‘House of the Dragon’ Recap: Season 1, Episode 2 — ‘The Rogue Prince’

Rhaenyra, meet your new mommy.

As House of the Dragon’s second episode will get underway, not even six months have handed since Queen Aemma’s bloody, futile dying. But almost everybody in King Viserys’ orbit spends most of the episode buzzing in his ear, telling him how he should remarry — and shortly — with one adviser evenoffering up a really younger daughter as a possible bride.

If you’ve learn Fire & Blood, you already know who’s chosen to develop into the new queen. But let’s all run by means of the highlights of Episode 2 and discover out/relive it collectively, we could? (And when you’re executed, try our chat with Olivia Cooke and Paddy Considine.)

CRABBY BADDIE | You may’ve missed it in Episode 1, seeing as how we have been assembly everybody for the first time, however Lord Corlys was very anxious a couple of tyrant referred to as the Crab Feeder amassing energy throughout the sea someplace, somebody who is understood for leaving his victims to get nibbled to dying by relentless crustaceans. Well, we see proof of such torture at the very begin of this week’s hour, although the motion rapidly strikes again to King’s Landing, the place Corlys is admittedly mad that 4 ships (one of which was his) went down due to the aforementioned far-off menace in the Stepstones, and madder that Viserys doesn’t appear to care a lot.

(*2*)“I want to seize the Stepstones by force, and burn out this Crab Feeder,” the Sea Snake declares. But Viserys doesn’t wish to begin a warfare with the pirates, who’re backed by the Free Cities. Corlys is aggravated even additional by the indisputable fact that Daemon decamped to Dragonstone, took it by drive and is holding it by way of the energy of the City Watch, and Viserys hasn’t made a peep.

Hightower doesn’t like Corlys’ disrespectful tone, and tells him so, however Viserys doesn’t appear bothered. He’s despatched envoys to Volantis and Pentos to attempt to discuss peace, and he has ships and males able to cope with the scenario. “You have dragonriders, Father,” Rhaenyra pipes up from the nook. “Send us.” But nobody takes her significantly — although everybody assembled appears to assume it fairly amusing that she has a thought and opinion on the matter — and so Viserys asks Ser Harrold to take the princess to assist select somebody to fill a emptiness in the Kingsguard: After all, the new knight will likely be tasked with protecting her secure.

WELCOME TO THE KINGSGUARD, SER CRISTON! | One by one, the candidates are marched earlier than Rhaenyra, who appears supremely bored. She interrupts the proceedings to ask if any have precise fight expertise, so Ser Harrold summons Ser Criston Cole, aka Hot Dark-Haired Knight from the event in the premiere. She learns that he achieved his knighthood after placing in time as a footsoldier, and that appears to seal it: “I choose Ser Criston Cole,” Rhaenyra fortunately declares. Otto factors out that the different knights are higher selections, from alliance standpoints and such, however she shuts him down, and that’s that. Also, I ought to in all probability point out that Rhaenys watches the entire factor with [insert Beaches “Otto Titsling” voice] a fantastic deal of innnnnterest.

Upstairs, Viserys exhibits Alicent his mannequin of Old Valyria, answering a minimum of one of my questions from the premiere when he tells her that he reads the histories and gives the plans, however “the stonemasons build the structures.” He asks how Rhaenyra is doing (apparently she and her dad don’t discuss a lot in the wake of the queen’s dying), however Alicent encourages him to achieve out to her himself. “You do have an easy way about you, Your Grace,” she says. Then he not-so-subtly tells Alicent to not point out their conversations to her finest pal, which isn’t. troubling. at. all. — particularly in the very subsequent scene, when Rhaenyra complains about how the small council is already attempting to marry off the king, and Alicent is all, “Would it be such a bad thing if he remarried?”

The women are in the sept, and Alicent means that Rhaenyra mild a candle and pray for her mom, as a strategy to really feel nearer to her. So she does, and it brings her to tears. Aw, poor child. Alicent quietly says that when she desires to speak with Otto, she has the make the effort, and Rhaenyra smiles, clasps her arm and thanks her.

IN WHICH CORLYS AND RHAENYS MAKE THEIR MOVE | Meanwhile, Viserys, Corlys and Rhaenys meet, ostensibly to easy over the harshness of the small council assembly earlier however actually so the couple can as soon as extra make a case for the king to wed their daughter Laena and unite the two remaining nice Valyrian homes. Corlys causes that the household that has dragons and the household that has the world’s largest fleet must be “bound in blood,” which might be an indication to everybody that the crown hasn’t been weakened by current occasions. The king doesn’t say a lot in response, however he additionally doesn’t say no.

The king’s hand (to not be confused with the hand of the king) is MUCH worse since he lower it in the premiere, and the maesters resort to submerging the appendage in a tray of maggots to be able to attempt to save his pinky finger (which is blackened with decay). And since he’s gotta go the time anyway, he raises Corlys and Rhaenys’ proposal with Hightower whereas he waits. Otto shouldn’t be into the concept. The Grand Maester helps it, if for not different cause than protecting the royal child manufacturing unit in operation. Which is a sound concept, till Viserys and Laena go for a stroll and she or he is an precise CHILD. (Side be aware: I do know we noticed her in the royal field at the joust, however my mind was like, “Surely Corlys and Rhaenys have another daughter who’s, I don’t know, past puberty?” THEY DO NOT.) To his credit score, the king is sort of as uneasy with the entire factor as I’m.

