House of the Dragon Season Two, Episode Eight, The Queen Who Ever Was Review: Worst Episode of the Series?

I was excited for the Season Two finale of House of the Dragon.
The previous episode, “The Red Sowing”, was one of my favorites of the series, so I was anticipating the season would likewise end on a great note.
Unfortunately, House of the Dragon followed up one of its best episodes with easily its worst for me.
Directed by Geeta Vasant Patel, “The Queen Who Ever Was” not only ends Season Two on an anticlimactic note but also has plenty of poorly integrated scenes, scenes that go nowhere and, worst of all, two cases of extreme character assassination.
The episode begins with Tyland Lannister negotiating with the Triarchy.
Over the course of the episode, we see him struggle, having to engage in a mud fight with Admiral Lohar to win the Triarchy’s support.
These scenes all feel very rushed, considering they are just shoved into the season finale.
If this storyline had been stretched out over previous episodes, maybe it would have been better.
A counter point to this is that Tyland and the newly introduced Lohar are just not interesting enough to carry their own storyline.
Sadly, this is not the only story with scenes spread across the episode which lacks intrigue.
Throughout “The Queen Who Ever Was”, we get brief scenes of Rhaena running through the Vale, looking for a wild dragon.
Not only is Rhaena unlikeable here because she abandoned her half-siblings, but the storyline also makes little sense because somehow no one noticed she was gone.
The episode ends with her finding the dragon, which has a cool design, but that is the last we see of Rhaena this season, making all of the buildup she got seem like a waste of time.
The Tyland and Rhaena scenes feel like they could have been removed in favor of focusing on more interesting events, like Aemond burning down a city that is loyal to the Blacks.
We only see the aftermath of this attack, removing a lot of its impact.
If we had seen Aemond actually burn the city, driven by his anger of the Blacks recruiting new dragon riders last episode, it could have been a big moment for his character.
Instead, it feels kind of hollow.
Speaking of those new dragon riders, Ulf is already letting the power get to his head, being disrespectful towards Jace.
This only furthers Jace’s fear that these Dragonseeds could prove to be more of a threat than allies.
Rhaenyra is not likely to listen to his protests, however.
She is, thankfully, finally listening to Corlys.
He was named Hand of the Queen in Episode Five, but he has bizarrely never been seen advising Rhaenyra until now.
It honestly felt like Mysaria was Hand of the Queen rather than him.
Now, we finally get to see him advising Rhaenyra to take the war to the Greens, while also unveiling his new ship, dubbing it “The Queen Who Ever Was” after Rhaenys, which is a nice touch.
Corlys is also in the best scene of the episode, when he tries to offer Alyn help, only for his illegitimate son to confront him with all of the pain he put him and Addam through by neglecting them.
Abubakar Salim gives a powerful performance here, and it makes me more excited to see him in Season Three.
Hopefully, we will see Corlys advising Rhaenyra more next season, as well.
She is certainly going to need all of the advice she can get, given that one of her plans failed so badly this episode.
The Lord she sent to access Daemon ends up betraying her, wanting to support Daemon’s claim instead.
Rhaenyra is just lucky Daemon had a vision about how terrible Season Eight was and now wants to stop it from happening.
That joke brings me to Daemon’s part of the story, as he finally makes his choice regarding his place in the world, deciding to stay loyal to Rhaenyra after his vision of the coming Whiter Walker threat.
While this was a big moment from Daemon, I do feel like House of the Dragon leans way too heavily on the events of Game of Thrones at times.
I wish it could just be its own show, especially how a lot of us do not want to be reminded of Season Eight.
Along with this, Daemon and Rhaenyra reconciling makes me wonder just what the point was of that bizarre make out scene between Rhaenyra and Mysaria in Episode Six?
That scene has never been addressed since and it probably never will now that Rhaenyra and Daemon are back on the same page.
However, Daemon’s storyline has an even worse problem, which is the complete character assassination of Helaena.
Helaena appears in Daemon’s vision, revealing herself to have powers similar to Bran’s in Game of Thrones.
She then gives him some advice.
“This is all a story. And you’re but one part in it. You know your part. You know what you must do.”
I hated this.
Daemon is responsible for the brutal murder of Helaena’s son, and I am supposed to believe that she is willing to help him after that?
Why?
She should hate his guts.
In episode two, we saw how traumatizing the death of her son was for her and this scene lessens that impact.
This is the first character assassination of the episode but there is still one more and it is far worse.
I am getting ahead of myself, though.
While, yes, the scene with Daemon and Helaena is bad, at least there are a couple of good scenes to balance the episode out a little.
The first of these is the already mentioned Alyn scene, but there is also one of Criston, where Gwayne confronts him over his relationship with Alicent.
The scene is a bit weird since Gwayne confronts Criston out in the open, practically telling everyone who did not already know that the King’s widow is having an affair.
That being said, the scene does have the best dialogue of the episode, as Criston shows how nihilistic he has become.
“Perhaps all men are corrupt and true honor is a mist that melts in the morning.”
Criston may be a complete and utter jerk, but damn did that line feel like something George R.R Martin would write.
Criston is faithful to Alicent… it is just a shame that she is currently willing to sell him and every single person in her family besides Helaena up the river.
After learning Aemond wants to force Helaena to fight, Alicent goes to Rhaenyra in secret to negotiate, being willing to surrender King’s Landing to her once Aemond leaves.
At first, Alicent attempts to claim she can convince Aegon to bend the knee, but Rhaenyra refuses, saying Aegon has to die for her claim to the Iron Throne to succeed.
So, obviously, Alicent says no, right?
I mean, this is the woman who threw herself in front of a dragon to defend her son in Season One, Episode Nine.
She would never sacrifice her children after being so afraid for their safety previously, right?
Nope, she agrees to sacrifice Aegon and, by extension, Aemond, Otto and Daeron, the latter of whom she wanted to know about just a few episodes ago.
This completely destroys Alicent’s character.
She was the one who turned her children against Rhaenyra in the first place and now she is willing to have them executed?
Not that it will happen though, because Aegon flees the city with Larys this episode, which will probably cause yet another misunderstanding between Rhaenyra and Alicent in Season Three.
As for Aegon himself, Tom-Glynn Carney did a fantastic job this season.
I somehow both sympathize with his character and despise him.
This is what the show should have been going for with Alicent.
Instead of the ruthless, power-hungry woman who loved her children from the book, we get the complete opposite, someone who wants peace even if it means her own children have to die.
Seeing what it led to, I now really don’t like the switch in Alicent’s character in “Lord of the Tides.”
If she had crowned Aegon because she wanted to, rather than because she misheard Viserys, it would have made her a lot more interesting.
Honestly, Rhaenyra suffers a lot from these kinds of issues as well.
In the Season One finale, Rhaenyra’s face after she learned of Luke’s death promised vengeance.
In Season Two, however, apart from Episode One, this desire for revenge because of her son’s death has completely disappeared.
She has been so pro-peace this season, even when it is absolutely obvious that the other side is not going to surrender.
I wish the show had just kept at what it was initially building up between Rhaenyra and Alicent, a friendship turned bitter and hateful rivalry.
Their children have literally been killing each other and they are still somehow friends.
Alicent even wants Rhaenyra to come with her which is just bizarre.
Where exactly would you two go where you would not be noticed?
At least the cinematography and Ramin Djawadi’s score are excellent, as this final, awful scene brings the season to an end on an incredibly anticlimactic note.
Overall, “The Queen Who Ever Was” is a bad finale.
Sure, it has some great scenes, like Alyn and Criston’s, but the rest of the scenes either feel shoved in, pointless, or have blatant character assassination.
As for the season as a whole, I have mixed feelings.
There have been amazing episodes, specifically Episodes Two, Four and Seven, but a lot of the other ones have been slow.
This would have been forgivable if they had built up to a good finale but, instead, we got the worst episode of the show.
I sincerely hope the writing quality will improve for Season Three, otherwise this show could be in trouble.
That being said, the writing for “The Queen Who Ever Was” is not as bad as Season Eight of Game of Thrones.
So, at least there is that.

Book Spoilers Section:
You know, it’s funny.
I spent the past few episodes planning a rant for when Rhaena claimed Sheepstealer but the writers cut the scene before it happened.
A part of me wonders if the writers are just waiting to see fan reception for Rhaena before they commit to abandoning Nettles entirely but that is probably not it.
I mean, why would they commit to having Sheepstealer in the Vale if they were not going to have Rhaena claim it?
And if Nettles does show up next season, then her storyline will probably be considerably weaker than the book, since the show spent so much time building up to another character getting her dragon.
At least Sheepstealer’s design looks cool.
Speaking of new dragons, we also got to see Tessarion briefly at the end of the episode.
I hope the show does Daeron justice.
Another interesting thing is Otto being in prison at the end.
This is completely book original, and I wonder where the show is going with it.
Perhaps it will be a way to tie him into Daeron’s storyline, like I speculated in prior reviews.
Along with Daeron, next season we also have the fall of King’s Landing and the Battle of the Gullett to look forward to.
The latter is what was being built up to with those Tyland and Lohar scenes.
However, that really does not justify those scenes’ existence, in my opinion.
All it really would have required is a simple message from Tyland saying he had got the Triarchy’s support, not a weird scene of mud fighting.
Oh, well, hopefully the battle will be good, along with the writing.
As you can see, the poor quality of this episode’s writing has me concerned for Season Three.
I really hope we don’t get Aemond hallucinating at Harrenhal with Alys Rivers when he eventually takes the castle.
Could you imagine?
I, unfortunately, can.
As for Season Two itself, I would still say it is good overall, but the writing is a definite step down from Season One.

House of the Dragon Season Two, Episode Four, The Red Dragon and the Gold Review: Rook’s Rest.

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.

House of the Dragon Season Two, Episode Three, The Burning Mill Review: A Tense Meeting.

