This season has already gone to some deep, dark places, and it’s literally just been the first episode. That’s House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 1, and I had to talk about it.
I didn’t review last season. It came hot on the heels of Game of Thrones and what I considered a disappointing ending, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from Season 1. Season 1, by the way, knocked my socks off. I’m definitely not here to complain about it. It was amazing, and that’s why I’m doing Season 2. I apologize that it took this long, I’m recovering from a head cold, but I didn’t want to not talk about this one.
If you remember where last season ended, Rhaenyra sends her two sons out as a show of strength, to two separate places. The younger of the two, Lucerys, gets caught up in what really boils down to a pissing match with his cousin Aemond. Aemond, with the one eye, gets real upset, and the next thing you know the two boys are fighting in the sky. Well, one of them is fighting. Let’s be real, Lucerys is trying his best to get away as fast as possible. Out of nowhere, bam, Vhagar comes in and it’s lights out.
The Wall, and What I Don’t Know
This season begins on the Wall. It’s our first time seeing it in this show, and I dig the fact that we go straight to the North. We also get introduced to Cregan Stark.
I’m not a book reader. I never got into the Game of Thrones books. I’ve purposely stayed in the realm of the shows, even though I’m a fantasy novel enjoyer and lover. I don’t watch TV shows that don’t have an ending on them, that I don’t know are going to end, and I’ve been too gun-shy with these books for the same reason. I refuse to pick it up because, frankly, I don’t know if that man’s going to go before he gets a chance to finish it, and I’m not going out like that. So I’ve strictly stayed in this realm, which makes me a very, very particular kind of fan.
Those of you who do know everything about this series, by all means, correct me. I look forward to it. This is one of those rare things Mr. Know-It-All doesn’t know everything about.
What I do know is that Cregan Stark comes out of the histories George R.R. Martin wrote. I know there was some sort of struggle for power in how he came to be where he is. The show doesn’t spend any time on that. We jump right into him running the North, with Jacaerys Targaryen walking the Wall beside him while Cregan tells the whole story.
What I really love is that Jacaerys is doing his best not to be rude, and all he’s being is rude. Just not on purpose.
“It pleases me to think that over a century ago our ancestors treated in this very place, the Conqueror and the King in the North.”
“You at least had the mercy not to threaten me with your dragon.”
Jacaerys is boiling it down to this: look, I know you think you need all these people to guard a wall of ice against the wild ones and whoever else is up there beyond the Wall, but your lady could use your help.
And Cregan has this really great moment. Remember, we’re all coming at this with hindsight, because we’ve seen Game of Thrones. We know what’s on the other side of that wall. He looks at him and he goes, you think my ancestors built a 700 foot wall of ice against weather and wildlings?
Bro. That’s so real.
We also get our very first “winter is coming,” which in this context is great. He ends up agreeing to send what they call the greybeards, or the grey wolves, something to that effect. I guess these are the old, weathered soldiers who haven’t retired yet. They’re old, they’re just not old enough to hang it up, but they’re close.
All Rhaenyra Needs to Say
That’s when the raven arrives with the news about Lucerys.
There’s a brief encounter where Daemon has to talk to the Queen Who Never Was. He’s saying we need to go, we need to do things, we need to fight, and he doesn’t understand why Rhaenyra doesn’t get that. She explains it to him flat out: listen, man, when my kid died, I had to see the body before I could grieve. A raven has told Rhaenyra that her son is dead. She needs to know it for certain.
Because Rhaenyra took off. She jumped on her dragon and left. Daemon’s having a hard time dealing with it, but he’s dealing with it for the most part.
She flies to Storm’s End, more or less looking for any remnant of Arrax, and what she comes across is some fishermen who found a wing. She finds a cloak. It’s enough for her to grieve.
When she comes home she says one thing. “I want Aemond Targaryen.” It’s all she says, and it’s all she needs to say. Daemon literally takes that as his permission, and he goes to put some things in motion.
The Green Side, Where None of It’s Good
You get both sides in this show, the green side and the black side, and everything I just described is the black side. Over on the green side there’s a whole lot happening, and none of it’s good.
