(EPIC THEME PLAYING)

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

BERIC DONDARRION: …the wall Blackhaven

are unscalable vassalstone.

And the castle is surrounded

by a deep, dry moat.

It is well fortified against

any future Dornish incursions.

(CHUCKLES)

And though my seat

may be lesser in size,

it is situated most pleasingly.

(CLEARS THROAT)

(GROANS)

(POURING WINE)

(LIGHT MUSIC PLAYING)

(THUNDER RUMBLING)

The view across

the Marches is inspiring,

so said Queen Alysanne herself

when she honored

my father and I…

And tell me, Lord Dondarrion,

did you think my great-grandmother

as beautiful as they say?

This was half

a century ago, Princess.

Yes, it was.

(CROWD LAUGHING)

That was unseemly, Princess.

The man is older than my father.

It’s unseemly for him

to put himself forward

as a contender for my hand.

Next!

(THUNDER RUMBLING, WIND GUSTING)

And now a child.

BOREMUND BARATHEON: The

Black woods are an ancient house

with a formidable army.

In the River lands,

they once ruled as kings.

The blood of the First Men

still flows in their veins.

Go on.

My Princess…

ours is a bond that

has long endured,

since Lucas Black wood,

the grand sire of my grand sire,

aided the Dragon

in his war of conquest…

Aye, the Black woods truly

turned the tide on that one.

(CROWD LAUGHING)

Coursed with the blood

of the First Men,

our history is deeply

rooted in this land,

which your house

has made its home.

If chosen as your match,

Princess…

your days shall be easy

and nights safe

under my protection.

“Protection”? The Princess

has a dragon, you dumb cunt.

(CROWD LAUGHING)

Bracken!

I could learn to like that one.

Ugh, let us have the next

so we may go to supper.

- Craven.

- CROWD: Ooh!

We’re leaving.

- Sheathe that steel, you twats!

- (GRUNTING)

Send word to the harbor and

have Captain Oswin ready the ship.

Princess, we’re due in Bitter

bridge in three days’ time.

I would happily row myself

back to King’s Landing

if it brought an end

to this ridiculous pageant.

- (BRACKEN GRUNTS)

- (CROWD GASPS)

Don’t look, Princess.

♪ ♪

We should make landfall

inside the hour, Princess.

How do you think

he will take it?

Do you speak of how you

rejected every suitor

His Grace put before you, or

how you abruptly ended the tour

with two months remaining?

(DRAGON SHRIEKING)

(RUMBLING)

(SHOUTS) Take cover!

(SHRIEKS)

(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)

Princess!

You all right? Are you?

- Fetch the maester!

- I’m fine.

(ROARS)

♪ ♪

(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

WOMAN: (WHISPERS)

It’s Daemon.

♪ ♪

(FOOTSTEPS APPROACH)

(DOOR OPENS)

♪ ♪

(SWORDS UNSHEATHING)

- Add it to the chair.

- (CLATTERS)

(CROWD MURMURING)

You wear a crown.

Do you also

call yourself “King”?

Once we smashed the Triarchy,

they named me

“King of the Narrow Sea.”

(CROWD MURMURING)

But I know that there is only

one true king, Your Grace.

♪ ♪

My crown and the

Step stones… are yours.

Well, where is Lord Corlys?

He sailed home to Driftmark.

- Who holds the Step stones?

- DAEMON: The tides…

the crabs, and 2,000

dead Triarchy corsairs,

staked to the sand to warn

those who might follow.

♪ ♪

Rise.

♪ ♪

(CROWD APPLAUDS)

(VICTORIOUS MUSIC PLAYING)

The realm owes you

a great debt, brother.

Come.

This is our chance…

Daemon, he would

venture off, abroad,

winning tournaments…

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

I will not revisit this debate.

You were always

mother’s favorite.

No, it’s no great mystery.

You were.

Our mother, she had no regard

for custom or tradition, rules.

And I, sadly,

was no great warrior.

Congratulations on your victory.

Thank you, Princess.

Perhaps Prince Daemon would

care for a tour of the gallery?

He hasn’t yet seen

the new tapestries

- gifted to you by Norvos and Qohor.

- Oh, oh.

Would you like to see

the tapestries? (LAUGHS)

(SNORTS, LAUGHS)

He has no interest

in such things.

I’d like to see them.

Oh, well, then you should

not deprive yourself.

I shall enjoy them alone.

KING VISERYS: More wine.

As I said,

you were the favorite.

No, you were.

You were. I insist.

