The Rogue Prince
This week’s episode of House of the Dragon begins just under half a year since the events that transpired last week – and there’s drama in the small council. Four ships have been lost and Corlys Velaryon is not happy. It turns out this is part of a series of attacks at shipping lanes from the Stepstones; a series of islands populated by sellswords, and led by Crabfeeder, the guy who feeds his enemies to crabs and whom we learned a little bit about last week. Crabfeeder is back, and he’s attacking shipping lanes again. The small council is divided on how to deal with him, but Corlys Velaryon wants to take him down. This week’s episode looks at what steps are being taken to try and stop Crabfeeder, as well as what other threats may be looming in Essos. ..
Otto is offered compensation for one of his ships being lost, but he’s not interested in that. He wants the King to take action. Rhaenyra overhears all of this and suggests they send the dragon riders out to make swift work of them. Instead, she’s hastily taken out the throne room and given a task to oversee a replacement for one of the King’s Guard. ..
After listening to several different candidates, Rhaenyra decided on Ser Criston Cole, the guy who bested Daemon in the tournament last episode. This young princess wants to be more than this, and although she’s been picked as Viserys’ heir, the suggestion of Viserys remarrying hints that there could be a male heir in the future ready to usurp her.
Viserys explains his position to Corlys later that afternoon. With the Queen dead and a girl picked to be the succession, Corlys is convinced that the enemy’s eye has moved to the Red Keep. The crown is vulnerable right now and Corlys believes they need to act swiftly to make sure there’s not an uprising. In order to do that, Corlys suggests joining their two families together. With the dragons and Valeryon fleet, together they’d be a force to be reckoned with.
That night, Viserys tells Otto about his plan to march on King’s Landing and asks for his advice. The Grand Maester believes it would be a good idea for the region to prevent open war or rebellion, and Viserys though is worried what Rhaenyra will think. ..
Meanwhile, Rhaenyra is optimistic that she’ll someday be queen but Rhaenys is much more pessimistic. She talks about the established order and ends by saying: “men would rather put the realm to the torch than see a woman ascend the Iron Throne.” The irony here, if course, will not be lost on anyone who knows that women were actually the reason for the downfall of Westeros (Cersei and Daenarys). ..
Daemon has stolen the egg from the small council and is holding it up with his Gold Cloaks. Viserys wants to go personally but Otto interjects, pointing out it’s too dangerous and suggesting he should go instead.
Prince Baelon and his entourage arrive at the castle, and as they do, they see a dragon flying overhead. Prince Baelon orders his men to draw their swords, but when the dragon appears, he realizes that it’s not a real dragon – it’s just a dream. He orders his men to let go of their swords, and they do so. Prince Baelon then tells Otto and Daemon that this is their family right to take an egg on the eve of a wedding – even if that egg happens to be Dreamfyre, the one for Prince Baelon. Both Otto and Daemon are happy to hear this, and they put away their weapons.
Rhaenyra suddenly appears on a dragon and approaches Daemon. She points out that Dragonstone is technically hers. The only way out is for Daemon to kill his niece and seize the position of heir himself. It’s tense but Daemon eventually turns and leaves without bloodshed. He also tosses over the egg before he goes back inside the castle too. ..
Viserys confronts Rhaenyra in her chamber about her decision to go on her own and risk being killed. He’s not happy about her acting independently and pointing out that she could have been killed.
Viserys has a change of heart and decides to marry Lady Alicent Hightower, Otto’s daughter. Corlys is not happy and calls it an absurdity. It’s a foolish decision, given what this could mean for the realm, and it fractures the small council completely. It also disappoints Rhaenyra too, given her close ties with Alicent.
Corlys is so furious that he seeks out Daemon, claiming they’ve been made from the same cloth and believes they should work together. After all, if Viserys won’t do anything, maybe Daemon and his bloodthirsty Gold Cloaks will. Crabfeeder is backed by powerful allies from the Free Cities and they want to see Westeros weakened. If the shipping lanes should fall, it would seriously weaken Corlys’ family reign. Not only would ridding the world of Crabfeeder be good for him, it would also give Daemon an excellent opportunity to prove his worth. The thing is, if Daemon succeeds then that would leave Viserys with even fewer allies. ..
The Episode Review
Viserys is not cut out for the role of leader. He’s not strong enough or smart enough to be one. He’s only been in power for a few months and it’s already clear that he’s making all the wrong decisions. If he wants to keep the realm in check, he’ll have to make some tough decisions and prove himself to everyone.
The marriage between Viserys and Laena is not exactly a comfortable one, given the age difference, but in many ways it’s the “right” choice in order to solidify the two houses together. With Viserys choosing his heart instead, which is of course being manipulated by Otto, he may well have plunged the realm into utter chaos.
House of the Dragon is a court intrigue series that follows the House of the Dragon, a family that rules Westeros. The series began in season 1 and follows the story of the Dragon family and their interactions with other families in Westeros. The series is based on a novel by George R.R. Martin and was created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
House of the Dragon is a political drama that doesn’t have the urgency that Game of Thrones does. This makes it essentially a political drama, fleshing out the Targaryen downfall. This will feel boring for a good swathe of people jumping into this expecting magic, dragon fire and big, epic battles. Of course, the irony here is that Game of Thrones’ battles were only a tiny part of a much larger world of politics and backstabbing.
This show needed more than one episode to really start to gel. Although HBO has broken records for the opening episode, I’m far more interested in seeing how many people will be sticking around for the finale and season 2. I think that will be a far more telling statistic.