Episode Three of House of the Dragon‘s Second Season, “The Burning Mill” is the weakest episode of the three so far.
But that is not to say it is bad, far from it.
Directed by Geeta Vasant Patel, the episode begins by showing the oldest rivalry in Westeros, that of the Blackwoods and the Brackens, finding yet another excuse to go at one another’s throats.
We see how a simple dispute between the rival families quickly devolves into an outright slaughter, with hundreds of dead on both sides, with the titular burning mill in the background.
This opening scene made for a striking showcase of how opposing factions will use the conflict brewing between Rhaenyra and Aegon as an excuse to go to war.
From here, the episode cuts to the aftermath of the tragic Erryk and Arryk fight.
The twins are being buried together at Rhaenyra’s behest and it is at this point that Rhaneys says, “Otto Hightower would never have allowed this.”
This seems to be a complete misunderstanding of Otto, since he planned to send Kingsguard to kill Rhaenyra and her family in Episode Nine of Season One.
Yes, Otto did object to the plan to send Arryk on an assassination mission, but this was because he was not consulted about it and, most of all, he did not think the plan was very good.
Saying he would not do it because of morals is just weird.
However, Rhaenys’ following comment that, “Soon they will not even remember what it was that began the war in the first place,” is a much more fitting one because it perfectly represents the opening unseen battle between the Blackwoods and the Brackens.
Much like the Blacks, the Greens are also considering their options after Arryk’s failed attempt on Rhaenyra’s life, along with the fallout of Cole replacing Otto.
Sadly, Cole now has Aegon’s ear, and plans to eventually take Harrenhal.
Unfortunately for him, Daemon is way ahead of him, taking Caraxes to claim one of the most important strongholds in the entire war… which is severely undermanned.
It was quite funny to see Daemon storming in, expecting a fight, only to be met simply by Lord Simon Strong (Simon Russel Beale).
There was surprisingly a lot of good humor in this scene, as Daemon tries to stake claim to some power by demanding to be called “your Grace.”
The scene also ends comedically when Simon is incredulous about taking the throne and Daemon responds, “It’s a big chair made of swords.”
Following this scene, we see Cole beginning his journey to muster forces for Aegon’s cause, unaware that Daemon has already taken Harrenhal.
Before he leaves, however, Alicent saddles him with her brother, Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox), who throws quite a bit of shade at Cole for taking his father’s position as Hand of the King.
Cole does leave with Alicent’s favor though, so that is a win for him, I suppose.
Rhaenyra gets even less respect because her lords suggest she goes into hiding while the men lead the war.
Sure, send one of your dragon riders away when every single one is critical to the war effort.
Brilliant!
Rhaenyra and Rhaenys put them in their place for it, at least.
Afterwards, Rhaenyra sends Rhaena to the Vale with her youngest sons and a clutch of dragon eggs for protection.
Rhaena is reluctant to go at first, angry about being sent away because she is pretty much the only one in her family without a dragon.
I hate to be that guy, Rhaena, but there were plenty of dragons on Dragonstone for you to claim in the years you spent there.
They don’t really provide a good reason why Rhaena never attempted to claim any of them, but the moment Rhaena realizes the trust Rhaenyra is placing in her is a moving moment.
A more sinister moment comes when Larys manipulates Aegon into naming him his Master of Whisperers.
We will probably be seeing a battle of wits between Larys and Mysaria at some point in the series, since she also took a place at Rhaneyra’s court this episode.
Not a surprising outcome for Mysaria, considering how she warned Erryk last episode.
What was a surprise for me, though, was to see the character of Ulf (Tom Bennett).
He is someone I thought had been cut from the show, and he claims to be the bastard brother of Daemon and Viserys, appearing loyal to Rhaenyra’s cause.
He is stupid enough to admit this out loud in King’s Landing but, thankfully for him, smart enough to shut his trap when Aegon himself walks in to enjoy the brothel.
Aegon gets an unexpected pleasure out of the brothel, however, as he discovers Aemond inside and teases him relentlessly over always sleeping with the same woman.
I don’t know, Aegon, maybe constantly goading the guy who flies the biggest dragon in the entire world is not the smartest move?
Just a suggestion?
I am interested to see if and how Aemond will get his payback for the years of bullying Aegon put him through.
Along with Aemond’s humiliation, there is another takeaway from this scene, and it is by far its most tragic, as we briefly see Dyana (Maddie Evans) working as a bar maid.
If you recall, Dyana was the maid Aegon assaulted in Episode Eight of the first season, who was then sent away by Alicent.
The poor girl was assaulted, humiliated, stripped of her position, and now has to work at a bar and brothel her abuser frequents.
Once again, the smallfolk really have it the worst in Westeros.
Following the brothel scene, we get our first good bit of dragon action this season, even if it is brief, when Cole and Gwayne are ambushed by Baela atop Moondancer.
It is a tense scene, which does a good job of showing the danger posed by even a small dragon, making you fear the bigger ones even more.
Gwayne, at least, seems to earn a little respect for Cole because of the encounter, so the new Hand should at least find it easier to command him.
Next, we get by far the creepiest scene of the episode, as Daemon has a nightmare of a young Rhaenyra sewing Jaehaerys’ head back on, blaming Daemon.
This nightmare did a great job of highlighting Daemon’s guilt over his role in the murder, because he did very well at hiding it last episode.
Of course, it was also great to see Milly Alcock again, even if it was just for this one brief moment.
Maybe we could get flashbacks of her and Emily Carey as the younger Alicent later in Season Two, or in future seasons?
Daemon’s nightmare ends with him standing in front of a Weirwood Tree with no idea how he got there.
A strange woman named Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) stands behind him and states, “You will die in this place.”
And so, the creepiest scene of the episode comes to an end, and we then get the final scene, which is its most controversial, when Rhaenyra sneaks into King’s Landing to talk in secret with Alicent, hoping to find a way to prevent the war.
While I feel like Daemon doing this in Episode One made sense because of his connections with the Gold Cloaks, and general arrogance, Rhaenyra doing it was really not the smartest move.
For one thing, if she gets caught then it’s all over for her cause.
She would be executed, and the Lords would mostly turn over to Aegon, likely resulting in the death of her children.
Also, Alicent’s letter pleading for peace was sent before the brutal murder of her grandchild, so it was kind of weird for that not to be taken into consideration.
Logic issues aside, the meeting between Rhaenyra and Alicent went as well as it could have.
Alicent finally learned the truth of Viserys’ last words but, tragically, it is too little too late.
Now her sons are in charge of the war, and they are out for fire and blood.
Rhaenyra seems to realize war is inevitable too by the end, as she stares grimly while Ramin Djawadi’s fantastic score plays in the background, bringing the episode to an end.
Overall, “The Burning Mill” is a good episode of House of the Dragon.
Its highlight is definitely the creepy Daemon nightmare scene, and its weakest moment is definitely the Rhaenyra and Alicent interaction, due to logic issues in the writing.
Still, a good episode and the next episode “A Dance with Dragons” may very well be one of the best.

Book Spoilers Section:
The big spoiler implication of this episode is absolutely Daemon’s nightmare.
Seeing Alys Rivers predict his death over the God’s Eye was chilling as a book reader, especially since it raised a lot of questions about Alys’ powers.
Did she cause the nightmare Daemon was having?
Did the Weirwood Tree Daemon woke up in front of aid in her magic?
There is a lot of ambiguity here and I love it.
I’m really looking forward to seeing more of Alys because of this scene.
Other new characters I am interested to see more of are Gwayne and Ulf.
For Gwayne, his story already seems pretty different from the book, where he eventually meets his end at Kings’ Landing.
Unless he returns to the city at some point later in the story, his show fate will probably be different.
As for Ulf, he seemed steadfastly loyal to Rhaenyra’s cause this episode, so I am curious to see what will eventually cause him and Hugh Hammer to turn traitor.
I honestly thought Ulf’s character might get merged with Hugh, which is why I was surprised to see him.
Definitely not complaining, though, because now we have all but one of the Dragon Seeds in the story.
Now Nettles is the only one missing.
Again, though, I am very afraid of the leaks about her being replaced with Rhaena.
The building blocks do seem to be there, with Rhaena’s turmoil over not being able to claim a dragon, and the Vale having a lot of sheep, which would be a good excuse to have Sheepstealer show up there.
Much like I said in my Episode One review, though, Rhaena replacing Nettles would miss the entire point of her story, so fingers crossed they don’t do it.
Another strange thing about Rhaena is that it has apparently been said that the dragon eggs she takes with her are the ones Daenerys eventually gets in Game of Thrones.
In Fire and Blood, it is heavily implied that the eggs were stolen by Elissa Farman.
So, if these are Dany’s eggs, then this is definitely a change and one I am curious to see play out.
How are the eggs going to get from the Vale to Essos?
I will be ending this book spoilers section on a much more positive note, as the next episode “A Dance with Dragons” will almost certainly center around the fight at Rook’s Rest, one of the big dragon fights of the Dance.
Rhaenys’ last stand has the potential to be one of the best moments in the show, if adapted right, and I hope they pull it off.
There is also the possibility of Aemond letting Aegon get injured as vengeance for the humiliation he has been subjected to.
It would not surprise me if Aemond attempted to let Aegon die, only to find he survived his injuries, and then back down and take him back to King’s Landing.
Episode Four airs today and I am very excited to see if my predictions are true.

House of the Dragon Season Two, Episode Two, Rhaenyra the Cruel Review: The Best Acted Episode Yet.

