House of the Dragon season 1, episode 8, The Lord of the Tides, highlights how far Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke) is willing to take in keeping her son’s rightful place on the throne. Early on in the episode, the serving girl Dyana (Maddie Evans) begs for her life on her knees in front of Queen Alicent after admitting she had been raped by none other than the Queen’s son, Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney).
In an attempt to make haste, Queen Alicent first orders Dyana to stand, reassuring her that she believes her. This, however, turns into a bribery session where the Queen states who else would believe a serving girl’s statement. The bribery came in a form of a bag of coins for the ‘trouble’ and a tea offering, one assumed to be the pregnancy-prevention ‘moon tea’ that young Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) was previously given.
Episode director Geeta Patel explains what happened between Alicent and Dyana on The Hollywood Reporter, confirming that Dyana is likely still alive. Read on to see her comment below:
“I think we’re all waiting for the answer on that. I know [showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik] were talking about Alicent paying her off and that she would disappear. The tea was definitely to prevent pregnancy — the same tea Young Rhaenyra got. But after this, I am curious where we go with that character. Does she come up again?”
The scene proves two things: how far Alicent is willing to take extreme measures to ensure her son’s place on the throne and that Dyana’s role is more crucial than one meets the eye.
The fact her disappearance hangs over the episode, abruptly ending after having drank the moon tea, will possibly play a kind of foreshadowing in the future episodes. Perhaps she will return with or without a baby in hand; if so, then her reappearance would further soil the very reputation Alicent had been building to protect as a mother and as the face of the throne.
Also Read: House of the Dragon: Did Harwin Die?