House Of The Dragon Season 1 Episode 9 Review: The King Is Dead, Long Live The...

In episode 8 of House of the Dragon, we saw Vicerys life disintegrating before our very eyes. The House of the Dragon episode 9 - The Green Council - is a direct continuation with no time leaps. Queen Alicent claims the King's dying words involved the wish for his firstborn son Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) to be his heir apparent - going against his own 20-year-old declaration of Princess Rhaenyra as the next in line.

Of course, no one else heard him make this new declaration but Otto Hightower takes command of the situation and demands allegiance for the new to-be-crowned King. Palace intrigue is at its best with the power equations shifting minute-by-minute. With so many claimants for the throne, the uneasy cold war between his potential heirs looks likely to get murky and brutal in a jiffy.

The dark haze over the Tagaryens and their Lieges hasn't lifted. This episode opens with arresting images of the Red Keep enveloped in darkness and fog while the Iron Throne sits empty in an ominously silent throne room.

Power equations keep shifting with every turn of the plot and this time it's bound to be doubly brutal and unforgiving. As the King is wrapped in swathing cloth and prepared for a royal burial, lamps are lit to signify mourning, and the Queen and the Green council meet secretly to seek allegiance for the brand-new heir. And all those who do not bow down and kneel, can hope to die!

But confining Rhaenys (Eve Best) to her rooms until she swears fealty may not have been a wise option. Otto is also seen arguing in favour of Rhaenyra, Daemon and that branch of heirs' death.

The climax involving Rhaenys' escape is pretty much explosive. There's no war yet but the seeds have been sown and we can surely expect quite a few direct and brutal confrontations in the season finale.

There's fire and blood aplenty though, and many innocents lose their lives along the way, while the evil schemers continue to prey on their victims. This is a thrill-every-minute episode and the involvement is total.

Olivia Cooke as Queen Alicent and Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower are the featured players in this episode and they do a wonderful job bringing confidence, reasoning, and conviction to their individual objectives.

The saturated camerawork continues to stay true and the ingratiating theme music has by now done its trick of holding fort in our minds.

With this episode of House of the Dragon, it has most certainly come into its own!