The Blacks and the Greens deal with the aftermath of the Battle at Rook’s Rest.
Grandmaester Orwyle (Kurt Egyiawan) frantically works to save the kings life as Alicent looks on in horror.
A watching Aemond coolly notes, Someone will have to rule in his stead.
Freddie Fox, Fabien Frankel.Liam Daniel/HBO
She looks to Larys (Matthew Needham) for support, but his former loyalty is gone.
She silently seethes as Aemond takes the kings place at the table and starts issuing commands.
That wisdom eventually starts a riot where the smallfolk invoke his name in fury.
Ewan Mitchell.Ollie Upton/HBO
We have given the war to the dragons.
A dragonrider should lead us.
So you cast me aside?
Harry Collett.Liam Daniel/HBO
she asks in fury.
Have I not spared you?
What we must do now is terrible.
Harry Collett, Emma D’Arcy.Liam Daniel/HBO
Will you preside over it?
Aemond seems untroubled by the task before him as he gazes at the Iron Throne.
His sister Helaena (Phia Saban) finds him and asks, Was it worth the price?
But his elder brother isnt dead yet.
Battered and bruised, the king stirs enough to call for his mother.
Later, the ghost of his wife Laena (Nanna Blondell) appears to him during a meeting.
Daemons waking hours arent going much better than his nightmares.
They inform Daemon that they refuse to raise their banners for a tyrant like him.
Rhaenyra cannot succeed on her own, for the people will not accept her.
Whos better suited to rule than Viseryss first true heir?
When Alys asks, And if you lose?
Then I will be dead and none of this will be my problem, he huffs.
From Driftmark to Dragonstone, the Blacks mourn Rhaenys
Rhaenyss death has hit the Blacks hard.
Rhaenyra remains frustrated by being kept safe at Dragonstone.
Thankfully, the current occupants of the Twins are far less treacherous than their descendant Walder Frey.
Even though she was Viseryss heir, she wasnt prepared for battle like a son would have been.
They are starving, and that kind of discord may be enough to help bring the Greens down.
On Mysarias orders, her handmaid Elinda is then dispatched on a secret mission to Kings Landing.
But it would be much easier for Rhaenyra to rule if she could count on the Sea Snakes support.
Baela visits her grieving grandfather to make the request.
Baela wishes to meet a similar end and to see Rhaenyra ascend the throne as her grandmother should have.
I am blood and fire.
Driftmark must pass to salt and sea.
And with that, Im about to buy a Baela Targaryen Rules t-shirt.
With their biggest and fastest dragon dead, they have no match for Vhagars power.
Jace points out thats notquitetrue, since the mature dragons Vermithor and Silverwing sit beneath them in the pit.
They have dragons aplenty.
What they are lacking in is riders.
As Rhaenyra looks at the long scrolls of Targaryen records, she ponders the idea.
Its a mad thought, she says.
But it might be the only option they have.
