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The most recent episode of House of the Dragon is called ‘King of the Narrow Sea’ which is naturally referring to the semi-ironic title Daemon brings with him after his military success in the Stepstones. The episode ultimately is about how choices are restricted in Westeros and that acting against the status quo can lead to grave consequences.
The episode starts with a bit of a light sequence at first, with Rhaenyra tiring of various lords and the like asking for her hand — we even get a Bracken versus Blackwood impromptu duel that ends bloodily, a delightful deep cut for ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’. But Rhaenyra’s interest in men completely turns around as the episode continues, starting with the return of Daemon to court — the Princess is hiding in the crowd, showing her interest without saying anything aloud.
Yet she also approaches her uncle twice, clearly expressing interest in her own way — when she calls him more mature and he returns the compliment, it’s not exactly that subtle flirting. But the episode also serves to have Alicent desperately try to get back into Rhaenyra’s good graces, so bereft and lonely is she even as the Queen. Throughout the episode, she continues to support and back up the Princess, even when Rhaenyra lies to her face.
The sparks start to fly when Daemon sneaks Rhaenyra out of the castle and takes her in disguise through the streets of the city, where we get one of those classic little ‘plays’ that lets us see how the smallfolk are viewing the whole Targaryen heir drama. The Princess delights in being free, but gets caught and then released by Ser Harwin Strong, who plays along — notably he’s the one in the last episode that delighted in seeing her return bloody and triumphant, a good little hint of their intriguing rapport.
Soon enough though we get a very specific contrasting set of scenes between Daemon and Rhaenyra in a pleasure house as he talks of how sex can be pleasurable and Alicent just laying there clearly not enjoying it at all. But the legitimate sexual tension continues when a spurned Princess instead seduces Ser Criston who she has lusted after since the first episode. It’s really a very specific thematic point that she is trying to act like a man in this world, asserting her own desires — and how she is immediately punished for it.
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Despite Daemon deciding against the act at the last moment, he still implies to the King that he dishonored her — the second time he may be lying to play up the vibe of the scoundrel to his brother. His once paramour Mysaria is no longer his plaything and is now a spymaster of her own power, sending word to Otto under the evocative name the ‘White Worm’. And yet he still brings up the idea of wedding his niece, which Viserys decries as a bid for power.
The King is more on the ball than ever, with also finally understanding the depths of Otto’s manipulations with his daughter. And the episode ends with a shot of moon tea sent through the Grand Maester from Viserys, as he’s clearly accepted that it happened even if he will never talk about it specifically with his daughter.
We also get another little tease of canon, with the famous dagger from Game of Thrones now shown to be once the dagger of Aegon the Conquerer, with a hidden message about the Prince Who Was Promised (a plotline infamously dropped by Game of Thrones that frustrated me to no end) that can only be shown when put in fire. A clever little way to hide it in plain sight.
Overall it was a very tense, exciting sort of episode, filled with entirely personal intrigue instead of the political stuff — with our Targaryens moving forward in different ways, really making things more and more complicated. The next episode will be the last for Milly Alcock and Emily Carey until they’re replaced by their older actor selves, and in a way it’ll be a shame as they’ve been so damn good so far. Really I’ve found this season to be very strong, and this one even better than the last one.
New episodes of House of the Dragon premiere Sundays on HBO, streaming on HBO Max.
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