Sunday night’s episode of House Of The Dragon continues what last week’s episode started, with each of the principle factions jockeying for power and pushing pieces around the board. Once again, we will take flight on our very own dragon, the black-and-red Rhaelyx—or ‘Shadow Flame’ in High Valyrian—who we first met in my recap of last week’s episode. Everything looks clearer when perched atop the back of a dragon. Just don’t ask Ser Steffon Darklyn his opinion on the matter.
Spoilers follow.
The City Of Kings And Dragons
We’ll begin this week’s journey flying high above the red walls and tiled rooftops of King’s Landing. If the city looks different in House of the Dragon than it did in Game of Thrones, you can blame filming locations. The Thrones version of the city was filmed primarily in Dubrovnik, Croatia. That city’s distinct roof tiles—known as “kupe kanalice”—gave King’s Landing its unique look. The tiles were hand-made in the village of Kupari up until the year 1925, with the wet clay stretched out over the craftsmens’ thighs to give them their unique shape.
King’s Landing is primarily filmed in Cáceres, Spain for House of the Dragon, and we see less of it from above, more from ground level and the bustling streets. This location was also used in Game of Thrones but is the main filming location for the prequel series.
As we peer down, however, it is both these cities I imagine we see spread out below us. The red-tiled rooftops, the winding cobbled streets pressed in on both sides by brick buildings.
Here is Cáceres:
And here, Dubrovnik:
Notice the peasants moving about, some are running up from the shoreline carrying bundles of food: Vegetables, loaves of bread, fish. Some have black and red banners draped over their shoulders. The Gold Cloaks and other soldiers are taken by surprise. In the High Sept, the Queen Dowager and her daughter the Queen are rushed out by their knights, alarmed by the howling mob that has whipped up like a storm.
It is Rhaenyra and Mysaria’s doing. They sent these “gifts” to the starving people of King’s Landing to bend the people toward Rhaenyra’s cause, and it’s clearly working. The Prince Regent, for all his cunning and skill in battle, has a great deal to learn about actually governing. “The enemy without may be fought with swords, the enemy within is more insidious,” his Master of Whisperers, Larys Strong, warns him. He reminds young Aemond that he has yet to choose a Hand; Ser Criston Cole was his brother Aegon’s Hand, not his.
Larys plays his cards exactly how he might with Aegon or Alicent, but Aemond suffers neither fools nor lickspittles. He tells his spy-master to summon his grandsire, Otto Hightower, back to the city. Perhaps Alicent was wrong when she told him earlier, “You have the impetuous of youth, and its arrogance.”
Aemond is shoring up his power, and the first step he takes is to dismiss his mother from the Small Council. Last week we the Queen Dowager’s dawning realization that she was being cast aside after so many years pulling the strings. Aemond ignores her jabs. “I’m sure you’ll be pleased to return to more . . . domestic pursuits,” he tells her.
The Prince Regent also orders Ser Criston Cole to march on Harrenhal. He’s furious with the Lannisters when Jason Lannister sends a raven summoning Aemond to help march on Daemon. “He dares to summon me with haste,” Aemond fumes. “I am the prince regent, not a dog to be put to heel.”
Instead, he orders Cole to march from King’s Landing and the Lord of Casterly Rock to march from the west. The two will converge on Harrenhal and Aemond will join them “when the time is ripe.”
Aemond also instructs the younger Lannister twin to make an alliance with the Triarchy—the pirate alliance between the Free Cities of Lys, Myr and Tyrosh—in order to weaken the Sea Snake’s blockade of Blackwater Bay. (In the books, it is Otto Hightower who devises this strategy).
Aegon has been slowly healing from his grievous wounds, but Maester Orwyle says he “sleeps nine hours out of every ten” (a line taken directly from Fire & Blood) and it’s clear that he is in terrible pain and anguish. He is paid visits by his mother, who tells him tearily “I’m sorry” and from his brother, who presses his Small Council stone into Aegon’s chest as he interrogates him: “What do you remember?”
“Nothing,” Aegon gasps. Aemond presses down harder. “You challenged Melys,” he says calmly. “It was foolish.”
“I remember nothing,” the King replies, and Aemond bends forward and kisses his brother on the forehead. When the Grand Maester enters, Aemond tells him to take good care of his brother. Orwyle is clearly nervous.
The last visitor Aegon receives is the Clubfoot, who instructs the nurse to withhold his Milk of the Poppy. “The drink takes the pain away but it dulls your mind,” he tells the King. And then he tells him the hard truths: “You will never be whole. Orwyle has exhausted his capabilities. Your mind is all that remains to you. I do not say that gladly.”
From our perch on the window, we can see Aegon in all his resplendent suffering. But it is more than mere pain on his face. There is fear there as well. You can smell it on him and in the air, sour andmixed in with the stink of bandages and sickness.
“I came screaming into the world,” Larys tells his liege. “My foot so twisted that my father named it sorcery. People will pity you behind your back or in your presence and they will stare,” he tells him, drawing from his own life. “And they will underestimate you. And this will be your advantage.”
