By: Kelly Kearney
Last week we saw Jace attempt to protect his mother from what he assumed was a trap set by Alicent and the Greens. He ordered her loyal servant to lock her inside the castle while he and Baela flew off to the Gullet to help Corlys take on the Triarchy. Unfortunately, his ego was bigger than his dragon riding skills, and he and his dragon Vermax wound up dead, circling the drain of the battle-torn sea. Episode 2 picks up where we left off: in the aftermath of a broken blockade, a missing Sea Snake, and another dead prince, only fueling the fire burning in the Queen’s heart. “Queen’s Landing” sets the stage for Rhaenyra’s ascension to the throne and the brutal chaos fans of the book know is coming.
Another Dead Prince
We open on Prince Jacarery’s (Harry Collett) body floating in the water as the remaining dragons, ridden by the Targaryen sisters, continue torching what’s left of the Triarchy. It’s tying up loose ends and keeping the enemy back long enough for the prince’s body to be recovered and taken home to Dragonstone. A terrified Baela (Bethany Antonia) puts on her brave face and returns home, as Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) is reunited with her son’s body. She asks him, as if he’ll somehow answer, “What have you done?” When he doesn’t respond, she approaches him, crumbles to the floor, and cries out while pounding on his chest, “How could you do this to me?” as she begs him to wake up.
In a teary blink, her grief quickly turns to fury. She turns on Ser Marbrand (Max Wrottesley), the loyal knight who locked her away, blaming him for the death of another son. Believing he failed his Queen, he kneels before her, prepared to give his life, but Rhaenyra refuses his sword. Killing him won’t change anything; it won’t bring back Jacaerys. Instead, she unleashes a grieving, furious tirade on the entire Small Council before collapsing over her son’s body once again.
On Driftmark, still smoldering from the Triarchy’s attack, the surviving Black soldiers finally make it ashore. Out on the water, Alyn (Abubakar Salim) continues searching for his father, who disappeared beneath the waves during the battle. So far he hasn’t found anything. Battered, exhausted, and desperate, he refuses to give up on Lord Corlys (Steve Toussaint), especially now that father and son had finally begun putting the past behind them.
Exhausted from the search, he sits down with Baela to talk about Corlys, who also happens to be her grandfather/uncle. She reminds Alyn that the Sea Snake has survived impossible odds before. If anyone can cheat death again, it’s Corlys Velaryon.
And she is right because high above them, Addam (Clinton Liberty) circles aboard Seasmoke until he spots a shimmering figure washed up on a lonely rock in the Gullet. The glint of armor gives it away. The Sea Snake is alive.
Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) is also alive, even though it looks like she’s having multiple heart attacks every minute after the fiasco at the Gullet. Sheepstealer lands at the Vale, his home, while Rhaena seeks help from Lady Jeyne Arryn (Amanda Collin). She is turned away out of fear. Rumors have already spread across Westeros that the prince is dead, and it looks as though Sheepstealer may have played a role. Any involvement in Jace’s death, even accidental, would unleash Rhaenyra’s wrath.
Ironically, that’s exactly why Rhaena needs sanctuary. She believed she was helping the Blacks, but her amateur dragon riding, combined with Sheepstealer’s stubborn independence, only made things worse. Neither woman wants to be caught in the Dragon Queen’s smoke, which is why Lady Arryn orders her former ward to leave, but Rhaena makes one last appeal. If Rhaenyra comes looking for her, wouldn’t the Vale want the protection of a dragon? And who better than the dragon that already calls these mountains home? Vhagar remains a looming threat, and no one knows where she is. Sheepstealer is massive, formidable, and perhaps the only dragon left capable of standing against her. Lady Arryn finally agrees to look the other way. If anyone asks, who is she to tell a dragon where it can land?
The Trouble with Witches and Cursed Castles
After their victory over the Lannisters, Daemon (Matt Smith) and the Riverlords celebrate beside the God’s Eye by singing a delightfully morbid tune called “Fishfeed.” Named after one of the Lannister soldiers who was driven into the lake, the song serves as a sarcastic reminder of everyone’s place on the food chain. They even include Jason Lannister in the festivities—well, his head, anyway, mounted on a spike overlooking the celebration.
Ser Simon Strong (Simon Russell Beale) makes a cautious appearance, understandably nervous after their last encounter, which involved Daemon being somewhere between delusional and homicidal. He arrives bearing the finest wine from House Strong’s cellars to congratulate the prince on his victory.
