The internet is a battleground full of spoiler traps. Especially on Monday mornings when social media feeds are flooded with English-language reactions to the latest House of the Dragon episode. The morning after episode 9 was no different and the internet seemed to have one main theme: the feet of Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke).
I had no choice but to open my WOW app and watch Der Grüne Rat before the start of my workday. The only way to disable the spoiler kick mines. After the end of the episode, however, I had to realize: House of the Dragon might establish the first foot fetishist in Westeros. The most fucked up situation in the entire Game of Thrones history but it’s a different one and it’s being swept completely under the carpet. What the hell?
Following spoiler for all previous episodes of House of the Dragon and individual storylines from Game of Thrones.
In House of the Dragon, children fight to the death – again
In a previous episode, House of the Dragon showed that the series isn’t afraid to show children fighting each other to the death. However, the loss of Aemond’s eye is nothing compared to episode 9, because: In “The Green Council” we find out: There are organized fights in the slums of King’s Landing, where Orphans with sharpened teeth and fingernails fight each other to the death. Egged on by hooting adults, including Aegon Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) again and again.
Alicent’s eldest son, so far mostly by semi-public masturbation, alcoholism and rape noticed, is crowned king in episode 9. But first he has to be found. Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) dispatches two representatives of the Kingswatch, Arryk and Erryk Cargyll. And they end up looking for the heir to the throne in the middle of the children’s ring – where an illegitimate son of Aegon also seems to be.
Maybe I’m a bit sensitive when it comes to death struggles between children, but how can it be that not every single person after the episode is over the incredible cruelty of these events want to talk? How can Larys Strong (Matthew Needham), who appears to have a foot fetish, be the more scandalous subject? And why even the show itself seems to pretend that this is just another fucked up area of interest of Aegon Targaryen and not the most disturbing aspect of the entire Game of Thrones universe?
The children’s fight club in King’s Landing is not the Westeros equivalent of the dark web
House of the Dragon – S01E09 Trailer (English) HD
Sure, one of the AErryk brothers, who not only have almost the same name but also look exactly the same, seems a bit shocked. When Otto finally meets up with Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) aka the White Worm to learn Aegon’s whereabouts, it turns out: The children’s fight club is by no means a hidden underground thing, the king’s landing variant of the dark web. According to Mysaria, the crown, or at least those around the king, seems to have known exactly what was happening in Fleabottom. They just don’t care.
On the one hand, the scene and Otto’s disinterested reaction make it clear what a monster the King’s Hand (has become) is. This has narrative relevance. On the other House of the Dragon demands something almost impossible from us as viewers: Then going back to concentrating on the battle for the Iron Throne and the back and forth between Alicent and Otto, despite the fact that children are killing each other with – I like to repeat that again – sharp and sharply filed teeth and fingernails. For the amusement of the people.
Why the Game of Thrones spin-off is harming itself with these scenes
Fucked up has always been a part of George RR Martin’s world. Dead soldiers being reanimated as zombie warriors, the skinning of enemies, Ramsay Bolton chasing helpless women through the forest with trained bloodhounds – all disturbing. But in Game of Thrones, these things had narrative weight. Episode 9, on the other hand, shows the absolute moral abyss, mumbles lost in thought “OK, that was awful. Anyway, back to the castle!” and expects the audience to just go along with it. The series doesn’t have time for real character work or lasting reappraisal of what’s shown.
But where I was still able to process the huge leaps in time somehow, I can’t do this here. As foot meme after foot meme pops up on the internet for the current episode, my head is still in Fleabottom. Both desperate children with dead eyes. I need an exploration of the issue, another scene of dialogue, something that illustrates the gravity of this situation. As much as I like the series so far: after episode 9, I’m no longer primarily interested in problems within the family. How could I, while only a few meters away as the crow flies, things happen that would fill entire seasons in True Detective.
Forget Team Green or Team Black. Whoever mounts his kite and sets the kids fight club officials on fire is my king or queen. Dracarys!
More information about the current House of the Dragon episode in the podcast
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In our House of the Dragon spoiler talk, Lisa Ludwig and Matthias Hopf discuss Episode 9: The Green Council. What happens next in King’s Landing after the death of Viserys, is Aegon really crowned as the new king, does Rhaenys have one of the most epic appearances of the series so far and how many disturbing scenes fit in an hour of television? Find out all this and much more in the new stream rummage episode.
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How did you like episode 9 of House of the Dragon?