Alicent is sleeping with Ser Criston Cole. He’s got this weird, twisted way about him. He’s soiling that white cloak everywhere. That boy doesn’t know how to keep it in his pants and it’s terrible. I’m just like, bro, stop it. Stop the madness. She ends up telling him “we cannot again,” and he’s like, okay, whatever.
Meanwhile she’s juggling everything. She’s at the small council and her son, the king, comes in dragging his kid along with him. I guess there are reasons for that. His own dad was no kind of dad to him. He spent all his time raising up Rhaenyra when he was younger, so he never really took that time with Aegon. So Aegon’s trying his best, even though he’s a terrible, terrible king. He’s a kid playing at king. He lets his boy run around the room, and he almost makes the master of coin give his son a pony ride, which is hilarious and demeaning all at the same time.
Nobody’s listening to her and she’s getting frustrated. She finally has a word with her father: if you want me to have any kind of sway over these boys, this has gone to the next level and nobody seems to understand that. Her father’s using the whole thing as an opportunity. He’s saying it’s going to end in violence, so let’s get to it. He wants that.
And she’s telling him he doesn’t understand. Deep down, even though she’s a woman of faith, such as it is, she’s still trying to hold on to some grasp of a relationship with her childhood best friend. She doesn’t realize that’s all done. There’s no more of that. This is all going to go down, and it’s going to go down something fierce.
There’s one more little thing on this side. The king’s wife, Helaena, is sitting there sort of dreamy, not all the way with it, and she says to him:
“I’m afraid.”
“Don’t be. They’d be fools to come with Vhagar protecting the city.”
“Not the dragons. The rats.”
Call it Chekhov’s rat, because clearly it’s going to come in handy, and you do see rat catchers running around the castle.
A Son for a Son
There’s a gal we knew from last season who was an informant, if you will. She gets captured on a boat by the blockade, and Daemon has her cornered. She tells him to go scheme with someone else. She doesn’t care. She’s tired. She’s over it. Daemon says he’ll give her freedom, he wants information. He finds out the rat catchers can get in, and he gets a specific name.
So who decides to sneak back into King’s Landing like a boss? Daemon. And I’m like, bro, you realize even with the hood on, your hair’s all hanging out. Y’all are the only ones with the platinum blonde hair. What are you doing?
Apparently there’s someone at one particular gatehouse who’s loyal to them. He conscripts that guy, he conscripts the rat catcher, and he throws money at them. A son for a son. He wants them to find Aemond and kill him in his sleep. It doesn’t matter what it takes. That’s the intent.
These two geniuses sneak in, and once they’re inside you find out the rat catcher is a lower level rat catcher. Apparently the royal side of the castle has its own rat catchers. The big burly guy isn’t hearing it, so up the stairs they go.
They creep through and they can’t find what they’re looking for. They can’t find Aemond. What they come across is Helaena, the queen, and her twins, a boy and a girl. I’ve heard this deviates a little bit from the book, but they essentially threaten to kill her and tell her to point out the boy, right now. A son for a son. Who cares if it’s not the one they came for. Who better than the heir?
She points out her son. It happens off camera.
That’s the dark place. I’m not going to say it. It’s just terrible.
Helaena grabs her daughter, who they haven’t touched, and runs right into Alicent’s chamber while Alicent and Criston Cole are, I don’t know, going for a ride, if you will. It’s so bad, and Helaena doesn’t even care what she’s walked in on. They did it. They killed him. They’re here.
And Alicent knows. Oh, she knows.
That’s where the episode ends.
The Verdict
House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 1 gets a 9 out of 10 on the Know-It-All Index, and that’s strictly so I have someplace to go.
This is a solid start. I tell you what, we’re going to have a hard time this season, because I’m going to have to find ways to be way more critical. I don’t remember an episode last season I didn’t like, and I remember getting about two-thirds of the way through it regretting that I hadn’t been reviewing it.
I can’t wait to see everything this show has to offer. I think it’s going to get way darker and way rougher before it gets even remotely close to finished.
If you’ve read the books and I got something wrong up there, I want to hear it. Correct me, and tell me what you thought of the premiere. The conversation lives in the comments on the video above.
