House of the Dragon: S2 E5
Though not exactly a letdown after the game-changing episode 4, this milder outing for the fantasy series looks to reshuffle the pieces as new conflicts are set up to finish out the season.
For last week’s episode review, click here.
Not gonna lie, it was very hard to write last week’s episode review without giving into temptation to spill the beans about all the massive, game-changing events in episode 4 of “House of the Dragon” season 2. I was positively fit to bursting for other people to see it and know everything that I did.
Well, now the cat is out of the bag — or, more accurately, the dragons have plummeted to earth in a fiery crash worthy of Smaug.
(Last spoiler warning if you haven’t seen episode 4.)
In the conclusion of “The Red Dragon and the Gold” during the battle for Rook’s Rest, Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best), perhaps the fiercest ally of Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), fought and died astride her dragon Meleys at the hands of Prince Aemond (Ewan Mitchell). Though a valiant, seasoned warrior, Rhaenys could not overcome Vhagar, the oldest and strongest dragon in the realm.
In a surprise twist, King Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) rode his own dragon into battle, tired of sitting out the war in King’s Landing, and found himself attacked and felled from the sky by his brother. Aemond One-Eye is clearly being set up as the main villain for the rest of the season, a pitiless killer who covets the throne for himself.
As this episode opens, Ser Cristan Cole (Fabien Frankel) and his army returns to King’s Landing victorious, though it’s apparent to all that it is a hollow and costly one. Parading the head of “traitor dragon” Meleys through the streets provokes revulsion rather than pride, as the Targaryen mounts were considered by many to be gods. Also, the lack of food due to the enemy blockade is reaching a critical point.
The fate of Aegon is also not revealed to the general public, and I don’t want to go into too much detail here so you can enjoy the reveal. Suffice to say, his part of the story is not yet ended.
This episode may be seen by some as a letdown after the incredible action and intrigue of the last go. It’s definitely a milder outing with no fighting and just a lot of dialogue encounters. Clearly this is being used as a time to pause and reflect, and reshuffle the pieces as new conflicts are set up to finish out the season.
Aemond and his mother, Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), are now at odds over who should take over the regency of the kingdom in Aegon’s absence. She’ll look to her Cole, her secret lover of many years, for support but the schism between them continues to widen.
Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), husband of Rhaenys, is in deep mourning for his wife and seems to be at a decision point in how much his heart is in the civil war for the throne. Rhaenyra, for her part, continues to rely more on more on the counsel of Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), the mysterious spy mistress who escaped from King’s Landing and made her way to Dragonstone.
The queen’s son and heir, Prince Jacaerys (Harry Colllett), is another young hothead Targaryen tired of sitting out the war, and starts to take matters into his own hand. If you’ll recall that didn’t work out so well for his brother, an early victim of Aemond and Vhagar at the end of season 1.
Prince Daemon (Matt Smith) continues to rule over Harrenhal as essentially his own mini kingdom, officially on the side of his wife (and niece) Queen Rhaenyra, but chafing at being merely her consort. His strange visions continue at the apparent behest of the witch-like Alys (Gayle Rankin). Daemon also struggles to unite the warring Riverlands factions, the Blackwoods and the Brackens, into an army of his own.
Whether or not Daemon and Rhaenyra will reunite as a power couple remains to be seen as each views themselves as the alpha. “If I must be supplicant to my own husband, what does that make me?” she complains.
With the fall of Aegon, her claim to the throne is stronger than ever, but militarily they’re at a huge disadvantage — at least until the Starks, marching down from the North, eventually arrive. I’d wager that’ll be a big late-season development.
Yes, episode 5 is much less compelling than its predecessor — how could it not be? But it’s still interesting watching the constantly shifting power dynamics. Seemingly unimportant characters like Cole have become central to the narrative arc, and I’ve got my eye on a few other background players who seem primed for similar moves.