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House of the Dragon recap: episode six – TV deaths don’t get more gruesome than this | Television

September 27, 2022

Spoiler alert: This recap is for people who watch House of the Dragon. Don’t read on unless you’ve watched episode six.

‘Let’s put aside these childish quarrels

It was always going to come to this. After five hours of intermittently thrilling, sometimes turgid courtly drama, HBO released its big switcheroo. For many, this will come as no surprise. The producers didn’t exactly announce that a major time jump was coming (10 years, in fact), or that the key young actors were about to be replaced by older actors. But they didn’t hide it either. The question was: would this bet pay off? Would a new cast breathe new life into the proceedings, or would that feel weird and off-putting?

The episode begins with a painful birth – and it won’t be the last. This time it’s Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) in the birthing bed, surrounded by midwives as she pushes what we’ll soon learn is her third son, apparently by her wringing husband. hands, Laenor Velaryon (John Macmillan). But she hasn’t even passed the birth before a summons arrives: Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke) wants to inspect the child right away. Rhaenyra isn’t about to lose sight of him, so off she goes through the Red Keep, painful step by step, with the child in her arms and Laenor flailing at her side.

‘I think he has his father’s nose’

Emma D'Arcy as the Elder Rhaenyra. — Summoned to see the Queen seconds after giving birth… Emma D’Arcy as the eldest Rhaenyra. Photography: HBO

Already, things look different. Milly Alcock was a formidable young Rhaenyra but D’Arcy is a force of nature, determined and relentless. But every unstoppable force needs a still object, and that’s Cooke as Alicent. As the pair come face to face in the Queen’s Chambers, we can feel every minute of those intervening years, a decade of mistrust, backbiting and jockeying for position. Not that King Viserys (Paddy Considine, in ominously convincing old-age makeup) isn’t noticing any of this; he is simply happy to meet his new grandson and proud that one day his beloved daughter will follow him to the Iron Throne, and his eldest son after her.

And here is the boy in question: the young prince Jacaerys Velaryon (Leo Hart) accompanied by his little brother Lucerys (Harvey Sadler), escorted by a burly swordsman who bears a distinct resemblance to both. It’s about City Watch commander Ser Harwin “Breakbones” Strong (Ryan Corr), who has been Rhaenyra’s lover since her affair with Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) tragically ended. Royal children with questionable parentage were, of course, a common thread in Game of Thrones, and this program seems likely to follow – a repetitive mite, perhaps? Still, given that a common bone of contention for dragon haters is that this show isn’t good enough like its predecessor, maybe that’s a good thing.

‘You are the challenge, Aegon’

The new Joffrey Batatheon? …Ty Tennant as Prince Aegon Targaryen with Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole in House of the Dragon. — The new Joffrey Baratheon? …Ty Tennant as Prince Aegon Targaryen with Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole in House of the Dragon. Photography: HBO

It’s not long before we meet another character giving off powerful GoT vibes: Alicent and Viserys’ son, Prince Aegon Targaryen (Ty Tennant). With his blonde locks and resentful temper, he echoes both the petulant exile Prince Viserys Targaryen and the child tyrant Joffrey Baratheon, whose untimely death robbed the star of its best villain. After teasing his dragonless younger brother Prince Aemond (Leo Ashton) by fitting wings to a pig, Aegon then appears proudly masturbating from his bedroom window on the rooftops of King’s Landing. For skeptics, this has to be the series’ most heartwarming GoT scene so far, one that’s shocking, hilarious, and beautifully illuminating when it comes to the character.

We learn more about Aegon later in the training yard, where both sets of boys are tested by Ser Criston – who, it seems, faced no punishment for his brutal murder of Ser Joffrey Lonmouth one episode and 10 years earlier. Was it thanks to Alicent’s sponsorship, or did he make up a story to excuse his behavior? Either way, the years have made Ser Criston bitter: he hates Rhaenyra with the passion of a rejected lover, and that hatred extends not just to his children but to the optimistic Ser Harwin. It’s another superb character-building scene, with the king’s presence on the ramparts echoing that of Ned Stark in the very first episode of Thrones. But where Ned was a wise and observant father, Viserys is just a bewildered old man, hoping that these very different boys can all get along.

