Episode Grade: (7.6/10)
Sides continue to form around Rhaenyra and Aegon. Daemon acts impulsively on Rhaenyra’s order of retribution to devastating effect.
Plot (34/50)
Pieces are starting to fall into place as the battle for the Iron Throne approaches. Control of King’s Landing has given the Greens the upper hand. As the incumbents, they have more numbers and a better position on the Westerosi mainlands. With that said, the Blacks have been able to make use of their limited resources to great effect. They have also been able to garner the support of the Arryns and the Starks. Tactically, the Blacks have had the momentum, but Daemon’s propensity to go rogue might put an abrupt end to that.
The Greens
If you thought that Aemond murdering Lucerys in cold blood would have subjected him to serious repercussions from his family, you were mistaken. The incident is not even mentioned, and when it is implicitly referenced, it’s been reduced to a misstep. In fact, the only thing it accomplished from a strategic perspective is that it’s eliminated the possibility of a peaceful resolution to the succession conflict. Aegon has taken his place at the head of the Small Council as they prepare for war. Of course, Aegon is nothing more than a figurehead at the moment while those around him plot and scheme.
Chief among the schemers is Otto, Aegon’s grandfather and Hand. There is no change to his pragmatic approach. He has focused the majority of his efforts on consolidating support from prominent Lords around Westeros. The Baratheons are Team Green thanks to Aemond’s marriage pact with Lady Floris Baratheon, but the Vale and the North have gone Team Black (more on this later). Furthermore, Jason Lannister is raising strength in the West while Otto’s nephew, Lord Ormund, builds up the Hightowers’ forces in Oldtown.
Now, there are some glaring weaknesses that need to be addressed urgently. The blockade of the Gullet is putting pressure on King’s Landing, and without a naval force to rival Corlys’ fleet, the Greens could soon find themselves in a compromising position. Lord Dalton Greyjoy’s name popped up in the conversation to fill the Master of Ships vacancy, so we’ll see if anything comes of that. Regardless, the Greens are in a decent position and Otto is keeping a conservative approach as to ensure that they don’t lose anything they’ve already secured.
The Blacks
On the other hand, the Blacks have deployed their limited resources quickly and boldly in an attempt to even the playing field. Aside from Lucerys’ murder in the failed attempt to secure the Baratheon support, all other endeavors have thus far been successful. Jacaerys was able to secure the support of the Starks and Arryns. Furthermore, Corlys’ blockade of the Gullet has proven extremely successful. And with Rhaenys patrolling the seas on dragonback, the tactical advantage seems secure (for now).
This was all done with Rhaenyra indisposed as she searched the seas for evidence of her son’s demise. When she finally finds said evidence, she returns to Dragonstone with very clear orders: she wants Aemond to pay for his crime. Unfortunately, Daemon has grown weary and impatient in Rhaenyra’s absence. He takes Rhaenyra’s desire for retribution and he gets to work right away. Mysaria had been discovered on one of the ships and brought to Daemon, so he offers her freedom in exchange for information. And after he gets the information he needs, he goes rogue.
With Rhaenyra and co. busy holding a funeral for Lucerys, Daemon secretly takes off to King’s Landing on his own. There, he bribes the rat-catcher and a member of the City Watch that hates the Hightower into assassinating Aemond. The two make their way through to the royal suite through Maegor’s tunnels but are unable to locate Aemond. Instead, they ruthlessly decapitate Jaehaerys, Aegon’s son and heir. Helaena is powerless to do anything to stop them, so she grabs her daughter and runs off to tell her mother, only to find her in bed with Cole.
Final Thoughts
It’s normal for the first episode of a new season to be a bit disjointed, but what we saw in this episode was a bit too much for my liking. The pacing was off and we saw a continuation of this trend of important developments happening by accident. With Lucerys’ death in the season one finale, this wasn’t as much of a problem because dragons were involved. On the other hand, the execution of Jaehaerys’ murder completely took the sting out of it. The rat-catcher kicking the dog elicited a stronger reaction than Jaehaerys’ literal decapitation, and that’s not what we want to see with these monumental developments. Also, where were the guards??
This scene was the biggest culprit of the pacing issues, but other scenes didn’t fair much better. It seemed like we were just jumping from one detail to another as to cover all bases and reset the board after the near two-year gap between the two seasons. There was some character recalibration happening on the fly as well (more on that in the next section) which wasn’t great either. All of this combined to deliver the weakest episode of the series to date.
It wasn’t all bad though. There was a mention of the Long Winter in a subtle tie-in that put this conflict into perspective. One of the issues I had with the season one finale was how fast news of Lucerys’ death got to Rhaenyra. I’m still not sure who would’ve seen it and how they would’ve known who to report it to, but the gap is closed thanks to Rhaenyra’s search for her son’s remains. Finally, positioning the dragons in a logical way is arguably the most challenging part of the series, and thus far, the writers have done a great job keeping them occupied. Bonus points for addressing the upkeep (food, rest) of the dragons.