(KING VISERYS LAUGHS)

- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)

- (LAUGHTER CONTINUES)

I surmise the tour

did not go well.

I endured it

for as long as I could.

To have every

young knight and lord

in the Seven Kingdoms

fawning over you…

What misery.

It is rare for girls in this realm to

get a choice between two suitors,

no less two score of them.

Those men and boys

don’t fawn over me.

They only want my name and

my Valyrian blood for their offspring.

I think it’s rather romantic.

How romantic it must be

to get imprisoned in a castle

and made to squeeze out heirs.

(SORROWFUL MUSIC PLAYING)

(SOFTLY) Sorry.

How angry is he?

The King went through great

effort to arrange your tour.

He is… frustrated.

But I am glad you are home.

♪ ♪

I find I have…

few friends lately.

I like to believe I’m still

the Lady Alicent, but…

all anyone sees when they

look at me now is “The Queen.”

I’ve missed you, too.

♪ ♪

(RHAENYRA SPEAKING

HIGH VALYRIAN)

So…

what do you want?

Only the comforts of home.

I had not thought you particularly

comfortable in this home.

Though I do suppose you seem

changed by your adventures.

More mature, perhaps.

You’ve matured yourself

these last four years, Princess.

You’ll get used

to the attention.

The attention I can endure.

It’s the rest

I could do without.

My father seems

content to sell me off

to whichever lord

has the biggest castle.

There are worse things

to be sold for.

(SPEAKING HIGH VALYRIAN)

(DAEMON LAUGHS)

Oh… (CHUCKLES)

Such a lonely prospect.

(BELL TOLLING)

TYLAND LANNISTER: The Step stones

were meant to be won for the realm,

but over the past few days,

it seems we have traded

a crabfeeder for a sea snake.

This is clearly a rebuke for passing

over Lady Laena for Queen Alicent.

Years have passed since

the business with his daughter.

Certainly, he cannot

still be wroth?

The Sea Snake is an over-proud

man, to be sure, Your Grace.

That pride has been injured.

Perhaps we can salve the wound?

I fear Lord Corlys’s pride

is the least of our worries.

I don’t wish to cause

you further distress,

Your Grace, but my brother has

sent disturbing word from Old town.

Lord Corlys is said to have

engaged in negotiations

with the Sea lord of Braavos.

He plans to wed his daughter

Laena to the Sealord’s son.

If House Velaryon

entered into an alliance

with the Free Cities…

then…

we would have to seek

our own marriage pact.

(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING)

(BABY WAILING)

(WAILING CONTINUES)

- Good night, Ser Criston.

- Sleep well, Princess.

(EXHALES)

(SNIFFS)

(UNEASY MUSIC PLAYING)

Whoa!

♪ ♪

(BREATHING HEAVILY)

♪ ♪

RHAENYRA: Where are we going?

(PEOPLE SCREAMING)

(LAUGHS)

♪ ♪

(MOANING)

- DRUNKARD: Fuck off, boy.

- (RHAENYRA GASPS)

He called me boy.

(LAUGHTER)

♪ ♪

(COUGHS)

Do you wish to know

your death, child?

(KING VISERYS BREATHING HEAVILY)

Let me take that.

Leave us, all of you.

You have a far kinder

touch than they do.

Thank you, husband.

PLAYER: And now we come to

the matter of the great Iron Chair…

and whose bum it might bear.

Our good King…

names his daughter,

a girl, his heir.

(CROWD JEERING, BOOING)

But then to him, a babe is born.

(GRUNTING)

(GROANING)

- A son!

- (GASPS)

(CROWD CHEERING) - To which

heir might the chair bear?

Who will it be?

The brother?

The daughter?

Or the little

princeling of three?

(LAUGHTER)

(CRYING)

Rhaenyra…

the Realm’s Delight,

a girl so young and so slight…

loved by all of her people,

but would she make

a powerful queen,

- or would she be feeble?

- CROWD: Feeble!

PLAYER: Though Aegon, the babe Prince,

might long for a claim,

he has two things

Rhaenyra cannot:

A conqueror’s name…

and a cock.

(CROWD CHEERING)

Lies, slander!

Boo!

Jest if you will,

but many of the smallfolk

are like to believe

that, as a male,

Aegon should be the heir.

Mm. Their wants

are of no consequence.

- (DAEMON LAUGHS)

- (CROWD CHEERING, WHISTLING)

They’re of great consequence

if you expect

to rule them one day.

For one night, I wish to be free

of the burdens

of my inheritance.

(FLAME WHOOSHES)

Four coppers, street rat.