“A Son for a Son” was a really good start to Season Two of House of the Dragon, but Episode Two, “Rhaenyra the Cruel” is even better.
Directed by Claire Kilner, the episode has the best acting across the board out of any episode in the series so far.
Beginning immediately after the horrifying events of “A Son for a Son”, we see the impact the loss of Aegon’s heir has had on the Greens.
Aegon is, of course, distraught over the loss of his son, destroying the model of Valyria Viserys spent all of last season building.
Otto, on the other hand, is already looking for a way to play this tragedy to their advantage, proposing that they have a funeral procession to show the small folk what Rhaenyra has done.
Aegon is spared from having to go through the spectacle, but Helaena gets no such consideration.
She is paraded through the streets, her sorrow used as a political tool, while Aegon takes his revenge on Blood in the cells.
Her situation gets even worse when the cart they are riding gets stuck in the mud.
I’m pretty sure we were all scared that Jaehaerys’ body would fall off the cart in the attempt to get it moving again but thankfully the showrunners were merciful enough to keep that from happening.
Following this gruesome scene, the episode cuts to the Blacks, who are learning of the murder.
Rhaenyra is understandably shocked when she learns she is being blamed for it, and offended when some of her lords suggest it may have been her vengeance for Lucerys.
However, all it takes is one look at Daemon for her to know the truth.
The following scene between the two is expertly acted by both Emma D’Arcy and Matt Smith, as we see the complete breakdown of any trust Rhaenyra could have had in Daemon.
Matt Smith is especially threatening, as we see the Rogue Prince has to physically restrain himself from grabbing Rhaenyra’s throat, like he did in the Season One Finale.
Their argument ends with Daemon leaving on Caraxes, and Rhaenyra deciding sending Baela (Bethany Antonia) on her dragon Moondancer to keep an eye on King’s Landing.
Back with the Greens, we see the impact Jaehaerys’ murder has had on Criston Cole.
He watches the young boy’s room being cleared out and, based on his expression, he seems to feel quite a bit of guilt for what happened.
He was supposed to be on watch, but instead was sleeping with Alicent and, because of that, Jaehaerys died.
Watching this scene made me wonder if it was possible for me to feel some sympathy for Cole… then the next scene happened, and it made me hate him even more.
Rather than decide to change for the better, Cole instead doubles down and projects his guilt onto Arryk Cargyll, someone who holds no blame for the murder.
Watching Cole bully Arryk into going to assassinate Rhanerya at Dragonstone by posing as his own brother made my hatred for him increase tenfold.
One character I definitely do not hate, though, is Addam (Clinton Liberty), the brother of Alyn, who is introduced this episode.
I will not get into his role in the story, I will save that for the book spoilers section, but I will say that he is one of my favorite characters in the Dance of the Dragons, so it is good to see him.
What is also good to see is how much better Sonoya Mizuno’s performance as Mysaria is now that her accent is much more subdued.
It really allowed her acting ability to shine through in her scene with Rhanerya.
But by far the best acting in this episode is hands down done by Rhys Ifans.
The scene where Otto berates Aegon for killing all of the Rat Catchers is excellent.
Otto’s rage and exasperation is both engaging and hilarious.
It is even emotional when he brings up Viserys, and we see that he really did care deeply about the old king, even if he did manipulate him constantly.
Otto ends his beratement of Aegon by revealing to him that Viserys really did not want his son to be king.
This appears to be the final straw for Aegon, who fires Otto as his Hand and gives the job to Cole.
The guy just keeps failing upward, doesn’t he?
To be fair to Cole though, his crazy plan of sending Arryk to kill Rhaenyra would have probably worked had it not been for Mysaria spotting him.
She alerts Erryk just in time for him to intervene and what results is a tragic fight to the death between twin brothers.
Elliot and Luke Tittensor do excellent jobs as Erryk and Arryk, both in their fight choreography and in their grief at having to fight, despite still loving one another.
The brutal duel ends with one twin killing the other, only for the remaining twin to kill themselves out of grief.
As foe which twin was which, it feels kind of ambiguous.
Either Erryk apologizes to Rhanerya before committing suicide, or Arryk acknowledges her as the true queen before killing himself.
Either way, it is one of the most tragic scenes in the show thus far.
Following the duel of the brothers, the episode cuts to the Greens for the final time.
We see Otto talking with Alicent about his firing, and he brings up Daeron, Alicent and Viserys’ youngest child.
Daeron was not seen or mentioned in Season One so many of us book readers were afraid that he had been cut.
It is good to hear that he exists, even if his introduction in this scene comes out of nowhere.
The conversation between Otto and Alicent ends with Alicent trying to admit to her affair with Criston, only for Otto to say he does not wish to hear of it.
This perfectly highlights the generational family neglect going on within the Green side.
Otto neglects Alicent, who then neglects Aegon when she refuses to comfort him.
Instead of mourning with him, Alicent instead chooses to sleep with Cole again, showing that neither of them has learned their lesson.
In my review of Episode One, I said I had mixed feelings about the two of them hooking up because it felt like it went against both characters.
However, I did say that the hypocrisy of it may be the point.
After watching Episode Two, I can say with absolute certainty that it was.
Both characters are very hypocritical, and their hypocrisy will probably only grow as the season progresses.
Overall, “Rhaenyra the Cruel” is a great episode, with the best acting of the series, so far.
Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Rhys Ifans, Elliot and Luke Tittensor, Tom Glynn-Carney, Phia Saban, and Sonoya Mitsuno all give their best this episode, and I cannot wait to see how their performances continue to improve as the season progresses.

Book Spoilers Section:
Once again, the main topic of discussion for the spoilers section is the Dragonseeds.
First there is Addam of Hull.
As I said, he is one of my favorite characters in the Dance of the Dragons.
We get foreshadowing for him eventually claiming the dragon Seasmoke, when he sees him flying overhead.
I am curious to see what the explanation for this will be, since Laenor is not dead in the show, at least as far as we know.
I am also curious to see how Rhaenys will react to Addam and Alyn’s existence.
Does she already know that Corlys fathered bastards, or will it be a shock?
It would be pretty tragic for it to cause a rift between the two, only for them to never reconcile because Rhaenys dies at Rook’s Rest.
Then there is the other Dragonseed, Hugh.
We see this episode that he has a family, which is struggling due to the conditions caused by the coming war.
His story is already very different from the books, where he was pretty much just a scumbag with no family, so I am interested to see how he will get to that point, if at all.
In any case, we should get our first dragon action in the next episode, as Daemon will be capturing Harrenhal, and the trailer makes it look like Baela will run into some trouble while watching Kings’ Landing.
We are getting ever closer to the actual dragon fights, and I could not be more excited for that.

House of the Dragon Episode Nine, The Green Council Review: Where’s Aegon?

The penultimate episode for House of the Dragon‘s first season, “The Green Council” is an episode full of political intrigue and infighting, as Alicent and Otto fight for control of Aegon during their coup to take the Iron Throne.
Directed by Clare Kilner, the episode begins in the aftermath of Viserys’ death, as a servant quickly relays the news of to Alicent, who is quite distraught.
I think this portrayal of Alicent is great and Olivia Cooke completley sells it.
In the book, I never got the sense that Alicent loved Viserys, since she seemed to fall into the stereotypical evil step-mother character archetype.
The show, however, clearly shows that Alicent did love Viserys, just not in a romantic way.
It makes her much more sympathetic than in the book, along with her reasoning for putting Aegon on the Throne, this being that she misunderstood what Viserys said before he died.
With the possible exception of Otto, clearly no one in the Small Council buys Alicent’s claim that Viserys’ dying wish was for Aegon to be king.
This does not the stop the majority of them from usurping Rhanerya’s throne, as it is revealed that Otto had been spearheading a plan to do this for years.
Alicent is outraged by this but she is not the only one, as the Master of Coin, Lyman Beesbury, is also greatly angered, calling this coup out for the treason that it is.
He is understandably suspicious about the circumstances of Viserys’ death.
Although, his comment that “the king was well last night, by all accounts” is pretty hilarious when you consider that Viserys looked like he was on death’s door constantly.
In any case, Criston does not take kindly to Beesbury suggesting that Alicent poisoned Viserys and murders him by slamming his head into the ball used by Small Council members.
I guess this is why we never saw these things in Game of Thrones.
The members of the Small Council were probably worried about having their heads bashed in with them.
All joking aside, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Harrold Westerling, attempts to take Criston into custody but is talked down.
So this is the second time Criston has murdered an innocent man in front of numerous witnesses and got away with the crime.
It does make sense for him to get away with it this time, though, since Beesbury probably would have been executed for supporting Rhanerya later.
With Beesbury dead, the conversation among the Green Council turns darker, as Alicent realizes Otto means to have Rhanerya, Daemon and their children put to death.
She is angered by this idea and so is Ser Harrold, who quits as soon as Otto orders him to go and kill Rhanerya on Dragonstone.
Now realizing they will have to fight to influence Aegon, Alicent and Otto race to his rooms, only to find Helaena with the children.
“It is out fate, I think,” Helaena tells a servant, before Otto and Alicent walk in. “To crave always what is given to another. If one posesses a thing, the other will take it away.”
This is a perfect reflection on the Green coup.
People really should start listening to Helaena.
Unfortunately, Alicent and Otto just want to know where Aegon is, and Otto departs when he learns he is not there.
For the second time, Helaena warns that “there is a beast beneath the boards” but Alicent dimisses this, although in a caring way.
With Aegon missing, the game to find and control him begins, with Otto sending the Kingsguard twin brothers, Ser Erryk and Arryk Cargyll, and Alicent sending Aemond and Criston.
Erryk and Arryk have the advantage, however, as Arryk is more aware of the places Aegon goes.
This includes a child fighting ring, where some of Aegon’s own bastards fight to the death for the amusement of crowds.
So, Aegon is definitley the worst choice to be king.
Not only is he a rapist but he also allows his children to be sold into fighting rings.
While searching for Aegon at the child fighting ring, they are approached by an associate of Mysaria, who has kidnapped Aegon after Alicent’s handmaiden Talia informed her of the king’s death.
Mysaria now wants a meeting with Otto, who is currently dealing with those who swore fealty to Rhanerya, demanding they now renounce these oaths and swear fealty to Aegon instead.
Many do but some are proud enough to keep their honour and are executed.
One of these is Lord Caswell, who acts as though he has switched sides, only to attempt an escape to warn Rhanerya.
He is sadly caught thanks to Larys spies and executed.
Meanwhile, Criston and Aemond are performing their own searches at brothels Aegon frequented, with Aemond venting to Criston about Aegon and the crown going to him.
When Aemond mentions the way Aegon spoke of women, Criston replies that every woman in an image of the Mother and must be spoken of with reverance.
Well, that’s pretty hypocritical coming from the man who called Rhanerya the C word in Episode Six.
Along with Criston’s hypocrisy, we also get a good look at Aemond’s envy, as he wishes to be king and, honestly, would actually be better suited for it than Aegon.
Yet, as the second son, he is doomed for the support role.
Aemond really has a lot of parallels with Daemon.
Even their names are almost identical.
Despite their lack of success in finding Aegon, Criston and Aemond catch a lucky break when they spot Otto secretly meeting with Mysaria.
Maybe it was the Hand of the King badge he stupidly wore under his hood which gave him away?
As for Mysaria, yep, her accent is still terrible.
I like Mysaria as a character, as her motivation to stop the child fighting rings in King’s Landing is noble, yet it is hard to get into her story when the actress’ accent is so bad it distracts me.
I’m still really hoping they remove this accent in Season Two.
While all this is happening, Alicent meets with Rhaenys, who has been locked up in the Red Keep until now.
Informing her of Viserys’ death, Alicent attempts to convince Rhaenys to side with the Greens, admitting that Rhaenys should have been queen but stating that they can still have power through guiding the men above them.
Rhaenys grows newfound respect for Alicent’s conviction, yet correctly states that, “You desire not to be free but to make a window in the wall of your prison. Have you never imagined yourself on the Iron Throne?”
This was an excellent moment for Rhaenys and Eve Best continues to do great work as the character.
Meanwhile, thanks to Otto’s deal with Mysaria to stop the child fighting rings, Erryk and Arryk are able to locate Aegon, only to be ambushed by Aemond and Criston, who followed them.
A fight ensues, during which Criston and Aemond take Aegon captive, as Erryk leaves, disgusted by Aegon, as he now knows he is not fit to be king.
Aegon begs Aemond to let him go, stating that he will find a ship and never return.
Aemond seems to consider this but, before he can do anything, Criston leads Aegon to Alicent.
With Aegon now firmly in Alicent’s clutches, she meets with Otto where he tries to worm his way into Alicent’s good graces.
Alicent is having none of it, however, leaving when Otto says she looks so much like her mother.
Despite his manipulations, I could not help but think that Otto was oddly proud of Alicent in this moment.
Not everything is going well for Alicent, however, as it is revealed that she trades sexual favors to Larys in exchange for information, specifically by presenting her feet to him.
I had heard the leaks for this scene and I was quite concerned about it but, after having seen it, I think it was handled as well as it could have been.
It certainly makes the moment Alicent takes her shoes off when talking with Larys in Episode Six creepier.
The guy with a club foot having a foot fetish is a bit on the nose, though.
Larys informs Alicent of Mysaria’s spy ring, leading to her ordering an attack on Mysaria, pretty much destroying her deal with Otto, which is not exactly a good thing, since Mysaria pointed out to him just how much power the small folk actually have.
Another blow to the Greens is Erryk Cargyll, as he frees Rhaenys, defecting to the Blacks.
He intends to lead her out of the city, leaving Rhaenys’ dragon Meleys behind, only for Rhaenys to be swept up in a crowd that is luckily heading for the Dragon Pit.
It is here that Aegon is crowned as king by Criston and it is also here that I have to mention one of my criticisms, this being Criston’s role in crowning Aegon being reduced.
Sure, he does place the crown on his head but in the book he played a much more important role, since he was actually the one to convince Aegon to take the throne by claiming that Rhanerya would kill him and his entire family if he did not.
This earned him the title of King Maker.
In the show, however, it is Alicent who convinces Aegon and Criston merely crowns him.
I hope they do not downplay any of Criston’s other actions in future seasons.
As for Aegon, we see that he has overcome his reluctance to become king, due to the love he recieves from the crowd in the Dragon Pit.
As messed up as Aegon is, he did want love and affection from his parents and now he is getting that affection from the people of Kings’ Landing.
Or rather, what is left of the people of King’s Landing because Rhaenys chooses this moment to bash through the ground with Meleys killing an untold number of small folk, and fulfilling Helaena’s “beast beneath the boards” prophecy.
She looks ready to kill the Greens until Alicent jumps in the way.
Having gained a newfound respect for Alicent and also sympathising with her as a mother, Rhaenys spares the Greens’ lives and departs in epic fashion to warn Rhanerya of her crown being usurped, bringing an end to the episode.
This moment is entirely show original and has recieved mixed reactions, since some have said it makes no sense for Rhaneys to kill many civilians but then spare Alicent and the rest of the Greens immediately afterwards.
However, I think it works when you take into consideration that the nobles do not really care about the small folk in general.
I mean, there is a literal child fighting ring going on in Kings’ Landing and no noble did anything about that.
So, I think this change does work.
Overall, “The Green Council” is another solid episode of House of the Dragon.
It is not one of my favourites but it does build nicely into the finale, which I am very excited to see, as a book reader.

