Get ready for the longest week of your life, because the latest episode of House of the Dragon just left us on one nail-biter of a cliffhanger—again. So, what’s in store for the remainder of the season, and when can we expect episode 5 to roll out on Max?

Oh, House of the Dragon. You may have, at one point, fooled me into thinking that we were immune from Game of Thrones levels of character deaths. But alas, season 2, episode 4 features one of the most heartwrenching sacrifices in franchise history, so yeah, hand over the tissue box, please. I’m going to need a while to recover from this one.

Spoilers ahead for House of the Dragon season 2, episode 4.

Pour one out for who was, without question, a House of the Dragon superstar: Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, played by Eve Best. Although she was colloquially known as the “Queen Who Never Was,” Rhaenys has always been a Queen to us, the viewer. Steadfast in her loyalty to Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), Rhaenys was a true ride-or-die for Team Black—and now, her story has come to an end.

If you thought House of the Dragon‘s second season was slow compared to its predecessor, then buckle up for episode 4, “The Red Dragon and the Gold.” Feeling the increasing pressures of her council to take action, Rhaenyra, upon arriving back at Dragonstone, reluctantly agrees to send Rhaenys and her dragon, Meraxes, to Rook’s Rest, where Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) has ordered troops to claim House Staunton’s seat for the Greens. Although Rhaenys has no problems wiping out royal A-hole King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), things go awry when Prince Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) shows up with his (toallynotterrifying) dragon, Vhagar. It’s all a deadly trap, so despite her prowess as a dragonrider, Rhaenys is no match for Aemond in the end, and she goes out like a warrior. We lost a baddie, truly.

When does the next episode of House of the Dragon premiere?

As per usual, the fifth episode of House of the Dragon season 2 is scheduled to arrive on both HBO and its streaming service, Max, on July 14, at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET. Although an official synopsis for next week’s episode has yet to be revealed, a teaser clip details the aftermath of the battle at Rook’s Rest, with Meraxes’ head being paraded through King’s Landing—under the untrue claim that it was Aegon that slayed the beast, of course. Suffice it to say, Aemond is, like, probs not too happy about that.

From the look of it, we’ll also continue Daemon’s (Matt Smith) storyline, with the King Consort continuing to vie for the Crownlands … and slowly losing his mind in the process. He’s had a particularly interesting arc this season, as he’s (yes, still) hung up about the whole Viserys (Paddy Considine) naming Rhaenyra his successor thing. In any case, it’s not looking good for the Blacks, even if the Greens are also trapped in a nightmare of their own, as Aegon is either dead or too injured to perform his duties as Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. Will Aemond use this as his chance to ascend the throne? And what of Rhaenys’ husband, Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint)?

Unfortunately for us, we’ll just have to wait. Needless to say, the next Sunday night HBO couldn’t come sooner.