“There are older things in this world than you, or I, or living memory. You are not the player, but a piece on the board.”
(SPOILER WARNING!)
It was another… shall we say, leisurely paced episode for House of the Dragon this week, which may not win it many more admirers from those who find the show very slow going. To be fair, this week, even I had my reservations. I’d expected a lull in the pacing after the Big Battle of ep4, but with only two episodes of the season to go, it feels like the show should be upping its pace.
I’ve recently reread the books that it’s based on, and they rattle along at quite a lick (after all, they total less than 200 pages, unlike the ever-growing and likely never-finished Song of Ice and Fire). While I wouldn’t expect the show to maintain that kind of breakneck pace, I do know that we have a lot of excitement on the way – but at this speed, it might take until next season to get to the next bit of it.
To be fair, there was still plenty of the show’s trademark political skulduggery this week – it’s just that it was counterpointed by a lot of contemplative musing that probably belonged earlier in the season. “You have forgotten to fear me,” Rhaenyra hissed, slapping a random Lord who dared question her judgment, before going for a mope on the battlements to express her frustration that everyone, even her son, is more interested in her husband/uncle Daemon than they are in her.
All well and good, but we know all this already. We also know that Daemon too is gripped by self-doubt, which was once more manifest in his continuing eerie visions at haunted Harrenhal. These are running the risk of becoming tiresome, but earned a reprieve from me this week for bringing back the superb Paddy Considine as a ghostly representation of Daemon’s conscience. Ok, he didn’t actually have much to do beyond berating his power-hungry younger brother, but Considine’s Viserys was one of the best characters of the first season, and it was good to see him back, even if it was a little tokenistic.
Alicent was moping too, after being peremptorily ejected from the Small Council by her less than loyal son. She spent what seemed like an age discussing her ‘other’ son Daeron, who I’ll confess I had forgotten existed, but has, according to her brother Gwayne, grown to be fair, desired by ladies, and above all, kind. He won’t last five minutes if he comes to King’s Landing, which is probably a good thing – the show’s cast is huge enough as it is.
There was actually some advancement of the plot amidst all this musing (though it could have been done far more quickly than what we had here). As expected, the ep followed up on the twin plot threads of the untamed dragons, and the discontent of the smallfolk in King’s Landing, who are getting pretty hungry now, and less than happy that the aristocracy are keeping all the livestock for their banquets and their pet monsters. Let them eat cabbage.
Which is, of course, Mysaria’s plan. Rhaenyra’s chief schemer was at the top of her game this week, sending food aid in to the disgruntled citizens of the capital and sparking a riot that nearly claimed the lives of Alicent and Helaena. On top of all that, she found time to consolidate her position at Rhaenyra’s court by actually copping off with her liege lady. Her story of traumatic abuse at the hands of her father added yet another layer to the show’s ongoing theme of the mistreatment of women – but I still wouldn’t trust her an inch, if I were Rhaenyra.
Also not to be trusted, over on the Greens’ side, Aemond was disquieted this week when his brother, the actual King, started to recover from his injuries. Can’t be having that, not if you want to remain Regent; so off he went to the sickroom to dispense some painful ‘care’ that Aegon clearly did not enjoy. Ewan Mitchell is fast shaping up as one of the best players in this cast, and his quiet reminder of all the indignities he suffered as a child, and that the boot is now on the other foot, was a chilling highlight of the ep.
Of course the other main strand this week was the quest for riders to sit those untameable dragons, and initially at least, that didn’t go well. The Blacks suffered considerable disappointment when Ser Steffon (who’s been around for a few episodes, though this was the first time I figured out his name) gave it a try and was gruesomely incinerated for his trouble. This seems rather a waste of the talented Anthony Flanagan, but it was a good scene – I particularly liked the dragonkeeper’s stoical slitting of her own throat rather than dying in burning agony.
Evidently, then, Rhaenyra hasn’t worked out that the closest relatives with Targaryen/Velaryon blood aren’t going to be recorded as some distant cousin in her musty books; they’re right there in the form of illegitimate direct offspring. Who will definitely not be listed in official family trees.
And they were everywhere this week, not just in the Blacks’ camp, but the Greens’ too. The focus on the King’s Landing smallfolk meant we saw plenty more of stoical Hugh Hammer, and drunken sot Ulf, the focus on whom clearly means they have an important part to play as Targaryen bastards (in the literal sense).
But it was over on Driftmark that this plotline began (finally!) to advance. Addam and Alyn Hull have been hovering around for six episodes now for no clear reason, but finally their narrative purpose became evident when Addam was confronted by wayward dragon Seasmoke, fresh from flambéing Ser Steffon – and the beastie seemed surprisingly amenable to him.
So it looks like next week the quest for the bastards will be on, as both sides seek to rearm themselves from some conveniently available unclaimed dragons. That’s handy, as by my reckoning, we were down to just about three who could fight, which isn’t as much of a spectacle as required.
That said, while I have no quibble with any of the dramatic scenes here in themselves, the ep took its sweet time to get to that point. I don’t think that’s a particular fault of writer Eileen Shim, but rather that showrunner Ryan Condal should have paced the season as a whole better; by ep6 of 8, the pace really should be ramping up to grip us, and sad to say, it’s not, not yet anyway.
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