?
Everywhere! No, there are a few shots worth extra examination…
- We’re less interested in Laena’s coffin here than the shot of the Velaryons and Targaryens in mourning. Rhaenyra and Laenor and their brood are in black, while Alicent and her kids are in dark green. The two rival “teams” in the upcoming Targaryen civil war will style themselves as either Blacks, Team Rhaenyra, or Greens, Team Alicent. This is the first time we’ve seen Rhaenyra in black.
- Oh, no! Who would do something like that? I can’t think of a single character we met this past week desperate for a dragon… Actually, I can think of two and one of them is in the room when Baela whispers this to either Jace (Leo Hart) or Luke (Harvey Sadler). So maybe the other kid dying for a dragon of their own did this? Or is it something even more nefarious like a Thomas Crown Affair situation, but what’s stolen is the largest dragon alive?
- There appear to be two split-second shots of very intense fights. The first seems to be Daemon (or another Targaryen) choking a dark-haired man in the Hall of Nine on Driftmark. The second looks like a sword fight between a dark-haired man and Laenor Velaryon. Is the dark-haired man in both fights the same guy? What is happening here?
What is the House of the Dragon Season 1 Episode 7 Release Date?
House of the Dragon Season 1 Episode 7 will premiere on HBO and HBO Max on Sunday, October 2 at 9 PM ET.
