In my review for the previous episode of House of the Dragon, I said that Episode Four could be one of the best episodes of the series so far.
Having seen it, I can confidently say that this prediction was absolutely correct.
A slight correction, though.
In that review, I said this episode was called “A Dance with Dragons” but it is actually called “The Red Dragon and the Gold.”
A much better name, in my opinion.
Directed again by Alan Taylor, “The Red Dragon and the Gold” begins at Harrenhal, where Daemon is experiencing more nightmares about his past.
Milly Alcock returns again as the younger Rhaenyra who does a good job calling Daemon out for his past actions.
Daemon responds in typical Daemon fashion by decapitating her, before being awakened with blood on his hands.
I kind of figured Daemon’s nightmare would be a one-time thing last episode, but the show really seems to be running with it.
While Daemon attempts to gain allies through the Tullys and Blackwoods, he loses time and experiences flashbacks to his past, including seeing his dead wife, Laena.
In one bizarre moment, he even sees himself as Aemond.
I am unsure how I feel about this storyline at the moment, but the show seems to be pretty ambiguous on the cause of all this for the time being.
It could be the curse of Harrenhal, Alys Rivers using some kind of magic on Daemon, or simply Daemon’s guilt messing with his mind.
Maybe all three.
In any case, I think it would be a missed opportunity if the show did not have Daemon experience a hallucination of Rhea Royce.
Her murder is definitely Daemon’s worst crime and, even if he does not feel about it, it would be strange if he was not confronted with it.
Overall, I am still interested to see where Daemon’s storyline goes at Harrenhal.
The highlight of the episode, though, is definitely Rhaenys, who begins the episode meeting Alyn to thank him for saving her husband.
Her interaction with him, and Corlys’ subsequent reaction, basically confirm that he is Corlys’ bastard, but Rhaenys proves her morality for not judging Alyn on the basis of his birth.
Rhaenys and Corlys then travel to Dragonstone to help Jace and Baela set their conflicting lords straight.
Corlys’ line, “is there naught to be done in the absence of the Queen but to grouse and claw for power” shows how far he has come from Season One, where he started off as extremely power hungry.
Had the old Corlys been in this room, he would have been just as combative as the other lords.
To be fair to these lords, though, Rhaenyra certainly has not helped matters by disappearing and, when she finally does come back, everyone is shocked to learn she went to King’s Landing to meet with Alicent, especially Jace.
Rhaenyra’s reasoning for meeting Alicent really bothered me in Episode Three, due to how shortsighted it was, but it was made retroactively better in this episode through the other characters calling her out on it.
She is at least ready for war now, although it may be too late because the Greens are already attacking her allies.
We see the sacking of one castle, where Criston kills the lord and assimilates his forces into his own army.
The lord does have some awesome last words though, telling Criston that his death will come in kind.
Despite the war progressing well for the Greens due to Criston’s actions, Aegon is displeased to hear of Daemon taking Harrenhal.
His insecurities only grow when Aemond embarrasses him by showing just how bad his Valyrian is, while Aemond’s is impeccable.
Aegon then does what any insecure son would do when he is feeling inadequate, seek the comfort of his mother.
Unfortunately, his mother is Alicent, who is also reeling from the revelations of her conversation with Rhaenyra.
She deals with Aegon’s insecurities with the subtleness of a brick wall, offering him no comfort, and telling him to do nothing, as if she had no hand in this situation.
She had literal years to train Aegon to be a king, and yet she clearly taught him nothing and now expects him to do nothing.
Did she really expect him to be content with that?
This is not a complaint, though, as I love how complicated Alicent is.
Rhaenyra proves herself to be both much more caring, and to also be better at preparing her son for kingship by telling him about the Song of Ice and Fire.
From here, the episode transitions to a scene I have been waiting to see adapted ever since I first read Fire and Blood: Rook’s Rest.
The battle did not disappoint.
Not only are the effects, both CGI and practical great, but so is the cinematography and the brilliant score by Ramin Djawadi playing throughout.
