“There is good in Rhaenyra. But the crown is a weight that crushes.”
(SPOILER WARNING!)
If you’re one of those fans who wishes the plot of House of the Dragon would just get on with it, this episode was probably immensely frustrating. Focusing as it does principally on character rather, it was an hour of people sitting down and soul searching, usually in two handed scenes, during which the overall plot advanced by maybe a couple of inches. But these are good characters, and I’d guess showrunner Ryan Condal is banking on viewers being invested enough in them by now to be gripped by an episode that focuses almost entirely on enlarging them.
Most of the interlaced scenes are primarily two-handers, with an occasional appearance from someone else. Rhaneyra and Daemon; Ormund and Daeron; Alicent and Helaena; Alys and Aemond; Larys and Aegon.
Of those, it was the last that entertained me the most. For weeks, I’ve been mentioning that the wily Larys must have the patience of a saint to put up with the insufferable, petulant crippled King for this long. Well, this week his patience runs out, and he finally gives Aegon an uncharacteristically blunt talking to that had this viewer nodding in agreement.
It’s a terrific performance from Matthew Needham as the finally exasperated spymaster, now clearly wondering if his Machiavellian plans are actually worth the irritation of putting up with this spoiled aristocratic brat. He may have lost his rag, but his methodical list of all Aegon’s many flaws is delivered in his customary even tones, climaxing with, “… you’re not only a terrible King, you’re a terrible man”. Ouch.
Plotwise, you could be forgiven for thinking these two are going backwards, what with their return visit to their wrecked cart, then back to Rook’s Rest. But actually, a couple of relevant things do happen; we discover that Tyland Lannister didn’t drown after all, and Aegon attempts to redeem himself by stabbing the village leader when the latter uncovers his crown. I can’t help feeling that’s not going to go down well.
All these intertwined character vignettes do get some, if only a little, plot advancement. It becomes clear that Criston is on some kind of ‘suicide by dragon’ mission, much to the horror of unwilling cohort Gwayne Hightower. Along the way, Criston’s already sparse force is further thinned out by cunning traps from the Rivermen. So yes, this plot has advanced a little; but if Criston and his men do die the noble death he’s plainly yearning for, it does rather make this entire plotline something of a dead end.
As I suspected, Aemond is indeed hidden away in Harrenhal by witchy Alys. It’s nice to see Alys finally demonstrating some of her witchy powers to, in effect, scare off a trio of craven intruders. Gayle Rankin’s two handed scenes with Ewan Mitchell, as Aemond succumbs to the usual weird visions and atmosphere of the ancient castle, give an interesting insight into Aemond’s fears and weaknesses, just as it did for Daemon before him. And by the end of the ep, he’s clearly back on his feet, another major threat to Rhaenyra’s rule.
Following on from last week, said rule is not going too well, and that’s where the bulk of the plot advancement (such as it is) really happens – with the character scenes in King’s Landing. Alicent is paired with Helaena, plotting to escape the Red Keep while hiding (or ideally, aborting) the latter’s pregnancy. I must admit, I don’t know if something passed me by here; when did Helaena get pregnant? However it happened, the scenes finally give Phia Saban something to do as the underused Helaena.
Not only is she seeing visions of where Aemond really is, but more importantly, her love for her children is in overdrive. Not only does she refuse to terminate her pregnancy, she’s also horrified by Alicent’s suggestion that the two of them should flee the capital while leaving her daughter there. It’s a totally understandable reaction, what with the trauma of losing her son last season. That was referred to briefly, and it’s nice to see that it’s not forgotten – either in plot terms, or how it affects Helaena’s actions.
The pair’s attempts at escape bring them to the attention of Rhaenyra’s spymaster Mysaria, and Sonoya Mizuno too shines now that she’s given something to do beyond looking dubious at Rhaenyra’s plans. As Alicent points out, it is very uncharacteristic of the sly character she previously was to be quite so unswervingly loyal to one mistress. It’s a clever bit of reverse psychology that not only earns Alicent a bit of breathing time, but also offers the pleasing spectacle of Mysaria uncertain and off-balance.
But it’s Rhaenyra who gets the lion’s share of the action. Her typically heavy handed purges of the city in an attempt to root out Hightower loyalists have predictably made the whole situation worse, and now members of the City Watch are turning up with their throats slit and their bowels torn out.
That looks as nice as it sounds; as Luther comments, “they died smelling their own shit”. There’s plainly a resistance movement in the city, and it falls to Daemon, as former City Watch commander, to root it out. Easier said than done with a City Watch whose members are being brutally picked off, and who haven’t been paid since the Blacks turned up to take over the city.
Here, most of the character scenes are between Rhaenyra and Daemon, and Emma D’Arcy and Matt Smith carry them well. She’s clearly ill at ease and paranoid, leading her to some awful decisions; he’s more pragmatic, but his solutions for once don’t involve bloodshed. It’s come to something when the Rogue Prince is advising his Queen to be less brutal.
He’s right, of course. Despite a characteristically stirring speech to the easily swayed City Watch, by the end of the ep he’s looking horrified at the posed corpses of most of them in a grotesque tableau labelled in blood as “A Feast of Traitors” – perhaps echoing the title of the fourth book in the Ice and Fire series, A Feast for Crows.
It’s a good way to end a mostly contemplative ep. There are other character pairings too, but they seem more inconsequential. Addam and Baela, scouring the Riverlands for the errant Vhagar, get a moment to assert their blossoming romance. I’ve forgotten how closely they’re related, but I’m fairly sure it’s close enough to qualify as incest. Not that that’s ever been a problem in Westeros.
Over in Tumbleton, we get to learn a bit more about Ormund as he has a few scenes with the wary Daeron. Not only is Ormund a neurotic clean freak, he’s also a terrible loser – as Gwayne remarks of a childhood game they used to play, “I let him win, he was a thin-skinned twat even then”. We see that as he angrily sweeps all the pieces of a weird Westerosi version of chess onto the floor, having lost to the nervous Daeron. “Never apologise for winning,” he advises, clearly trying to recover some composure. Again, it’s good that he’s being given a more distinct character than “Westerosi Lord #457”.
I have to say, as a connoisseur of well-written characters and great acting performances, I really enjoyed this, but I can certainly understand if some are frustrated at the lack of plot advancement. There is some, and some of it very significant; but action is very much on the back burner in this character-focused episode. I suspect this one will divide the fans between those who liked depth and those who (understandably) would like the plot to just get on with it.
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