Book Spoilers:
I am probably more excited for Episode Ten, “The Black Queen”, than I have been for any previous House of the Dragon episode.
This is because we will get the first dance between the dragons in “The Black Queen”, if you can even call what happens a “dance.”
It’s more of a slaughter, actually, with Lucerys’ Arrax standing no chance against Aemond’s Vhagar.
It will be brutal and, along with the stillbirth of Visenya, will be a tragic way to end the season, with Season Two almost definitley not arriving until 2024.
It will be a long wait but I think it will certainly be worth it to see many of the epic and horrifying events that take place during the Dance of the Dragons.
One of these horrifying moments is the Blood and Cheese incident, where Daemon and Mysaria send hitmen to murder Aegon’s son in retaliation for Lucerys’ death.
Mysaria’s involvement in this act makes a lot of sense after Episode Nine because of how her chance to end the child fighting rings was destroyed by the Greens in this episode.
We also have to take Helaena’s “beast beneath the boards” prophecy into account.
Yes, she was most likely talking about Rhaenys and Meleys but her prophecy could also have a double meaning by referring to Blood and Cheese.
We will have to wait for Season Two to know for sure.
Until then, we can enjoy the final episode of House of the Dragon‘s first season, which airs today.

House of the Dragon Episode Six, The Princess and the Queen Review: The Clubfoot Strikes.

I was quite excited for Episode Six of House of the Dragon “The Princess and the Queen” because it would give us our first look at the new actors for Rhanerya and Alicent, Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke.
After watching the episode, I can definitley say that the two live up to Milly Alcock and Emily Carey’s performances, and I am looking forward to seeing more of them.
Directed by Miguel Sapochnik, “The Princess and the Queen” is the best directed episode of the series so far, in my opinion, beginning with some terrific long takes as a now older Rhanerya gives birth to her third son, Joffrey, named after Laenor’s lover.
D’Arcy does a great job showing Rhanerya’s pain during the birth and her instant love for her child, yet this joy is halted when a midwife tells Rhanerya that Alicent wishes to see the child immediately.
Rather than allow them to take her child, Rhanerya decides to stand up to Alicent by taking the baby to her, instead of resting.
An older Laenor (John Macmillan) arrives and is disgusted by Alicent’s actions, helping Rhanerya to see her, yet things have obviously grown cold between them, recently.
They meet with Alicent and it is then that the viewers receive what may be the biggest shock of the episode… which is Viserys still being alive.
Kidding aside, it is funny how so many viewers were surprised that Viserys still lived.
The King looks even worse than he did ten years ago and he is now missing an arm, although he is overjoyed to have a new grandson.
What is less joyous is Alicent immediately picking up on the fact that the child is clearly not Laenor’s because he has none of the Velaryon features, as she cruely tells Laenor, “Soon or late, you may get one that looks like you.”
The actual father of the child is Harwin Strong, who Rhanerya and Laenor leave to see, along with Rhanerya’s two other children with Harwin, Jacareys (Leo Hart) and Lucerys (Harvey Sadler), leaving a trail of blood as she does so, highlighting Alicent’s cruelty.
As for Rhanerya and Harwin, all we really get of the couple is a few brief looks between the two and loving exchanges.
I wish we could have got more but Harwin dies at the end of the episode.
In all honesty, I kind of like the subtle way their relationship is handled.
It is really not all that important to the overall story, except for Rhanerya’s children being bastards, so it makes sense for it not really being featured much in the show much.
Despite the short amount of time, I still think we got enough to make it work.
After the brief moment between them, the scene cuts to Jacaerys and Lucerys going to the Dragon Pit with Aegon (Ty Tennant) and Alicent’s other son Aemond (Leo Ashton) to train Jacaerys dragon, Vermax.
Jacaerys does well in training Vermax but then he, Lucerys and Aegon make fun of Aemond for not having a dragon, gifting him a pig to use they dub “the Pink Dread.”
This prompts Aemond to enter the Dragon Pit to try and claim a dragon of his own, only to be met with the dragon Dreamfyre, who is actually the mother of Daenerys’ dragons.
Her flames drive the boy away.
We then meet Alicent’s only daughter Helena (Evie Allen) who seems to be a bit of a bug collector.
On that note, I would like to praise the portrayal of Alicent’s children in this episode.
We did not get much of a sense of their personalities during their earlier years in Fire and Blood, especially with Helena, and I like what this episode did with them.
Upon learning what Jacaerys and Lucerys did to Aemond, Alicent goes to Viserys about it, using this as an excuse to bring up the boys’ obvious parentage.
Viserys is still in denial, however, bringing up a story about how a silver stallion he once had gave birth to a chesnut foul.
His denial is understandable since if the truth came out it would end badly for his daughter and grandchildren.
Alicent is frustrated by this, venting to Criston Cole about it, who goes on his own rant about Rhanerya, calling her “a spider who skins and sucks her prey dry” and a “spoiled c***.”
Criston’s feelings for Rhanerya have clearly grown into outright hatred, yet even Alicent thinks his statements go too far, saying that she hopes honour and decency will prevail.
Therefore, the shot perfectly cuts to Aegon masterbating in the window looking over King’s Landing, Homelander style, showing exactly how hypocritical Alicent’s claims of “honour and decency” are, considering how she seeks to make the perverted Aegon king.
Alicent arrives and admonishes him for making fun of Aemond, strangely ignoring the fact that she just caught her son masterbating in a dangerous position.
Her attempts to raise Aegon to rule have clearly failed, as he would rather not challenge Rhanerya, causing Alicent to grab him and shout that he is the challenge.
Meanwhile, we finally see what Daemon has been up to these past ten years.
He is revealed to have married Laena (Nanna Blondell) and had two daughters with her, Bela (Shani Smethurst) and Rhaena (Eva Ossei-Gerning), and the four of them are visiting Pentos.
Laena has also claimed the largest and oldest of the dragons, Vhagar.
I and many other book readers had been anticipating seeing her and she did not disappoint, being absolutley massive and covered in scars from various battles.
In Pentos, the prince offers them a home, so their prescence can ward off the recently reemerged triarchy.
Daemon seems to consider this idea, appearing much more laid back to Westerosi politics than he was ten years ago.
Laena is reluctant, however, wanting to eventually die a dragon rider’s death.
Back in King’s Landing, we see Criston orchestrate a confrontation between himself and Harwin to further spread the rumors of him being the father to Rhanerya’s sons.
He does this during a training session, deliberately putting the boys in a fighting situation in which Harwin has to step in, prompting him to say Harwin treats the boys like his sons.
Just as Criston expected, this leads to Harwin attacking him, spreading the rumors and ultimately resulting in his banishment from King’s Landing.
Unfortunately, this has the unintended side effect of having Criston getting away with murdering Joffrey last episode make even less sense.
Hearing of the assault, Rhanerya goes to see Harwin, only to overhear an argument between him and Lyonel, stoking her fears of what may happen to her and Harwin’s sons if the rumors are confirmed as fact.
Laenor certainly does not help matters, as he arrives in her room with his latest lover, Qarl Correy (Arty Froushan).
The two argue, with Laenor wanting to go out and fight the triarchy again, ending with Rhanerya ordering him to stay.
Rhanerya’s desperation is also seen when she offers a marriage between Jacaerys and Helaena to Alicent at the next Small Council meeting.
Although desperate, this is quite the smart call from Rhanerya, and Alicent too would have been wise to accept it.
Marrying the two would extend protection to Helaena and Alicent’s other children, which is a priority for Alicent.
It would also mean Helaena becomes queen if Alicent’s plan to make Aegon king fall through.
Unfortunately, Alicent is too prideful to accept this deal, refusing it, and Viserys is too complacent to argue.
Before the two can talk further, Lyonel arrives to resign as Hand of the King because of Harwin’s actions but Viserys will not allow it unless Lyonel says why.
Lyonel is reluctant, since this would mean admitting that Harwin fathered Rhanerya’s children, spelling disaster for his house.
Unable to resign, Lyonel instead asks to take Harwin back to Harrenhal, which Viserys concedes.
Alicent is angered by this, meeting with Larys to rant to him, even admitting her own bias, wanting Otto back because “he would be partial to me.”
Larys interprets this as permission to recruit death row prisoners, remove their tounges to keep them from talking, and then send them to kill his father and brother.
The fire at Harrenhal was another mystery in the book that I think the show answered well, with Larys ordering it and Alicent accidentally implicating herself.
One change from the book is Laena’s fate.
Rather than die of a fever after a stillborn birth, she instead suffers a similar fate to Aemma, as the baby will not emerge.
Faced with the choice of dying by C-Section or dying like a dragon rider, Laena chooses the latter, going to Vhagar and shouting, “Dracarys!”
Vhagar appears reluctant but, in the end, honours her rider’s wish, burning Laena to death, while Daemon looks on in horror.
Back at King’s Landing, Rhanerya decides to go to Dragonstone as the heir, bringing her children, Laenor and Qarl.
Upon their arrival, word of Harwin and Lyonel’s deaths reach King’s Landing, which Alicent is horrified about.
She clearly did not wish for this, as she says.
The question is if Larys really did interpret her words to mean that she did, or if he is just saying he saw it that way to blackmail her.
My bet is on the second possibility.
Larys wants his reward for killing his family eventually, after all, and Otto’s return must surely bring a big one.
It is on this disturbing note that the episode comes to an end.
“The Princess and the Queen” is another great episode of House of the Dragon.
My only criticisms are that Harwin being punished while Criston is not is weird, and that some scenes, like Laena’s death, feel a little rushed.
Although, this is understandable, given that the writers have to hurry to reach the events they want to by the end of the season.
I am quite excited for the next episode, “Driftmark”, which is sure to be a big one.

