It’s hard to believe that the Season 1 finale of HBO’s House of the Dragon is almost upon us.
So far, we have readily accepted House Targaryen as our favorite family, despite all the madness and incest.
Over the course of nine episodes, we have seen King Viserys (Paddy Considine) go from being a king in his prime to one who barely even knew who was in the room with him when he was speaking about prophecies.
However, all the time, he has declared his firstborn daughter, Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) as his heir until he died, and his wife decided to put her son, Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) on the Iron Throne.
Now things look decidedly dangerous as the Greens play their cards and the Blacks have no idea that Viserys is dead.
So, what should we expect in the Season 1 finale? According to the book, there is murder afoot.
New trailer for Season 1 finale drops clues
While Episode 9 of House of the Dragon dealt with the Greens’ reaction to the death of King Viserys, Episode 10 will head on over to Dragonstone, following Rhaenys (Eve Best) as she alerts Rhaenyra and her husband, Daemon (Matt Smith) as to what has just happened in King’s Landing.
Already, Rhaenys reveals in the trailer for the Season 1 finale that the Greens are after both Rhaenyra and her children, to which Rhaenyra looks terrified.
And while it seems that Rhaenyra considers bending the knee to the Hightowers, conflict is imminent as Daemon convinces his wife to fight for her birthright.
And, for fans of the book, this new clip sets up a tragic death that just might play out in Episode 10.
The media has not been given access to advance screeners for the Season 1 finale of House of the Dragon and there might be a good reason for this if the book the TV show is based on is anything to go by.
Here’s what happens in the book
For fans who don’t want potential spoilers from the book, now is the time to look away. However, for everyone else, let’s see who might die in Episode 10.
According to Fire and Blood by George R. R. Martin, we are now entering the Dance of the Dragons, which was the poetic name for the conflict between Alicent Hightower’s (Olivia Cooke) son King Aegon and Princess Rhaenyra, as they fight it out for the Iron Throne.
Already, sides have been drawn between the warring teams and if the TV show follows the book closely, it seems Season 1 might end on a cliffhanger with the death of one of Rhaenyra’s children.
While screeners have not been released, new images for Episode 10 are available to the press.
And one image, in particular, has gotten book fans very worried.
The photo shows Rhaenyra and her son, Lucerys (Elliot Grihault). They are staring intently at each other, the map of Westeros laid out to one side, indicating they are in the midst of war talks regarding what they should do about the newly-crowned King Aegon.
In the book, it is decided that Rhaenyra’s sons will fly out on dragonback to visit with their supporters in order to alert them as to what has happened as well as to confirm their support in the upcoming conflict.
However, when Lucerys — who has sworn not to fight by his mother — gets to Storm’s End to speak to Lord Borros Baratheon (Roger Evans), Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) is already there.
According to Inverse, Storm’s End is shown in the trailer, so it certainly looks possible that Lucerys will, at least, arrive at Storm’s End during the Season 1 finale.
And, while Lucerys may have sworn not to draw a sword, Aemond had made no such oath and does so to his nephew.
This ends badly with the death of Lucerys and when his mother and Daemon find out, vengeance is sworn.
So, with this in mind, it looks likely the Season 1 finale of House of the Dragon could end with the death of Lucerys, leaving viewers on a cliffhanger as they desperately wait for Season 2.
However, HBO is remaining tight-lipped about what to expect, so viewers will just have to tune in on Sunday night to find out exactly how it all unfolds.
House of the Dragon airs every Sunday night at 9/8c on HBO Max.