In King’s Landing,

we pay for our pleasures.

- DAEMON: Hey!

- Stop! Boy!

DAEMON: Wait, I’ll find him.

(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING)

(BREATHING HEAVILY)

(RHAENYRA GRUNTS) - And who

might you be running from, now?

Ser Harwin.

Princess.

- (GRUMBLES)

- Don’t.

You take care, boy.

Next time,

you might not be so lucky.

Enjoyed that, did you?

- Who knows when I’ll next taste freedom?

- (DAEMON LAUGHING)

(KNOCKS ON DOOR)

- Come.

- (DOOR OPENS)

Pardon me, Your Grace.

The King has requested

your presence.

The hour is quite late.

Yes, Your Grace.

(DRUMS PLAYING)

(PEOPLE LAUGHING)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(WOMAN SHRIEKS)

(LAUGHTER)

(KING VISERYS BREATHING HEAVILY)

(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(HEAVY BREATHING, MOANING)

(WOMAN MOANING)

♪ ♪

RHAENYRA: What is this place?

DAEMON: It’s where people

come to take what they want.

(MOANING CONTINUES)

♪ ♪

Fucking is a pleasure, you see.

For the woman as it is the man.

♪ ♪

(KING VISERYS BREATHING HEAVILY)

A marriage is a duty…

Yes.

But that doesn’t stop us

from doing what we want.

From fucking who we want.

♪ ♪

(BREATHING HEAVILY)

(SOFT MOANING)

♪ ♪

Daemon?

♪ ♪

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(DOG BARKS, HOWLS)

(FOOTSTEPS APPROACH)

Princess?

Princess, are you, are you hurt?

- I-I should alert the Lord Commander.

- No.

- My helmet.

- (RHAENYRA CHUCKLING)

(SER CRISTON SIGHS)

You finished?

Thank you.

(CLATTERS)

Stop.

(CLATTERS)

(CLATTERS)

(LIGHT MUSIC PLAYING)

♪ ♪

(GIGGLES)

♪ ♪

(BREATHING HEAVILY)

(DOG BARKING)

Apologies for

the late hour, my Lord.

- What is it?

- A messenger brings word from the White Worm.

(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING)

(BIRDS CAWING)

♪ ♪

(CLANKING)

DAEMON: Am I your prisoner?

- As I was once yours?

- (DAEMON CHUCKLES)

- (BELL TOLLING)

- (BIRDS CAWING)

I’m your protector,

lucky for you.

This will cut the fog.

I don’t need protection

from a common whore.

I am not so common.

A not-so-common whore then.

I’ve left that life behind.

I learned that skin-trade

could only take me

so far in this life.

You never were one to stay idle.

Hard lessons are not

welcomed but suffered.

DAEMON: Mysar…

Mysar…

MYSARIA: You can pay for

the room on your way out.

♪ ♪

(INHALES, EXHALES)

(KNOCKS AT DOOR)

Come.

What is it?

I apologize for the

early hour, Your Grace.

I have, um…

discomforting news.

I thought it best

shared discreetly

before the council convenes.

(SIGHS) The Sea Snake.

I’m afraid it concerns

the Princess, my King.

Has she been harmed?

It is no easy thing

to tell a father of

his daughter’s exploits.

I had considered

saying nothing, but…

What has she done?

The Princess was spied

last evening…

beyond the walls of the Keep…

in a pleasure house.

What of it?

She was carrying on

with her uncle.

They were engaged in behaviors

unbecoming of a maiden…

of a Princess.

What behaviors?

Well, must I say it, Your Grace?

VISERYS: You enter my bedchamber,

accusing my daughter

of something.

Now speak it… plainly.

Daemon and Rhaenyra

were seen together…

in the bowels of a pleasure den.

(SIGHS)

Coupling.

(CHUCKLES)

This is a lie.

You have been lied to.

I only wish that

were true, Your Grace.

Who is responsible

for this gossip?

Have this rumormonger

brought before me at once.

And I will take their eyes.

As your Hand, I must maintain

trusted sources of information.

And this one, as yet,

has never led me astray.

And several of the servants

have now admitted to seeing her,

the Princess…

creeping through the gates

from King’s Landing,

disguised as a page

during the hour of the owl.

Are you so sick with ambition

that you would have

my daughter stalked?

Spied upon?

Awaiting your best chance

to destroy her reputation?

I have no such intent,

Your Grace.

You think yourself

a cunning man.

Your designs are obvious.

Do you wish to have your blood

on the Iron Throne so badly

that you are willing

to destroy mine own?

Just get out.