Cole lays siege to Rook’s Rest, resulting in Rhaenys volunteering to take her dragon Meleys and aid the Blacks.
Meanwhile, Aegon, drunk and eager to prove himself, takes his dragon Sunfyre to the battlefield.
And so, the red dragon and the gold head for conflict.
However, both are unaware of the third, old dragon.
Cole and Aemond planned an ambush and are ready to meet Rhaenys with Vhagar.
They are not ready for Aegon to interfere, however, and he nearly gets himself killed fighting Rhaenys.
Thankfully for him, help is on the way… unfortunately for him, that help is Aemond.
As I predicted, Aemond was not quick to forget Aegon’s humiliation of him in the brothel, along with the years of humiliation he was subjected to as a child.
Aemond orders Vhagar to shoot fire at the two dragons, seemingly not caring if his own brother is killed.
Aegon and Sunfyre plummet into the forest below, leaving Meleys and Vhagar as the only dragons left in the fight.
Rather than flee, Rhaenys valiantly fights against Aemond and Vhagar.
What follows shows exactly why this conflict came to be known as the Dance of the Dragons as, locked together in battle, the two dragons do almost look like they are dancing.
In the end, however, Aemond and Vhagar are able to get a sneak attack on Rhaenys and Meleys, ending the fight.
As Meleys dies, the look on Rhaenys’s face as she falls is tragic, knowing that imminent death is getting closer, until she and her dragon crash into the castle below, resulting in a fireball.
In the aftermath of the battle, Criston finds Aemond standing over Aegon, sword drawn, leaving it implied if he was really going to kill his brother or not.
In the end, Aemond takes the Valyrian Steel dagger and leaves Criston with Aegon, whose fate currently remains unknown.
This whole final scene at Rook’s Rest makes “The Red Dragon and the Gold” one of the best House of the Dragon episodes, but the rest of the episode is nothing to sleep about.
We have Daemon being confronted by his past, Rhaenyra finally accepting that war is inevitable, and the buildup to Rhaenys’ death, with her sharing her last scenes with Corlys.
Speaking of Corlys it will be tragic to see him learn of his wife’s death next episode.
As for Rhaenys herself, Eve Best did a fantastic job with the character.
While I felt like the writing for her could be a little bit iffy at times, like when she killed loads of civilians in the Dragon Pit, when the writing for her was good it was really good.
We see that this episode during her interaction with Alyn, and it is a shame we will not be getting more Rhaenys scenes like this, due to her death.
RIP the Queen Who Never Was.
Book Spoilers Section:
The episode ends keeping Aegon’s fate up in the air, but he does survive his injuries.
I am curious how far the show will go as to the extent of those injuries.
Will his scars be super prominent or more subtle?
As for Aegon himself, I don’t expect we will see much more of him this season, due to his wounds, which is a shame because Tom Glynn-Carney has been doing an excellent job this season.
Speaking of a character’s screen time being reduced, I am unsure if we will see Otto again this season, since he left to meet up with Daeron and he has not been cast yet.
I am, however, now wondering if Otto’s fate will be changed from Fire and Blood.
When Rhaenyra takes King’s Landing in the book, Otto is among those executed.
But if this season ends with the taking of King’s Landing, like I think it will, Otto will not be there to meet that fate.
Instead, Otto will most likely be mentoring Daeron next season.
If that is the case, then he could end up meeting the fate of another book character where, after Daeron’s death, he poisons himself to ensure the death of Ulf the White.
This would be a cooler way for Otto to go out and Rhys Ifans could definitely pull it off.
With Rook’s Rest now concluded, I expect the next few episodes will finally get into my favorite storyline from the Dance, which is the Dragonseeds.
I have mentioned in previous reviews that I am concerned about this storyline in the show, due to the potential cutting of Nettles, however the show has done a good job of setting up the characters of Addam, Hugh and Ulf, so I am excited to see them tame their dragons, at least.
We will see how that storyline turns out in the next few episodes.
THE REVIEW MONSTER 