"The Small Council's Struggle for Authority: 10 Times They Were Powerless in 'The House Of The Dragon'

In its first season, several scenes have already highlighted the weak points of the Small Council on the House of Dragons which was released last August 21, 2022. The series revealed several conflicts embedded in the plot involving the Seven Kingdoms as a political warzone, and houses full of nobles and knights craving for control and power

The members of the Small Council played major roles in the whole series. This prestigious council was packed with the most influential individuals who in the eyes of many held great control and power. However, The House of the Dragon series indicates several highlights which reveal the insignificance and powerlessness of the Small Council.

Daemon Targaryen was first introduced in a series as an enabler of some despicable acts continuously providing heinous actions on screens. In the first episode of the series, he was on the verge of releasing a brutal justice on the criminals of King’s Landing furiously murdering everything he could. This put his Small Council in chaos, however instead of receiving any reparation, no further actions were taken to prevent his abuse of power, solely because of the Viserys’ brotherly protection.

It was known that the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard is not as consequential as the other members of the Small Council; this still holds an invaluable presence in the group’s assembly.

Shown in episode 9 of the series is how Criston Cole disregards Harrold Westerlings' demand for inferiority after Cole’s barbaric murder. The only person he pays respect to is the Queen as he lowers his weapon on her request, pertaining that his position is far behind what the Queen holds.

Visery is in search of his successor after the death of his wife in the first episode of the series. Having no male heir threatens the balance of their realm, thus, he called the attention of his Small Council to address the matter. However, no words from the council were taken into consideration as Visery still pushed through in giving the throne to his daughter, Rhaenyra, not for the benefit of the people but purely for his own interests.

After the death of Viserys Targaryen, Queen Alicent Hightower and other electorates are on the move to crown Aegon Targaryen II as the king of the Iron Throne which left Lyman Beesbury to be the only complainant of the plan.

Unfortunately, Hightowers do not allow any word for Small Council to pierce any decision they made, thus giving Lyman a gruesome death in the hands of Criston Cole. This action is a verification of how powerless the Small Council are against the royal’s blood.

In episode 1 of the series, Corlys Velaryon, Master of Ships, made comments about the Triarchy that was threatening to thrust the Seven Kingdoms into chaos during their meeting with the King and the Small council. However, the King ignores Corlys' warning after hearing this grave threat.

With Rhaenyra Targaryen’s affair with Lyonel Strong’s son in its 6th episode, he decided to step down from his position as Hand of the King for the reason that his allegiance to the King would be jeopardized because of his son’s actions. Due to the circumstances, his reason cannot be stated directly to the King. With no reason to give, the King disregards Lyonel Strong’s attempts to resign, forcing him to stay as the Hand.

The second episode of the series shows yet again, Viserys' ignorance of the opinions and advice of his Small Council. Left alone upon the death of his wife and with no male heir to take the throne, he married Alicent Hightower. The Small Council members’ suggestion of marrying anyone but Alicent was not heard and the King just proceeded to marry his choice all because of their personal chemistry.

Still spotted in the second episode, after he was disbanded from King’s Landing, he proceeded to terrorize Dragonstone for six months proclaiming himself the King of Westeros.  As the information reaches Viserys, he sends Otto Hightower and Harrold Westerling to negotiate the terms of the peace treaty. 

However, the attempt to avoid conflict was disarmed by Daemon as he showed no recognition of the authority of either Otto or Harrold. Their position as the Small Council was hopeless against the Targaryen’s bearing.

With Daemon and Rhaenyera’s controversial relationship continuing to add fire to the series of conflicts, the fourth episode revealed yet bigger issues between King Viserys and Otto Hightower. After discovering the spying and the manipulation that happened in the previous episodes, the King furiously turned his frustrations towards Otto, eliminating him as the Hand of the King. Clearly, in the eye of the King everyone, including the Small Council can be terminated in any way he pleases.

After claiming as the ruler of Westeros, audiences are assured that Daemon has no plans of regaining his position in the Small Council in the second episode of the series. This move was followed by the Master of Ships, Corlys Velaryon as he gave up his position in opposition to the marriage of Alicent and the King. The two eventually teamed up after leaving their titles which are seen as a response to how insignificant the Small Council is.

These 10 scenes are only some of the details which show how voiceless and significant the Small Council is. A lot more details are just around the corners of the series, if you pay attention to the details of the series a lot more scenes are unveiling this issue. The Small Small may be seen to possess great power by the citizens, but their positions are mostly meaningless when faced against the royal’s blood.