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Spoilers below.
The fires from last week’s Battle at Rook’s Rest are fizzling out. In season 2, episode 5, as King Aegon lies broken in bed and Corlys Velaryon wallows in grief, the battles take place on negotiating tables instead of castles. And often, especially in the case of Queens Alicent and Rhaenyra this week, the women are on the losing side. House of the Dragon has been more women-centric than Game of Thrones, but the female characters in this universe, even those in power, still have to battle rampant sexism. We might have princesses and queens in play, but this episode explores (rather unsubtly) how the patriarchy still rules.
In the aftermath of Rook’s Rest, Corlys Velaryon grieves the death of his wife, Rhaenys, on Driftmark. Meanwhile in King’s Landing, the severed head of her dragon, Meleys the Red Queen, is paraded through the streets as proof of Aegon’s bravery and an example of what happens to his traitors. But the townspeople are more fearful than celebratory. They see the dragon’s head as an omen.
Queen Alicent Hightower and Aemond watch from the Red Keep, focusing on the crate discreetly carrying Aegon’s body. When Alicent notices his Valyrian steel dagger on Aemond’s belt, she knows he was involved somehow.
It’s a gruesome scene as Aegon gets treated in his room. The grand maester and his servants have to manually peel off the Valyrian armor that has melded into and scorched Aegon’s skin. He has many broken bones and burns covering half his body, but he is not dead—yet. Grand Maester Orwyle is unsure if and when Aegon will ever recover. Aemond wastes no time in declaring that someone will have to rule in his brother’s stead.
In Dragonstone, Rhaenyra is also grieving Rhaenys, but she’s cautious of the greens’ next move. Ser Alfred, a particularly misogynist member of her council says the “gentler sex” has no knowledge of combat. Rhaenyra swiftly reminds him that he’s been in as many battles as she has. Her council says they must strike King’s Landing in retaliation, and Rhaenyra insists she do it herself. But her advisors say that as the queen (and as a weak woman!), she shouldn’t.
Her son, Jacaerys, is also antsy at home. He decides to see the Freys. He’ll try to convince them to give Cregan Stark’s army passage at the Twins, so they can enter the Riverlands without having to wait for Daemon at Harrenhal. Does Rhaenyra know of this plan? Nope.
Speaking of Daemon, he’s with Willem Blackwood, forcing his rival, Lord Bracken, to denounce Aegon and pledge himself to Queen Rhaenyra. Lord Bracken would rather die by dragon fire than bend the knee, but Daemon doesn’t let Caraxes burn him and his men. Daemon needs to build an army, and he can’t do that with dead bodies. He instead allows Willem to organize his own revenge on the Brackens, by suspicious means. In the Vale, Daemon’s daughter, Rhaena, has arrived with the (tiny) dragons promised to Lady Arryn, who’s unhappy with their size.
Rhaenyra vents to Mysaria about being pushed aside by the men at her table. “They speak around me, not to me,” she says. She even thinks they have a point: Viserys might have named her heir, but he didn’t teach her how to fight in battle. Must she keep depending on Daemon for brute strength? But Mysaria reminds her, there’s more than one way to fight a war. Rhaenyra could use the turning of public opinion in King’s Landing to her advantage. The townspeople are already disgruntled by the economic impacts of the war, plus the sight of Meleys’ head and Aegon’s fate. Maybe she could appeal to them. Rhaenyra sends her servant girl to King’s Landing on a mission.
The queen also chats with Baela as they reminisce about Rhaenys. With her gone, Rhaenyra will have to rely more heavily on Baela now. She sends her to deliver something to Corlys at Driftmark.
Back at Harrenhal, Daemon has his most disturbing vision yet: He’s in bed with a beautiful blonde woman who showers him with praise—and she turns out to be his mother. (Classic Targaryen behavior, I guess?!) Before the realization sinks in too far, Ser Simon Strong calls him out to dine and, eventually, ask for charity. Strong mentions that Larys took all of Harrenhal’s gold to King’s Landing, and there’s barely any money left to keep the household afloat and cover much-needed renovations. Ser Simon hopes Rhaenrya can offer the money. But Daemon, intent on proving his dominance, offers to sponsor Harrenhal himself.
