HBO
The latest episode of House of the Dragon is called ‘The Rogue Prince’ and certainly revolves around the disdainful Prince Daemon with the hints of the foreign foe and pirate, the ‘Crabfeeder’. We also get a full opening sequence with the same classic old Game of Thrones theme with blood pouring through what appears to be the King’s model of Valyria — a bit confusing to follow at first, but easier once you realize what it is.
The episode mainly revolves around the culmination of all the various schemes to get Viserys to pick a new Queen and how that impacts everything, while it also considers Rhaenyra’s loss of control of her own future. At the start we find ourselves six months from the first episode in a time jump where Lord Corlys angrily brings up the Stepstones pirates again that are continuing to be a serious problem while Viserys demurs once more — and also ignores the growing potential concern about Daemon taking over Dragonstone (which he wasn’t supposed to do).
In the little hints for the future we get Ser Harrold set as the new Lord Commander and Rhaenyra choosing the handsome Criston Cole to be on the Kingsguard — although she’s clearly intrigued by the dude, she remains quite capable of arguing logically with Otto, the first of two particular moments where she shows him up.
The second one, of course, is successfully getting Daemon to return his stolen egg back to her in quite a fun little scene where Otto is very close to getting killed, even as we discover more layers to Daemon’s complications as he’s lied about his paramour being pregnant. Her clarification that she’s seeking to be liberated from fear is an interesting note from him, a useful parallel for the final moments of Daemon getting told by Corlys that for him ‘Worth is not given, it is made’. Meaning he too has to grab hold of his own power to avoid fear, a clear connection to Mysaria.
HBO
Corlys ends up there due to being spurned by the King, who rejects his very young daughter Laena and his proposal to wed. We saw the start of the Otto Hightower marriage plot in the first episode, which continues here — Emily Carey is absolutely brilliant at the immense complexity of her character, which leaves us wondering how much she hates what she’s doing, how much she truly cares about Viserys, how much is manipulation, and how much she desires power herself.
It’s more complicated by her clear connection to her friend the Princess, offering good advice and emotional support, while continuing to hide the secret Queen plan from her. No wonder she is heartbroken and hurt in the final moments of the episode, another excellent performance from Milly Alcock throughout. Paddy Considine is really great too, especially in the little moments like being exasperated and uncomfortable about the idea of marrying a 12-year-old girl, even if it’s ‘good for the realm’.
So we have our new conflicts, Rhaenrya hurt by her friend’s change, Otto scheming above his station, the King choosing an improper new Queen, Ser Cole added to the Kingsguard, and of course, Daemon and Corlys now looking to team up in the new alliance for their own ambition. It’s one of those episodes that starts a bit slow, with a lot of hints and bits to pay attention throughout, suddenly all coming together in a conflagration by the end — and I respect how the show is taking its time on it, I really do think the show has been pretty well done so far and a good sign for the rest of the season.
New episodes of House of the Dragon premiere Sundays on HBO, streaming on HBO Max.
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