House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 5: The Moment Alicent *Knows* What Happened to Aegon

Oh Alicent, with sons like those, who needs enemies based on Dragonstone?

The fallout from The events of The Dragon House Season 2Episode 4 is the bulk of Episode 5, following the near-fatal unsaddling of Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) by his brother Prince Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) on dragonback.

Now we know Aegon is not quite deadjust extremely injured, enough to require the installation of Aemond as Prince Regent. But Did the prince intend to kill his own brother?? What exactly happened at Rook’s Rest is at the forefront of their mother Alicent’s (Olivia Cooke) mind in Episode 5, and there’s a particular moment in Episode 5, “Regent,” where We know She knows.

What happened at the end of episode 4?

At the brutal Battle of Rook’s Rest, Aegon and his dragon Sunfyre face off against Rhaenys (Eve Best) riding Meleys, and the drunken king gets his ass served by the Queen Who Never Was. Aemond intercepts them on the colossal Vhagar. The problem is that when he gives Vhagar the order to “dracarys” the two dragons fighting, he does so knowing full well that Aegon is also in the line of fire.

While we can get rid of it Vhagar Bites Lucerys in Season 1 Finale as a rogue dragon, this time it’s Aemond’s direct order.

When we see Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) staggering away at the end of the battle, once Aegon and Sunfyre have fallen, he goes looking for the king and finds Aemond with him, holding his sword aloft, perhaps ready to kill his brother. When Aemond hears Cole calling out to him as if to stop him, he sheathes the blade and picks up Aegon’s Valyrian steel dagger, which previously belonged to King Viserys (Paddy Considine). Nothing is said, Cole looks devastated, and Aemond leaves.

How does Alicent know what Aemond did?

At the beginning of Episode 5, when Aegon’s (still alive!) body is semi-secretly brought to the streets of King’s Landing, following Meleys’s unceremoniously severed head, Alicent and Aemond watch from the walls of the Red Keep. Alicent glances anxiously at Aemond’s belt, where Aegon’s dagger sits prominently. Alicent knows this dagger well—it’s the same one she came to Rhaenyra with in season 1, episode 7, when she was manipulating a continent over its heirs. It is also the same one that Viserys had cherished, inscribed with The Prophecy of King Aegon I’s “Song of Ice and Fire” who speaks of the “Prince who was promised”.

Oh, “someone” has to rule, huh?
Credits: Ollie Upton / HBO

Oh, Alicent knows what Aemond is capable of after Lucerys, and she has seen Aegon’s blatant bullying of Aemond over the years. But would he actually bring down his own brother, his son? Nothing is said between them, but Aemond hasn’t exactly made his desire for the Iron Throne a secret.Later, standing over Aegon’s bed as he is being tended to, Aemond knowingly states to a nearby Alicent, “Someone will have to rule in his stead.”

Later, Alicent tries to get Cole, her former lover, to tell the truth about Aemond’s role, but he lies to her face. Then, at the small council, Alicent is publicly betrayed by Cole, who supports Aemond’s claim to the title of Prince Regent while Aegon is incapacitated. It seems that Cole saw the opportunity to jump ship as soon as he realized he had failed to protect the king.

You didn’t see what happened in the gigantic dragon battle in the sky, did you?
Credits: Ollie Upton / HBO

Between his constant destabilization of the small council, this awareness of the true nature of his son and the truth bombs dropped by Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) in episode 3 during their furtive meetingAlicent must now know that she should hurry up and get out of there and join the Dragonstone crew.

Heleana also knows what’s going on

Nothing escapes Heleana (Phia Saban), who also immediately understands her brother’s responsibility for her husband’s situation. At the end of the episode, Aemond stands discreetly before the Iron Throne, late at night, admiring his many swords, when the queen appears behind him.

“Was it worth the price?” Heleana asks her brother. Oh, she knows that too.

However, Aemond’s time as Prince Regent may not be as secure as he thought. In the episode’s final moments, we hear Aegon’s raspy voice utter the word “mummy” as Alicent leaves her chamber, though she doesn’t hear him. If Aegon can speak, there’s another, particularly treacherous word he’ll want to bring back to the Small Council, the one Aemond ordered him to utter before diving into the forest below: “Dracarys.”

New episodes of The Dragon House airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.