House of the Dragon – King of the Narrow Sea

By: Kelly Kearney

Well, it finally happened. The moment we all knew was coming from the second we saw Daemon Targaryen fiddle with his teenage Niece’s necklace in the premiere episode. If you know anything about the Targaryens or the Game of Thrones universe, then you know the toe-headed dragon riders loved to “keep it in the family” so to speak. This week, Daemona and Rhaenyra joined the ranks of incestuous monarchs that somehow get the fans cheering for more. Call it fiery chemistry in a world without rules, or just a plot device to muddy the waters of the Targaryen loyalties, but the uncle and niece hook-up is here and King Viserys is livid. Let’s dive in and see what all this incestuous romance and political plotting is all about.

Take My Daughter…Please!

After telling Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) she had to marry but may choose her own partner, King Viserys (Paddy Considine) sent his oldest daughter and heir on a husband-finding mission to several locations in the realm. When the fourth episode begins, we see the Princess in a grand hall full of suitors vying for her attention. The first to offer her their hand in marriage is an elderly man, followed by a young boy–both of whom make Rhaenyra laugh and then bail on the whole courtship fiasco. As she leaves with her escort and friend. Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), one of the young suitors who was mocked by the other men draws his sword, plunging it into the soft belly of the men who mocked him. It’s the perfect chaotic end to this husband- circus, and even though Rhaenyra was ordered on to this mission, she tells Criston to ready her ship back to King’s Landing. She is so over this whole thing. 

As they approach King’s Landing, Rhaenyra hears that familiar sound coming from the sky above her long before we see Daemon (Matt Smith) and his dragon, Caraxes, come swooping past her ship. His flyby knocks the Princess’ ship crew down but puts a smile on her face. The outcast brother turned war hero has returned to the Keep–no doubt to cheers from the citizens and simmering jealousies from his brother, the King. 

Jumping over to the throne room where everyone hurries to get a peek at the man who single-handedly brought the Crab Feeder and his army to their knees…or claws. King Viserys looms over the room from his iron throne waiting for Daemon to make his entrance and spots his disobedient daughter, who should not be standing in the Keep. Who is a King without the power of his word? Both his brother and daughter keep testing this theory with their rebellious ways but Viserys doesn’t have time to reprimand her because Daemon comes marching into the hall wearing what can only be described as a crown made of crab legs. He tosses the Crab Feeder’s sword at his brother’s feet and says, “add it to the chair,”  meaning the iron throne made up of the swords of their enemies. It’s an entrance that feels more like a royal snub than a welcome home– with a giant helping of ego that seems to be Daemon’s entire personality. His brother’s only response is to question the Daemon’s headgear and is a bit taken aback when the response is, “once we smashed the Triarchy, they named me the King of the Narrow Sea.” Talk about sibling rivalry! No crown could fit on that over-inflated head of Daemon’s, but he realizes his brother isn’t amused by his Kingly declaration and bends the knee saying Viserys is the one true King. “My crown and my Stepstones, are yours,” he says as if he had any rights to them, to begin with. Maybe the distance helped to soothe the King’s anger because surprisingly he takes all of this posturing in stride and pulls his brother aside to get an update on the Crab Feeder. Daemon lets him know that Lord Corlys sailed back to Driftmark, but not before leaving two thousand of the Crab Feeder’s men staked to the beach as a warning to anyone thinking of invading the Stepstones in the future. This legendary victory makes it hard for Viserys to publicly punish his wayward brother, so the two share a tense moment of glares before the one true King removes Daemon’s DIY crown and embraces his brother.  Everyone in the throne room cheers as it seems all is well between the brothers…sort of, at least publicly it is. Privately, Daemon still sees himself as the strong and rightful heir to the throne and no amount of handshaking from the King will change that. As for Viserys, he seems to have moved on from his anger at Daemon and gets drunk at the welcome home party. Rhaenyra, on the other hand, is livid for disobeying his orders and returning home without a husband. He won’t even speak to her at the party but his teen-bride, Alicent (Emily Carey) does and has a good laugh about all the men Rhaenyra tossed aside in her search for a mate. Rhaenyra responds with a passive aggressive dig about “how romantic it must be to get imprisoned in a castle and squeeze out heirs…”OUCH! She might have been talking about herself but she made sure to let Alicent know she also meant her marriage to the King. All shade aside, the two on-again, off-again friends admit they’ve missed each other and leave their husband-talk for another time. 