Leave me… at once.

♪ ♪

Your Grace.

(EXCLAIMS)

♪ ♪

(KNOCKS ON DOOR)

I’m dressed, An nor a. Come.

Princess.

Come.

Princess, I-I have

a message from the Queen.

QUEEN ALICENT: What happened last night?

What do you mean?

My father has made some

worrying allegations about you.

Were you with your uncle?

Oh, I… (CHUCKLES)

I haven’t seen him in years.

He took me into

the city for some fun.

Tell me the whole of it,

Rhaenyra.

Your father accused me

of something.

That I drank wine?

Left the castle after dark?

That you fucked Daemon

in a pleasure house.

This is a vile accusation.

Is it?

You Targaryens do

have queer customs.

- And Daemon certainly knows no limit.

- Alicent…

Your Grace, sister,

you must know I would,

I would never.

You cannot believe such gossip.

My father is no gossip.

Well, certainly

he’s been misled.

He could not have

witnessed such a thing.

- Why not?

- Because it did not happen.

- He was told that you…

- Told?

Who made these claims

to your father?

(SCOFFS)

I am the Princess.

To…

To question my virtue

is an act of treason.

- I do not know specifically…

- What, your father did not tell you?

He reported it to the King.

I overheard.

So you are accusing me

of slanders…

you overheard?

I only want to help you,

Rhaenyra.

(SIGHS) Okay, we…

we drank in a tavern.

Several… taverns.

It was getting late…

and I asked to go home.

But Daemon wished to continue.

As he was my escort,

I had no real choice.

“Continue”…

in a brothel?

He took me to a show. I…

I was only a spectator.

I didn’t do anything.

♪ ♪

And then Daemon sank

into his cups and, uh…

abandoned me for some whore.

I should’ve known better.

So you did not?

Must I truly refute that?

Daemon never touched me.

Okay, I swear this to you

upon the memory of my mother.

It was foolish of you to place

yourself in a position

where your virtue could

even come into question.

The King has strived

to find you a good match.

And so have I.

If that lord were to think

that you had been…

sullied…

- it would ruin everything.

- I know…

Your Grace.

I regret it.

- (BELL TOLLING)

- (FOOTSTEPS THUDDING)

♪ ♪

(GRUNTS) - The King demands

an audience, my Prince.

Take your fucking hands off me.

♪ ♪

(DAEMON GRUMBLING)

(GRUNTS)

(GROANING)

(DOOR OPENS)

(FOOTSTEPS APPROACH)

My daughter.

(GROANS)

- Won’t you even deny it?

- (DAEMON COUGHS)

DAEMON: I need to understand the charge

before I can attempt

to discredit it.

You defiled her.

(DAEMON GROANS)

KING VISERYS: Still, you say nothing.

DAEMON: Oh, what

does it matter, brother?

When we were Rhaenyra’s age,

we fucked our way through

most of the brothels

on the Street of Silk.

We were young men.

She is just a girl.

- Your niece!

- Rhaenyra’s a woman-grown.

Better her first experience

be with me than some whore.

You fucking…

You have ruined her!

What lord will wed her now?

In this condition?

Who gives a fuck

what some lord thinks?

You are the dragon.

Your word is truth and law.

I have spent a lifetime

defending you.

But your heart is even

blacker than I thought.

I should disinherit her

as I already did you

and be done with it.

Wed her to me.

When I offered up my crown,

you said I could have anything.

I want Rhaenyra.

I’ll take her as she is,

and wed her in the tradition

of our house.

(CHUCKLES)

You are already wed.

That didn’t stop Aegon the

Conqueror from taking a second wife.

You are no conqueror.

You are a plague…

sent to destroy me.

Give me Rhaenyra to take to wife

and we will return the House

of the Dragon to its proper glory.

KING VISERYS: Of course.

It’s not my daughter

you lust for, is it?

It’s my throne.

Go back to the Vale, Daemon,

to your lawful wife.

Strive to restore whatever

scrap of honor remains in you.

Or don’t.

Matters not to me.

As long as you are gone

from my sight for good.

♪ ♪

- (SHEATHES KNIFE)

- (EXHALES)

As you wish, brother.

(DOOR CLOSES)

(BIRDS CAWING)

Have you spoken to her?

No.

It is not in Rhaenyra’s

nature to be deceitful.

I cannot say the same

for your brother.

You believe he lied?

How often does he

speak the pure truth?

How does confessing

to such things serve him?

By reducing you.

(KING VISERYS SIGHS)

Whatever transpired,

Rhaenyra is not innocent.

