Aegon is currently betrothed to his sister Helaena, a little Louise Bourgeois in the making who whispers songs to spiders and generally avoids conversation. Harwin is confirmed dead, and although Rhaenyra’s boys may not know that he is their real father, Jace at least senses that their mourning loyalties ought lie with him. Otto Hightower is again Hand of the King, despite the fact that he’s been away from court for a decade and there surely must be another reliable agent Viserys can employ. Here are a few things we learn right away. It’s hard to tell precisely how much time has lapsed since Laena’s death - perhaps a few days - but it was enough for the various dispersed Targaryens to descend on Driftmark and bring with them their genetically endowed abilities to be uniquely awful. It’s a mirthless party, where everyone casts side-eye at friends and enemies alike, and the camera mingles among them like an acutely aware guest.

Laena Velaryon’s funeral, and more specifically the post-funeral patio luncheon, throws the whole cast of characters together from the get-go, including some who haven’t seen one another in years, like Rhaenyra and Daemon. In its seventh episode, House of the Dragon tips that convention on its side. Procedurals like Law & Order have the perfect setting for their blowups - the courtroom, where accumulated evidence is hurled at witnesses and defendants until emotion carries them off toward confession. Gossip Girl, the premier example, virtually never deviated from the form every gala or school gathering at Constance Billard was an excuse to send Upper East Siders snaking across rooms to whisper accusations and then explosively confront foes.

A standard television-episode plotting method: Use the first act to create chaos between characters, the second act to heighten it, and the third to bring all the major players together at a party/event/function, where different pairs can mingle and stew, and the tension can finally come to a boil.

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