The Dragon House 2×03

It seemed, at least judging by the first episode, that this season 2 of ‘The House of the Dragon’ was going to take things a little more calmly. Nothing could be further from the truth since ‘Rhaenyra the cruel‘has had me absorbed for more than an hour with an exemplary episode of the HBO series. But let’s see what happened.

By the way, from here on there are spoilers for episode 2×02 of ‘The Dragon House’.

We pick up pretty much where we left off last week: with the morning after the Blood and Cheese raid. King Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), completely enraged. Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and Helaena (Phia Saban), completely devastated… and a thought that runs through the entire court: Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) has gone too far. However, there is another thought: what if it was not the blacks but a betrayal?

Funeral

Although they do not rule it out, they see that, as in any good war, like any good policy, the narrative is what is important. Even though Aegon wants the worst revenge, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) convinces everyone to have a state funeral: a funeral procession with a message that makes it clear to the people that the claimant to the throne is a complete monster (“Behold the work of Rhaenyra the Cruel” the criers proclaim).

Thus, we have a scene with which it is impossible not to remember Cersei’s penitential walk of shame in ‘Game of Thrones’. If on that occasion she was a fall from grace of the regent, here we have the positive reflection: the clamor and affection of the public towards Helaena, with cheers towards her and cries of “bloodslayer” and “monster” towards Rhaenyra.

The queen will be in this while we have one of the two perpetrators locked up who, at the mere suggestion of torture (he ran out of time once he saw the instruments) unleashes everything to Larys (Matthew Needham): Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) hired him and a rat catcherwould spill the beans before being visited by Aegon’s mace.

Meanwhile, in Dragonstone They can’t believe what happened at Desembarco of the King and, above all, the fact that they blame Rhaenyra directly. But, even more, the black queen is more stunned when she sees that her Council sees her capable of doing so in the midst of rage over the loss of Lucerys. It doesn’t take long for the queen to learn that the culprit was her wife, Daemon.

Therefore, we will have one of the most intense scenes of the episode… and it will not be the only one. With a breakup? or at least a separation between one and the other. Daemon’s move has been too much for Rhaenyra, who does not hesitate to blame him for having his own intentions and, in fact, questions his uncle’s own loyalties: does she want the throne for his wife? or for him? After the discussion, we will see Daemon leave on the back of his dragon.

Draconian sins

If this episode has a great common theme, it is, perhaps, that of sin. In the sense of both transgression towards the gods and towards your neighbor and to whom you owe loyalty. Not only is Alicent convinced that the beheading of her grandson was the fault of her sins; that Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) also see that what is yours cannot have absolution; also failing (betraying) the other to pursue one’s own ideas, not following the imposed “protocols” and even slipping the buck.

There we have Cole, under whose guard the murder was perpetrated (he was distracted under Alicent, remember), decides to hold Ser Arryk (Luke Tittensor) responsible for the fateful night. You can pay for your sins if you go on a suicide mission: impersonate his brother Erryk (Elliot Tittensor), sneak into Dragonstone and kill Rhaenyra. This also brings us to what happens when our pieces start to get out of control…

And Alicent and her father meet in this episode with a whole hot potato as they try to do damage control and seeing how Aegon takes justice into his own hands by hanging all the rat catchers in the Red Keep. Something that, of course, Otto does not take well at all, as he sees how this is damaging to the side’s image. After a hard argument with Aegon, The king relegates him from his duties. Criston becomes the new Hand.

The episode ends with the execution of Ser Criston’s “master” plan. It goes without saying that, of course, he is going to turn out badly. As he leaves Dragonstone, Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) warns that either Erryk has the gift of ubiquity, or it is impossible for him to be entering the castle right now. Before he can execute Rhaenyra, Arryk is stopped by his twin brother, resulting in an uninspired fight between them. In the end, the kiss of the sword’s edge ends both of them.. One kills the other and then commits suicide before the queen’s eyes.

Now it’s time to see what happens next when King’s Landing realizes that the plan has failed miserably. Also, we know that Baela has left there and we don’t know where Daemon has gone… but we’ll probably see him next week.

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