With Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) engrossed in finding the corpse of her son Lucerys, Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) tries to take control of the situation, but finds no respect among those who matter; Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) wastes no time in refusing her orders to go directly to King’s Landing to confront Vaghar and her rider Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), Lucerys’s assassin. Daemon finds Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), also known as the White Worm, a key informant for the Hightower.
In King’s Landing, King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) has trouble ruling because he knows nothing about how to treat his subjects. Much to his chagrin, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) has to guide him at all times. Thus, Larys Strong (Matthew Needham) tries to convince the king to be his new Hand. But what Aegon really wants is to laze around, as is made clear in the scene where he, along with his friends, just drinks and chats in the Iron Throne room. His younger brother Aemond, on the other hand, plots with Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) what would be the best courses of action in the war, something that is not welcomed by the Hand, who asks for patience. King’s Landing itself is in a complicated position due to a blockade of the Gorge, a strait of water that connects the capital with maritime trade. Without the free Gaznate it is difficult to deploy a maritime offensive, much less trade; Products are scarce, prices rise.
With information provided by Mysaria, Daemon sneaks into the capital and personally hires a pair of assassins to kill Aemond. They instead find Queen Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban), but choose not to kill her; The order was to kill a son and thus Prince Jaehaerys was beheaded, while his mother escaped with little Jaehaera to where no one could harm them.