The celebration comes to an abrupt halt when Daemon learns of Jacaerys’ death. Rhaenyra has summoned him back to Dragonstone to join her march on King’s Landing and reclaim the Iron Throne. He also learns Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) never made it to cursed Harrenhal, meaning there’s no reason to send the bulk of his army there. Instead, Daemon orders his forces toward King’s Landing, leaving only a small group behind to hold Harrenhal.
Before leaving, Daemon meets Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) one last time. He makes plenty of grand promises, layered with just enough condescension to remind everyone he’s still Daemon. Alys refuses whatever wealth he offers, as she wants only one thing: Harrenhal. Too bad the Queen isn’t in the business of handing haunted castles over to common witches. Daemon laughs off the request and wisely gets out of Dodge before Alys can curse him the same way someone clearly cursed that castle.
As Daemon rides back toward Dragonstone, we catch up with Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Larys (Matthew Needham), still riding in that carriage of crows after being captured by loyal Black soldiers last week. Their luck changes when the convoy is attacked by the Triarchy. Aegon jumps into the fight, yanking an arrow from a dead soldier’s chest and using it as an improvised dagger to fend off the attackers. He gets all of his pent up rage out on one soldier–stabbing him repeatedly until exhaustion. With the Triarchy keeping the Black soldiers occupied, Aegon and Larys slip away, setting their sights on Rook’s Rest. Larys questions whether this is a good idea. Returning to the place where Aegon lost both his crown and his manhood doesn’t seem wise or a mood booster. Then again, maybe this isn’t about revisiting old trauma. Maybe he’s looking for Sunfyre–his dragon. He was injured and presumed dead in the battle, but maybe he’s just off licking his wounds?
Alicent’s Next Move
Back at the Red Keep, Alicent (Olivia Cooke) continues playing four-dimensional chess, manipulating everyone she can in hopes of getting exactly what she wants: Rhaenyra on the throne while somehow keeping her own family alive through this bloody succession crisis.
She heads to the City Watch barracks, where she politely ignores all the nudity and dangling bits on full display to speak with Ser Luthor Largent (Tom Cullen). There, she puts another piece of her plan into motion by throwing Helaena (Phia Saban) squarely under the carriage. Alicent accuses her emotionally fragile daughter of secretly plotting to place the Dragon Queen on the Iron Throne. Whether Largent believes a word of it remains unclear, and it’s equally unclear whether Alicent realizes he may see right through her. Either way, she’s running out of moves if she hopes to end this war before even more blood is spilled.
Daemon’s Visions Ignite Rhaenyra’s Dragon Fire
Daemon finally makes it back to Dragonstone, where he immediately runs into Ulf (Tom Bennett) and Hugh (Kieran Bew)—who are very obviously not defending Harrenhal like they were ordered to. When they blame their insubordination on the ever-creepy Alys Rivers, claiming she told them they were needed at Dragonstone, Daemon is less than thrilled with them or by the latest game she’s playing.
His next stop is an awkward reunion with his ex, Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), who also happens to be the current love interest of his niece-wife, Rhaenyra. Keeping it in the family is the Targaryen way, so Daemon can hardly fault Rhaenyra for falling for the former sex slave. The two briefly catch up before Daemon heads to the Queen’s chambers.
Once again, he finds Rhaenyra devastated by another unimaginable loss. He tries to comfort her, but she’s growing tired of this whole chair-made-of-swords business. Every step toward the Iron Throne seems to cost her another child, another friend, another person she loves. Is her father’s crown really worth all this?
Daemon insists that it is. The Song of Ice and Fire—the prophecy King Viserys entrusted to her—is real, and if Rhaenyra abandons her claim now, the future of Westeros could die with it. He has seen the silvered haired girl in the desert feeding the three dragons hatched from Rhaenyra’s eggs.Daemon reminds her that he has seen what lies beyond the Wall. He has witnessed the icy-eyed King, the endless winter, and the darkness waiting to swallow the realm. The girl from his vision is a direct descendant of Rhaenyra’s bloodline. One day, she’ll help unite the Seven Kingdoms and free them from that frozen nightmare.Rhaenyra has to take the throne. It’s her destiny, foretold in prophecy…And, let’s be honest, across multiple seasons of HBO.
Go get your pointy chair, girl. Daenerys and Jon Snow are counting on you!
Alicent Makes Her Move
Back at the Red Keep, Ser Jasper Wylde (Paul Kennedy), the Master of Laws on King Aegon’s—now Aemond’s—Small Council, forces his way into Alicent’s bedchambers with a threatening discovery. He knows it’s her, not her daughter, plotting to allow the Dragon Queen to ascend the throne. Then, as if we need more examples of how despicably these powerful Westerosi men treat women, he attempts to force himself on her sexually. Luckily, Grand Maester Orwyle (Kurt Egyiawan), who seems to have always had Alicent’s back, saves her and orders Wylde arrested.
