House of the Dragon' Episode 9

Much masonry was smashed and many smallfolk flattened, but it was a horribly predictable penultimate episode … aside from the foot fetish.

A marble in the brain, a rope round the neck, a spot of swordplay between two mismatched members of the Kingsguard and a gang of pox-ridden kids going at one another in a scene that even the director, Clare Kilner, clearly felt was too horrible to depict in any great detail. The visual parallels between this public crowning and a certain notorious beheading two centuries later are impossible to ignore, with Rhaenys in place of the terrified Arya Stark, being propelled through the streets and up the steps of the Sept. Turns out she’s a secret activist, using her woke mob of sex workers and palace informants to improve the lot of the little people by banning the practice of kid-fighting that we only just found out about. Still, the moral tug-of-war between the twins is nicely handled, Aemond’s potentially regicidal loathing of his unfit brother gets thrown into sharp relief, and it’s good to finally get a sense of what Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), AKA the White Worm, is up to. As the ancient rituals are carried out, up to the throne ascends the monarch’s first-born son, an heir whose fitness for the role many hold in doubt, and who must win the respect of his people if he is to ensure the survival of his line. Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) was last seen bunking off into King’s Landing to indulge his filthy whims, so it’s up to the man-bun twins Ser Erryk (Elliott Tittensor) and Ser Arryk (Luke Tittensor) to track him down and drag him back to face Ser Otto, who wants to force the boy to issue the order for Rhaenyra’s head.