Book Spoiler Section:
In this part of the review, I would like to discuss the theory that Helena is a dreamer.
She does seem to prophesy Aemond losing an eye, which will happen next episode, stating that, “he will have to close an eye.”
I am unsure what the other vague statements she makes could be in reference to.
Speaking of Aemond getting his eye cut out, I am extremely excited to see that whole fight between him and Rhanerya’s kids.
I have heard rumors that Bela and Rhaena’s role in the fight will be bumped up, along with another rumor of a massive book change so I am intrigued to see what that will be.
Laenor’s death and Rhanerya marrying Daemon also looks to be happening.
Alot of interesting things will occur in Episode Seven and I am eager to watch then unfold tomorrow.

House of the Dragon Episode Five, We Light the Way Review: The Green Wedding.

After directing the fantastic episode “King of the Narrow Sea”, Clare Kilner returns to direct Episode Five of House of the Dragon, “We Light the Way.”
The episode begins by answering one of the questions I have had ever since reading Fire and Blood, which is what caused the death of Daemon’s wife, Rhea Royce?
In the book, George R.R Martin writes that she died after falling from her horse, however, this always seemed quite a bit convenient for Daemon, so I wondered if he had a hand in it.
“We Light the Way” confirms Daemon’s involvement, depicting him arriving at the Vale in secret, scaring Rhea’s horse, causign her to fall and become paralyzed.
Daemon then bashes her head in with a rock, off screen.
What makes this murder disturbing is how, much like in the battle with the Crab Feeder in Episode Three, Daemon does not speak a single word.
This adds a level of unpreditability to his actions.
Whenever Daemon is silent is when you need to be truly afraid of him.
As for how he scared the horse to throw Rhea off, one interesting theory I have heard is that the horse was scared of Daemon because it could smell Caraxes on him.
We know riders do smell of their dragons after riding, as Rhanerya is told a few times in Episode One.
Another interesting detail is Rhea Royce’s last words, as she mocks Daemon for not being able to “finish.”
In the moment, it seems she is talking about him holding off on murdering her but the subtext appears to imply that she is actually referencing Daemon’s impotence.
In Episode Four, he could not have sex with Rhanerya because he was put off when she began to take control.
Could this be part of the reason he hated Rhea so much?
As for Daemon potentially holding off on killing Rhea, it does seem he is leaving her to die, before Rhea insults him, after which he decides to kill her with the rock.
We do not know if this was his train of thought, however, due to his silence.
I like how the show is portraying the ambiguity of Daemon’s thoughts so far.
It was also sad to see Rhea go as the actress, Rachel Redford, did a good job in her scene.
After the murder, the scene quite literally cuts, as it transitions from Daemon about to kill Rhea to a chef cutting off a fish’s head, implying Rhea’s death.
The scene is now on a ship, where Viserys, Rhanerya and their entourage, are travelling to Driftmark to offer Corlys a marriage between his son Laenor and Rhanerya.
With Otto’s dismissal as Hand of the King, the job has been passed on to Lyonel Strong, a good choice, considering he is the only one in the King’s Council who does not give advice for personal gain.
As for Otto, we get a scene of his departure, with Alicent attempting to apologise for him being removed as Hand, which she caused by telling Rhanerya of his spying.
She says she believes Rhanerya’s claim that nothing happened with Daemon, to which Otto berates her for, telling his daughter that she is no fool but she refuses to see the truth.
He warns her that to become queen Rhanerya will have to kill Alicent’s children, even though she has shown no sign of ever thinking this.
Yet, despite all the manipulation he has put her through, Otto does seem to genuinely love his daughter but does not know how to express it.
His final words to Alicent do leave an impact, however, as we will see later.
For now, Alicent is also influenced by Lyonel’s son Larys, who sneakily informs her of the tea Rhanerya was sent by Viserys to prevent a pregnancy, increasing her doubts.
Meanwhile, Viserys and his entourage finally reach Driftmark but are made to walk to see Corlys, a sign of disrespect from the Sea Snake.
Corlys knows where to pull his punches, though, as he bends the knee when Viserys stands before him.
Rhaneys then arrives and she and her husband announce the death of Rhea, talking about it as if it were an accident, yet it is clear that none of them believe it.
Viserys proposes the marriage between Rhanerya and Laenor, and Corly’s continues to push boundaries, seeking power for his family, wondering if the children they have will bear the name Velaryon.
Viserys concedes this but is adamant that the child who takes the throne after Rhanerya shall be named Targaryen, to which Corlys accepts, agreeing to the marriage pact.
As this arrangement is taking place, Rhanerya and Laenor walk on the beach and come to their own arrangement.
Rhanerya is aware of Laenor’s sexuality so subtly sugests that they marry but then take what lovers they wish, to which Laenor also agrees.
Corlys is in a state of denial about this, however, believing that Laenor will grow out of his preference for men, showing the time that Westeros is stuck in (although that is not saying much since this attitude can be seen today, unfortunately).
On a lighter note, it is funny to see Corlys be so assertive in his negotiation with Viserys and then become more uncertain around Rhaenys, showing his vulnerabilities to her, as he wonders if he pushed Viserys too far.
They truly are one of the happier couples in Westeros.
This happy mood turns darker, however, as Rhaenys points out that Rhanerya’s succession will be challenged, due to her gender, putting Laenor’s life and the lives of any children he has with Rhanerya at risk.
Corlys vows to protect them, leadsingto him saying that Rhaenys should have been queen but Rhaenys tells him she has got over the loss and so should he.
This was a great scene between the couple, with a few interesting details, like the Crab Feeder’s mask on display.
It is followed up by a scene with another couple, as we meet Laenor’s lover ser Joffrey Lonmouth (Solly McLeod), the Knight of Kisses
Their relationship is quite healthy, like Corlys and Rhaenys’, as Joffrey is accepting of Laenor’s position and wishes to protect him when he becomes Rhanerya’s king consort.
This is paralleled by the less than healthy relationship between Rhanerya and Criston.
The Kingsguard confronts Rhanerya on their return to Kings’ Landing about their affair, wanting to run away and start a new life with her.
Rhanerya obviously refuses, given the responsibility Viserys has placed on her shoulders with the knowledge about the White Walkers.
She even seems to be about to tell Criston about this, before he interrupts her.
What Criston says shows the unhealthy state of their relationship, since Criston’s main reason for asking Rhanerya to run away with him was so he could regain his own honour after breaking his vow of chastity with her, as the white cloak he wears is the only thing to his name.
Criston’s inner turmoil is put on further display when Alicent calls for him to talk after reaching King’s Landing.
So great is it that he misinterprets Alicent’s questions about Daemon and Rhanerya to be about himself and Rhanerya and admits to their affair.
He even begs her to have him merely put to death, rather than gelded and tortured.
Emily Carey’s face during this plea shows a wide range of emotions, chief among them a feeling of betrayal against Rhanerya, as her worst fears are confirmed.
She is probably thinking of Otto’s warning in this moment and deciding where her loyalties lie.
As this talk is happening, Viserys is having his own with Lyonel after being treated by the Maesters.
Viserys reflects over his life and wonders what the people will say of him after he is gone, since he was never a conqueror.
Lyonel views this as a positive thing, since he continued Jaehaerys’ peace,
As a book reader, it is interesting to see this scene and know how Viserys is remembered, not only by the people of Westeros but by book readers.
I will leave that for the spoiler section, though.
Speaking of Viserys, the guy looks pretty terrible in this scene and I have seen numerous reactors believe that he died here, until he is shown later.
The make-up department for this show is doing an excellent job at detailing the progression of Viserys’ mysterious illness, which Paddy Considine has said is actually a form of Leprosy.
The shot fades away from Viserys’ sickened face to Kings’ Landing on the day of the wedding celebrations.
Laenor and Rhaenys both arrive on their dragons, Sea Smoke and Meleys, the Red Queen.
After this, we see the procession of noble guests gretting Viserys and Rhanerya, including Jason Lannister being a prideful jerk again, and Rhea’s cousin Gerold (Owen Oakeshott), who accepts condolences for Rhea’s death.
The Velaryons then arrive, quickly followed by Daemon, who swaggers in unnannounced.
Viserys reluctantly welcomes him, wordlessly offering him a chair at the table.
Daemon, likewise, does not speak, again making us wonder what his intentions are.
Viserys then begins a grand speech about the future of Targaryen rule, only to be interrupted by the best moment in the episode, as Alicent arrives in a green dress, Ramin Djawadi’s excellent score serving as her entrance.
As a book reader, this was such an exciting moment to see.
The enormity of this moment is translated to show only viewers by Larys, who informs his brother Harwin that the green colour of Alicent’s dress is symbolising her house calling its banners to war.
After Alicent’s dramatic entrance, the celebration continues, with Joffrey noticing Criston eyeing Rhanerya, and Gerold Royce confronting Daemon about Rhea’s murder.
It does not go how he planned, however, as Daemon announces his intention to inherit Rhea’s lands, before going down to join the dancing.
He dances with Laena Velaryon (Savannah Steyn) for a bit, who shows quite an interest in him, before moving on to Rhanerya.
Daemon makes another play for Rhanerya’s hand but she is dismissive of him this time, goading him into stealing her away, which she appears to know he will not do.
While this is happening, Joffrey has a talk with Criston, suggesting they take a vow to protect Laenor and Rhanerya because, if they stay safe, so do they all.
Whether Criston sees this as blackmail, is disgusted because he sees himself in Joffrey, or a combination of the two, the end result is the same.
Criston attacks Joffrey and proceeds to beat him to death in front of dozens of noble witnesses, also assaulting Laenor, while Rhanerya has to be saved by Harwin.
This scene has resulted in a lot of questions about how exactly Criston got away with murdering a knight in front of everyone.
An argument could be made for Alicent speaking up for him but we do not see this happen.
Criston murdering Joffrey in front of everyone is actually a change from the book, where he killed him in a tourney, so he had the excuse that it was an accident.
The change raises the plot hole of how Criston got away with it, so I do wish the murder had been done differently to have Criston going unpunished make more sense.
As least the acting is great here, with Theo Nate’s grief stricken cries over Joffrey being especially tragic.
You cannot have a Westerosi wedding without at least one death, after all, or it is considered a dull affair.
I say we call this one the Green Wedding, after Alicent’s dress reveal.
After the night’s horrifying events, Viserys decides to marry Rhanerya and Laenor right away, celebrations be damned.
Viserys collapses during the wedding, showing just how sick he is getting.
Before this happens, Criston goes outside to commit suicide, only to be stopped by Alicent who, presumably, wants to form an alliance with him.
It looks like Rhanerya is going to regret naming him to the Kingsguard, after all.
Out of all five episodes, I would say that “We Light the Way” is my second favourite, behind “King of the Narrow Sea.”
My only issue is that Criston getting away with murdering Joffrey is a plot hole.
Otherwise this was a great episode and an excellent farewell to Milly Alcock and Emily Carey, who both did a terrific job playing a young Rhanerya and Alicent.

