Another jump in time in “House Of The Dragon” (but still “only” six years): In Episode 8, there are some newly cast characters (the kids Velaryon and Targaryen) and key events not shown (Corlys Velaryon’s injury), this time also a slightly different King’s Landing / Königsmund or more precisely there the Red Keep / Roter Bergfried castle. The King’s Chair is very different from how we got to know it in the first seven episodes: Instead of erotic murals, a star can now be seen everywhere. What is behind it and how did it come about?
The star thing is quickly explained, and not just for “Game Of Thrones” fans who are familiar with the backstory and lore or who still have the parent series firmly in mind: The seven-pointed star is the symbol of the belief in the Seven, the most common religion in Westeros. The Targaryens don’t care much though – they actually come from the continent of Essos to the east.
This also explains why the seven (the father, the mother, the girl, the old lady, the warrior, the blacksmith and the stranger) have not played a very important role in “House Of The Dragon” until now. By refurbishing the Red Keep between episodes 7 and 8 is now also visually signaling that times have changed – and that Alicent (Olivia Cooke) is now increasingly in control.
She’s not Targaryenas showrunners Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan J. Condal and director Geeta Vasant Patel note in the “Inside The Episode” video for Episode 8. and Sapochnik explains that Alicent turned to religion after she panicked (cue: an eye for an eye) at the end of episode 7.atone for their actions.
That’s an interesting idea, but it would have been even more exciting if the audience had also witnessed this change within the series rather than simply being presented with a fait accompli after the time jump. But we don’t want to complain about the time jumps again – so continue in the text:
As Ryan J. Condal explains, that wasn’t the only reason for the changes at Red Keep: “It has become a much quieter and more conservative place, much more like a monastery than in episode 1where we first saw the city.”
But why should the Red Fortress be more reminiscent of a monastery than a brothel? Emma D’Arcy explains that in the Inside The Episode video So: “Episode 8 is kind of set in a hospice. The whole episode is about sitting on the deathbed of a loved one.” So the new interior in episode 8 is also meant to mark the death of King Viserys (Paddy Considine) at the end of the episode.
However, in Episode 9, an even bigger change awaits us, after all Alicent and Co. seem to be taking over. We will discover exactly how this works on October 17, 2022 on Sky and WOW (formerly Sky Ticket).