 Welcome back to another episode of House of the Dragon. Episode 8 starts with us jumping forward six years. Lord Coralus has been gravely injured in battle. Rhaenus has been ruling in his stead. His brother, Vamond, sets the tide in motion as he questions who will be the next lord of the tides if Coralus passes away. Coralus would have wanted Lucerys Valerian, Lainer's son, to be named heir. The trouble with that though, is that he's not true Valerion and Vamond does not take kindly to it. He wants driftmark for himself. Meanwhile, Demon head off on an expedition, picking up a dragon egg from Cyrax. Three to be precise. His men hurry off to take them to the warming chamber immediately, while Demon receives a message from Lady Bela on Driftmark. When he returns to his wife, Demon catches up with her and the kids, handing over the note. Luc and Jace's legitimacy are called into question, while the succession of Driftmark is a massive talking point here and could change the destiny of many people in the realm. This is a serious matter and the only thing for it is to sail for King's Landing and confront those claims head on. As for Allicent, she continues to oversee the council meetings, and it seems issues in the stepstones have managed to stabilize for a while now and trade is good. Allicent continues to juggle the exploits of her kids though, especially Aegon who sexually assaults a maid whom the queen pays off to keep quiet. She also gives her some tea too. Allicent is livid and confronts her son, and given he's married, is calling their house into disrepute. Viserys continues to deteriorate in the wake of all this, now bed bound with bandages wrapped around his head and eye. Demon and Ranra show up to see him, informing the king about the petition regarding Driftmark. Ranra introduces her father to two new kids as well, Aegon and Viserys, the latter named after him of course. When Viserys weakens, the pair are graced by Allicent's company. Demon immediately confronts her over the changes around King's Landing, namely that of the religious emblems of the Seven, including those stars, which are evidence of larger waves of change sweeping the realm. Vaman shows up and speaks to Allicent and Otto. The latter is convinced that war is coming, what with the petition as precarious as it is. They need to work swiftly to stifle that. Out in the courtyard, Ranra meets with Rhaenys. She cleverly tells him that she didn't order her son's death, nor was complicit in it, which is definitely true from a certain perspective. To try and seal the deal, Ranra makes an offer. If Rhaenys backs Lucerys' claim to the throne, Ranra will have Jakarys and Lucerys betrothed to Bela and Rhaena. That way it would secure Valerian blood to rule both the Seven Kingdoms and Driftmark. Rhaenys knows this is a desperate claim but she holds her cards close to her chest, telling Ranra that the first blow will be dealt tomorrow. With Viserys the worst for wear, in his absence we get Otto Hightower speak as the Hand of the King instead. There are a number of arguments for and against, including Ser Vaman who smirks when Ranra challenges his ambition. When Ranra starts to make her case, she's interrupted by a very sickly Viserys heading into the chamber, covering half his face with a golden face mask. He's helped to the throne and throws shade on what's happening. He also tells them all that the only one here who is inside into Coralys' true wishes is Rhaenys herself. She speaks up on behalf of Ranra and the proposed marriages, as well as Coralys' wishes to have Lucerys on the Driftwood throne. Vaman is livid. Not allow it. Allow it. He goes on to call the children bastards and Ranra a whore. When Viserys tells him you'll have his tongue, Demon moves quick as lightning and cuts the man's head off. During dinner, things seem to settle down a little as Viserys toasts to their strength and bonds. But is also sad about the distance that's grown between them all. He reminds them that he won't be there for long and in his absence, they need to stand strong for the sake of the House of the Dragon. If not, then war is going to erupt and chaos rain down on the kingdom. Ranra gets things started by toasting to Allison for everything she's done, doing her duty and standing by Viserys side all these years. Allison, by comparison, toasts to Ranra, telling her she'll make a fine queen. When the kids begin toasting, there's a lot of tension, especially between Aegon and Jace. However, everyone is all smiles and enjoying their time together, which Viserys looks on fondly. It seems it's his last memory of them, but at least it's a good one. Until Aemon speaks up. With Viserys out the room, Aemon toasts to how strong Jace and Luke are, which of course is a double on Tondra given who their father is. The kids are separated and Ranra decides to head back to Dragonstone before things escalate further. Interestingly, Ranra promises to come back on Dragon to see Allison. That night, Viserys talks to Allison about the coming threat, that being the awful writing in Season 7 and 8 of Game of Thrones of course. I jest, it's the White Walkers. There's dialogue here that's going to be the catalyst for war erupting across the realm, and poor Viserys is too drugged up and garbled to actually articulate what he means properly. He speaks of the song and Ice of Fire mentions Aegon. He's talking about Aegon the Conqueror of course but Allison interprets this as their son, Aegon. Allison replies I understand my king. And this is where misinterpretation come from. While Viserys dies offscreen on his deathbed, Viserys words are going to cause havoc. Viserys wishes for Allison to take up his mantle as protector of the realm and keep the houses together. However, Allison clearly interprets this as needing to usurp the succession and put Aegon on the throne.