At the end of this week's House of the Dragon, Daemon gets a little downright irritable, and his swift burst of violence turns out to be good news for the Stepstones' conflict (but also terrible news for the Crab Feeder's men and one very unfortunate messenger from Kings Landing).
Rhaenyra divides the hour between giving her dad an expertly deployed stinkeye and getting close to Ser Criston Cole in a moment. It's a good idea to get into which.
For the time being, read on for the highlights of Second of His Name.
UPDATE FROM THE FRONT | We begin on a ship that is being burned at night; the scene is horrifying. House Velayron is coming for you! a man yells at his masked attacker, who is nailing him to a post, and he unleashes a bunch of his namesake crustaceans on the nailed man, who curses him the whole time. But then, a beast arrives, and one of its feet accidentally stomps
Daemon is guiding the dragon, Caraxes. As men scatter in fear and try not to get flambished, Daemon taunts the Crab Feeder (he calls him Drahar) and winds up taking a fiery arrow in the shoulder before Caraxes pulls its tail out of there.
FAST-FORWARD | The events at Kings Landing were two years after the previous episode. Aegon has already had a son, and she is expecting their second child. The Crab Feeders' dominance has arrived on Aegons second birthday, and Viserys does not want to hear about when the Crown might step in officially. Daemon and the Sea Snake's war began without His Graces' leave. Otto Hightower claims that an absent Rhaenyra would make the
Alicent discovers the princess under the weirwood and it quickly becomes apparent that they are no longer the finest of friends, though Alicent, at least, wishes they still were. Rhaenyra only joins a celebratory hunt in the Kingswood because she is commanded to do so, and she is frosty to her father when he attempts to draw her out (Maybe talking about shell being married and pregnant herself soon enough wasnt the best fit).
Rhaenyra meets a man who, he claims, takes his place. She replies, "She gathered all the lions," and she slaps back. (Ha.) Hes as arrogant as Game of Thrones Season 1 Jaime, promoting Casterly Rock and all of his available means and resources. She believes that he would do anything for my queen or lady wife tomorrow morning. It's also too much she confronts her father about wanting to wed her into House Lan
VISERYS DRINKS AND THINKS | While this is going on, King Viserys and a lot of the menfolk are on the trail of a white hart, which is believed to be a good omen for Aegons name day. Jason Lannister sleazes up to the king during one of the meals and remarks, "Here's a giant poking device I fashioned to kill the hart," before proceeding into how he
Otto hands Rhaenyra his money and proposes to marry him and her half-brother, Aegon, 2-year-old, and murder two lovely birds with one incestuous stone! As the night progresses, Criston has built a fire and taken off his armor, but Rhaenyra grabs her dagger and sobs.
Drunk Viserys rushes out to the bonfire and, when Alicent discovers him, sobs about his obsession with his dream/prophecy killing Queen Aemma? he says, near tears and suddenly in touch with his emotions for a man of this age. The horn sounds indicating that the hart has been cornered and the drunk king runs off to kill a deer.
The king's men have tied up a large, brown stag instead, and the animal suffers before it dies. Viserys appears to be horrified by this as he turns away from the animal and all of his toadies applaud the anticlimactic kill.
The actual white stag, the one who is supposed to imply greatness or something along those lines? It appears before a bloodied Rhaenyra and Criston that morning, and when the knight pulls his blade to kill it, she stops him with a gentle, No. The animal runs off. Make of that what you will.
ALICENT SUBTLY PULLS STRINGS | Otto visits Alicent and not so subtly predicts the end of the realm if Rhaenyra actually becomes queen. He reminds him that everybody wore obeisance to the princess, our house among them, and advises her to guide Viserys so that he may attain the same result. For the love of the Seven, will ANYONE PLEASE DIG INTO MY ELBOWS?
Viserys is a nerd and adamant about the fact that Jason Lannister was not a good fit for Rhaenyra. He has also had a letter from the Sea Snakes brother, asking the king for help because Daemon and Corlys are losing their battle. However, she frames it in a different light: Is it better for the realm if the Crab Feeder thrives, or is destroyed?
So he sends help. And shortly after, he gets into an argument with Rhaenyra. She knows that her half-brother has made her throne ascendancy unnecessary, and she refuses to marry anyone she does not want to see reborn. He tells her to find someone she will fall in love with the way he loved Queen Aemma. Then, just before she leaves, he vows to her that she will never be supplanted in the succession to
LAST-MINUTE SWITCHEROO | Lets check in on the Stepstones, where Corly's brother is near-mutinous and blaming Daemon for the Crab Feeders almost assured victory. And when a messenger arrives with news of Viserys imminent help, Daemon beats the poor guy. Then he puts himself in the Crab Feeders territory, cuts off a piece of white fabric that is handy, and surrenders to the Crustacean King
It seems like thats all Daemon wants to do when he dreams of a blade from somewhere else on his body and goes straight for The Big Rangoon himself. Hundreds of fighters rocket at him with nary a scratch on his demented face. Never since the Battle of the Bastards has one man escaped this awe-inspiring death.
Oh wait, I said too soon. Eventually he gets arrowed! In a few places, including the chest. King Crabs men swarm, ready to blow up the Targaryen, but just then Corlys, the rest of their men, and the dragon led by Corlys son Laenor arrive and assault. Daemon follows the Crab Feeder into his cave, followed by the disemboweled warlords torso.
Now is your turn to discuss what you thought about the episode? Sound off in the comments!