RECAP: “House of the Dragon” Season 2, Episode 7
First, sorry there was no blog for Episode 6. I have been traveling on back-to-back trips, and while I did watch and enjoy the episode, I had ZERO opportunity to crank out a recap prior to E7 dropping last night. So I’ll vaguely lump in all of those developments with the E7 thoughts below.
Generally, Episode 7 did a good job fortifying the Blacks’ side prior to next week’s season finale, while the Greens got very short shrift this episode overall. Depending on whose side you’re on, that will likely determine how you felt about the episode. Personally I feel like all the disparate plot threads from the season have been pulled tight, and the tension at a maximum going into the finale. But the showrunners really need to redouble their storytelling efforts going into Season 3, because there is a LOT of wasted time on plots that don’t have the juice, and a lack of clear communication about major character intentions.
Below find my thoughts on the various plotlines, organized by LEAST engaging to MOST this time. SPOILERS AHOY.
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Queen Allicent
This week Allicent starred in the Westerosi version of Fiona Apple’s “Criminal” video, consigning herself to the wilderness and swimming in shallow water while reflecting on the terrible things that she has done, or that have been done because of her actions. I’ve found Allicent to be probably THE most interesting character this season, so this episode was a bit of whiff from her perspective. Also, I don’t know who needs to hear this — I guess the director of this episode — but a character silently looking up at the sky is not terribly compelling television. I understand that the point was to show Allicent longing for freedom, and weighing whether to give up now that she has unwittingly maneuvered herself into the corner of the board. But that segment was quite flaccid. The show can do better.
King Aegon/Ser Larys Strong/Maester Orwyle
Aegon attempts to regain some level of normalcy following his near-death experience, with Maester Orwyle seemingly pushing him. After Aegon collapses, sobbing in pain, we learn that it’s actually Larys who is the one pushing Orwyle to force Aegon into this medieval version of physical rehab. It’s unclear what Larys’ ultimate motives are here. It’s pretty obvious that he is no fan of Aemond, and would prefer to get Aegon back on the Iron Throne. He also likely sees this as an opportunity to further bond himself to Aegon, given his speeches about how people will react to Aegon now that he is deformed and differently abled. The meat is there for a compelling arc, and yet I continue to find the actor playing Larys so underwhelming that I don’t think it’s registering as well as it should be.
Alyn of Hull
The worst character and plot in this show. Alyn is played by Abubakar Salim, and I use the term “played” VERY loosely. I understand the power of stoicism, especially when everyone else around you is devouring scenery. But holy shit is this a boring, boring actor in a boring, boring role.
This week, Alyn continues to give us all the excitement of breathing crossed with the intensity of just standing there as his birth father, Corlys Velaryon, tasks him with disseminating Rhaenyra’s summons for Targaryen bastards to come to Dragonstone. This entire plot point could have been an email, guys. And Alyn isn’t even the person who got the word out! It was the nameless employee of Mysaria! I actively LOL’d at the extended sequence in which she silently walked around King’s Landing passing notes. WHO THOUGHT THAT WOULD BE GOOD TELEVISION?! Do you think we needed to see someone TELL people this? Couldn’t you have just had a line on Dragonstone in which someone said something along the lines of, “We used the food boats to put out a call for bastards to try their hands at dragon riding”? The story editors for Season 3 need to be far more judicious about which plotlines are given airtime…
Alyn better actually do something at some point. All season we have been force fed scenes of people (mostly Corlys) interacting with him for basically no reason except to establish that 1) he exists; and 2) he is a Velaryon bastard. Alyn is the Poochie of “House of the Dragon.” Floptina, baby.
Lady Rhaena
I need to clarify that I’m actually very invested in Rhaena’s overall plot. I wish they’d done a better job establishing both Rhaena and Baela last season, or even the early episodes of this one. They may be the characters who most intrigue me. Lady Jeyne Arryn has basically pushed Rhaenyra’s contingent out of the relative safety of The Vale. While Rhaena’s young cousins prepare for a journey to find shelther in, I think, Pentos, Rhaena bolts from the caravan and seemingly goes on the hunt for the large wild dragon that she discovered last episode has been hunting in The Vale. Recall that Rhaena has failed at becoming a dragonrider, and was supremely irritated at Rhaenyra earlier in the season when she felt that Rhaenyra was sidelining her from the conflict. We have yet to get a real conversation from Rhaena’s POV, so it’s all speculation. But her actions suggest that she is desperate to connect with this mystery Vale dragon and become its dragon rider. I would love to see it, but given how attempted dragon bonding has gone so far in this series, I’m also deeply concerned for her.