And when Rhaenyra and Rhaenys discuss the matter, we rapidly discover out that they don’t have a warm-and-fuzzy relationship. Rhaenys reminds Rhaenyra that “the order of things” is that Viserys will remarry, he’ll doubtless have a male inheritor, and the males of the realm will think about that male inheritor their ruler. “When I am queen, I will create a new order,” the teen shoots again, bringing to thoughts Daenerys’ “I’m not going to stop the wheel, I’m going to break the wheel” pronouncement in Game of Thrones and making me love the child much more than I already do. Rhaenys brings up the level that the realm had the probability to have a queen again in the day, and handed. “They denied you, Princess Rhaenys, Queen Who Never Was,” Rhaenyra says. “But they bent the knee to me and called me heir to the throne.” Did somebody say “dracarys?” Because that was a BURN. But the elder princess is cool and composed as she tells Rhaenyra “men would rather put the realm to the torch than see a woman ascend the Iron Throne. And your father is no fool.”

DAEMON VS. RHAENYRA | Later, throughout an intimate meal in his quarters, Viserys tells Alicent about the Laena plan. Then she items him a mended stone dragon — which he’d damaged when it by accident dropped earlier it the episode — and he’s genuinely touched. Otto interrupts to inform the king there’s an emergency small council session: Prince Daemon stole a dragon’s egg in the darkish of evening, abandoning a be aware saying: a) he’s taking a second spouse (Mysaria), b) they’re anticipating a toddler, and c) they’re going to place the egg in the cradle, as is House Targaryen customized. Oh, and he’s invited Viserys to the marriage ceremony, which can happen in two days. Chicken or fish, my lord?

As the council argues, Rhaenyra asks the dragonkeeper, in High Valyrian, which egg her uncle took. Turns out, it belonged to Dreamfyre — the identical egg they’d chosen for Baelon’s cradle. Viserys immediately desires to go to Dragonstone to pull his brother again himself, however Hightower says he’ll go as an alternative.

So he does, and meets Daemon (carrying the egg) and Mysaria on the bridge. Otto orders him to vacate Dragonstone. Daemon notices the new Kingsguard member behind him and pretends to neglect his identify. “Perhaps my prince recalls when I knocked him off his horse,” the younger knight replies. (Ha!) There’s rather a lot of shouting about treason and whores, then Daemon dares Otto and his males to return and take the egg. Swords are drawn on each side. And then the dragon that Daemon and Mysaria rode at the finish of the premiere seems behind him, inflicting Otto to have his males sheath their weapons. But THEN the mists round the bridge begin to ripple and Rhaenyra seems on Syrax (!), touchdown behind Hightower and his group.

She ignores the Hand’s order to go residence, then marches as much as Daemon and — in High Valyrian — calls for that he vacate Dragonstone, which is (on paper, a minimum of) hers. Also? Mysaria shouldn’t be pregnant. “If you wish to be restored as heir, you’ll need to kill me,” she says, returning to English. ”So do it, and be executed with all this trouble.” He doesn’t. Instead, he chucks the egg at her, turns and walks away. Then she locations the egg in a hotter, mounts her dragon, and flies residence.

Inside, Mysaria is NOT happy: the entire wedding-and-preggo factor was information to her. Plus: She swore a very long time in the past by no means to have her life put at risk by having a toddler. Even worse, she fears that although the king evening present Daemon mercy ought to the want come up, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill a “whore” carrying a Targaryen child. We study that Mysaria has been purchased and offered a number of instances over, from the time she was a toddler, and “most of my years have been spent living in terror.” She doesn’t need gold or energy, however to be liberated. “Liberated from what?” he asks. “Fear,” she says.

ALLIANCES OF ALL KINDS | When Rhaenyra will get residence, Viserys is ripped to search out out what she’s executed. “You’re my only heir. You could’ve been killed!” he says, staying on model. “I retrieved the egg without bloodshed,” she tells him calmly, an accomplishment she’s unsure Otto would’ve been in a position to do alone. As her father tacitly acknowledges the fact of her assertion, it lowers the temperature of the dialog just a little, making house for an sincere dialog about how they’re each nonetheless actually mourning Aemma and the way they each know that he’s acquired to remarry.

“You are the king, and your first duty is to the realm,” Rhaenyra says, extra sympathetic to her dad than we’ve seen her since the queen’s dying. “Mother would have understood this, just as I do.”

The subsequent morning, Viserys calls his small council to order and declares that he’s determined to take a brand new spouse. And Corlys, I wouldn’t look fairly so triumphant if I have been you. Then we see Rhaenyra understand that Alicent is standing by her father’s chair, and… yep: Meet your new stepmom! After Viserys says he and Alicent will likely be wed earlier than spring’s finish, Corlys stomps out and Rhaenyra blinks again tears earlier than following him.

Next, we see Corlys speaking to somebody about how his household needed to scratch their means into wealth and energy by way of laborious work, that nothing was given to them. “I’ve always thought of you and I as having been made from the same cloth,” he says to the individual sitting throughout from him… and it’s Daemon! “We’re both men who’ve had to cut our way through the world.” They’re assembly at Driftmark, seat of House Velaryon. He fills Daemon in on how Viserys doesn’t wish to cease the Crab Feeder, however that moving into that battle is how Daemon can present his energy. And as flashes of the violence in the Stepstones are intercut with the males’s dialog, it looks like Viserys’ brother is considering taking on Corlys’ proposal.

Now it’s your flip. What did you assume of the episode? Sound off in the feedback!