“I would remind you only that when princes lose their temper, it is often others who suffer.”
(SPOILER WARNING!)
The politicking continued in Westeros this week, despite the last ep ending in an act of provocation that seemed certain to spark all-out conflict. House of the Dragon continues to be a more low-key show than its all-guns-blazing parent, a fact lamented in the Guardian this week, as they declared the show “boring”.
To be fair, a later article (whose author had seen a couple more episodes) relented, and admitted that the slow pace of early episodes was definitely worth sticking with for the reward of action later on. But those of us who’ve read the source material knew this, and besides, it seemed to be missing the point. It’s the political intrigue of the show that I like, every bit as much as spectacular dragon-on-dragon battles. It matters not to me that not a single character is likeable enough to root for – shades of grey is what I’m here for. Well, that and the mashup of history’s greatest hits to do it.
So, more politics it was, as Ser Otto seized the moment of his grandson’s murder not to grieve, but to paint his enemy to the people in the worst light possible. “Rhaenyra the Cruel” became his effective label for her, as the poor child’s decapitated corpse was paraded through the streets to make his point.
And the people were buying it, much to Rhaenyra’s discomfort. It’s another departure for this show from the original GoT that it concerns itself (at least sometimes) with the ordinary people of Westeros, the so-called “smallfolk” as well as its feuding aristocracy. This ep was punctuated with little glimpses into how the now apparently inevitable oncoming war was already affecting them, with life frightening and uncertain as the very food they eat starts to become unaffordable.
It wasn’t much, but it was more than Game of Thrones ever conceded to the ordinary folk of Westeros – there, we only ever met them in the guise of war-weary soldiers (and even then usually briefly). But given that the battle for their hearts and minds was a crucial plot point here, it was important that they weren’t just portrayed, as so often in the parent show, as a faceless mass of proles.
It was nicely underlined by a speech given by Aemond’s usual brothel partner, in an affecting scene that showed even this one-eyed villain had a softer, vulnerable side – Ewen Mitchell played it well, his skinniness accentuating that vulnerability as he curled into a foetal position with a whore he obviously sees as a surrogate mother figure.
Otto wasn’t getting it all his own way in his effort to discredit the morality of his enemy though, and in true political fashion, his campaign was torpedoed not by Rhaenyra but from within. Hot-headed, impulsive King Aegon, who is not only grieving but actually furious, chose to hang every rat-catcher in the Red Keep, in lieu of finding out which one specifically had been an accomplice to the murder of his son. Cue a mass of hanging corpses bewailed by their horrified relatives – while the real murderer was mourned only by his dog (a nice touch).
Given the length of time that goes into producing a show like this, the timing must be sheer coincidence, but you couldn’t help being reminded of the various election campaigns currently going on in the US, the UK, and much of Europe. And how they too have been dogged by idiocy from within their own camps, whether it be Joe Biden’s disastrous TV debate performance, Rishi Sunak’s phalanx of MPs using insider knowledge to win trivial sums betting on the election date, or Nigel Farage’s attempts to portray Reform UK as a moderate force stymied by revelations that many of his candidates really are racist, homophobic and misogynistic.
They may have been as despairing as Otto that all their efforts were shot down from within, but Otto faced the problem that the one doing it was actually the King. And the King, while he may be Otto’s grandson, outranks him by default. So it was that this week saw Otto yet again removed from his position as Hand, to be replaced by the cynical but politically naïve Ser Criston Cole.
Fabien Frankel is nice eye candy as Ser Criston, and his journey from the naïve innocent we saw in season one to the embittered cynic we see now has been a compelling one. But as a knight, he doesn’t really do politics, he does action. Hence this week’s big subplot as he sent Ser Erryk off to Dragonstone to assassinate Rhaenyra by pretending to be his turncoat brother Ser Arryk.
Or was it Ser Arryk who was sent to pretend to be Ser Erryk? One of the show’s genuine problems, as noted in the first of those Guardian articles, is the similarity between many of the characters’ names, and it really doesn’t help when the characters concerned are identical twins with literally only one letter difference in their given names.
Anyway, this inevitably led to a set piece swordfight between brother and brother as Erryk (or was it Arryk?) discovered Arryk (or was it Erryk?) in Rhaenyra’s bedchamber with a blade, and a fight to the death was on. The fact that these characters are played by real-life identical twins Luke and Elliot Tittensor presumably saved on the use of stunt doubles and split screen effects, but the overall impression was like watching one of those Star Trek fights where Captain Kirk faces off with an identical evil replica of himself (“Kill us both, Spock!”).
Hence, it was impossible to keep track of which one was winning, and given our general lack of sympathy for any of the squabbling factions, pretty hard to care. It was a well-staged swordfight, but I kept finding my mind wandering to the logical impossibility of being sure of the victor’s identity. Would Rhaenyra have to imprison (or kill) the winner, just in case it was still the one who wanted to kill her, playing a long game?
That could have made for an interesting subplot going forward. Perhaps the winner would be whichever one really was loyal, but his loyalty would crumble after imprisonment, leading to more betrayal later on. But in the event, whichever one won (I think it was the one on Rhaenyra’s side, but it was hard to know) fell on his own sword in guilt at having killed his brother. Understandable, I suppose, and at least it eliminates the possibility of more of this confusion further down the line.
It was still a gripping episode for me, with the political machinations and the various characters’ frustration at their failures making for a fun watch. But I could have done with a little more insight into what was going on with the Blacks (Rhaenyra’s faction) than a fairly perfunctory fight with an unrepentant Daemon. After all, the show’s usually at its most entertaining when Matt Smith is chewing up the scenery. Perhaps next week will focus more on their side, and the season will alternate on focus, faction to faction, by episode. Next time will tell.
Simon’s Incoherent Blog 