House of the Dragon

Glad news, Lord Ormund!

The war is ended, your allies have scattered,

and your nephews fled.

There is a new queen and she sits her father's throne.

We heard rumor of this.

Though on the road, rumors swarm like flies.

Well, the queen, in her wisdom, offered you clemency,

and your army with you.

Only bend the knee and swear your allegiance,

and you may return to Oldtown and live your lives in...

peace.

Have you any proof of your claim?

Or am I to trust in the reliability and rectitude of the Rogue Prince?

Trust me or don't. You will encounter the truth soon enough.

Your uncle Otto encountered it very recently...

and the Hightower guard soon after him.

And if I am inclined to fight?

That seems obvious enough.

No need to sully the pleasantness of this meeting.

Though I must say, I think Ulf there

would very much enjoy settling into your chambers in the High Tower.

Would you like to be Lord of Oldtown, Ulf?

I am left no choice.

For myself, I would resist.

But I have many other lives to consider.

And so, in the interest of peace...

I will submit.

Delightful.

I, Ormund Hightower,

promise to be faithful

to Rhaenyra Targaryen, the queen.

I pledge my fealty to her.

You have chosen wisely, if reluctantly, Lord Ormund.

Turn around now and lead your army home, and you will be spared.

Our campaign has ended.

We take the Roseroad homeward.

Ah!

I almost forgot.

Your ward...

Daeron Targaryen.

He'll be coming with me.

You would take him hostage?

It would be rather an oversight to allow

one of Prince Aegon's heirs to go prancing about the Reach

with his dragon, no less.

We will treat him kindly, as we would any son of Viserys.

As long as you behave yourself.

Be brave, young prince.

Well met, nephew.

Go home.

The air is thick with ghosts.

Not unhappy ones.

I see myself as a child coming to...

play him a tune I had learned.

He was strong then.

And my mother.

Lord Ormund surrendered.

We have your little prince.

Though I still say we should have incinerated them all.

I must justify my father's faith in me.

Rule as he would have wished.

At any rate, we must begin.

The sooner I'm formally crowned, the better.

Though the preparations are no small undertaking.

To house and feed all those who must attend, to...

organize tourneys.

The grand procession.

Ah.

Daeron Targaryen, Your Grace.

We've not met.

I'm your half-sister and our father's chosen heir.

You've flown in service of your brother, the usurper.

What have you to say?

Open your mouth and speak to your queen.

You are a prisoner in this house.

Your treatment will depend on your conduct and your pliancy.

Look at me.

I wish to know what Ormund knew of the conspiracy to deny me my throne.

What of Aemond, then? Or Aegon?

What do you know of their movements?

Oh, as you wish.

Confine him to a chamber.

Coming down!

He's younger than I imagined.

He's a claimant to the throne.

You're going to have to kill him.

...was Tyland Lannister.

He did not confide in me.

I know only that he spoke of dividing the gold

and sending it out of the city for safekeeping.

- What gold? - It appears, Your Grace,

the crown's wealth has been taken.

- Taken? - Your treasury is depleted.

There is enough to see your court through a week or two.

A little longer if you bring back the gold from Dragonstone.

But to administer all of the Seven Kingdoms...

No. What of my coronation?

Oh, you must know something.

They told me little.

Perhaps because they trusted me little.

Do you trust his word, Lord Corlys?

I do not believe he knows where the gold is.

And I fancy I can sniff a lie.

No one asked you.

It is the duty of my Mistress of Whisperers to advise me.

After the Gullet, we must presume Ser Tyland dead.

But he must have told someone.

If he did, it would have been Lord Jasper.

"Ironrod."

Oh, dear.

Our circumstances are...

unfortunate.

But this remains, I must have a coronation.

Aegon's was done in haste.

Mine must be proper and leave the realm in no doubt

as to who now rules them.

It seems to me, my queen,

that to go to such expense while your people still suffer

might set a bitter taste in their mouths.

It is not mere vanity. It is a matter of legitimacy.

The Triarchy navy is finished,

but the pirates who survived have come ashore.

They are sacking villages.

They are taking women and demanding ransoms none can pay.

And difficulties abound in the city, Your Grace.

It seems the granaries are near empty.

The fields lie fallow and the planting season is moons away.

If we could find some trade...

It will take time for the routes to be reestablished.

And we have not enough ships now

to ensure the safety of goods on the high sea.

Well, in the meantime, we must find grain for bread

or have the people go hungry again.

It is a never-ending inconvenience, this insistence of the people being fed.

And yet, a hungry population is a dangerous one,

as the queen and I well know.

How much time will we squander here on trifles?

The war is won.

Send another raven to Casterly Rock.

If Tyland secreted gold there, we will have an answer from Lady Johanna.

Send to all the great houses. In fact, tell them...

their queen demands tribute.

Remind them who now commands the realm.

Will you not bring your small council here from Dragonstone?

There is much to take in hand.

They betrayed me in their silence, if not in deed.

I have done with them.

Where is Aemond?

He burned Daemon's garrison at Harrenhal

and slew the castellan and his sons.

And then, he disappeared.

It is days now since Vhagar was last seen.

There was a woman there, a maester of sorts.

I have not heard tell of her.

Aemond would not dare challenge you here.

No. But I want him found.

And Sheepstealer as well.

They are the dangers. Let Baela fly as a scout.

Start at Harrenhal and report when there are sightings.

I will, in addition, offer a bounty for the capture of their riders.

We don't have a bounty, it seems.

We will find one.

Ah, better yet,

to the slayer of Aemond One-Eye, I will grant Harrenhal itself.

I have no need of it now. All the Riverlands are mine.

Ah, yes, Aegon hanged all the rat catchers.

As honored as I am to act as your protector,

my place is with my men in the city.

I would counsel you to appoint a Queensguard as a matter of urgency.

Daemon will be useful in identifying candidates.

- We'll put the matter to him. - My queen, a moment.

It seems rats have eaten through a large store of candles.

Tallow is short, we must requisition a new supply

or sit in darkness.

- Then requisition it. - Of course. There is none yet

- to control the royal purse. - Begging your pardon, good ser.

In the matter of the bed chamber,

- I didn't know who to ask. - It's a matter for later.

Hightower bannerman control the Arbor.

- My lady, the price of good wine... - Move back!

...has tripled, if not more.

Enough, enough!

There is time aplenty in the coming days to discuss the royal tipple.

Where is my gold?

- Your gold? - The crown's gold, the treasury.

- Oh, you cannot claim ignorance. - I'm of no help to you.

It was the Master of Coin who removed it.

And the queen knew nothing of it?

They hated me from the start.

Resented my influence, my mere presence.

My own father kept their plot from me.

Is that so?

I would refer you to the man himself, but you slew him without ceremony.

Did it make you feel better?

About losing Jace?

I would rather have slain Aegon as your mother and I had agreed.

But here we are. He is gone.

And I cannot believe you had no hand in that either.

He did that to himself.

Aegon was fled when I returned from Dragonstone.