The trailer for the upcoming ninth episode of House of the Dragon has confirmed that a major character is dead following the events of episode 8.
This week’s instalment of the Game of Thrones spin-off was perhaps the most dramatic yet – picking up six years after the previous episode, with Viseyrs Targaryen (Paddy Considine) seen to be in very poor health indeed.
And indeed the last thing we saw at the end of the episode was the King deeply exhaling after being put to bed by Alicent, who he mistook at the time for Rhaenyra.
Although some fans might have had some doubts about whether that definitely was Viserys’ final breath, his fate has now been confirmed by the episode 9 trailer, which opens with the words: “The King is dead.”
And unsurprisingly, it looks like the death is going to lead to an almighty battle for succession, with Alicent seen declaring: “He told me he wished for Aegon to be king.”
You can watch the trailer in full below.
Meanwhile, Geeta Patel – who directed episode 8 – has spoken about shooting Viserys’ final moments on the show, explaining that the last scene of the episode was “a litmus test.”
“Every time we’d watch or think it through, when we got to that last scene, did we feel what we wanted to feel there?” she told Entertainment Weekly.
“Did we feel the loss? Did we feel that Viserys has told his story? Did we feel that he loved his wife who passed away? Did he love Alicent? Did he love Rhaenyra? Did he regret anything? All the complicated layers of Viserys, did we feel it for better or worse?”
House of the Dragon airs on Sky Atlantic and is available on NOW – find out more about how to sign up for Sky TV. Check out more of our Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
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