Happy day after House of the Dragon to all who observe. This week things got real heated as everyone pressured the king into taking a new wife and Daemon threw a tantrum and stole a dragon egg. Here’s what you missed in House of the Dragon Episode 2 ‘The Rogue Prince’.
This article contains full spoilers for House of the Dragon. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can watch Episodes 1-2 over on Binge now.
House of the Dragon Episode 2: Plot recap
Let’s start with the most important thing: House of the Dragon has opening credits! Do they live up to the standard of Game of Thrones’ epic intro? Yes! Because it’s exactly the same theme song!
I’m not sure how I feel about the music being a cut and paste of the original, but it’s hard to deny it’s good to have it back.
We open on a delightful image of bodies being eaten by crabs. Meanwhile, the Small Council is drinking wine and discussing replacing a member of the Kingsguard.
Corlys Velaryon has bigger things on his mind though (people being eaten by crabs) and berates King Viserys for not dealing with the situation at the Stepstones, which has resulted in the loss of many of his men and ships (to the crabs).
It’s been six months since Rhaenyra was named heir and Daemon was exiled, but the princess’ suggestion of sending Dragonriders to fight the Crab Feeder is dismissed. You can basically hear Rhaenyra’s eyes roll.
So instead of fighting wars, Rhaenyra is sent to oversee the selection of the next Kingsguard member. She only has eyes for Ser Criston Cole, the knight from the heir’s tourney, who she argues is the only candidate with real combat experience.
Viserys is still whittling away at his stone diorama and it seems Alicent’s visits to the king have continued over these six months. A bond has clearly grown between them.
Alicent enters scheming mode and works on making the king’s wishes – that Rhaenyra would open up to him – true. She creates a safe space for her best friend to grieve her mother in the sept which will theoretically help her make space for a new queen in her life (more on that later).
The topic of a new queen is on everyone’s minds. It’s expected of the king to take a new wife and Corlys thinks it should be his daughter Laena, who just so happens to be 11 and Viserys’ cousin.
Next the King approaches his Hand, Otto Hightower and the Grand Maester for advice on his new match, where he’s reminded yet again what a smart pairing Laena would be for the Realm’s stability. Otto obviously has his own ideas so stays quiet on this one.
Viserys meets with Laena and, yep, she’s definitely way too young for this shit. Despite this, Laena spouts her father’s words and promises to be a good wife to the king.
Rhaenyra is confronted by her cousin, Rhaenys, who can see that she is disturbed by her father’s potential remarrying. Rhaenys reminds Rhaenyra that this is the “order of things” and that her father’s new heir will likely steal her place. Rhaenyra is adamant she will create a new order as Queen, but Rhaenys has seen all this before and is still bitter about it.
“Men would sooner put the realm to the torch than see a woman ascend the Iron Throne,” Rhaenys warns her.
Viserys confides in Alicent about his concerns about marrying Laena and she takes the opportunity to lay it on pretty thick.
Now don’t think we’ve forgotten about Daemon hiding away on Dragonstone. The prince has been biding his time and takes a shot at his brother by stealing a dragon egg from right under his nose.
It’s tradition for a dragon egg to lay in the cradle of a Targaryen child and Daemon claims his heir is imminent as is his second marriage to Mysaria. Not to mention, Daemon didn’t steal just any egg, he took the egg that was meant for Prince Baelon, Rhaenyra’s dead brother.
It’s too dangerous for the king to take on Daemon personally so Otto goes in his stead.
Once there, Daemon makes a point of not giving back the egg without a fight and summons his dragon, Caraxes, as a show of force.
Then, in what is some real boss bitch energy, Rhaenyra shows up unannounced on the back of Syrax and confronts her uncle. There she learns that Mysaria isn’t actually with child, despite Daemon’s claims.
Rhaenyra invites Daemon to kill her and take his place as heir but instead, he concedes and returns the egg without a fight.
Mysaria isn’t happy that Daemon used her as a pawn in his power play, particularly as she isn’t interested in children, and wants no part in his games. Uh oh, someone’s sleeping on the couch.
Viserys is still pondering his next move so turns to another member of his Small Council, Lyonel, who tells him once again that Laena is the logical choice.
When Viserys learns what Rhaenyra has done he’s furious, fearing his only heir may have been killed. Rhaenyra is adamant that she did what no one else could in retrieving the egg, and Viserys recognises his late wife in his daughter. Finally, father and daughter bond over their shared grief and they both accept what Viserys must do next: take a new wife.
So who does he choose?
Despite everyone telling him literally the opposite, Viserys announces that Alicent Hightower will be his new Queen. (Pretends to be shocked.)
Rhaenyra isn’t quite sure how to look at her best friend soon to be her new mother. Kids these days, am I right?
In the final scene, we see Corlys did not take lightly Viserys’ rejection of his daughter so has decided to turn to Daemon Targaryen for help. Together they plan to crush the Crab Feeder in the Stepstones and make a statement the king can’t ignore.
House of the Dragon Episode 2: Easter (dragon) eggs
House of the Dragon gave us another packed episode this week that was full of intriguing political power plays and manipulations, AKA the stuff Game of Thrones fans are here for.
Here are some things you might’ve missed in House of the Dragon Episode 2 amongst all that:
- If you’re wondering what House of the Dragon‘s opening credits is depicting we’re looking at the Targaryen family tree playing out on the walls of King Viserys’ diorama of Old Valyria. As the blood flows down the walls of the model we see sigils featuring the feats of different Targaryen family members, including the likes of Aegon, Viserys and Rhaenrya.
A breakdown of which Targaryens are featured in the opening credits #HouseoftheDragon #hotd pic.twitter.com/OvoplaUXdJ
— out of context house of the dragon (@oochotd) August 29, 2022
- If you’re wondering who this creepy Crab Feeder guy is you’re not alone. The character, also known as Craghas Drahar or the Rogue Prince, is featured in Fire & Blood in a very limited capacity so it’s unknown how much of a threat he’ll be in House of the Dragon.
- The egg Daemon stole belonged to Dreamfyre, another dragon we’ll undoubtedly see in House of the Dragon. Dreamfyre was originally ridden by Aegon I’s first grandchild, Rhaena.
- As Viserys talks Alicent through his stone model of Valyria he mentions a place where blood mages did their work. This supports the theory that Targaryen’s gained their connection to the dragons through blood magic but it’s also an important name drop as it was a blood mage that lead to Khal Drogo’s demise hundreds of years down the line.
If you missed Episode 1 you can find our recap for that here. Now I leave you with a choice House of the Dragon meme.
Rhaenyra after leaving the small council meeting #HouseoftheDragon #HouseOfTheDragonHBO #hotd pic.twitter.com/ZJtM6lNRhw
— Stef (@montanostef) August 29, 2022
House of the Dragon airs weekly on Mondays at 11 am AEST on Binge.
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