But he has never been forced to choose between his wife and his daughter before. If and when he finds Rhaena, will he take her head, as Rhaenyra demands — or will he commit treason against the woman he loves, in whose hands he believes lies the destiny of the world?
For now, another mission takes precedence. With Ulf and Hugh flanking them on their dragons, Daemon and Rhaenyra soar into the Red Keep, the palace of Westeros’s ruling family. Despite the skepticism of her cowardly small council, the Black Queen was right to trust in her Green friend. Alicent and her daughter, Queen Helaena, successfully stand down almost all of their defenses, including the City Watch and the grapnel teams on the parapets of the city.
The guards within the Red Keep provide some resistance, having been tipped off to Alicent’s maneuvering. But they are no match for Daemon’s sword or for his loyalists among the city’s police force, still known as the Gold Cloaks for the showy raiments Daemon granted them 20 years earlier.
Before long, nothing stands between Rhaenyra and the Iron Throne except the surrender and execution of her rival claimant, Aegon. That vicious little creep, however, is far away. He escapes an ambush by Triarchy pirates with his minder, Larys Strong, in tow, heading for a garrison established by the king’s hand, Ser Criston Cole.
Garrisons, however, do not fare well in this episode. Finally taking his mother’s advice — and thus making Rhaenyra’s seizure of King’s Landing possible — Aemond flies off on Vhagar to confront Prince Daemon at Harrenhal. They’re too late to do that, but they’ve got plenty of time to rally the spirits of Ser Criston and his forces, then casually roast the entire contingent Daemon left behind. Aemond slays by hand poor old Ser Symon Strong (Simon Russell Beale), the stronghold’s castellan, along with his two sons. You can trust Targaryens no more than frogs can trust scorpions.
But the wound the one-eyed prince incurs in the fracas brings him down … at the feet of none other than Black Alys, to whom he appeals for help. With his long blonde hair hanging from his helmet and his sapphire eye glowing blue, I’ve got a feeling he’ll make it through, if only because you can’t keep a good villain down. And the prospect of a relationship between him and Alys, another certified weirdo, really fires the imagination.