While Alicent is fending off attackers and accusations of treason, Rhaenyra is ignoring the outrage and protests from her Small Council to fly off with Daemon, Ulf, and Hugh toward King’s Landing.
After learning Jasper is onto her, Alicent heads to the gardens of the Red Keep, where she finds Helaena talking to herself while studying bugs. Something she mumbles about, “That’s strange… it isn’t the season,” isn’t clear now, but like all of her ramblings that turn into prophecy, it will be soon enough. Her mother has no time to untangle her daughter’s mind and make sense of it. Instead, she fills Helaena—the acting Queen—in on her plot to boot Aemond off the Iron Throne. Helaena will have to order the guards to stand down and allow Rhaenyra into the castle. Alicent then admits she misunderstood King Viserys’ final words on his deathbed. The King always intended for Rhaenyra to succeed him. Alicent was wrong to put her children first and push for Aegon to take the throne instead. With encouragement from her mother, Helaena clears the way for Rhaenyra, but she also puts on her big-girl queenly pants and proudly adds that no one is allowed to harm any beasts either.
While King’s Landing is preparing for a change in leadership, King Aemond flies to Harrenhal, where he quickly kills the group Daemon left behind to defend the castle. He then slices his way through the halls until he reunites with Criston Cole and Gwayne Hightower, who are very happy to see him—and Vhagar. Who isn’t happy to see him is Ser Simon Strong and his sons, who were rudely interrupted during dinner by all the kingly chaos. The scene is reminiscent of when Simon first met Daemon in Season 2. Just as he tried to ease Daemon’s fury back then, he makes the same attempt with his nephew, with far different results. Aemond cuts down Simon and his sons, but he doesn’t leave the fight unscathed. He takes a blade to the side, and as blood pours from the wound, Alys Rivers arrives. Is this one of her terrifying curses, or is Aemond really in trouble?
Take a Bloody Seat
Much like what’s happening at Harrenhal, Rhaenyra and Daemon descend upon the capital and make quick work of any castle guards who refuse to lay down their weapons. Many surrender, and the ones who don’t don’t live to tell the tale, thanks to Daemon’s Valyrian steel.
As they make their way toward the Iron Throne, the Kingsguard—the White Cloaks—put up a fight to defend it. They’re quickly overwhelmed by the City Watch’s Gold Cloaks, who arrive on the scene for Team Black. It makes sense. Daemon used to command the City Watch, so there’s still plenty of loyalty and camaraderie between him and their leader, Ser Luthor Largent. The power shift is firmly in Rhaenyra’s favor, but she doesn’t run up to the throne just yet. Instead, she demands that Aegon the Usurper be brought before her first.
Meanwhile, Alicent and Helaena trade their royal finery for dull commoner’s rags in an attempt to blend into the crowds and stay out of the firestorm that is this regime change. Daemon rushes to Aegon’s chambers, only to find Grand Maester Orwyle bending the knee and declaring fealty to Queen Rhaenyra. Knowing the Queen wants vengeance—and to make an example out of someone—he offers up Ser Jasper Wylde. But when Daemon heads down to the jail to collect him, he finds someone even better to satisfy his Queen’s rage. Larys Strong left him a gift: it’s Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans).
Otto is dragged before Rhaenyra, where, after one half-hearted attempt to make a clean slice, the crying and shaking queen raises Dark Sister and chops off Otto’s head. It wasn’t an easy kill. Otto was King Viserys’ loyal friend and trusted Hand. Killing him will also add huge grief stricken complications between her and Alicent. Queen’s have to make hard and unpopular decisions, and this was one of them. Unlike Daemon, who happily gives Jasper Wylde the very same treatment and doesn’t even allow him his last words. Nobody is sweating over that guy’s death.
Now standing over the elder Hightower’s body, Rhaenyra with blood-soaked footsteps, cautiously ascends the steps to the Iron Throne and takes her seat. Her tears start to dry, her mood shifts with the weight of this action, until the guards drag Alicent and Helaena into the room. Alicent takes one look at the blood pooling around her headless father’s body, and looks up in confusing rage at an almost sheepish Queen who is trying to hide her guilt with bravado. The fight between Black and Green isn’t over, but for now, The Queen has claimed her kingdom, and the Song of Fire sings its first note.