Episode 9 of House of the Dragon saw Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) and her father, Otto (Rhys Ifans), ready to usurp Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) after a misunderstanding.
Alicent had sat with her husband, King Viserys (Paddy Considine), prior to his death, and he spoke of Aegon. Unfortunately, the king thought he was speaking to Rhaenyra and was actually speaking of Aegon the Conqueror and not Alicent’s eldest son, Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney).
Of course, even though Viserys has always maintained he wanted Rhaenyra to rule in his steed, Alicent decided to uphold their misguided conversation.
Because of this, Aegon has now been crowned the king of Westeros, and poor Rhaenyra does not even know of her father’s passing yet, let alone the treason regarding her position. Although Rhaenys (Eva Best) — who had been held captive — escaped on dragonback and will alert Rhaenyra as to what is unfolding in King’s Landing in the Season 1 finale.
The episode concluded with Aegon II’s coronation, which was quite the spectacle and involved a new crown being placed upon his head.
Many viewers were curious to find out more about the crown and why this one was selected over the one Viserys wore for his reign.
Aegon wore his namesake’s crown
Aegon was declared king with a black crown made out of Valarian steel. As pointed out by Screen Rant, this item was actually an important piece when it comes to Targaryen history.
The crown originally belonged to Aegon the Conqueror, who was the first king of Westeros.
This crown was designed specifically for him, and now his namesake will also wear it during his reign.
It is considered an important piece to further differentiate the two kings, with Alicent already knowing her son will likely go into war once Rhaenyra finds out she has been usurped.
Viserys wore a gold crown
Aegon’s crown is very different from the one we all saw Viserys wear during his time as king.
His was a gold item that Alicent then laid with his body after death and looks set to be melted down when Viserys is finally burned by a dragon, as is the Targaryen tradition and seen in Episode 1 of House of the Dragon.
As also pointed out by Comic Book, the different crowns are significant as Viserys’ crown ruled during a time of peace, whereas Aegon’s crown always saw war and conflict.
This crown was originally given to King Aenys, who ruled directly after Aegon the Conqueror, by the High Septon at the time. Maegor, who was crowned next, hated the Faith of the Seven and opted to revert back to the original crown.
Maegor also turned out to be a cruel ruler, and because of this, the crown is often associated with terrible upheaval. Hence why Viserys opting to wear the golden crown as his rule was considered a peaceful time by many, and it was certainly what he hoped to uphold as a king.
As to what happens to this crown between now and when Game of Thrones plays out?
Well, the item will eventually forcibly come into the hands of the Prince of Dorne. He will then melt it down and make a sword out of it.
Naming it Conqueror’s Crown, this new Valarian steel weapon will also have rubies set into its hilt.
House of the Dragon airs every Sunday night at 9/8c on HBO Max.