The Queen Mother uses her body to secure the loyalty of the men around her, including the murderous commander of the Kingsguard. She loves but struggles to control her blond, adolescent son: the unlawful and unworthy king. He’s kept in check by his grandfather, the Hand of the King: a calculating man with decades of experience in governance. The mysterious and manipulative spymaster “Larys” conspires with the royals. Meanwhile, the young, honorable ruler of the North is chiefly concerned with what lurks beyond the Wall, but he’s willing to ally with a dragon-riding Targaryen queen, who holds Dragonstone while planning a war for her rightful throne.
This isn’t a description of Game of Thrones, though you’d be forgiven for thinking so, but of the season 2 premiere of its prequel series, House of the Dragon, which debuted on HBO on Sunday. For better or worse, the successor to the prestige fantasy drama is unashamed of its similarity to the original series. From the title sequence featuring that same GOT theme we know and love, which immediately transitions to the familiar “Goodbye Brother” as we watch a raven fly over Winterfell and hear a Jon Snow-sounding monologue about duty and sacrifice, the show emphatically wants to remind us of the original series. Personally, I can’t complain: I’m a sucker for more of the stuff I love.
Fire and Blood
This episode is all about grief, and how we respond to it. In the tragic conclusion of the first season, Alicent Hightower’s younger son, Aemond Targaryen, lost control of his gigantic dragon Vhagar, which chomped through Rhaenyra Targaryen’s younger son, Lucerys Velaryon, and his comparatively tiny dragon Arrax. To not appear weak and incompetent, Aemond has lied that he intentionally killed the boy. Rhaenyra is unable to proceed until she has a physical confirmation of her son’s death, which she receives in the form of his clothes and the torn wing of Arrax washed up on the beach. Her cries over these remains, and her tearful reunion with her eldest son Jacaerys, are the emotional core of the episode. Her throne was usurped before she could sit in it, and now her son has been murdered. She seems to have every right to be very, very upset, and to give the order that she does: “I want Aemond Targaryen.”
The Magnanimous?
Meanwhile in King’s Landing, King Aegon II sits the Iron Throne and hears petitions from smallfolk (what Westerosi nobles call the common people). And though I likened him to the infamous King Joffrey in my opening, this scene shows a key difference between the two: Aegon seems to actually want to do right by his subjects. He compassionately tells his first petitioner “there’s no reason to be nervous,” and asks his name. The humble petitioner, Gerard, explains to Aegon how the Crown has taken a tenth of his flock of sheep right before winter. Before the man has even finished speaking, Aegon has decided he will return his sheep to him. However, Otto Hightower, his grandfather and Hand, quietly explains to him that they need sheep to feed the dragons in the coming war. Aegon appears genuinely sad, and suggests they only return Gerard’s sheep, since “he came all this way.” But Otto explains that once you return one herder’s sheep, every herder will come expecting theirs to be returned as well. Aegon then suggests that they could do it secretly, but Otto explains that it will certainly not remain a secret. So Aegon reluctantly tells Gerard that he actually cannot return his sheep. Aegon being moved by the plight of the smallfolk and wanting to help them was not on my bingo card, but it serves to make him a more complex character than he might have been.
At a Small Council meeting, Aegon displays a Joffrey-like desire to toy with people. He laughs while his 4-year-old son Jaehaerys annoys the Master of Coin, Tyland Lannister (I had initially written Jason Lannister, but that’s his identical twin, also played by Jefferson Hall), and suggests the royal treasurer give the boy a pony ride. He’s become the most fun-to-watch character on the show, injecting much needed humor into this very grim story. In this scene we also learn that Alicent sent a letter to Rhaenyra, apologizing for the death of her son, and asking to negotiate peace. But it’s obvious to the characters and the viewers that peace is no longer on the table.
Blood and Cheese
That brings us to the tragic conclusion of this episode. Daemon Targaryen, Rhaenyra’s unscrupulous brother-wife, acts on Rhaenyra’s vengeful command by hiring “Blood,” a member of the City Watch, and “Cheese,” a ratcatcher, to sneak into the Red Keep and kill Aemond. But if they can’t find Aemond? “A son for a son.”
As they move through the castle, they sneak through the Great Hall, where Aegon is sitting on the Iron Throne and drinking with his buddies. He complains about his mother and grandfather treating him like a child, brags about how Aemond is “as loyal as a hound,” and brainstorms a royal title that would appeal to the commoners (or simply suggest that he’s well-endowed). They eventually find themselves in the room where Aegon’s sister-wife Helaena is with their two children: Prince Jaehaerys from earlier, and his twin sister Princess Jaehaera. Their orders were “a son for a son,” but they can’t tell the twins apart, so they ask their mother. Helaena points to Jaehaerys, and despite initial skepticism that she was being truthful, they believe her. They then get to the business of cutting through the boy’s neck while covering his mouth to muffle his screams, and the viewers must hear every gruesome detail of it. Helaena runs out of the room with her daughter, to Alicent’s bedroom, where she’s… indisposed with Ser Criston Cole, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard who should have been on duty (that’s sure to cause a bit of regret). Helaena then delivers the final line of the episode: “They killed the boy.”
And so, the game of thrones claims yet another innocent victim. A 4-year-old boy is brutally murdered as a result of the poor decisions of adults. It’s such a senseless death, the latest in a franchise famous for them.
All Must Choose?
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/harry-collett-tom-taylor-house-of-the-dragon-061024-09576160ba444a1aa696c6293b0f2ba8.jpg)
While Thrones had a dizzying number of warring factions, HOTD is (so far) simpler with only two: the Greens, those who support Aegon’s claim to the throne; and the Blacks, those who support Rhaenyra’s. Fans are meant to choose a team to root for. But I don’t think I can. Too many needless atrocities have been committed by both sides over this selfish succession dispute. If I lived in Westeros, I’d be Team Peace. But since I don’t, I’m Team Being Entertained, and so far House of the Dragon is delivering.
What do you think? Are you Team Green, Team Black, or like me, do you think neither side is really worth rooting for? Do you appreciate the callbacks to Game of Thrones, or are you growing tired of more of the same? Leave a comment, let’s talk about it.
And catch House of the Dragon Sundays on HBO at 9 p.m. ET, or stream it the same day on Max.
