Disclaimer: SPOILERS AHEAD!!! Please read at your own risk!
After last week’s episode, a lot of people were shocked at the direction in which House of the Dragon went. With Rhaenys dead, Aegon burnt to (almost) a crisp at Aemond’s hand, and Rhaenyra no closer to the throne than she had ever been, things weren’t looking too good for either the Greens or the Blacks. Luckily for both sides, this week’s episode slowly begins to patch things up.
Unrest in King’s Landing
We start off strong in this latest episode, opening on the scene of Criston Cole parading Meleys’s head through the streets of King’s Landing. Clearly, he means for this to be a power play, but all the action does is provoke uneasiness in the commoners’ hearts. To them, this is the darkest of omens, a sign that something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.
The next scene brings us to Alicent as she witnesses Aegon (who is apparently barely alive) being carted through the castle, his burnt body nestled secretly in a wooden crate. Honestly, I was not prepared for this scene; Alicent’s face when she sees Aegon’s burned and broken body is subtle and yet entirely heartbreaking. Whether you like Alicent or not, you have to admit that Olivia Cooke’s acting is the real MVP of the season so far.
Westeros Needs Feminism
Next, we’re back at Dragonstone’s small council, which is as frustrating as ever. Ser Alfred, always the charmer, essentially tells Rhaenyra that she is unfit to lead the council. He claims that this is a man’s job; as a woman, she hasn’t seen enough war and violence. He could have just said that because she was a princess during a time of peace, she’d never witnessed bloodshed. But no, he had to take the misogynistic route. Who else is ready for Ser Alfred to resign from the council? If he doesn’t check himself in the next episode, I am going to march into my television and put crickets in all of his food.
Daemon is Up to No Good
Still in Harrenhal, Daemon’s story is kicking things up a notch. House Blackwood has bent the knee to him, but their enemy, House Bracken, is holding steady in their opposition. Aided by the Blackwoods, he confronts the Brackens and demands that they either submit or be killed. Their choice: to be killed. In the end, Daemon ultimately spares them. Not because he has any sense of mercy, of course, but because he feels as though he can use other crueler methods to convince them to join him. And how will he do this? By imploring a loyal member of the Blackwood family to use these methods without betraying to the world that the crown is behind it. At this point, I was getting pretty nervous. To what lengths would he go to secure a house that would rather die than join him?
Girl Time!
Later, Rhaenyra finally gets the chance to speak to another woman, finding some comfort in Mysaria’s company. Rhaenyra complains about the hardships of being a woman in the small council, saying, “They speak around me, not to me.” She and Mysaria then chat for a while about girl stuff, like how the commoners of King’s Landing are scared and discontented with the current rule and how Criston Cole parading around with a decapitated dragon head has caused even more chaos and unrest within the citizens. You know, girl stuff.
Targaryens Are Weird
Speaking of unrest, Daemon’s weird dreams haven’t stopped between the last episode and now. In fact, I’d venture to say they’ve gotten worse. Our latest dream begins with Daemon and a blonde woman engaging in some weird sexual activities. During this time, the woman is speaking about how good Daemon would be as a king and how he should have been born first. You’re probably thinking, “Of course he gets off on someone claiming only he is the true king.” Then the woman calls him “my favorite son,” and your brain enters a whole new world of hurt. So yeah, that was somewhat traumatizing.
Alicent Gets Slighted (Again)
Moving on from that nightmare (literally), we finally get a glimpse at the King’s Landing small council. Unsurprisingly, the council determines the need for someone to rule in Aegon’s stead while they wait for his recovery. Alicent proposes that she do it, as she did just fine ruling while her husband was ill. As it turns out, Alicent and Rhaenyra have much more in common than we thought, as the male council members quickly shoot down Alicent’s idea on the basis that “she’s a woman.” Adding insult to injury, they even say her experience would be ideal in ruling but having a woman rule just makes no sense. The cinematography of this scene is pretty cool, though. Muted words and blurry frames add to Olivia Cooke’s distressed face to create a really well-made scene of shock and tension.
Because Ser Criston was on the very council that rejected her, Alicent later confronts him in the courtyard to ask why his loyalties have wavered. He says, “We have given the war to the dragons. A dragonrider should lead us.” I guess he’s got a good point, but how about a war with no dragons? Or maybe even no war? Just a thought. Anyway, Criston goes on to tell Alicent that he has spared her from presiding over a terribly gruesome war, calling her “Alicent” rather than “Your Grace” as a show of supposed compassion. “I did not ask to be spared,” she tells him. “And I did not give you leave to speak my name.” You got some aloe in your armor for that burn, Cole? Just imagine the “good for her” meme from Arrested Development, and you’ll know what’s been running through my head.
Daemon the Cruel
Back at Harrenhal, we learn that Daemon’s cruelty towards the Brackens has extended to kidnapping wives and children, forcing the men into submission by any means necessary. Finally admitting it out loud, Daemon tells Alys that he must take the throne, as people are looking to a man for strength. Coming at us with another banger of a line, Alys tells him, “Once again, in the name of power, it’s the weak and the women who must endure.” Even if she wasn’t some sort of psychic witch, she would still be telling the truth.
It Was All for Her
The next scene genuinely made me cry. Baela approaches Corlys on orders from Rhaenyra to secure him as Hand. As he is mourning the passing of Rhaenys, Baela reminisces on the way the castle used to be, full of laughter and light and riches brought back from far away kingdoms. “I wonder if any of them knew it was all for her,” she says. Right in the heart. Corlys denies Baela’s request, lamenting the loss of Rhaenys and claiming that Rhaenyra is asking too much of him. Baela gently reminds him that Rhaenys wasn’t just his wife, she was a Targaryen Princess, too.
Back to Daemon — Again
As this has clearly been a Daemon-centric episode, we are once again back at Harrenhal, where he has just gotten some truly devastating news. The lords of the Riverlands have shown up at his castle in the middle of the night, demanding an audience. They berate Daemon and tell him they will not bend the knee for a tyrant, that what he’s done in the name of the crown is truly barbaric, and that he will never find support in the Riverlands. As they leave, it becomes clear that the Blackwoods have not only carried out their cruel orders from Daemon, but they raised the Targaryen flag as they did so.
The Search Begins
The episode reaches its end as Rhaenyra and Jacerys decide that they are not winning this war without more dragons, and they are not getting more dragons without people to ride them. They realize that wherever they go there will be a line of Targaryens that have married out or separated from the throne; all they have to do is find them and implore them to attempt to claim a dragon. Should be easy, right?
While not the fastest paced or most exciting, this episode is driving the story forward in a way that makes me super excited. We got to see more of Rhaenyra and less of Criston Cole, just how I like it. I wish we had gotten more of Helaena, though, or found out why Daemon’s having all these incessantly creepy dreams. It’s become really hard not to look up spoilers to find out how the book ends, but I’m staying strong (at great personal cost).
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