Season 1, Episode 9: “The Green Council”
Before we begin this week’s story, let us offer a moment of silence to Lord Beasbury.
The ancient ruler of the coin and his tortuous financial reports were a source of lighthearted humor in the Small Council until Sunday, but he rebelled as one of the few in the Red Keep with honor or loyalty. Then Ser Christon killed him for it.
Adding insult to injury, the Council left his corpse lying on the table while they planned. But on the whole, Lord Beasbury (Bill Patterson) was one of his lucky ones. His early exit, though good, meant he didn’t have to stick with an episode that was mostly confusing.
As expected, this hour focuses on the immediate aftermath of Viserys’ death, particularly the scramble Otto and Aricent set out to install Aegon as king against Viserys’ expressed wishes for Laenira to succeed him. I was guessing The episode’s title, “The Green Council,” indicated there would be a Hightower show this week, and more or less it turned out that way. (The season finale is called “The Black Queen,” hinting at getting the other side next Sunday.)
This title specifically referred to Queen Aricent, a non-Beasbury faction of the Small Council who, unknown to us or anyone else, had been working with Otto on succession planning for some time. As Tyrande Lannister explained, the conspirators put these “long-conceived plans” into action before the King’s body was covered up.
The conspiracy, which has become a sort of palace coup, has incidental support in the form of Aricent’s bogus allegations about the reversal of the king’s deathbed. It led to an insane dash to implement Operation Usurp and Awe, which involved locking the Rhaenys in their rooms, forcing former Rhaenyra supporters to bend the knee (and capturing the opponents), and searching. Aegon revealed his presumed whereabouts within the Dangerous District of the King’s Landing and finally crowned him in front of everyone to make it official. (I believe Lord Beasbury’s death counts as the first casualty in the upcoming conflict known as the Dance of the Dragons.)
However, a more appropriate episode title would have been “Wait, What?” Because that’s what I kept mumbling over and over in response to all the confusing details and jarring detours along the way.
Like, wait, what? White Did he find Aegon and everywhere he “hid” under the Altar of Sept, perhaps because he also wanted to end the Ura Uni Fighting Club? Which did he realize just 40 seconds ago, and is Aegon’s bastard joining in on it? Or are you just struggling outside the octagon?
Return to Westeros in “House of the Dragon”
HBO’s long-awaited ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel series is here.
And wait, what? Will Larys do Queen’s bidding to indulge in a Queen’s foot fetish? Coronation in the Dragon Pit? And are the Cargyle twins, Christon and Aymond, the rival Kingsguard brothers who found Aegon before losing him, are actually named Arik and Eric? I think that explains why it didn’t, and why I still don’t understand.)
After watching the episode screener, I consulted various online resources to determine Cargyle’s identity.It’s also how the Dragon Pit confirmed that it was where Aegon was crowned, giving its imposing appearance HBO’s King’s Landing mapYou were supposed to know it was a dragon pit by jumping? Or was it part of Reynis’ surprise when he rode a dragon and crashed through the floor? Was it the only venue available on such short notice?
I think Reinis smiled in the street scrum as the Pleves swarmed toward the ceremony, but at least she knew where they were swarming and loved them. I think it’s because I was able to reunite with Maryse. You may recall earlier in the episode that Aricent didn’t want her to do that, as it would affect Laenira’s willingness to negotiate for peace rather than declaring war. The large entrance gave the great Eve Best to do something beyond Tete a Tetes in a dark room.)
As a result of all of the above, I found myself constantly trying to organize what I was watching at the expense of enjoying the story and sometimes even following it. And you don’t have to research online, memorize novel details, or watch after-show segments. I hope I wasn’t the only confused viewer, and if so, please let me know any obvious clues I missed. is not required to do so.)
And all this happened before what I feared most happened.
Last week, I hoped that the esoteric prophecy that Viserys shared with Aricent would not lead to a great misunderstanding: Christon’s confession to the Queen that he had slept with Laenira.
My main counter-argument, besides the fact that they were already using this gimmick just a few weeks ago, is that the crazy misunderstanding is one of the lowest forms of sitcom writing, and it’s going to be forgiven in less than half a year. It is a kind of ingenuity of a clear and transparent plot. It’s yuku yuku time, but don’t expect to see it on HBO Sunday night.
Then there’s a lot of Aegon in this story, which in itself is a little silly, and it feels even more so when it comes to being the source of “Who first?” Deathbed routine. George R.R. Martin explains that he patterned the repetition of all the names in his stories after real-life dynasties.
But such similarities are easier to read in the context of a novel than when they come out of the mouths of characters in a TV show. Erik”.
From a character standpoint, the most important question posed by Aricent’s misunderstanding is, did she actually believe Viserys changed his mind at the last minute after supporting Laenira for decades? Did you hear what you wanted to hear? Or are you just lying?
Olivia Cooke, in an interview with The New York Times, believes that Aricent’s mishearing of Viserys happened in good faith and not as a result of the Queen creating a reality to her liking. (“I think she really thinks she’s talking about her son Aegon,” Cook said.) Own desire not to. Therefore, I probably work harder than most people do.
Ultimately, Otto’s plans were already in place, so the Greens’ seizure of power was not swayed by Aricent’s misunderstanding. But it certainly helped sell the plan, and perhaps also helped convince Aricent to agree to it. I think it will.) I think we’ll see if Rhaenyra gets a chance to sort things out for her.
As I said at the beginning, we had some great moments this week. The dynamic between Aymond and Christon is lived-in and endearing, and serves as a reminder that Viserys wasn’t interested in a second batch of kids — Paddy Considine said last week with The Times. We talked about this in an interview — sword tamer Christon likely served as a mentor of sorts.
I also enjoyed the promise of an expanding rivalry between Aricent and Otto. It could complicate Hightowers’ attempts to consolidate and retain power.
But overall… not my favorite episode. Next season he hopes the finale will be more fun and less googling.