House of the Dragon Episode 2 ended with a twist. After practically everyone in the Red Keep told King Viserys that Lord Corlys’ daughter, Lady Laena, was the best match for him after the death of his beloved Queen Aemma, Viserys instead chose to marry Lady Alicent Hightower, his secret confidante and his daughter’s best friend. But will this marriage result in children, including an heir that could overtake Rhaenyra’s claim to the throne? Here’s everything you need to know about Alicent’s future family. Spoilers ahead.
Lady Alicent has apparently been groomed by her father, Hand of the King Otto Hightower, to be available should King Viserys need a new queen. When Viserys was at his lowest following Queen Aemma’s death, Hightower encouraged his daughter to spend time with him. Now, all that work is paying off. But will Rhaenyra’s closest friend and ally produce an heir that could beat her to the Iron Throne?
Well, yes. That’s the basis of the show. Within Fire & Blood, George R.R. Martin’s history of the Targaryen civil war, Lady Alicent has several children. The eldest is a boy, Aegon, a name that would later be secretly given to an infant Jon Snow. She also had three other children named Helaena, Aemond, and Daeron.
It’s Aegon who’s poised to become Rhaenyra’s adversary, as his claim to the throne would eventually kick off the civil war that’s set to become the dominant storyline in House of the Dragon. As of Episode 2, those events are far off. But the threat is looming, and it looks like Episode 3 will bring it to life.
In the sneak peek at Episode 3 we see Alicent with a little towheaded child, which means there’s a new Targaryen on the scene. Because House of the Dragon appears to be liberal with its use of time jumps, it probably won’t be long before we see this infant grow up and begin fighting for his supposed birthright.
However, it’s still unclear how these children will shape the story of House of the Dragon. Game of Thrones wasn’t afraid to streamline or otherwise change its source material, and House of the Dragon has already made some changes too, so it’s possible some of Alicent’s four children either won’t make it to the screen or be presented quite differently than they were on the page.
But it takes two to tango, especially with dragons. However Aegon is portrayed in House of the Dragon, his clash with Rhaenyra will go down in Westerosi history.
House of the Dragon is now streaming on HBO Max.