Book Spoiler Section:
About Viserys’ legacy, it was interesting to think about this when the king himself worried about how he would be remembered.
Unfortunately for him, I do not think he is remembered all that well.
Yes, his rule was peaceful but it was the precursor to the Dance of the Dragons, something which started in part because of Viserys’ complacancy.
It makes sense why he was this way, given how he likely wanted Weteroes to be peaceful so they could be united when the White Walkers eventually attacked.
But good intentions do not always result in good things happening and, especially the world of Westeroes.
Bad intentioned actions are the same as well, for Daemon’s efforts to claim Runestone will be for nothing, since Jeyne Arryn will refuse his request.
As for Alicent and Criston, it was interesting to finally see what turned them both against Rhanerya and I think it makes a lot of sense for the both of them.
They will now become huge problems for Rhanerya and it was interesting to see how that played out ten years later in the following episode, “The Princess and the Queen.”

House of the Dragon Episode Four, King of the Narrow Sea Review: Targaryen Sexcapades.

While I consider Episode Three to be the weakest of House of the Dragon so far, Episode Four “King of the Narrow Sea” is definitley the best.
Directed by Clare Kilner, the episode certainly starts off strong, with Rhanerya hearing suitors at Storm’s End, the castle of the Baratheons.
Unfortunately, Rhanerya proves herself to be quite terrible at making allies again, as she insults multiple suitors, despite the attempts of Boremund Baratheon to get her to appease them.
Eventually a young Blackwood boy gives his pitch for her hand, only to be heckled by a Braken man.
This was a nice touch since, in the books, the Blackwood and Braken families have been feuding for generations.
The feud continues in the episode’s opening, with the two rivals coming to blows, leading to Blackwood boy killing the Braken man with his sword.
Rhanerya uses this as an excuse to return to King’s Landing with Criston Cole, however, their return is interrupted by the return of Daemon from the Stepstones atop Caraxes.
Marching into the Throne Room, Daemon wears a crown, announcing to Viserys that Lord Corlys named him “King of the Narrow Sea.”
However, he still bends the knee to Viserys, and is welcomed by him.
In all honesty, this scene was much grander in Fire and Blood, where Daemon flew down on Caraxes in the middle of a tourney to present Viserys with his crown but it still works here.
Celebrations are held for Daemon’s return, where we do get a funny moment between the two brothers where Viserys laughs at Alicent’s suggestion that Daemon of all people would enjoy tapestries.
To my surprise, we then get a moment between Rhanerya and Alicent, where they seem to have made up in the years since Episode Three, wanting to ammend their friendship.
I figured Rhanerya would just stay mad at Alicent for marrying Viserys but it is nice to see their relationship is not as simple as that.
Once the celebration is over, Rhanerya and Daemon have their own discussion, in High Valyrian again, where we have a lot of great lines from Daemon, such as, “You cannot live your life in fear, or you will forsake the best parts of it.”
That night, Daemon leaves a note in Rhanerya’s room, revealing a secret passage to her that leads to the two meeting.
Rhanerya going past the skull of Balerion the Black Dread made me think a lot of Arya.
Daemon shows Rhanerya the streets of King’s Landing, with the two eventually seeing a Shakespeare style play, depicting the current matter of succession.
Rhanerya is portrayed pretty poorly in this play, which was a surprise to me, considering she should be considered “the Realm’s Delight” at this stage.
They even call her this in the play, so it is kind of a weird discrepancy, although nothing major.
After accidentally stealing, Rhanerya makes a break for it, only to run into Ser Harwin Strong, who lets her go upon recognising her and Daemon.
Daemon then takes Rhanerya to a brothel, where he quite clearly organises events so the two of them are noticed.
It appears he planned to seduce Rhanerya and have word spread, sullying Rhanerya’s name in the process, forcing Viserys to marry them.
His plan goes well at first, as Rhanerya is receptive to his advances.
Their passion is intercut with the passionateless reaction of Alicent in King Viserys’ bed chamber, with her having to bed a man who seems to be quite literally rotting, due to numerous cuts from the throne.
This, once again shows the difference between Alicent and Rhanerya’s courting lives, as Rhanerya is pursuing who she wants while Alicent was ordered to seduce the king by her father and bear his children.
Back with Daemon and Rhanerya, Daemon’s plan goes awry, when Rhanerya becomes more assertive, causing Daemon to leave her alone in the brothel.
Why he did this is kept vague.
I have heard theories that he left because he felt guilt about what he was doing and also that he was turned off when Rhanerya became more assertive.
He also may be somewhat impotent, considering he had problems performing with Mysaria in the first episode.
It could really be any of these, or even a combination of them.
What’s so fascinating about Daemon’s character is how much of an enigma his motivations often are.
As for Rhanerya, she returns to her room in the Red Keep but from the outside, leading to a quite hilarious reaction from Criston.
A sexually frustrated Rhanerya then playfully teases him into the room and convinces him to have sex with her.
The two then share a passionate scene which, unfortunately for Criston, he seems to be putting more into emotionally than Rhanerya.
She does not seem to actually love him, at least not in a romantic way.
Meanwhile, Otto recieves word of Rhanerya and Daemon’s escapades in the brothel from a source known as the White Worm, revealed to be Mysaria.
She has a scene with Daemon, where she temporarily helps him recover after a night of drinking.
While it is nice to see how Mysaria’s character is progressing, I am sorry to say that the accent her actress is going for is still terrible.
I honestly have a hard time understanding what she is saying at times.
Back to Mysaria snitching on Daemon, though, Otto does seem a bit saddened by having to reveal Daemon and Rhanerya’s actions to Viserys, even though it is a ploy to get Aegon on the throne.
Otto reports to Viserys that Daemon bedded Rhanerya, something which did not happen but is probably what was reported to him.
Viserys is enraged by this but more so at Otto for spying on Rhanerya, rightly calling him out for trying to get his own blood on the Iron Throne.
Alicent overhears this argument and confronts Rhanerya over the rumors she slept with Daemon.
Their interaction here is one of the most interesting moments of the episode.
Rhanerya tells the truth that she did not sleep with Daemon but lies about her just being a spectator and does not not admit to sleeping with Criston.
Alicent’s demeanor is far more interesting, however.
She seems to be both scandalized by the rumors, concerned for Rhanerya’s image, and jealous of her friend’s sexual freedom.
In the end, Rhanerya manages to convince Alicent that Daemon was entirely at fault and that she did nothing.
Viserys is not convinced, however, and has Daemon brought to him in a drunken state.
Daemon does not deny the accusation, again, all as a ploy to get Viserys to marry Rhanerya to him but this only enrages Viserys further.
One ironic moment is when Viserys says Rhanerya is “just a girl” as if he did not marry a girl her age.
Pot calling kettle, Viserys.
After refusing Daemon’s proposal, Viserys banishes him once more and later summons Rhanerya, showing her the catspaw dagger from the original series.
Aegon the Conqueror had the prophecy of the Prince that was Promised hidden on the blade, something which never panned out in Game of Thrones.
Much like in Episode One, these references to the White Walkers only drag the show down by reminding us of the letdown that was Season Eight.
However, these are also small moments so they are not that big of an issue.
During their following discussion, Viserys informs Rhanerya that she will be marrying Laenor Velaryon, to which Rhanerya agrees, so long as Viserys gets rid of Otto for spying on her.
Viserys calls Otto to the small council room and both praises him for serving the realm well and admonishes him for acting in his own interests, betraying his king.
He has also finally realized that Otto instructed Alicent to seduce him for his family’s power, and removes Otto from his position.
The episode then ends with the Grand Maester giving Rhanerya a drink that will prevent any pregnancies from her night with Critson, which they believe was with Daemon.
The Grand Maester says it was from Viserys but there is the chance Otto told him to do it to create further division.
Either way, the episode ends ambigiously in regards to whether Rhanerya drinks it or not.
Overall, “King of the Narrow Sea” was a fantastic episode of House of the Dragon, with interesting development for Daemon, and especially Rhanerya and Alicent.
Next week is the last episode Milly Alcock and Emily Carey play these two, which is sad to see because they are doing such a good job.
Hopefully, the wedding with Leanor can provide some chances for great acting from the both of them.
Ah, a wedding in Westeros.
What could possibly go wrong?

Book Spoilers Section:
One thing I especially enjoyed about “King of the Narrow Sea” was all of the subtle building blocks to future events.
For one thing, there is the foreshadowing for Rhanerya’s death later in the story, when the fortune teller asks her if she wants to know how she will die, before the shot cuts to dragon flame.
Then there is the settup for how Criston and Alicent will truly become Rhanerya’s enemies.
Like I mentioned, Criston clearly thinks his night with Rhanerya meant more than it did.
He literally gave up his vows of chastity for her, risking his life, so to learn that it was all just a fling to her could cause hatred.
Learning that Rhanerya lied and slept with Criston, along with her being the reason Otto was banished, could cause Alicent to hate Rhanerya as well.
Coming back to Criston, I also wonder if Rhanerya is pregnant with his child at the end.
We know her children are believed to have been fathered by Harwin Strong but what if Jacaerys was actually fathered by Criston?
We do see Harwin in the episode, allowing Rhanerya and Daemon to pass in the streets of King’s Landing, so I like how the show is keeping him in the back of the audience’s mind, so they can later reveal he is the father to some if not all of her children.
I am intrigued to see if either Criston or Harwin is the father of Rhanerya’s first child and how the hatred for Rhanerya from Criston and Alicent will truly form.

House of the Dragon Episode Three, Second of His Name Review: The War in the Stepstones.