‘The wise sailor flees the storm as it gathers’

This will never happen, because not only is Aegon a bully, but his mother is behind him the whole time. Alicent has become a mistress of whispers, letting the court know that Laenor is not the father of Rhaenyra’s children. His co-conspirator is Larys Strong (Matthew Needham), brother of Ser Harwin and son of Lord Lyonel, the Hand of the King, who tries to quit when the dreadful rumors start flying. But Viserys refuses to let him go, so Lyonel takes the next best step to remove Harwin from court and send him back to the family seat of Harrenhal: a chance for the show to stretch its legs with a welcome visit to a familiar place.

Not that this installment is as tied to Red Keep as its predecessors. Because ultimately, there’s a real side story that develops: the travels of Prince Daemon (Matt Smith), who seems to have spent 10 years criss-crossing the straits, crashing into the mansions of various Free City nobles, leaning on old books and selling his flying, fire-breathing services to the highest bidder. It even has a family in tow: the fearsome Laena Velaryon (Nanna Blondell) and their two daughters – one, Baela, a dragon rider; the other, Rhaena, hoping to be.

‘There’s more than one way to get attached to a dragon’

Laena Velaryon (Nanna Blondell) in House of the Dragon. — Choosing a way out… Nanna Blondell as Laena Velaryon in House of the Dragon. Photography: HBO

The issue of dragon riding is clearly going to be another big topic, and it’s an intriguing one: who’s worth it and who isn’t, and what effect does that have on their image? self ? It remains to be seen whether little Rhaena will still want to ride after the fate that awaits her mother. This is the episode’s second and far darker nativity, as Laena realizes that neither she nor her unborn child will survive the birthing process and decides instead to die quickly, by a fire of dragon.

It’s a brutal scene, but not quite as shocking as what’s happening half a continent in Westeros, as three speechless ex-convicts set fire to one of Harrenhal’s towers, burning both Ser Harwin and Lord Lyonel on his own orders. son, Larys, who should now inherit the lot. Alice’s shock at this development is telling – she’s a schemer, sure, but she hasn’t fully become Cersei yet, and the fact that her closest aide has just brought down her entire family is still a surprise. good news.

All that remains is for Rhaenyra to reclaim her family and travel to Dragonstone, there to rally supporters to her cause and set the stage for the real wars to come. It’s a wonderfully fitting ending to House of the Dragon’s most enjoyable episode yet, utterly compelling proof of the time-jumping concept for the showrunners.

Additional notes

It should be noted that this still is not the final cast of the series. Several of the younger actors, including the children of Rhaenyra and Alicent, are set to change again at some undetermined point in the future.

There’s been some grumbling about the show’s visual effects so far, but the dragons in this episode looked amazing, from an edge-of-the-seat dragon-taming lesson with the scaly Vermax and juvenile to the vast monster of Laena. , Vhagar.

His role may have been to hide in the shadow of his wife, Rhaenyra, but Laenor promises to be a fascinating character in his own right, a once-proud man battered by his years at court and desperate to return to the ground. Excellent played by Macmillan as the ultimate third wheeler, he was pathetic in both senses of the word.

The death of Ser Lyonel and the departure of Rhaenyra leaves the door wide open for the return of that master plotter, Alicent’s father, Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), as King’s Hand. Larys, too, seems eager to find the old dog, but how will these two ruthless strategists play against each other? Will Larys’ methods prove too bloodthirsty, even for Otto?

Number of nudity

A brief flash of Prince Aegon’s royal butt aside, everyone was a little too busy plotting to get into anything recreational.

violence matters

Makes Daemon look like a responsible member of society… Matthew Needham as Larys Strong in House of the Dragon. Photography: HBO

Heated horseplay between prince and prince in the training yard was followed by a nasty ruck between Ser Harwin and Ser Criston, but the real culprit this week was Larys Strong. Not content with detonating three convicts, he then sent them to get rid of his own brother and father. Compared to that, even Daemon looks like a responsible member of society.

Random Brit of the Week

When the cast changes again, I’ll be sad to see Ty Tennant’s back, as snipey thrower Prince Aegon. He was an absolute joy here, smiling and in control in the best GoT tradition. Still, Tennant will be fine: Not only is his father, David, a former doctor, but he already has a regular gig in an Anglo-French adaptation of HG Wells’ War of the Worlds (starring Gabriel Byrne) which is apparently in its infancy. third series. Is it just me, or has this show totally flown under the radar? It looks fun!