At the green council meeting, Alicent is also being shut down by the men around her. She volunteers to rule in Aegon’s place as regent; after all, she did it while King Viserys was sick. While Orwyle seconds her petition, the rest vote for Aemond because he’s “Aegon’s immediate successor” (read: not a woman). Even Lord Larys and, ouch, Alicent’s sneaky link Ser Criston Cole side with Aemond. As Aemond promptly takes a seat at the head of the table, the camera lingers on Alicent, seething in her chair. She later confronts Cole: “Has your loyalty faded? Or does it flourish only at night and flee the sunrise like a moth?” (Finish him!)
Elsewhere in King’s Landing, Hugh Hammer’s daughter has fallen even more ill. He must choose between fleeing the city with his family to make a better life, or staying put. He picks the former, but it seems the rest of the town has the same idea. A swarm of townspeople try to leave, but the gates are closed—per Aemond’s orders.
Jace meets with the Freys at The Twins. They want Harrenhal now that Larys is no longer there. Jace says, for that, the Freys will have to offer passage to the Stark army and bend the knee to Rhaenyra.
Of course, he doesn’t know that Daemon is now involved with the Strongs at Harrenhal. Daemon’s even doing manual labor, chopping wood to help with reno. Alys Rivers, eerie as always, tells him that she’s heard word of “crimes against the innocent” happening to the Brackens, which Daemon might have allowed. As Alys questions Daemon, he lets his true feelings about Rhaenyra known: that she cannot succeed and the people who support her won’t be led by her. “They look to a man for strength,” he declares, in a rather obvious line. Then he shares with what he really plans to do: “When I take King’s Landing, Rhaenyra is welcome to join me there and take her place by my side.” He says they would rule together though—how nice, some equality as a treat. Soon after, news arrives: Lord Amos Bracken has pledged his banner to Daemon.
Then, finally, more Corlys. You would think that after he lost his beloved wife in battle last episode, that we would see more of him this week, but for the most part, the Sea Snake has been grieving off-screen. When his granddaughter, Baela, arrives to offer him the role of Rhaenyra’s Hand of the Queen, he thinks it’s an insult. He’s feeling lost. But Baela tries to get him to understand that Rhaenys died with honor. In fact, it was her wish to see Rhaenyra rightfully on the throne, and she wants to respect that. Corlys wants to name Baela the heir of Driftmark (as Rhaenys had suggested!), but she tells him to stick to tradition: She’s of blood and fire, and the heir to Driftmark must be of salt and sea.
Rhaenyra sends Ser Alfred to Harrenhal to seek out Daemon’s true intentions. (She senses something’s off.) It’s also a great way to get him out of her hair.
Daemon is woken up in the night by angry Riverlords. They are disgusted by the brutal acts the Blackwoods have committed to the Brackens—looting and burning their septs and farms, stealing livestock, pursuing women and children—and declare they will not bend the knee to Rhaenyra. But Daemon can’t concentrate, as his late wife, Laena, appears to him again. “Have you looked after our girls?” she asks him. A valid question!
In King’s Landing, Rhaenyra’s servant, Elinda, looks for an “old friend.”
Aemond gazes ominously upon the Iron Throne. His sister Helaena asks him, “Was it worth the price?” She probably knows Aemond is responsible for Aegon’s injuries. Upstairs, Alicent watches over Aegon in bed. When she leaves, he calls after her under his breath, “Mummy.”
A different kind of mother-son meeting happens in Dragonstone. Jace reports back on his meeting with the Freys, and Rhaenyra approves. However, she’s itching to take action and running out of people to act for her. (Rhaenys is dead, Baela can’t handle the burden alone, Daemon isn’t around, and she’s still protective of Jace after what happened to Luke.)
If only there were more dragons…
Well, luckily they have plenty of dragons, Jace points out, and two of them are large enough to fight Vhagar. (Hello, Vermithor and Silverwing.)
If only there were more dragonriders…
Jace suggests there might be a fix for that too. What if they found dragonriders from within the Targaryen line, distant relatives who had married and bred with other houses? “It’s a mad thought,” Rhaenyra says. It might be worth a shot.
If this plan works out, Rhaenyra will finally be able to delegate, and, for book readers, the Dragonseeds will finally come into play.