How Long Will the Timeskip Between Episodes 5 and 6 of House of the Dragon Be?

One of the things that fans were quick to notice regarding House of the Dragon was the fact that there were time skips between the episodes, as it was clear that the series is looking to rush through the earlier parts of the events that will eventually lead to the Targaryen civil war. It isn’t a secret that there will be a significant timeskip between episodes 5 and 6 because that is when the older actors will step into the roles of their younger counterparts. So, how long will the timeskip between episodes 5 and 6 be?

There should be somewhere around 10 years between episodes 5 and 6 of House of the Dragon. That timeskip allows the characters to age into their mature versions. On top of that, this timeskip also gives more time for the children of both Rhaenyra and Alicent to age well enough as well.

It is worth noting that the time skips in House of the Dragon are important to the development of the storyline because of the fact that the Dance of the Dragons does not happen until Rhaenyra’s adulthood years and when Aegon II is also already old enough to become king. So, with that said, let’s look at how long the timeskip between episodes 5 and 6 is.

How Long Will The Timeskip Between Episodes 5 And 6 Be?

One of the things that fans were quick to notice about House of the Dragon is the many different time skips that happen between each episode. Of course, it is worth noting that the time skips are incredibly important to rush the development of the early part of the events that led up to the Dance of the Dragons because we are only in the preliminary stage of the entire Targaryen civil war storyline.

That is why, if you’ve noticed, there were around six months between episodes 1 and 2. Meanwhile, three years went by between episodes 2 and 3 as Alicent was already pregnant with her second child while Aegon II had just reached the age of 2. While it wasn’t explained how long time passed between episodes 3 and 4, we can say for certain that there was another timeskip. Of course, there wasn’t a very long timeskip between episodes 4 and 5 because we are only bracing ourselves for the first major timeskip of the series.

It wasn’t a secret that Milly Alcock wasn’t going to be around for a very long time as Rhaenyra because she was only set to appear in five episodes until Emma D’Arcy was eventually going to take over as the adult version of Rhaenyra. That means that episode 5 was the final appearance for the young Milly Alcock as Rhaenyra. Meanwhile, Emma D’Arcy is going to be the one to portray the princess from episode 6 onward. So, how long is the timeskip between episodes 5 and 6?

If we go by what the book says, there should only be around 6 years between episodes 5 and 6 because of the fact that Rhaenyra and Laenor got married in 114 AC and that Laenor died in 120 AC. However, it seems like the series will stretch the timeskip longer because the timeskip will give the children enough time to mature. And we are talking about the children of both Rhaenyra and Alicent.

At the end of episode 5, Aegon II is somewhere around 3 or 4 years old, given the fact that the time that passed during episodes 3 to 5 wasn’t quite as long as the timeskip between episodes 2 and 3. However, the actor that is set to portray a young Aegon II is Ty Tennant, who is 20 years old as of this writing and should be in his early teens during his debut in the series.

Given the possibility that Aegon II is already somewhere around 13 or 14 by the time episode 6 starts rolling and Ty Tennant makes his debut as the young Targaryen prince, there is a good chance that there are 10 years in between episodes 5 and 6. 

This gives enough time for the series to allow Rhaenyra to have a drastic physical transformation between Milly and Emma. While there are only around 8 years separating these actresses, we can say for certain that Emma looks a lot more mature than Milly, and that means that there are probably around 10 years between the two episodes. Of course, the 10-year gap between episodes 5 and 6 should allow Rhaenyra’s children to grow to become pre-teens as well.

What Happens In The Timeskip Between Episodes 5 And 6?

At this point, we don’t know for certain what will happen between episodes 5 and 6, but we can make smart guesses based on what we know about the events that happen in the book and what we saw at the end of episode 5.

For sure, because Rhaenyra and Laenor are now married, they are going to have their own children during the 10-year timeskip. It is possible that Rhaenyra will have her first two sons, Jacaerys and Lucerys, during the timeskip, with Joffrey quite possibly on his way somewhere during or after episode 6. And because the book does say that Rhaenyra’s children look nothing like Laenor, it is possible that Rhaenyra’s affair with Ser Harwin Strong will happen during the timeskip.

There is also the fact that this timeskip will give enough time for Alicent’s children to mature as well. Her two eldest sons are Aegon II and Aemond, and she has a daughter named Helaena. The timeskip will allow these children to mature as well, on top of the fact that Aegon II will showcase his budding relationship with his dragon, Sunfyre.

At the end of episode 5, it was more than possible that Ser Criston Cole was going to end up being one of the allies of Queen Alicent when she stopped him from taking his life. In that regard, the relationship between them should grow during the timeskip as Ser Criston is now a scorned lover that’s out to make life miserable for Rhaenyra.

Meanwhile, we can also look at Daemon’s storyline in the timeskip. In episode 5, we saw him and Laena Velaryon having a moment during the banquet for the betrothal of Rhaenyra and Laenor. In the book, they end up marrying each other and even having children with one another. This should be something that should happen in the timeskip, especially because Daemon himself has always been a strong ally of the Velaryons.

Lastly, while episode 5 allowed us to think that Viserys was on his way out, he should still be very much alive because his death won’t be until 129 AC when Aegon II was already mature enough to usurp the Iron Throne. In that regard, the timeskip should allow us to see a drastic drop in Viserys’s condition. And his health will eventually deteriorate enough for Queen Alicent’s party to begin preparations for Aegon II to eventually take over the Iron Throne to usurp Princess Rhaenyra.