Incest is Best if You’re a Targaryen

With her father not speaking to her Rhaenyra tracks down her flirty uncle to ask why he’s returned, but he’s tight-lipped and claims he was just homesick. She notices the time away has suited him, and not just because he got a stylish new hairdo, but because he seems more mature. He says the same about her, and the sparks start to fly between the two as they both shamelessly check the other out. It is decidedly not familial and overly flirtatious which doesn’t set off any red flags between them, not like it would outside of the George R.R. Martin world. 

The two make their way to High Valyrian and get on the topic of spouses – mostly Daemon’s and how much he hates his abandoned wife. He feeds into Rhaenyra’s negativity over marriage by referring it to a life sentence for women that often turns into a death sentence,  as she saw with her mother, Aemma. He knows Rhaenyra has no interest in marrying just to pump out heirs and counsels the Princess–who plans to live a solitary life, to go live it up now because life is short and we only get one. 

Elsewhere, at a meeting with the Small Counsel, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), who is less than impressed with Daemon’s grand entrance to the Keep, just found out Lord Corlys still hasn’t gotten over the Viserys choosing Alicent over his daughter, Laena. He is so salty that the Sea Snake has joined forces with the Sea Lord of Braavos and given Laena to the man’s son. Otto is worried if these two bloodlines combine Viserys will have to “seek out our own marriage pact,” presumably to stay in power without more claims to his throne. 

Back at the Keep. Rhaenyra returns from her secret meeting with Daemon to find a bag of commoners’ clothes and a map pointing her to a secret door in her bedroom wall. She throws on the new garb– including a hat to hide her hair–and follows the corridor behind the hidden door until she makes her way outside the castle. Once beyond the Keep, she finds her uncle in disguise and itching to show her what he meant about living her best life. He escorts her through the seedier parts of King’s Landing, where sex orgies and comedic plays about the royals both entertain and shock the young Princess. She has been sheltered  by her royal blood and Daemon is going out of his way to show her how the other half lives. Besides the public sex– thats very illuminating, Rhaenyra finds out the locals think their Princess is a joke. Daemon tells her Aegon is the popular choice for heir, and while that stings a bit, Rhaenyra shrugs it off  like their opinions do not matter. Her uncle reminds her that if she plans to be their Queen, their support will be needed. 

Drunk on freedom, Rhaenyra is having the night of her life. In her excitement, she steals from a local vendor and gets caught by a castle guard, who not only recognizes her but Daamon too but makes a point to call her “boy” and leave the two escapees to their own devices. That run in will come back to haunt her later, but for now, the niece and uncle make their way to a brothel where nudity and sex blow the Princess’ mind. She asks Daemon what kind of place it is and he responds with “where people take what they want.” Little does she know that what Daemon wants is Rhaenyra in his bed and out of favor for the throne! He lets her know that marriage is a contract that doesn’t keep people from experiencing life outside of it. He is mostly talking about himself, who is married but starts kissing his niece up against a wall for anyone in the brothel to see! Things escalate to the point Rhaenyra’s shirt is opened, her pants wind up around her knees, and her hair untucks from her hat signaling to everyone that a blonde princess is in their midst. At that point something happens to Daemon (maybe he has second thoughts about seducing his brother’s daughter) and before the two can seal the XXX-deal he pushes back and leaves Rhaenyra half naked and questioning what just happened. With her blonde hair flowing, the Princess calls out to her uncle by name, catching the ear of a local boy (Toby Dixon) who recognizes them both. 