Larys can see the fear on Aegon’s face.
“Your brother rules in your place now,” he says softly, “which means that your life is in danger. But I think you know that.”
“Help me,” Aegon whispers. I think Larys only wants to help himself. He only visits his fallen king after Aemond spurns his wish to become Hand.
Out in the castle yards, Ser Criston Cole and his knights ready for the long ride to Harrenhal. Among them is Ser Gwayne Hightower, the eldest child of Otto Hightower. Alicent approaches him. “I wish to give you my blessing,” she says, and he smirks. “Well, my thanks to the Queen Dowager” he says, giving a mock bow, an edge to his tone. Something has changed in Gwayne since he’s returned from war. The cocky arrogance has been blunted by the harsh realities of battle.
Alicent asks about her youngest son, Daeron, who was sent to Old Town as Gwayne’s ward when he was young. “What’s he like?” she asks. Impatient, Gwayne says that she surely must know as they write letters to one another. She says they rarely do anymore. Gwayne softens.
“He’s stalwart,” he says. “Clever. As adept with his lute as he is with his sword. And a feature in the fancies of many a young lady I’d wager.” Gwayne pauses, thinking. “He’s kind,” he says at last.
Alicent seems both relieved and forlorn. “That’s good,” she says.
“You did well to send him to ward,” Gwayne replies. The Red Keep does not create much kindness in young men, he notes, clearly unimpressed with his other nephews.
“Was it the court or was it their mother?” Alicent says, the full weight of her mistakes weighing heavily now. “You did your best,” her brother replies, but I’m not sure either of them believe it.
Ser Cole gives Alicent a long, meaningful look as he makes ready to depart and she stares back. Their last words together were bitter, and there’s no telling if these lovers—bound together by hate more than by love—will ever see one another again. She gives him a slight nod and he turns and rides off.
We’ll depart this stinking city as well, dear readers. Come now, Rhaelyx, sōvēs! Fly! Nothing ever good happened in King’s Landing. Alas, nothing ever good happened where we’re going, either, but north and west we’ll travel ahead of Cole’s armies. Somewhere, the Lannisters march with their caged lions. We’ll get to Harrenhal before them.
The Man Who Would Be King
Daemon remains a prisoner of ghosts. This time, it is his brother King Viserys I he sees, and I am reminded of the biggest hole in House of the Dragon’s second season. It is a hole in the shape of Paddy Considine, whose performance as Viserys should have earned him an Emmy—if only he wasn’t up against that other show about kings and princes: Succession.
One of the best lines from that HBO series was Kendall’s “I am the eldest boy!” and there’s something just as sad and pathetic wafting about Daemon Targaryen, who viewed his older brother almost as a father. In his visions of Viserys, we learn something important about Daemon’s motivations. He doesn’t want the throne because it will give him power. He wants it because he wants his brother’s love and affection.
“Did you really say it?” Viserys intones from the Iron Throne as Daemon looks up, slightly baffled. “Heir for a day?” Viserys seethes.
“You can’t possibly still be angry about this,” Daemon replies (and yes, this is a very funny line—I’ve complained about the lack of humor in this show, but there is a lot of very subtle humor in Daemon’s recent storyline). Viserys’s anger, his rejection of his brother, naming Rhaenyra heir in his place, all of it has consumed Daemon for years, decades even at this point. It makes sense that he would bristle at his niece-wife’s rise to power when it also means accepting that his brother chose her instead.
He tries to flee the throne room but the door is locked and when it finally opens, Daemon tumbles to the floor before a confused Ser Simon Strong. “I do wonder if you’re getting enough sleep,” the steward of Harrenhal says, hilariously. (Strong is quickly becoming a Season 2 VIP). Daemon, still somehow not suspecting Alys’s witchcraft, draws his knife and presses it to Strong’s throat, accusing him of plotting against him, of poisoning him, of conspiring with Larys or Rhaenyra.
“Whatever your game is Strong I assure you your king is on his guard!” he proclaims as he backs warily from the room. Strong looks bemused more than afraid.
Daemon storms out of the castle, down toward where his dragon, Caraxes waits. I get the sense that Caraxes has spotted us, dear reader, or at least sense Rhaelyx nearby. But Daemon never makes it to the dragon. At the Godswood, Alys Rivers stands. He confronts her but she is unfazed by his bluster.
“There are older things in this world than you or I, or in living memory,” she says. “You are not the player but a piece on the board. As am I, for that matter.”
“I’m not like you,” he says tersely. She tells him that in some ways that’s true. “There’s an anger that blinds you,” she says. When he complains about Viserys choosing Rhaenyra over him, he exclaims that she never even wanted the crown.
Did you ever think that this is why he chose her? Alys replies. The very fact that she didn’t want the crown may make her the best possible choice. “Perhaps those who strive for it are the least suited to wear it,” she muses. “Viserys never wanted it himself if you recall. It’s not a prize to be won but a burden to bear.”
