By Ben Wright (@iamzavagno | www.xgeeks.co.uk)
This review contains spoilers.
After the fire and heat of battle last week, the temperature continues to rise in Episode 4, but instead of war, it is the burning desires of lust. So just a heads up, be careful if you are planning on watching this on the morning public commute!
After another time jump, this time a year, Rhaenyra’s would-be husband tour of the kingdom isn’t going well, as the long line of suitors ranges from old men to young boys. After cutting the trip short, she sets sail back to King’s Landing and we get to see that dragon and boat shot that we’ve seen in all the trailers. Still just as impressive and impactful, please the boat design is stunning!
Inside the Red Keep, KING Daemon of the Narrow Sea has arrived, much to his brother’s bewilderment. The music and edit do a fantastic job in building the tension of the scene – which sees Daemon playing diplomat, offering his brother the Crown and rule of the Stepstones, which also acted as his ‘apology’ and reunites the two in good faith. Obviously, this is all part of Daemon’s plan and Ser Otto knows it!
With an interesting twist in the tale, Otto reports that Lord Corlys has entered into negotiations with the Sealord of Braavos. Braavos is one of the Free Cities in Essos. So having the combined might and wealth of Braavos and House Velaryon joining forces, would be quite the powerhouse and cause real issues for the King. This, obviously, turns matters back to Rhaenyra’s future marriage prospects.
Upon returning to her chambers, Rhaenyra finds a bag of common folk clothes and a message, written in High Valyrian, highlighting a secret passage out of the room. With her new attire and freedom, she runs into Daemon (obviously), who clearly wanted to take her on a night out in Flea Bottom. The sights and sounds of Flea Bottom, as you can imagine, strike a chord with Rhaenyra’s rebellious ad inquisitive side. However, after witnessing a not-so-favourable play about her, Daemon’s ‘night out’ starts to show its true intention – bringing Rhaenyra closer to him. And boy, do they get close… Daemon takes her to a ‘den of pleasure’, where the two begin to kiss and almost go further, until Daemon stops, resulting in Rhaenyra returning to the castle and re-directing her built-up lust on Ser Criston – who, after a bit of reluctance, is more than happy to oblige her with.
Otto brings this information, which he obtained through one of Mysaria’s ‘little birds’, to the King and refuses to believe the apparent ‘slander’ and calls Otto out for his ambition and designs of power. Clearly. Mysaria sold Daemon out to Otto to protect him from himself. The Queen calls Rhaenyra to a private audience to try and obtain the truth, which Rhaenyra plays perfectly by rubbishing the rumour, which the Queen believes. Meanwhile, Viserys and Daemon are having their own conservation with Daemon taking the opposite approach and fully admitting it to the King, much to Viserys’ anger. Daemon wants to be wed to Rhaenyra, but obviously, the King refuses and commands him to return to the Vale. With the Queen standing up for Rhaenyra, claiming it all to be lies, and Rhaenyra insisting she will marry into House Velaryon, the resulting fallout sees Otto removed as Hand of the King and Rhaenyra presented with some ‘Morning After Tea’ as a precaution, especially as she has now promised to wed Laenor Velaryon.
With a royal wedding on the cards, Otto supplanted, and Daemon having made his move for Rhaenyra, next week’s halfway point is set to be as explosive as Wildfire! It also begs the question at what point are the likes of Rhaenyra and Alicent going to be switched up for their older counterparts, it must be soon, right?
For me, House of the Dragon continues to go from strength to strength and for what this episode lacked in terms of battles and action, it more than made up for it with lies, deception and everyone continuing to take what they most desire… Four episodes in and House of the Dragon is everything I had hoped it would be!
As for Easter Eggs…
The castle at the beginning of the episode is Storm’s End, the ancestral home of House Baratheon, and this is the first time we have seen the interior of the castle, despite seeing the exterior backdrop in Game of Thrones. We also meet Barrick Dondarrian, a name we also know from Game of Thrones, with this being his ancestor. House Dondarrian is actually from where Ser Cole came from before entering the service of the King. At Flea Bottom, Rhaenyra watches a play about the succession to the throne, just like Arya did in Game of Thrones, however, their reactions are completely different, given Rhaenyra’s arrogant streak and act as some foreshadowing if you know your book lore. More book lore revolves around the special tea that is presented to her at the end of the episode – but I don’t want to jump ahead too much just in case they end up doing certain stories in the show that are pulled straight from the book. And of course, who could we forget the Catspaw dagger and the prophecies of ‘The Prince That Was Promised’ and of course ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ – so we have some Jon Snow and Daenerys thrown into the mix as well!
What did you make of this latest episode of House of the Dragon? Let us know in the comments or find us on social media!
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