Character Development (9/15)
Arguably the biggest issue of the final Game of Thrones seasons was the rampant inconsistency in key character decisions. And while most of the character development in this episode ranged from OK to great, what they did with Daemon overshadows everything else.
Daemon
Daemon got the S7-8 Tyrion treatment in this episode. His cunning and intellect was absolutely nerfed for the sake of the plot. I have no issues with his impatience or his impulsive actions, he is the rogue Prince after all. He’s been sitting around waiting for Rhaenyra’s return because no one recognizes his authority. When Rhaenyra finally returns, she explicitly states that she wants Aemond. Daemon takes that as an order and gets to work. This is all consistent with the Daemon we saw in season one.
Where we see a departure from his normal calculated self is in the execution. He goes to King’s Landing in secret to hire the rat-catcher and some angry guard to assassinate Aemond. Now, Daemon knows that Aemond is a formidable fighter. He even warns them that he won’t be easy to kill. So why send them in the first place? And why risk going to King’s Landing if he wasn’t going to do it himself? You could argue that his presence matters given the sensitivity of the task, but when you look at the guys he hired, that argument quickly loses merit.
And unlike with Aemond, Daemon will be held accountable for his actions. His intentions won’t matter to Rhaenyra or anyone else. She’ll have no option but to send him away for the damage he’s done to her claim. Lords that were previously undeclared won’t want to align themselves with a ruler that murders literal children. Granted, in the long term, Aegon’s claim suffers more as he’s just lost his son and heir. But in the short term, this is a big blow for the Blacks, and it’s all Daemon’s fault.
The Greens
One of the best parts of this otherwise messy episode was the nuanced development of Aegon’s character. He was presented as a loving yet disengaged father to Jaehaerys. His impatience was on full display in the Small Council meeting, but we didn’t see any cruelty. Even in the petitions of the common folk, he showed leadership potential. Sure, his responses were generally immature, but he demonstrated good instincts with when to listen to Otto and when to dismiss his council. It’ll be interesting to see how he responds to loss in the next episode.
Season one heavily implied that Helaena had gone through her fair share of trauma. Here, she had to go through a devastating traumatic experience that kept getting worse and worse. It seems Helaena is a dreamer, which means she has dreams that turn out to be premonitions of future events. Early in the episode, she warns Aegon of the rats. Unfortunately, she doesn’t do a good job of communicating her concerns. Later, she’s forced to give up her son to save her daughter. She’s powerless to stop the assassins and no one comes to her aid. Then, when she runs to her mother for protection, she finds her in bed with Cole. It’s a total unmitigated disaster of a sequence.
Speaking of which, Alicent doesn’t do herself any favors in this episode. After hounding Rhaenyra for engaging in affairs with Cole and Harwin, she’s now engaged in an affair with Cole. Her rampant hypocrisy makes her extremely unlikeable, but there’s much more to her character. She bears a crushing guilt as a result of the affair and for Lucerys’ murder. She knows that her influence is rapidly waning and that she’s powerless to stop it. Her situation warrants some empathy, but she mostly dug her own grave. Specifically, she utilized Larys to gain influence, but she’s now at his mercy. If her affair with Cole were to come out, she would lose any sense of legitimacy.
The Blacks
Outside of Daemon, there wasn’t much development on the Blacks’ side. Rhaenys continues to challenge and dismiss Daemon’s authority at every given opportunity. She sympathizes with Rhaenyra’s search for Lucerys’ remains because she experienced similar emotions when Laena died. Rhaenyra mourning the loss of her child is within her rights, as is her desire to avenge him. It’ll be interesting to see how far she goes with her punishment of Daemon.
We saw some solid development from Jacaerys who proved himself by securing the support of the Arryns and the Starks. He feels a sense of guilt over his brother’s death as he was the one who advocated for their deployment. Might he side with Daemon in the next episode?
Theme/Messages (4/5)
- “Duty is sacrifice. It eclipses all things, even blood. All men of honor must pay its price.”
- “When the king speaks, your Grace, all hear it.”
- How do you measure what level of retaliation is acceptable?
- Intentionality is often lost in war, things that happen by accident can be very consequential.
- How accountable are you for the actions of those you employ?
Acting (14/15)
Emma D’Arcy (Rhaenyra) is on another level right now. Their ability to capture emotion has been extraordinary. Even with limited screen time in this episode, they made a strong impression. Phia Saban (Helaena) was the other standout for a very similar reason. She went from disbelief to traumatic horror to denial in a matter of seconds. Rhys Ifnas (Otto), Tom Glynn-Carney (Aegon), and Steve Toussaint (Corlys) were also great.
Cinematography (13/15)
The writing may have been weak this episode, but the visuals were not:
- The whole sequence in the North looked great
- Cool shot of Cregan and Jace from behind as they look past the Wall (9:20)
- Stunning shot of Meleys returning to the caves of Dragonstone (9:55)
- Great shot of the sept at King’s Landing (41:26)
Check out the Power Rankings for House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 1 here