‘House of the Dragon’: Fans Honor Major Character’s Death

On the eighth episode of House of the Dragon, there is yet another time jump. We see a pregnant Rhaenyra. She and Alicent's children have been replaced with older actors and King Viserys' health has visibly deteriorated due to his leprosy. Rhaenyra and Daemon return to King's Landing with their family after being away for years due to the news of Corlys Velaryon dying of injuries in a battle. Rhaenyra makes a plea to her father while he is on his deathbed, "I thought I wanted it. But the burden is a heavy one. It's too heavy." As Viserys replies, "My only child," Rhaenyra then asks for his support: "If you wish me to bear it, then defend me. And my children."

Viserys makes a shocking appearance at the petition to deny Corlys' brother Vaemond's claim to the throne to take over Driftmark, but Vaemond hurls accusations that Rhaenyra's sons Lucerys and Jace have no true claim (Lucerys was already intended to claim the seat of Driftmark, blessed by Corlys). What's to follow is a beheading and a Last Supper. Tensions are still high at dinner in the house Targaryen, but Viserys still only wants his loved ones to get along. He tells his family at dinner, "It both gladdens my heart and fills me with sorrow to see these faces around the table. The faces most dear to me in all the world... yet grown so distant from each other in the years past."

House of the Dragon airs Sunday nights on HBO. Watch a preview for episode 9 below: