I was genuinely surprised Aegon didn’t stab Larys to death with that dragon’s scale he’s been hanging on to. Perhaps he realized his unlikely, unhappy rescuer was right.
Things turn around somewhat for Aegon back in camp. There, he and Larys discover that Tyland Lannister survived the Battle of the Gullet after being tossed overboard by Sharako Lohar. Now the lord of Casterly Rock and one of the few people who know where the crown’s money is hidden, he can fund their escape to Essos. True, Janos, the soldier who runs the camp, discovers Aegon’s crown, but his glee over the discovery is short-lived: Aegon murders him as Larys watches, with an unmistakable “There he goes again” look on his face.
Aegon’s younger brother Aemond, meanwhile, is the realm’s most wanted man. (Including by Aegon, who vows to kill him.) The witch Alys Rivers fends off some bounty hunters, but when others attempt to sexually assault her, Aemond springs into action, suddenly well enough to wield a sword and kill all the attackers single-handedly. Though he has no idea who, or what, Alys really is, he knows she has treated him with a kindness and attention Alicent never showed him. When she cradles his head against her chest to comfort him after a nightmare, he even calls her “Mother.” Considering what we’ve watched Aemond do with his real mother this season, that’s an … interesting word choice.
Daeron, the youngest of Alicent’s three sons, is at the mercy of an even more dubious parental figure. Alicent’s cousin Lord Ormund is so mercurial that it constitutes a kind of emotional abuse. He blows up when Daeron beats him at the chess-like board game Cyvasse … then chides the anxious boy for apologizing for victory.
Meanwhile, coins with Daeron’s face are being used by Ormund to pay for a violent insurgency in King’s Landing, as unseen assassins maim and murder members of the city watch in broad daylight. This lends ammo to Daemon in his feud with Mysaria over whether their meager money should be spent on the gold cloaks or the small folk.
Eventually the killings become too numerous to ignore. Rhaenyra taunts Daemon for what she perceives to be his cowardice in prioritizing the city watch over the hunt for Aemond, which he has left to his daughter Baela and her uncle Alyn of Hull. (The two appear to be forming a love connection, in the grand incestuous Valyrian style.) But Rhaenyra finally agrees that she should have paid their security force more attention (and money). This further marginalizes Mysaria on a small council now stacked with nobles who look down on her as a commoner and former prostitute. (Perhaps she keeps Alicent’s secret because she may need a backup plan if she falls out of the Black council’s favor completely.)
