When Rhaenyra and Daemon arrive in King’s Landing, all of the men guarding the entrance to the Red Keep lay down their arms. “Alicent did as she promised,” Rhaeynra says, pleasantly surprised, but Daemon reminds her that the true test is inside. “Do not be afraid. We come to make things right,” the queen says to the people warily watching her. A group of Kingsguard knights rush them when they enter the building, but Daemon dispatches them all. “Who else dares rise against us in our house?!” Daemon yells. Turns out, there are a few more who do, indeed, dare, but Daemon kills them as though he’s swatting away flies. All of a sudden, we arrive at the Throne Room, and it’s empty.
Daemon ushers her Rhaenyra, calling her “your grace,” and they hold hands for a moment before she takes a deep breath and approaches the literal seat of all power. Instantly, a phalanx of Kingsguard knights gets between her and the throne. The knights laugh when Rhaenyra pulls her sword, which makes me hope she’ll run it through all of them at once, like a big, stupid shish kebob. But she doesn’t have to, because the Gold Cloaks swarm in behind them. Ser Luthor Largent calls out, saying he remembers that Daemon was one of them once, and therefore the King’s Landing police force is backing #TeamBlack.
While all of this is going on, Helaena, Alicent, and little Jaehaera slink out of the castle in cloaks as they try to escape the city. I know the King’s Landing Party City probably closed like the rest of them, but were there NO better costumes that could’ve hidden their royal faces a bit better?
After the Kingsguard are carted away, Rhaenyra knows she has to do one thing before she can sit the throne: “Bring Aegon The Usurper to me!” she commands. When that’s not possible, for reasons you already know, there’s another choice: Everyone is shocked when Otto Hightower, Alicent’s father and former Hand of the King, is hauled up from the dungeons, where he’s apparently been held since the last time we saw him.
Rhaenyra is mightily out of sorts at the sight of her father’s counselor; Daemon, on the other hand, is doing all he can to refrain from clapping his hands with glee. “I assume everyone else is dead?” Otto says flatly. Ignoring him, Daemon whispers that Rhaenyra should kill Otto in Aegon’s place. “They’re watching,” he adds, upping the pressure by noting the crowd that has gathered in the room. “If you wish to rule, show them you do not waiver.”
This story originally appeared on TVLine
