House of the Dragon: What potion does Rhaenyra have to drink at the end of episode 4?

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With the fourth episode of “House of the Dragon,” Rhaenyra Targaryen officially enters adulthood. After Daemon lures her into the wicked alleys of Flohloch in King’s Landing at night, the Crown Princess has her first sexual experiences.

In a brothel he seduces and kisses his niece, but quickly lets go of her. Rhaenyra returns to the Red Keep drunk and hurt by her rejection. There she seeks confirmation from another side. She sleeps with Ser Kriston Kraut, her bodyguard.

However, a rumor about Rhaenyra’s rendezvous with her uncle reaches the king, which severely damages the relationship between father and daughter.

While Rhaenyra truthfully denies the rumors about herself and Daemon, the king’s brother refuses to deny these allegations. Daemon even suggests marrying his niece as a second wife. However, Viserys I doesn’t want to hear about it and sends his brother away to his wife in the Green Valley.

In his distrust and in order to nip the rumors about Rhaenyra’s honor in the bud, he gets his daughter to agree to marry Laenor Velaryon. With this decision, the princess hopes to have regained her father’s trust, but things turn out differently.

Rhaenyra must drink moon tea to prevent pregnancy

When Rhaenyra is already in her bedchamber, ready for bed, a maester enters her room and places a small bottle on the table for her. It’s supposed to eliminate their “problem.” This liquid is moon tea, Westeros’ form of contraception and abortion.

A clear sign that Viserys I doesn’t trust his daughter’s words. Even though Rhaenyra denies having sex, her father doesn’t believe her. Daemon’s confession of guilt also did the rest and increased the distrust in Viserys I.

Visery’s greatest ambition is to secure his succession to the Iron Throne. That’s why he can’t allow his daughter to have a bastard under her heart. His only option is to use all means possible to prevent his daughter from giving birth to a child out of wedlock. Whether she slept with Daemon or not.

Another measure the king took to restore his daughter’s honor was to dismiss Otto Hohenturm from his post as Hand of the King. On his behalf, the former whore had Daemon spy on the princess. In doing so, Otto has proven that he is capable of numerous means to tarnish Rhaenyra’s reputation. His efforts took away Otto’s position and Rhaenyra’s credibility.

We’ll find out in the next episode whether Rhaenyra will actually drink the moon tea and confess to having lost her virginity. “House of the Dragon” is currently broadcast by ProSieben and is therefore also available on Joyn. You can also see the “Game of Thrones” spin-off on the streaming provider Wow.