House of the Dragon season 1 episode 8 review: He can keep his tongue

With the death of Corlys Velaryon, there’s a question of succession in House of the Dragon season 1, episode 8. Who is the Lord of Driftmark?

With another time jump, we get another fight for succession. This wasn’t about the Iron Throne, though. Instead, we learn that Corlys Velaryon has died from an infection, and there’s the question of who will become Lord of Driftmark.

Ser Vaemond Velaryon makes it very clear that he expects the title to be passed to him. He is the rightful male heir of his brother, but not everyone agrees with that. Rhaenyra believes it should be her eldest son. After all, he is the son of Laenor…or so she wants people to believe. We all know the truth.

It becomes something for Viserys to decide. The problem is Viserys is growing weaker and weaker. His illness has gotten to the point where one eye is just an empty socket and he looks more like a mixture of Dracula and Frankenstein’s Monster than human.

A question of succession in House of the Dragon

The succession takes up the majority of the episode. Of course, we see Viserys’s two families in the room together, and there is the mention of marriage, but this is setting up things for the final two episodes of House of the Dragon season 1. We just get to know that Rhaenyra’s eldest sons will marry Daemon’s twin daughters. That is the Targaryen way, after all.

The dinner leads to Rhaenyra and Alicent toasting each other, but is this really a truce between them? Even if there is a truce between the women, their respective sons are not going to form a truce.

We also learn that Alicent will do what she can to protect her son. He forced himself onto a servant girl, and Alicent tells her that it wasn’t her fault. However, this servant girl better not say anything to anyone, with Alicent claiming that everyone will blame her. It’s best for this girl to stay quiet, meaning nobody gets to know the type of man-child Aegon is.

Back to the succession, though. Viserys is too ill to oversee the decision, which is bad news for Rhaenyra. Otto gets to make the decision, and we all know what that means. He’s going to choose someone other than Rhaenyra’s son Jace.

The good news for Rhaenyra is that Viserys does manage to make it to the throne room. He will make this decision, and he is also willing to listen to Corlys’s widow, Rhaenys. Rhaenyra had already gone to see Rhaenys for support only to find out that Rhaenys wanted the Driftmark throne for herself, but Rhaenys ends up sticking up for the boy she decides to accept is her grandson. It helps that he’s marrying her legitimate granddaughter, so her blood is definitely going to rule.

Vaemond makes it clear to everyone that Jace is not his nephew. This boy is not Laenor’s son. Viserys wants to take his tongue for that, but Daemon (who had an excellent moment placing Viserys’s crown back on his head at one point as a mark of respect but also clearly a ploy for something) decides Vaemond can keep his tongue. He doesn’t get to keep his head, though. After disrespecting his wife and nephew, Daemon decides to chop part of Vaemond’s head off, killing him in one swipe.

There isn’t much that has changed in House of the Dragon at this point. All we know is Viserys is going to die soon, and the civil war will officially begin.

What did you think of the argument for the Driftmark throne? What can Rhaenyra do next to protect herself and her children? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

House of the Dragon airs Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.