House Of The Dragon Ep 9 Continues 1 Big GOT Tradition (& Breaks Another)

Warning! SPOILERS for House of the Dragon episode 9.

House of the Dragon episode 9 carried on one distinctive Game of Thrones tradition, and yet another more obvious structural trend was neglected at the same time. House of the Dragon’s penultimate episode focused on the “Greens” side of the Targaryen civil war after the long-awaited death of King Viserys at the end of episode 8. Alicent Hightower woefully misinterpreted the King’s final words in such a way that both she and her father worked tirelessly to ensure her son Aegon would be the one to ascend to the throne, leaving Rhaenyra in the dark. This resulted in the events of House of the Dragon season 1, episode 9 all taking place in King’s Landing, which follows a familiar trend from Game of Thrones.

House of the Dragon episode 9, “The Green Council,” has its events restricted to one location – this is a rather familiar turn of events for those accustomed to Game of Thrones’ storytelling, in which some of its penultimate episodes were also contained to one location to dig deeper into the conflicts taking place at that time. One such instance is the Game of Thrones season 2 episode “Blackwater,” which was also restricted to King’s Landing when the Lannisters were forced to fight for their lives against Stannis Baratheon, or the Game of Thrones season 4 episode “The Watchers on the Wall,” as members of the Night's Watch were required to defend their fortress from the advancing Wildling horde. These episodes excelled at paying off weeks of narrative build-up, and the decision to neglect certain characters, as House of the Dragon similarly did in episode 9 with Rhaenyra and Daemon, ensured that these pivotal moments would be given the attention they deserved. In any case, most of Game of Thrones’ penultimate episodes shocked audiences, and there was plenty of speculation that House of the Dragon would follow the same trend.

House Of The Dragon Episode 9 Breaks A GOT Tradition

House of the dragon rhaenyra game of thrones timeline ned stark

While House of the Dragon’s ninth episode being restricted to a particular location follows one Game of Thrones trend, another more familiar tradition was broken. Some of Game of Thrones’ most memorable episodes, such as season 1’s penultimate episode “Baelor,” season 3’s “The Red Wedding”, and season 6’s “Battle of the Bastards” were all crucial, often shocking audiences with their narrative twists, violence, and major character deaths. As a result of this well-known Game of Thrones tradition, conjecture abounded as to what House of the Dragon episode 9 might bring to the table. However, while it was certainly an important episode, as the Dance of the Dragons has now officially been initiated with Aegon’s hurried ascension to the Iron Throne, nothing truly game-changing or shocking occurred. This is in stark contrast to most of Game of Thrones’ ninth episodes.

How House Of The Dragon's Ep 9 Compares To Game Of Thrones' Biggest Episodes

King Aegon II Targaryen House Of The Dragon Episode 9

Aegon’s ascension to the Iron Throne in House of the Dragon episode 9 was predictable when Viserys finally died in episode 8. And, while Ser Criston Cole suddenly killing a member of the King’s small council was certainly surprising, their death doesn’t affect the narrative nearly as much as the execution of Ned Stark did in Game of Thrones season 1, for example. However, both Ned’s death and Aegon’s ascension changed the course of their respective shows’ stories forever, irreversibly altering the lives of their main characters. House of the Dragon episode 9 might not have been as outrageous or awe-inducing as some of Game of Thrones’ penultimate episodes, but it still marked an important milestone in the timeline – just in a more subtle way.

House of the Dragon episode 9’s plot is certainly important to the overarching arc of the Targaryen's Dance of the Dragons, but in comparison to Game of Thrones’ previous efforts, it falls a little flat. However, House of the Dragon is its own show, with its own narrative to tell, and there is no need to follow the same structure as its predecessor did, even if Game of Thrones used these structural traditions to great effect. House of the Dragon will surely create its own seasonal traditions as it continues to develop, and the finale might yet contain just what audiences were hoping for from House of the Dragon episode 9.

New episodes on House of the Dragon release Sundays on HBO & HBO Max.

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