Prince Jacaerys
A few interesting developments for Jace this episode. Although he was the one who initially pushed Rhaenyra to explore Targaryen bloodlines to find additional dragonriders, he does not take at all kindly to Rhaenyra’s more…inclusive…approach this episode (more on that in a second). That might seem classist on Jace’s part, but it’s actually quite savvy. Although he has never discussed it with his mother (that we’ve seen), Jace is keenly aware that he is not a pureblood Valyrian; that his father was Ser Harwin Strong, not Laenor Velaryon, as everyone pretends he is. That makes Jace a bastard, and it jeopardizes his claim to the crown after Rhaenyra now that she is lifting up other Targaryen bastards as dragonriders. Jace is not wrong here. From a long-term perspective, this could have terrible consequences for him and his line. But in the short-term, Rhaenyra absolutely needs more dragonriders if she is to have a hope of winning this war. It’s a quandary!
Prince Daemon/Oscar Tully
Overall I’ve enjoyed the Daemon Harrenhal plot this season. But it was a four-episode arc, and we’re now on episode six — it has gone on too long, and it has lost all momentum. Every episode it is now, “Which silver-haired ghost is going to torment Daemon today?” This time it was King Viserys, the aged, weary version who lectures Daemon about the weight of the crown. I have no problem with the concept or the performances, but we are treading the same ground over and over again; this is quite literally character purgatory at this point. This plot HAS to start moving. Even Matt Smith seems bored at this point.
It looked like we were finally getting there at the end of the episode, as the newly minted Lord Paramount of the Riverlands, young Oscar Tully, ran Daemon through his paces in a shrewd, showy public debate meant to satisfy the Riverlords’ fury over Daemon’s accountability in the Bracken/Blackwood feud. It was a well-done scene, and I was particularly impressed with Oscar’s mix of diplomacy and manipulation. Even as a teenager he is more deft than Daemon at what it takes to actually lead people. Will Daemon actually learn that lesson? How many more ghosts will it require for that penny to drop? I guess we’ll see.
The segment ended with Daemon maybe beheading the Bracken (or is it Blackwood?) chud who had been previously pillaging in his name. Did he actually kill him, or was it a feint?
Queen Rhaenyra/Addam of Hull/Assorted Targaryen Bastards
While I may be over the Alyn storyline — I was never really under it — I have been more engaged with his brother Addam, even when he was just making stew and finding crabs. That’s because that actor, Clinton Liberty, is actually doing something with the role. Addam has a magnetism and an earnestness to him that I find interesting.
So does Rhaenyra, as last episode’s cliffhanger — the previously riderless dragon Seasmoke has been spotted with a rider, and Rhaenyra goes to investigate — is resolved quickly, with mystery rider Addam telling the queen that the dragon came to HIM, and quickly pledging his service to her and the Blacks. I find it interesting, but also frustrating, that neither Addam nor Alyn tell anyone, even when the information is obviously super important, that they are Corlys’ bastard sons. If there is a reason for their hesitance to do so, I would love for the show to make that explicit, not talk around it.
Regardless, Rhaenyra is emboldened by Seasmoke choosing to take a new rider who is obviously a descendent of Valyria, and so she decides to have an old-fashioned Targaryen family reunion by calling all Targaryen bastards to Dragonstone, in the hopes of becoming dragonriders. It is here that the various tertiary characters we have bizarrely followed this season suddenly become important. While dozens of mostly silver-haired folks show up for “Love Is Blind: Dragonrider Edition,” we primarily focus on two we have seen the past few episodes.
