What happens in episode one, The Heirs of the Dragon?
WARNING: Spoilers for episode one, The Heirs of the Dragon, ahead.
Ahead of the show’s events, a Great Council is called by King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, who needs to decide who should succeed him on the Iron Throne.
Opting to continue male lineage, the Council votes for Viserys, the eldest grandson, over Princess Rhaenys, the eldest grandchild.
Jaehaerys left the decision in the hands of others to prevent war, knowing the only thing that could destroy the Targaryen dynasty is each other.
Ten years into King Viserys’s reign, Queen Aemma is pregnant with their second child.
Teenage daughter Rhaenyra tells best friend Alicent Hightower she hopes it’s a son so she can lead a simpler life, but Viserys’s antagonistic and violent brother Daemon hopes it’s not, believing he’ll be next in line.
Easily influenced by his small council, Viserys ignores threats to Westeros’s shipping lanes from the Triarchy, an Essos-based army led by a man known as “The Crabfeeder”.
As Aemma goes into labour, a jousting tournament is held, with common-born soldier Ser Criston Cole emerging as a talent, even beating Daemon.
But inside the castle Aemma is struggling, forcing Viserys to make a horrifying decision to save his potential heir. When both his wife and son, Baelon, die, he is left vulnerable.
Hand of the King, Otto Hightower, seizes the opportunity to manipulate Viserys, pushing daughter Alicent to befriend Viserys, stirring conflict between King and Daemon.
Viserys cuts his hand on the throne as he casts Daemon out, and officially names Rhaenyra as his official heir.
The Great Council’s decision explained
The opening scene sets the stage for the House of the Dragon, with King Jaehaerys leaving his succession line in the hands of the Great Council.
As a result, Viserys is named King, with Rhaenys Targaryen dubbed ‘The Queen That Never Was’ throughout the Kingdom.
The decision was made in pursuit of a male bloodline, with showrunner Ryan Condal explaining: “The thing the Great Council should tell you is that this is a patriarchy, and that the men of the realm want to keep the men in power. I don’t think Viserys was a guy who sought the crown, or wanted it really. It kind of came to him.”
Paddy Considine, who plays Viserys adds: “I think Viserys struggles with being the king. He's got big shoes to fill. Jaeharys, the king that went before him, was a peacetime king, and I think Viserys feels a duty to honour his reign in a way and try to keep peace amongst the kingdoms.”
Otto Hightower’s position, explained
Throughout the first episode, we see Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) act as Hand of the King – the same role Ned Stark played to Robert Baratheon in the original Game of Thrones.
Ifans explained: “When the crown eats, the hand s**ts”, essentially meaning they do all of the monarch’s dirty work, stepping into a decision-making role should it be required.
Otto is seen abusing this power from the outset, manipulating his position in order to make himself more powerful.
The Hightowers, as described by writer George RR Martin, are one of the oldest families in Westeros, and have ruled over Old Town as a noble house for centuries.
It appears Otto is now going for the main crown, levelling up over his older brother, who is currently in power as aligned with the power of succession.
The Two Battles of Queen Aemma and Prince Daemon
As Queen Aemma goes into labour, Prince Daemon takes centre stage at the jousting tournament held by King Viserys.
This was a decision deliberately made by the show team to display the “male and female battles” that occur at the time, where childbirth always came with the risk of death.
Queen Aemma even refers to the birthing bed as “the battlefield” to her teen daughter Rhaenyra.
Director Miguel Sapochnik explained: “We want you to look at them in the same way that we would look at battle sequences. A battle sequence needs to be about something otherwise it has no purpose.
“If you're going to put that kind of violence on screen it needs to be for a reason. With the birthing, it was the same.
“We really wanted to see the female perspective because it's a realistic portrayal of things that used to happen at the hands of men to women because the 50/50 chance you have surviving a birth in those times is not good odds.”
What are Prince Daemon’s motives?
After the death of Queen Aemma, the violently aggressive Prince Daemon proves to be an emotional crutch for both his brother, Viserys, and niece Rhaenyra.
According to the team, this was a decision made by Matt Smith, who plays Daemon.
He said: “I think they are normal brothers, and there's a huge amount of love there. I think it's complicated. You know, there's a sort of deep and dark history that surrounds them.”
Condal added: “Daemon's a complicated guy but he's not a monster. I mean, this is his family. He does love his family, particularly loves Rhaenyra, and look, his brother is shattered, and I think he just feels for them.”
King Viserys’s succession decision explained
At the end of the episode, King Viserys decides to bypass brother Daemon and announce Rhaenyra as future Queen of Westeros. This would make her the first ever queen to reign across Westeros – and a decision that proves divisive.
For Rhaenyra, she didn’t initially want to be Queen, but according to Milly Alcock, who plays her, it becomes something she feels like she has to do.
She said: “Rhaenyra sees it as the first time that she feels that she's good enough for her father. She's also the first woman ever to be named heir. Viserys was named over someone who should have deserved, Princess Rhaenys. So she kind of feels like there's like a reprimand in that.”
Considine added: “Viserys chooses Rhaenyra, in part out of guilt for what he did to Aemma, and in part out of love, because he wants her to be happy to fulfil her own potential.”
Condal added: “Hopefully by the end of the first hour, you understand that this precedent that has been loudly set across the realm has now been broken. And that might cause problems.”