Spoiler alert: this recap is for people watching House of the Dragon. Do not read on unless you have watched season two, episode six.
‘To claim a dragon you must also be prepared to die’
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Alright, so the whole noble-bloodlines thing is deeply dubious – one suspects that Wagner, Hitler and Richard Spencer would all approve – but it’s hardly unprecedented in the annals of epic fantasy. And if we assume that Rhaenyra’s How to Train Your Dragon School really is the next step, it’s bound to make a refreshingly upbeat change from all the brooding and bickering that have dominated the series of late. If in the next two episodes we’re not treated to the sight of newbie dragonriders whooping as they soar into a clear blue sky, then I’ll eat my crash helmet.
‘Have the indignities of your childhood not yet sufficiently been avenged?’
But enough anticipation – back to the episode at hand. Which was, it must be said, another bone-dry table-setter, still short on major surprises and long on organisational chit-chat. It opened to the strains of a familiar melody – The Rains of Castamere, rumbling ominously as the Lannister army came thundering up to the gates of the Golden Tooth. The Green forces are starting to rally to the call of new Prince Regent Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) – but if the haughty Lord Jason Lannister (Jefferson Hall) is anything to go by, the process could take more time, and involve more diplomacy, than war-hungry Aemond has the patience for.
It won’t help that he’s chosen to ditch the most experienced voice on his small council – his own mother, the Dowager Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke) – while simultaneously alienating both his closest ally, Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), and the council’s most implacable member, Lord Larys Strong (Matthew Needham), who took the hint and hurried straight to the ailing Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney). Aemond’s decision to send for his grandsire, Lord Otto Hightower, to replace Ser Criston as Hand may seem a shrewd one, but Otto is thousands of miles away and it sounds as if he might have more imminent problems to deal with.
‘No use wondering what might have been’
As, indeed, does Aemond – as heavily signposted last week, the half-starved smallfolk of King’s Landing are finally revolting, swayed by the whispers put about by Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) and her little birds. This led to both the most memorable image in the episode – as Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) dispatched boatloads of fresh produce to feed the hungry, and the horizon was filled with bobbing Targaryen flags – and its most gripping scene, as Alicent and her daughter Helaena (Phia Saban) were mobbed on the steps of the Sept, and forced to flee to the safety of their wheelhouse (hey, we’ve all done it).
Meanwhile in Harrenhal, the dreams of Prince Daemon (Matt Smith) were once more focused on the past, making way for the happy, if brief, return of Paddy Considine as the late King Viserys, and forcing Daemon to question some of his choices – namely, his decision to go boozing the night Viserys lost his wife, rather than consoling his brother. Will any of this soul-searching make Daemon a better person? Don’t bank on it.
Anyway, while the King Consort spins his wheels, the real mover and shaker in this plotline is starting to reveal herself: not only did Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) offer Daemon a stern sermon on the nature of power, she also – it was heavily hinted – took care of one of his most pressing problems, travelling to Riverrun to surreptitiously knock off the ailing Grover Tully, thereby making way for his younger and, it is hoped, more impressionable heir. The question remains, however – what is Alys’s endgame and how far is she willing to go?
‘I am but a man. The dragons are Gods’
Another adviser who might be seen to have overstepped her bounds this week was Mysaria, whose admiration for Rhaenyra tipped over into something more tender (either that or she’s trying to sleep her way through the entire Targaryen dynasty – good news, Jace!). Either way, she seems genuinely invested in Rhaenyra’s cause, which is more than you can say for the rest of the Queen’s advisers: Lord Corlys (Steve Toussaint) may have become the Queen’s Hand, but neither he, the rest of the small council or even the Queen’s own son Jacaerys (Harry Collett) seem to hold out much hope for victory.
It doesn’t help that the one nobleman to never openly doubt her, Ser Steffon Darklyn (Anthony Flanagan), ended up going too far to prove his loyalty, agreeing to the Queen’s hastily concocted scheme to tame the dragon Seasmoke who once bore Rhaenyra’s first husband, Laenor. But as much as the creators tried to up the tension, there was never really any doubt as to how this encounter was going to end.
‘It is large, and formidable … but, alas, wild’
Which brings us to the real dragonriders. It was only a matter of time before Lady Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) got her chance. She was clearly destined for something special, otherwise the showrunners would have packed her off across the Narrow Sea like Laenor before her. The encounter between Seasmoke and Addam of Hull (Clinton Liberty) was slightly more unexpected – the main focus seemed to be on his older brother, the self-effacing Alyn (Abubakar Salim), though it seems that his future might be at sea rather than in the air, as his unacknowledged father Lord Corlys offered Alyn the chance to captain his own ship.
But while Addam’s encounter with Seasmoke was undoubtedly effective, the decision to cut away to Dragonstone was an odd one. If we assume that the rider reported circling on Seasmoke was indeed Addam – and I think we have to – then why on earth didn’t we get to see him mount the beast? It’s the first rule of screenwriting: show, don’t tell. I, for one, feel ever so slightly cheated.
Additional notes
• War may make for strange bedfellows, but an alliance with Westeros’s erstwhile enemies the Triarchy seems rash even for Aemond.
• He may have suffered a wild series of calamities, but King Aegon looks pretty much fine? Some scarring, sure, but he should count himself lucky.
• Baby dragon alert! Not since Daenerys visited Qarth have we seen one so young, albeit briefly.
• He’s handsome, intelligent, popular with the ladies and a whiz at the lute … When are we going to meet the mysterious Daeron? Could he be the level-headed saviour the realm so badly needs?
Violence count
The fiery death of Ser Steffon may have been predictable, but it was also bracing – the sight of that flaming dragon-wrangler slicing his own throat was genuinely gnarly. The kick-off between the smallfolk and gold cloaks was also suitably feisty, though that brief shot of a severed arm was so Star Wars you half expected someone to yell: ‘No blasters!’
Nudity count
Assuming Aegon’s scarred chest doesn’t count, all we got was a spot of swiftly interrupted pashing between Rhaenyra and Mysaria. Could this encounter lead to a serious, meaningful, grownup romance? I hope so.
Random Brit of the week
He may be the latest scion of the most notorious aristocratic acting clan in these isles, but it’s hard to resent Freddie Fox too much: not only did he manage to invest simpering posh boy Gwayne Hightower with a dash of humanity this week, but he was terrific as the slimy, ambitious “Spider” Webb in Slow Horses. Just don’t bring up cousin Laurence …