This is perhaps the best thing anyone could ever tell Daemon Targaryen, and they seem to land. He’s caught off guard and for once seems to listen rather than just speak. This is a side of Daemon I don’t think we’ve ever seen. He’s . . . almost vulnerable.
“If you have any counsel for dealing with the Riverlords I’d be glad of it,” he says.
“Daemon Targaryen asking for help?” she replies with a laugh. “Counsel,” he retorts, pathetically.
She tells him that the Riverlords will never unite without the Lord Tully. They’re too proud, too fractious. But Tully is old and useless and Daemon is at a loss.
“I need help, Alys,” he finally admits. This is the second proud, impetuous Targaryen prince to ask for help in one episode. Will wonders never cease?
Alys tells him to do nothing. “In a few days time the winds will shift,” she says.
Some time later, Daemon is awakened from another dream of his brother—this time mourning the death of his wife—with good news. Grover Tully has died. None of his healers could help him, and even Alys Rivers’ efforts could not save the old man. Daemon realizes immediately that she was behind his death, and when he’s alone again he weeps—though whether they are sobs of relief that he can now finally raise a host, or of grief from his vision we cannot say.
Rhaelyx is hungry. Perhaps we will fly north and east, over the rocky hills of the Vale. There are no dragons here save the younglings Rhaenyra sent with Rhaena.
But wait, what is this below? There is Rhaena walking with Rhaenyra’s young son, their retinue behind them. And there . . . bones and burnt earth, a huge scorched scar upon the ground. No baby dragon did this.
Back at the Eyrie, Rhaena confronts Lady Arryn telling her that the Vale does indeed have its own large dragon. The Lady replies, “It is large and formidable, but alas wild.”
Book spoilers and speculation ahead.
The dragon in question is a wild dragon named Sheepstealer. In the books, he is claimed by an urchin girl named Nettles who ends up going to Daemon with her dragon once it’s been claimed. I am 99% sure at this point that Nettles is going to be Rhaena in the show, and perhaps she’ll even hide her identity somehow and go to her father, and all the stuff we read about them in the book will be “fiction” and this will be the real story. This makes sense, as Nettles has not been introduced in Season 2, whereas Ulf the White, Hugh Hammer and Addam of Hull all have been, all of whom are the Dragon Seeds from Fire & Blood.
End book spoilers.
Curious happenings in the Vale, but not so curious as further south. We’ll fly quickly now, to Dragonstone and . . .
The Queen Of Dragons
We’ve already discussed Rhaenyra and Mysaria’s successful plan to send food to the inhabitants of King’s Landing—like some beneficent siege tactic. What we left out was the two women’s romantic moment. I think Rhaenyra is feeling very lonely, and both women have a shared history with Daemon. That their embrace turns to cautious touching and then a passionate kiss should not surprise us; I don’t think it means Rhaenyra prefers the company of women, necessarily. But these two have found some solace in one another’s company, and Rhaenyra is almost certainly sick of the company of men. Her advisors have begun to speak out more boldly against her—she slaps one of them for good measure, telling him “It is my fault I think that you have forgotten to fear me.” Even her son doubts her, something that gnaws at her even more. How can she rule the Seven Kingdoms if she cannot convince Jace?
Much of this doubt comes after the loss of Ser Steffon Darklyn, who bravely agrees to try to ride a dragon. It almost seems as if he’ll succeed at mounting Seasmoke who, along with Vermithor and Silverwing, need riders. When she summons Ser Steffon because of his shared ancestry, she says “I do not compel you to do this. To claim a dragon you must also be prepared to die.”
Steffon bravely accepts his duty, and when he finally approaches the dragon and all seems well, he utters words that let us know he is surely doomed. “I’ve done it,” he says, breathing a sigh of relief. Seasmoke rises up and breathes out a great gout of flame, catching the knight and several dragon handlers in its inferno.
Seasmoke flies free and later his shadow falls over another relatively new character: Addam of Hull, younger brother of Alyn who the Sea Snake has asked to be his boatswain. Addam flees as the dragon swoops down, scrambling through the trees, falling over himself in a panic to get away. But Seasmoke lands in front of him and leans down, looking every bit like a monster going in for the kill.
Rhaenyra and Mysaria’s kiss is interrupted by news: Seasmoke has been seen flying far above with a rider on his back. “The Greens?” Mysaria asks. Rhaenyra can’t think of who else it could be—but we know, don’t we Rhaelyx? We’ve seen who flies on Seasmoke’s back.
The Queen of Dragons mounts Syrax and flies away from Dragonstone and we will follow her, but we won’t see where she goes because the scene fades to black and the credits roll.
Verdict
All told, another fantastic and gripping episode of House of the Dragon which manages to be fascinating and compelling even without large-scale dragon battles or battles of any kind. Every scene crackled this week, just like last week, and all signs point toward epic battles to round out the end of Season 2, as armies march and dragons take flight.
Oh, and Mysaria is right: The sword very much becomes Rhaenyra. Perhaps it’s time she joined the war.
I’ll add a Scattered Thoughts section if any scattered thoughts come my way. Thanks for reading!
Past Season 2 Reviews:
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