Episode Three of House of the Dragon, “Second of His Name” is probably my least favourite of the four episodes so far, however, this does not mean I consider it bad, just the weakest.
The Greg Yaitanes directed episode certainly starts off fantastic, by showing just how badly the war in the Stepstones is going for Daemon, Corlys and the Velaryon fleet, as we see the Crab Feeder and his men nailing captured soldiers to stakes on the beach, so they can be eaten by crabs.
One such soldier is particularly defiant, and his cries of how the Crab Feeder’s time is up seems almost foretold when Daemon launches a surprise attack with Caraxes.
The staked soldier calls out to Daemon for help, certain that he is about to be rescued, and I am sure this is where we all realized this guy was going to be collateral damage.
What was the bigger suprise was him getting stomped to death by Caraxes, rather than burned alive, although I suppose it is the better way to go.
This brutal end is not for the Crab Feeder yet, however, as he and his men hide in caves to avoid the dragon fire, which is how they have managed to drag this war out.
It makes a lot of sense when you think about how this guerilla warfare is one of the many tactics Dorne used to avoid being taken over by Aegon the Conqueror.
Eventually, Daemon is forced to flee when he takes an arrow to the shoulder and we get an interesting moment of Caraxes reacting to this, as if he can feel Daemon’s pain, showing how close the bond is between a rider and their dragon.
After this display of how poorly the war in the Stepstones is going, we cut back to King’s Landing, where a hunt is being planned to celebrate the second birthday of Visery’s son by Alicent, Aegon.
Three years hve passed since the end of the second episode, where Viserys declared that he would marry Alicent, and this is where one of my minor issues with the episode comes into play.
I was a bit disappointed that we did not see Rhanerya’s first interaction with Alicent after Visery’s announcement, nor her reaction to Aegon’s birth, considering now Viserys has a son who everyone wants him to replace her with.
Still, we do get a bit of a display of both in the following scenes, as Otto’s brother Hobert pressures him to convince Viserys to name Aegon the heir, and Alicent then goes to retrieve Rhanerya for the hunt.
She is sitting below the Wierwood Tree where she and Alicent were shown talking in Episode One, only now she is listening to a bard sing about Nymeria and her 10,000 ships.
Interestingly enough, this is what she and Alicent were talking about in that scene from “Heirs of the Dragon” so I am sure that Rhanerya listening to this, rather than talking about it with Alicent, is an indicator of how far their friendship has fallen.
Further proof of this is how cold Rhanerya is to Alicent now, wanting the bard to keep singing over the queen, but Alicent outranks her so she sends him away.
Alicent seems much more confident than she did in the first few episodes, now commanding people as opposed to constantly being ordered around by Otto.
She convinces Rhanerya to come along, although reluctantly, and throughout the journey Rhanerya does an honestly bad job of making allies, something she will need in the years that follow.
That said, she is not exactly wrong either, criticising Lady Redwyne for complaining about the War in the Stepstones when she just eats cake all day.
Well, well, it seems Rhanerya really does jest about cake, the little liar.
On another note, did anyone find the random pug Lady Redwyne was holding to be weirdly funny?
Out of all the animals I expected to see in a Game of Thrones show, a pug was not one of them.
Rhanerya’s next interaction is with a new key character, Jason Lannister.
What is funny about this character is that he is played by Jefferson Hall, who played Hugh of the Vale in Game of Thrones.
Not only that but Hall also plays Tyland Lannister, Jason’s meek twin brother.
Jason is much more assertive than his brother but also pompous and arrogant.
Hall honestly does a great job of making us dislike the character based on his attitude alone.
His attitude certainly does not impress Rhanerya, who immediately spurns his marriage proposal and storms off to argue with Viserys about him planning to have her married off.
It is here that neither royal proves very smart by taking their argument to a private area.
Instead, they argue loudly in full view of everyone, displaying a loud amount of weakness, something you must never do in the game of thrones.
Thankfully, Otto is there to break it up but only to further his attempt to persuade Viserys to name Aegon heir by declaring that a White Hart, a sign of royalty, has been spotted in the area, indicating Aegon’s legitimacy as heir to the various lords.
In frustration Rhanerya storms off, leaving Criston Cole to pursue her.
The two have some good banter and we see how Cole appreicates Rhanerya for granting him a place in the Kinsguard, a high position for the son of steward.
Their stay in the woods goes on into the night, while Viserys continues to entertain various lords at camp, among them Jason, who presents him with a spear and uses it as a means to offer to marry Rhanerya.
Unfortunately for him, he chooses his words very poorly, thinking that it is a fact that Viserys will name Aegon heir, replacing Rhanerya.
This causes Viserys to grow a backbone and his verbal beatdown of Jason was excellent to watch.
The next marrige proposal Viserys gets for Rhanerya comes from Otto and it is a suprising one.
Otto wants Viserys to betroth Rhanerya to Aegon.
Viserys, naturally, laughs at this idea because Aegon is a toddler.
When you think about it from Otto’s perspective, however, it is interesting to see why he makes this proposal.
He has just been pressured by his brother to convince Viserys to name Aegon heir, however, given how smart Otto is, he likely knows Viserys is reluctant to supplant Rhanerya.
So, he suggests marrying Rhanerya to Aegon, which would make Aegon the future king so, even if Rhanerya remains heir, the lords of Westeroes would still acknowledge Aegon more as the rightful ruler because of the patriarchal society they live in.
As I said, though, Viserys thankfully shoots this idea down, growing more displeased with every proposal of marriage for Rhanerya.
The final lord to make a suggestion is Lord Lyonel (Gavin Spokes), who proves himself to be the most honourable man in Visery’s small council.
Rather than propose that Rhanerya marry his son Harwin for his own family’s power, Lyonel instead proposes that Rhanerya marry Laenor Velaryon, the son of Corlys, since this will help mend the broken relationship between the crown and House Velaryon.
It is rare to see a lord outside of the Starks give advice to the king that is good for the realm rather than just for their own political ambition.
Lyonel reminded me a lot of the show version of Varys in this moment and Viserys also seems to have appreciated the good advice, patting Lyonel on the shoulder as he drunkenly stumbles out.
Meanwhile, Rhanerya and Cole are still out in the woods and have made camp and Rhanerya asks him if he thinks the realm would ever accept her as queen.
Cole answers that they will have no choice but to, which is not exactly a good answer.
Before the two can continue their discussion, they are interrupted by an attacking boar.
Their luck is far better than Robert Barethon, however, as they slay the boar, with Rhanerya getting blood all over herself.
While this is happening, Viserys is standing drunk at his own campfire, when Alicent approahces him and Viserys goes on a drunken rant about the dream he had of his son becoming king, leading to Aemma’s death and how the guilt from it resulted in him naming Rhanerya heir.
It is here where I once again have to give praise to Paddy Considine.
Every episode his performance is fantastic and he has turned the one dimensional ruler from Fire and Blood into a sympathetic, yet flawed and complicated character who is incredibly investing to watch.
This continues in the following scene, where a stag is captured in the hunt, rather than a White Hart, the animal that was supposed to signify Aegon’s right to rule.
It is difficult to tell if the look on Viserys’ face at the sight is one of disappointment or relief.
Knowing how complicated Viserys is, it’s probably a mixture of both.
In the end Viserys’ kills the stag, although he does a poor job of it, displaying yet more weakness while his men applaud.
It is Rhanerya who shows true strength, as she and Cole come across the White Hart, signifying to the audience that she is the rightful heir, yet Rhanerya chooses to let the animal go.
I have to wonder what the lords’ reactions would be if Rhanerya actually walked back into camp with a dead White Hart, though?
I am sure they would have found some mental gymnastics to explain how it was still a sign of Aegon’s right to rule but I feel it would have brought quite a few allies to her side, not that Rhanerya does not do that already when she walks into camp.
As we can see, a few people are impressed by her walking in, covered in the blood of the boar, in particular Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr), who throws her an impressed grin.
After the hunt, the royals and lords return to King’s Landing, where Otto turns to plan b for convincing Viserys to name Aegon heir… have Alicent do it.
Although Otto is still manipulative with his daughter, it is interesting to see the shift in the power dynamic, as Alicent fights the idea a lot more, having gained confidence as queen.
It was bit distracting to see the orgy art in the background of this scene though.
Wonder what the High Septon would think of that?
As for Alicent, she does go to talk with Viserys but, as proof that she is still a good person, rather than attempting to convince him to name Aegon heir, what she actually does is convince Viserys to help out in the Stepstones by sending support.
Another interesting detail in this scene is Viserys’ hand, as when he removes his gloves we can see that he has lost two of his fingers from the cuts he recieved when sitting the Iron Thone, yet another sign of his weak nature as a king.
The next morning Viserys summons Rhanerya to speak of her future marriage and the two argue again, with Rhanerya making a lot of good points like that if Viserys had married for political reasons then he would have just married Laena rather than Alicent.
Viserys concedes to this but does make good points for why Rhanerya needs to marry because it will help build alliances and any children she has will strengthen her line and claim to the throne.
However, he does allow Rhanerya to make her own choice in husband, just like he chose Alicent.
He ends the conversation by revealing to Rhanerya that he did waver about keeping her as heir but swears on Aemma’s memory that he will not replace her with Aegon, temporarily bridging the gap between father and daughter once more.
The episode then cuts from this touching moment to the war in the Stepstones, where Corlys and his advisors, including his brother Vaemond (Wil Johnson) and son Laenor (Theo Nate), are planning their next move.
Laenor has an ambitious plan to draw out the Crab Feeder using Daemon as bait but Vaemond is against this, leading to Laenor dubbing him “the master of complaints” in a funny moment.
As the argument progresses, Daemon arrives, followed by messengers, who deliver Daemon a letter from Viserys, promising his brother aid.
Rather than react joyfully, Daemon reacts violently, beating the messenger, since the entire reason he entered this war was to gain recognition for himself, and Viserys sending him help now would make him weak.
This causes Daemon to go on a suicide mission, appearing to surrender to the Crab Feeder’s men, before killing them and going on a mad dash to reach his opponent, dodging multiple arrows before being struck.
Then, right as Daemon is surrounded and about to be killed, Corlyss’ forces arrive, with Laenor on his dragon Seasmoke.
United, Corlys’ forces defeat the Crabfeeder’s, while Daemon chases the prince down and cuts him in half off screen, emerging from the cave blood soaked.
The episode then ends on Daemon having proved himself with blood, just like Rhanerya did on the hunting trip earlier.
Oh, and Daemon does all of this without a single word, making it even more awesome.
As for the Crab Feeder, I was a bit disappointed not to see their fight since Episode Two’s cliffhanger hyped it up but the Crab Feeder is pretty much a footnote in the book so I suppose it makes sense.
Although, I do have quite a few criticisms of this battle, mainly Daemon’s plot armour.
Sure, it is can be argued that a group of archers would find it difficult to hit a lone man at a distance, but Daemon still seems to recover from the arrow wounds he does get very quickly.
Then there’s the fact that the Crab Feeder’s army surrounds Daemon first, rather than immediately kill him, allowing Laenor and Seasmoke to blast them with fire, which also somehow avoids hitting Daemon.
Finally, there is the fact that Corlys’ army is somehow able to completley sneak up on the Crab Feeder’s with no one noticing.
Admittedly, had this been in any other show then it would not have been as much of an issue.
But, since House of the Dragon is a Game of Thrones show, this did break my suspension of disbelief slightly and reminded me of the absurd plot armour seen in Seasons Seven and Eight of the original show.
It was these issues that made “Second of His Name” the weakest episode of the show so far, for me, although it is certainly by no means a bad episode.