Things start out inauspiciously as the Dragonkeepers rebel against Rhaenyra, telling her that this is heresy/sacrilege. The dragons are sacred creatures, and the idea that they would be used by bastards for tools of human war is an abomination. Go off, sis! With that out of the way, Rhaenyra does a speech, basically acknowledging that there is a very good chance that some of the would-be riders may die, but if they are lucky enough to be chosen they will be raised up in her court. And together they’ll also try to answer the question: Is dragon love TRULY blind?
Rhaenyra summons Vermithor, described as the second-largest living dragon (Vhaegar is bigger), and the Bronze Fury lives up to the description. This was our first time seeing Vermithor, and he was absolutely terrifying. For all my criticisms of certain aspects of this show, I think they do a phenomenal job with the dragons. They each have unique designs and personalities — they are honestly better characters than many of the supporting cast. A bastard volunteers to come forward, and Vermithor at first seems to entertain the idea…before launching into an all-out tantrum on the crowd, spewing fire, knocking people into the dragon pit, and snacking on humans like they were Skittes.
This sequence was dramatic and horrifying, but I couldn’t help but live. That Vermithor is such a SCAMP! Again, the designers and writers have done a great job showing us dragon personalities, as Vermithor has something that I interpreted to be almost a laugh or low chuckle as he massacred these chumps who dared to imagine he would ever let them near him. Vermithor is my new problematic fave. He knows his worth, he’s a stealth bitch, and he enjoys a buffet. Same, girl. Same.
Ultimately, one of the would-be dragonriders knocked into the pit — Hugh Hammer, the blacksmith with the sick kid and nagging wife, who had helped Aegon build anti-dragon scorpions early in the season — distracts Vermithor to save the life of a fleeing woman. He orders Vermithor to stop and offers himself up, and Vermithor agrees — but not to eat. The dragon seems impressed, and it appears we have an unexpected rider match.
Meanwhile, another character we know (or “know,” I guess), Ulf the Innkeep, also fell into the dragon pit, and flees the Vermithor carnage by running deeper into the cave. Oh, that’s a GREAT idea. You should absolutely run DEEPER into a monster’s lair while it is distracted by a free snack. Ultimately, Ulf finds himself in a large cavern and inadvertently smashes through what appears to be a clutch of dragon eggs (I couldn’t tell — were the eggs damaged, or did he just smash through the eggs’ protective shell?). This rouses another dragon sleeping nearby, who is likely the previously mentioned but unseen Silverwing. Silverwing is considerably smaller than Vermithor — I would guess closer to Syrax’s size — and less aggressive, as she knocks Ulf back away from her eggs, but does not explicitly attack him. After sniffing the human, she also seems to bow her head, meaning that both riderless dragons have been successfully claimed. And also a whole bunch of Targaryen bastards got wiped off the map. Cersei Lannister could never…
For Rhaenyra’s part, after the Vermithor carnage begins, we are given an extended shot of her silently reacting to the horror unfolding her name. I’ve heard from a few people who are finding it difficult to understand Rhaenyra’s motivations and internal struggles this season, and I think part of it is the show is relying too heavily on Emma D’Arcy’s wordless reactions, which leave things open to interpretation. Personally I have no issue here — I think it’s pretty clear that Rhaenyra is gutted because she has, again, sent more innocent people to their deaths in her name, but she also understands she has basically no other options but to TRY Hail Mary passes like this. But again I say to the showrunners: you cannot assume that viewers are going to be able to pick up on internal conflict. This isn’t a book, where we can access her private thoughts. You have to do a better job of communicating this to the audience in future seasons, because you are losing people.
The episode ends with Ulf trying to gain control of Silverwing as she flies over King’s Landing, alerting the Greens and in particular Aemond to the fact that there is a new dragonrider on the board. Aemond takes to the skies with Vhaegar, and in an interesting callback that is also likely forshadowing, struggles to control the gigantic beast as it pursues Silverwing across the bay. When he finally convinces Vhaegar to turn around, Aemond looks back to see Rhaenyra surrounded by her three new dragons — Seasmoke, Vermithor, and Silverwing are now declared Team Black — and their riders, sending a clear message: the odds have changed, and the band is back together. This is going to ruin the world tour…
NEXT: It’s the season finale! Armies march to war! Rhaena tries to catch a dragon! Dreamfyre enters the chat! And Daemon is presumably haunted some more.