10 Things You Somehow Missed In House Of The Dragon
Dreams didn't make us kings. Dragons (and hidden detail) did.
To say that Westeros is back with a bang would be an understatement of criminal proportions.
Following the almighty damp squib that was Game of Thrones' conclusive season, House of the Dragon's maiden voyage blasted the cynics out of the water with ten episodes of magnificent television. In a similar vein to Better Call Saul's post-Breaking Bad exploits, the argument is there to be made that HBO's latest George R.R. Martin adaptation actually surpasses the original series in terms of quality.
In addition to a raft of Emmy-worthy performances, Machiavellian scriptwriting and the usual blood-and-guts carnage viewers have come to expect from this universe, House of the Dragon's first season is littered with pieces of hidden detail. Many of these subtle inclusions are loving callbacks to Game of Thrones, but the show has also managed to implement numerous Easter Eggs related to the original source material; Martin's Fire and Blood.
Many of these references are plain as day, such as the return of the Valyrian steel catspaw dagger or the continual references to "A Song of Ice and Fire". However, digging a little deeper reveals a litany of inscrutable detail. Numerous elements included by the showrunners are so imperceptible that even a die-hard fan of Fire and Blood might have missed them.
10. Lord Beesbury's Portentous Clothing
The fate of Lord Lyman Beesbury lends new meaning to the phrase "dress for the occasion".
The sole dissenting member of the penultimate episode's eponymous Green Council, Beesbury passionately opposes Alicent's faction. The Lord of Honeyholt condemns the insidious plan to install Aegon on the throne as little more than treason.
Despite the sound reasoning behind his protests, Lyman could have picked a better audience. The Master of Coin duly has his head caved in by Criston Cole, after furiously rising to his feet following his initial outburst. While the manner of his death was technically accidental - as well as inescapable proof of Criston's urgent need for anger management sessions - the Targaryen loyalist was never going to survive in Otto and Alicent's new world.
This state of affairs is superbly prognosticated by the Green Council's attire - a fact that only becomes obvious upon second viewing. Beesbury happens to be the only member wearing the black and red colours associated with Rhaenyra's supporters. It's an outfit choice that seals his doom, as well as a brilliant piece of macabre foreshadowing.
Matters could have potentially been far worse. Differing accounts from Fire and Blood recount Lyman being tossed out of the window by Cole - where he landed on the spikes of Maegor's Holdfast's moat - or dying of starvation in the Red Keep's prison cells.