Book Spoiler Section:

For Episode Three’s spoiler section, I do not have much to discuss, other than some of the minor characters introduced who will later go on to be important, like Harwin and Larys Strong (Mathew Needham).
Harwin smiling at Rhanerya when she walks into camp is a great touch, subtly hinting at their future relationship.
As for Larys, I did not catch that he deliberately sat himself amongst the women so he could gather information until someone pointed it out online.
Already, he is setting himself up to be a Varys or Littlefinger type of character and most of the show only audience do not even realise this yet.
I look forward to seeing how these two characters will be portrayed in future episodes.

House of the Dragon Episode Two, The Rogue Prince Review: Medieval Matchmaking.

House of the Dragon‘s first episode was a great start for the series, bringing many fans who were burned by Game of Thrones‘ final season back into the fold.
The second episode “The Rogue Prince” is just as fantastic, in my opinion.
Directed by Greg Yaitanes and written by Ryan Condal, the episode begins in gory fashion, showing off the victims of Craghas Drahar (Daniel Scott-Smith), the Crab Feeder, on one of the beaches of the Stepstones.
The Crab Feeder’s method of murder is particularly brutal, as he stakes his enemy’s to posts and then leaves them for the crabs to eat alive.
His actions naturally anger Corlys Velaryon, since a ship with his banner has been hit and his men slaughtered, however, King Viserys and Otto Hightower seem reluctant to do anything about it.
Viserys because he wishes to avoid conflict and Otto because, well, House Velaryon is the richest house in Westeros and I suppose them falling in stature could put the Hightowers higher up in the pecking order.
Rhanerya, however, is team attack the Stepstones, along with Corlys.
Unfortunately, she is not taken seriously, even though Viserys named her his heir last episode, and she is instead religated to choosing a new member of the Kingsguard, since one of their number recently died.
Rhanerya has a lot of noble knights to choose from but instead chooses Ser Criston Cole, the only knight among the lot with any experience in combat.
Otto advises against this, wanting someone from a noble house in the Kingsguard but Rhanerya argues her case well.
After all, someone whose job is to protect the king should be selected on their fighting skills, not for political reasons because that is just asking for the king to get assassinated.
Following this scene, we then get one between Viserys and Alicent, showing that her father is still directing her to try and seduce the king for power.
However, Alicent is still certainly not comfortable with this, as shown by her numerous expressions across the episode.
Along with this, she proves herself to be a kind and caring person by using her influence with both Viserys and Rhanerya to try and bring the two to talk again after Aemma’s death.
The scene between Alicent and Rhanerya is also particularly great, with Milly Alcock giving a great performance as the Realm’s Delight, which she does across the entire episode really.
As for Viserys, even though it has only been six months since his wife died, various lords are insisting he get remarried, and I don’t just mean Otto subtly shoving Alicent his way.
Corlys and Rhaenys take a more direct approach with Viserys, bringing up all the signs of weakness his rule over Westeros has, before suggesting he marry their daughter Laena (Nova Foueillis-Mose) to show strength in the realm.
Unfortunately for Corlys and Rhaenys’ attempt at medieval matchmaking, Viserys brings up this marriage proposal to Otto.
Rhys Ifans did a fantastic job portraying Otto’s inner panic here, as he realizes the Velaryons may get one over on him, first bringing up Laena’s youth as an excuse before going in more subtly, comparing the loss of Visery’s wife to his own.
This may have planted the idea of marrying out of affection more firmly in Visery’s mind.
Frankly, I’m just surprised Viserys could continue the conversation normally while those maggots were eaten the rotten flesh around the finger he cut on the Iron Throne.
The wonders of medieval medicine.
Speaking of medieval times though, the next scene showcases one of the most uncomfortable things about those times, this being underage arranged marriages.
When Otto said Laena was young it may have been an excuse but that does not change the fact that she is only twelve years old, making the whole planned speech from her about joining their houses and not having to bed Viserys until she turns fourteen deepy disturbing.
Thankfully, Viserys seems just as creeped out about the idea of marrying a child as the audience is.
He is far happier to discuss anything else with Laena, other than the prospect of the marriage, like Vhagar, the oldest and largest living dragon.
Vhagar was a dragon who lived during Aegon’s Conquest and was ridden by Visenya Targaryen but her location, something Laena is interested in, is unknown.
As Laena and Viserys walk togethor, Rhanerya and Rhaenys are watching them and have a discussion, which is one of best dialogue exchanges in the entire episode.
Watching these two throw shade at each other was great.
Rhaenys was harsh but, in the end, she said many things that Rhanerya needed to hear.
If she wants to sit the Iron Throne, it will be an uphill battle.
As Rhaenys says, “men would sooner put the realm to the torch, than let a women assend the Iron Throne.”
But, while the shade throwing between Rhanerya and Rhaenys was great, there is one character who can throw shade better: Daemon.
He makes his return in Episode Two in a big way, stealing a dragon egg off screen to give to Mysaria, who is pregnant and he intends to marry.
Daemon did not just steal any dragon egg, however, but the one Rhanerya chose for her brother Baelon, the child Daemon titled “the heir for a day.”
As I said, major shade thrower Daemon is.
Yet, this reveal does lead to the first moment Rhanerya commands a small council meeting, as she demands to know which dragon egg Daemon stole, the answer of which causes Viserys to act, wanting to bring Daemon to justice, before Otto offers to go instead.
Leading a group, including Criston Cole, Otto journeys to Dragonstone, where he confronts Daemon on a foggy bridge.
This confrontation is excellent, even though no blood is shed.
The banter of the episode continues to be great, as Daemon and Criston share barbs, Otto demands Daemon return the dragon egg and send Mysaria away, and Daemon remains entirely flippant about the situation.
Eventually, swords are drawn but this was a bad call on Otto’s part because it alerts Daemon’s dragon Caraxes, the CGI for which is fantastic.
Lucky for Otto and the rest, Rhanerya then arrives to prove her worth as the heir by convincing Daemon to hand over the egg.
Their discussion in High Valyrian is another great moment and its interesting to note how respectful Daemon suddenly becomes when talking with his family compared to everyone else.
Even more interesting is how Rhanerya quickly deduces that Daemon’s claims about Mysaria being pregnant and marrying her were lies just to get Viserys to come see him.
Essentially, what we are seeing here is the equivalent of a child throwing a tantrum to get their big brother’s attention.
In any other show, this would be incredibly obnoxious but the writing for Daemon is so great it makes him all the more compelling.
Daemon hands the egg over to Rhanerya, in the end, and she and the others depart, leaving Daemon with Mysaria, who is none too pleased about Daemon’s lies, since they put her in danger.
And, it is here that I have to talk about Sonoya Mizuno’s accent.
I’m sorry but it is flat out terrible.
I did not talk about it in my review for the first episode because I wanted to see if it would get better but her accent was just as bad here and I have no idea what she’s trying to go for.
Hopefully, her accent gets softened or she ditches it entirely in future episodes because otherwise it is going to be incredibly distracting.
Upon returning to King’s Landing, Rhanerya receieves an initially frosty reception from Viserys, who is understandably angered that she would risk her life like that.
However, the conversation eventually evolves into a moving moment, when the two finally reconnect for the first time since Aemma’s death, promising not to become estranged, even if Viserys remarries.
Well, maybe Viserys should have been more clear with Rhanerya about who he was going to marry.
Honestly, did he really think Rhanerya would take it well when he announced that he was going to marry her best friend?
Maybe he was too worried about Corlys’ reaction to notice, since the guy is extremely angered that his daughter was passed over, the second time his family has been passed over for the Iron Throne, in fact.
No matter what Viserys thought Rhanerya’s reaction might be, however, the end result is almost certainly the destruction of her friendship with Alicent.
I would not be surprised if Rhanerya now thinks every single interaction she had with Alicent was all a ploy for her so-called friend to get into her father’s pants.
As the audience, we know this is not true, but it would be understandable for Rhanerya to come to this conclusion.
On another note, Otto’s smug face during this whole scene is particuarly funny.
The man is an expert at manipulating Viserys, at this point, while Corlys was far too direct.
Having been denied by one Targaryen, Corlys turns to another, extending an invitation for an alliance with Daemon.
The final scene with the two of them is also excellent, with the slow reveal that it is Daemon Corlys is talking to.
Corlys suggests that Daemon help him conquer the Stepstones, insulting Viserys as he does so.
Daemon’s response to this is epic.
“I will speak of my brother as I wish… you will not.”
Again, Daemon’s attitude toward his family is very compelling.
He has no qualms speaking ill of them if he thinks they have screwed up buts gods help you if he hears you doing it.
Despite this, Corlys apparently still manages to persuade Daemon to help him, as the final intercutting shots tease a fight between Daemon and the Crab Feeder.
On a final note, I would like to talk about the new opening.
I think it is pretty decent with nice visuals.
The theme itself is great, of course, what with it being the one from Game of Thrones.
My biggest criticism is that the symbols shown are a bit vague and flash across the screen so fast, meaning that many viewers may not even know what the symbols mean.
I was one of the these people until I looked up exactly what was happening in the opening afterwards.
Still, a good opening, I think it just should have moved a bit slower with the visuals and been a bit more clear about what it was displaying.
“The Rogue Prince” is another great episode of House of the Dragon with various compelling character interactions that set up the future of the story.
Speaking of…

Book Spoilers:
I said in the spoiler free section of the review that Rhanerya is probably questioning her entire friendship with Alicent.
Since we have now seen the beginning of Rhanerya’s grudge against Alicent, I wonder what exactly will be the start of Alicent’s against Rhanerya?
Despite seducing Viserys under Otto’s command, Alicent clearly still cares about Rhanerya, proven by the attempt to help her reconcile with her father, so I wonder what will drive her to that point?
Another thing I am interested to see is Laena taming Vhagar.
Or rather, I am hoping to see it.
Unlike Alicent growing to hate Rhanerya, Vhagar becoming Laena’s dragon might not be something we see.
We might just see that she has tamed her off screen later on.
Still, Laena seemed interested in finding Vhagar during her talk with Viserys, so I hope we get to see this happen.
Finally, I am excited to see the war in the Stepstones next episode with the innevitable fight between Daemon and Crab Feeder.
It will be the first big battle of House of the Dragon and it will be interesting to see how the show handles it.