Pure Lies

Back at the Red Keep, Rhaenyra’s bestie Alicent is having her own sexually deviant night as we see her lying emotionless–staring at the ceiling while her elderly and sore infested husband thrusts his Kingly member between her legs. It’s a disturbing image of exactly the future Rhaenyra doesn’t want; to become a vessel for birthing royal heirs. 

Elsewhere in the castle, Ser Criston Cole is shocked when he discovers Rhaenyra slipped past his watch and has returned home in a rather playful mood. She steals his helmet and plays keep away until she can lure the attractive Knight into her bedchambers. Apparently, Cole is going to finish what her uncle started, as Rhaenyra starts to undress him all the way down to his white shift–a symbol of virtue and celibacy that all Knights swear to. It isn’t long before Ser Criston ditches his vows and falls into bed with the virginal Princess. Cue the little boy who saw her in the brothel, who also works for Daemon’s girlfriend Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno)! The boy tracks down Otto Hightower to tell him he saw the Princess and heir to the Iron Throne’s petals get plucked by her unfaithful uncle in a brothel! When Otto tells the King, Viserys just can’t wrap his head around what the Hand is telling him, until the term “coupling” makes it very clear that his brother took his daughter to a “pleasure house” for a bit of the old Targaryen incest-in and out. Viserys cannot believe it and accuses Otto of not only lying, but doing so to oust Rhaenyra from the throne making a clear path for his grandson to replace her. He orders Otto out of his sight, but from the shadows Alicent hears it all and tracks down her friend to ask her point blank if what Otto said was true. Of course, Rhaenyra lies and even attempts to pull rank by threatening Alicent with treason for questioning her word. She regales the Queen with the sanitized stories of the activities from the previous night. She claims she was just a spectaor, nothing more, and Daemon left her behind to hook up with a sex worker. She even goes as far as to swear on her mother’s grave that the Prince never touched her and her declarations seem to convince Alicent that this was all a misunderstanding. She does;a however, reprimand Rhaenyra for ever putting herself in a situation where rumors could make their way to the King.

While Alicent is reprimanding Rhaenyra, Viserys has a drunk Daemon dragged to his throne room to answer for what he’s done, and shockingly, the Prince doesn’t deny defiling his niece! In fact, he tells his brother he wants to marry her and, “return the House of the Dragon to its proper glory.” Not with Viserys daughter he’s not! The King banishes Daemon from the Vale forever and no Crab Feeder glory can change his mind.

Later, Alicent tells her husband that Rhaenyra swore nothing happened with Daemon and she believes her. This seems to settle her husband’s simmering rage and he calls on his daughter for a meeting to discuss her punishment for embarrassing the crown with these rumors. He orders her to marry Ser Laenor Velaryon and unite the Dragon Houses and naval fleets. This will strengthen their hold in the Stepstones and Narrow Sea while soothing Lord Coryls’ ire over choosing Alicent over his daughter for Queen. Rhaenyra agrees, but points out that it isn’t just her who is risking the throne, but Otto Hightower too, who undermined his King in the hopes of pushing Aegon to the throne. She tells her father she will unite the houses in marriage but he has to do his part to protect the throne by getting rid of Otto once and for all. 

The King does just that when he calls Otto to the Small Council room and accuses him of manipulating his grief after Aemma’s death by shoving Alicent in his path. His advice is tainted by a thirst for power and so, King Viserys removes the King’s Hand pin from his jacket and tells him his service is no longer needed. If he can’t trust the Hand’s word, the Hand is worthless. After dealing with Otto, King Viserys sends the Master (David Horovitch) to Rhaenyra’s room with a cup of tea that is supposed to induce an abortion. She might’ve convinced Alicent she was still pure, but the King is not naive and knows his daughter isn’t an innocent maiden any longer.