Only because Daemon

tried to corrupt her.

Daemon and Rhaenyra

share the blood of the dragon.

They are restless and chaotic.

She swore to me that

she remains a maiden.

And I believe her.

♪ ♪

(SIGHS)

KING VISERYS: That dagger

once belonged

to Aegon the Conqueror.

It was Aenar’s before that.

And before that…

well, it is difficult to know.

Before Aegon’s death, the

last of the Valyrian pyromancers

hid his song in the steel.

RHAENYRA: “From my blood…”

“Come the Prince

That Was Promised…”

“And his will be

the Song of Ice and Fire.”

The responsibility

I have handed to you,

the burden of this knowledge…

it is larger than the throne,

the king.

It is larger than you

and your desires.

Jaehaerys would’ve

disinherited you.

For a lie?

You’ve yet to ask me for

the truth of what happened.

The truth does not

matter, Rhaenyra.

Only perception.

You have exposed yourself.

Now we must both

suffer the consequences.

Were I born a man,

I could bed whomever I wanted.

I could father a dozen bastards,

and no one in your court

would blink an eye.

You are right…

but you were born a woman.

So you’ll strip me of my titles

and name Aegon in my stead.

I would.

But it is mine to hold

the realm together,

not sow it

with further division.

Your courtship is at an end.

You will wed

Ser Laenor Velaryon,

and you will do so

without protest.

The son of the Sea Snake.

So I can be a remedy

for your political headaches.

You are my political headache!

Your wedding

to Ser Laenor Velaryon

will unite the two most

powerful houses in the realm.

With the combined strength of

our shared dragons and naval fleets,

no one would dare

to stand against us.

The House of the Dragon

will stand as one

for a further generation.

And what will you

do about the vulture

who perches upon your throne?

What vulture?

Your Hand.

Otto High tower has served

two kings loyally and faithfully.

He wants Aegon to be named heir.

And he will stop at nothing

to see it done.

Including spying on me

to bring about my ruin.

You speak of

The Conqueror’s vision

and the need for strength

and unity across the realm.

But how can that be accomplished

with your most trusted adviser

so self-interested?

Every lord and lady that calls

for an audience with me,

every man on my small council,

and all councils past,

has been self-interested.

- It is unavoidable.

- I disagree.

I will do my duty as heir

and wed Ser Laenor.

But you must first

do yours as king.

- (DOOR CLOSES)

- Your Grace.

Five days.

I’m sorry, Your Grace?

KING VISERYS: Though it was some time ago.

The details…

they fade in memory.

My father was a hale and

healthy warrior and dragon rider

at the peak of his abilities.

Jaehaerys named

a great royal hunt

to celebrate him being

named the Hand of the King.

Five days later my…

my father lay dead.

Tourneys last longer.

Baelon the Brave,

rider of Vhagar,

heir to the Iron Throne…

dead of a burst belly.

The gods have a dark wit.

It was a grim day.

- I recall it all too well.

- Yeah…

It was a good day for you.

Jaehaerys named you Hand

in Baelon’s stead.

That’s hardly how

I viewed it, Your Grace.

It was a duty.

You served my grand sire

nobly in his final days.

You are the man that

taught me how to be King.

- Oh, you honor me, Your Grace.

- (KING VISERYS SIGHS)

Just five days…

you went from being another man

in Jaehaerys’s court,

to the second most

powerful man in the realm.

I wonder…

how long did it take you to

choose yourself over your King?

Your Grace?

I will never recover

from Aemma’s death.

But Alicent…

she took me through

the worst of my grief.

She was a calculated

distraction.

I only now realize

how well-calculated it was.

That is an absurdity.

The Queen loves you…

as I know you love her.

Your interests no longer align

with those of the realm.

Your judgment has

been compromised.

A loyal Hand must tell his king

a discomforting truth

from time to time, Your Grace.

If he doesn’t…

he’s failed as a servant.

You were a faithful

servant, Otto.

The crown and the realm

both owe you a debt

that can never be repaid.

But I can no longer

trust your judgment.

(SORROWFUL MUSIC PLAYING)

(KNOCKS ON DOOR)

Come.

I hope you can forgive

the late hour, Princess.

I took great care

in its preparation.

If not brewed properly,

it can either prove ineffective

or else bear

- unpleasant…

- Brewed properly?

I’m sorry, what is that?

A tea, Princess.

From the King.

It will rid you of any

unwanted consequences.

♪ ♪

(DOOR OPENS)

(DOOR CLOSES)

♪ ♪

(VOCALIZING)