The ups and downs that House of the Dragon puts its audience through are more dizzying than a ride on Vhagar. An episode of scheming and intrigue is followed by one of shaky character development and forced plot expansion; an hour of exhilarating battle and emotionally-charged character deaths trailed by one of confusing filler. Yes, I’m speaking of this week’s episode, which takes all the drama from the heightened ending of “The Red Dragon and the Gold” and plummets viewers back into the slog of convoluted storylines. Episode five is about moving the story forward, setting up circumstances and relationships that will likely come into play before the season’s end, but the lack of action or captivation of any kind makes this hour feel like the Dragon equivalent of a bottle episode. Yes, we travel through Westeros throughout the sixty minutes, but the whole process feels extremely static.
The episode begins immediately following the events of the Battle at Rook’s Rest. Team Black (specifically Corlys) is in mourning for Rhaenys, while Team Green is keeping the propaganda machine moving, though they may benefit from hiring a crisis PR manager. Someone had the bright idea to parade the severed head of Meleys through the streets, and the crown is not receiving the exact reaction they expected. Many of the small folk in King’s Landing feel the display is a bad omen, while others see the defeated dragon as proof that the beasts—and by extension, the Targaryens—are not invisible. “I thought the dragons was gods,” someone mutters in the crowd. “It’s just meat,” another responds.
Celebrations (if that’s what you can even call them) are short-lived, however, as attention turns to King Aegon and his battle wounds—injuries so bad it’s unclear if modern medicine would be enough to revive him, much less the medieval kind. There’s an unspoken knowledge that Aemond was behind his brother’s suffering. Alicent can clearly sense it, though Ser Criston won’t admit it to her, and Helaena, with her prophetic nature, knows it too. Maybe that’s why Alicent seems to have no love for her second son, or maybe it’s because he usurped her as regent in Aegon’s absence. The Queen Dowager is realizing that when you base a claim on sexism, there might be some adverse effects. One can’t blame Larys for his astute observation: “What would it say if, in response to Rhaenyra’s crowning, we raised up a woman of our own?” Alicent dug her own grave, now she must lie in it. Even her paramour, Criston, won’t support her claim as regent, leading Alicent to unleash an incredible verbal assault on the Hand. Forget fuck boy, next time someone screws you over, ask them, “Has your loyalty faded or does it flourish only at night and flee the sunrise like a moth?”
Of course, Rhaenyra is facing some misogyny of her own, made worse now that she no longer has Rhaenys’s backing on the small council. The Queen seems unsure of her next step, still hesitant to resort to violence if unnecessary. It’s an ethical stance, but not a great one given her opponent. She begins to turn to those around her: her niece/step-daughter/future daughter-in-law Baela as well as Corlys, whom she officially asks to be her hand. Outside her incestual family, she also has Mysaria, who seems to have become quite the trusted confidant for Rhaenyra. She encourages the Queen to look at the war through a different lens and consider the small folk, who are struggling in the Red Keep under Aegon’s rule. The White Worm convinces Rhaenyra to send her lady-in-waiting, Elinda, to King’s Landing on a task, the results of which may have brought some excitement to this episode, but which we will have to seemingly wait until next week to see.
Over in the Riverlands, Daemon is still acting on his own accord, working with the Blackwoods to try to get the Brackens to bend the knee. The latter family proves stubborn, and Daemon must resort to dirty tactics to get his way. While normally, Daemon would have no problem commanding the robbery and rape of innocent small folks, the decision seems to be weighing on him a bit more than usual. Daemon is struggling; it’s plain to see. Alys has fully taken over the King Consort’s mind, and he can hardly close his eyes without engaging in an incestuous sex dream with his mother or seeing his late wife (in a notably non-sexual manner). He has fully convinced himself that he is the one who deserves the throne, not his wife, and while I don’t know much about royal succession, I don’t think there’s any world where Daemon has a claim. Still, he won’t let it go, and as proven by the Riverlords’s reaction to his actions against the Brackens, it will likely be his downfall.
The episode ends with a conversation between Rhaenyra and Jacaerys, who has returned from an unauthorized expedition to the Twins in order to gain the support of the Freys. Rhaenyra is surprisingly not too mad at Jace for acting on his own accord. It’s possible that she has so few allies at the moment, she doesn’t want to risk angering those who do support her, even her own son. Instead, she confides in him, looking toward her successor for advice. It’s now clear this war will come down to dragon power, and while Team Black has more dragons than Green, they’re short on riders. Jace suggests looking into the family tree to find those with Targaryen blood who can claim a dragon and join the fight, and Rhaenyra is on board to give it a try. Perhaps, the Queen has more allies than she previously thought.
A swell of music announces the end of the episode, and with just eight in this season, one might feel cheated by this slog of an hour. But I’m going to hold out hope that this rollercoaster ride will continue, and the dip of episode five will only bring a subsequent high. With Aemond in power in King’s Landing, taking the small folk for granted, and Rhaenyra ready to bring the same downtrodden population on her side, it seems the tides of this war are getting ready to shift, and boy, after this episode does something need to shift.
