Meanwhile, Alicent is having her own problems with her kids. Rhaenyra proposes that her kids will marry Laena’s kids, their cousins, and all rule together. Not even a swell offer of marriage can mollify her. Rhaenys still believes her and Daemon to be responsible for the death of her son, Laenor, and she cannot wait to see Rhaenyra taken down a peg. Leaving for Dragonstone has let the Hightowers have free reign to spread rumors and poison opinion against her. Upon hearing this, Rhaenyra and her family head to court as well to defend their inheritance, and it doesn’t look great for her. He is going to head to King’s Landing to make his claim. Alicent certainly believes that the Rhaenyra’s kids are illegitimate, and Otto wants to make sure that Corlys’ fleet stays aligned with the crown, so Vaemond makes a challenge.

Viserys is (still) near death, and Alicent has been essentially ruling in his stead, with some helpful advice from Otto. Rharenys tells Vaemond that challenging a settled succession could be seen as treason, but Vaemond reminds her: the king isn’t sitting on the throne. Especially when Queen Alicent and Otto the Hand have a concerted interest in keeping them going.

Jace can cram all the high Valeryan he wants, nothing’s going to make those whispers stop. Jace and Luke’s wavy brown hair really sticks out amongst all the Targaryen blondes in court. Yes, the persistent rumors about Rhaenyra’s kids, uh, persist. Luke knows nothing about commanding a fleet of ships and besides, they need someone with pure, Valeryan blood. Corlys’ brother, Vaemond, has some opinions about that. Laenor’s second son, Lucerys, will inherit the Driftwood Throne. This has naturally led to questions about his successor. Now, the poor devil has had his throat slashed by a corsair and then dropped in the sea, and now he’s got blood fever and may not survive. He’s been fighting the Triarchy (sigh) and pirates in the Narrow Sea all that time. It’s been six years since the funeral of Laena, and Corlys Valeryan is having a rough go of it. Welcome back to Westeros! This week is full of schemes, plotting, and more cousin marriage than you can shake a stick at, so let’s dive right in.

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