By: Kelly Kearney
As the Rivermen and Winter Wolves make their way to Tumbleton, Queen Rhaenyra’s problems are mounting. Divided between Mysaria and Daemon’s visions, Rhaenyra is determined to end this contest for her throne once and for all. With news that her half-sister, Helaena, is a dreamer, Rhaenyra might have a reason to keep her alive until she prevails.
Meanwhile, Alicent lands at Harrenhal to kill her son, Aemond, while her other son Aegon is joined by an old friend. It’s dreams and dragonfire in this week’s House of the Dragon.
The Dreamer
We open with Helaena (Phia Saban) in the Red Keep’s courtyard with a grey horse. When the doors open, bathing the room in a warm golden light, she hears the queen calling her name. It’s all a dream and the Queen is standing over her bed asking if Aemond asked her to ride into battle with him. She admits he did but she wasn’t interested in riding dragons as they change people. Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) doesn’t feel changed, and Helaena can barely contain herself with her inner, “are you sure about that, sister, who is lurking over my bed staring at me like she might rip this crown heir from my belly and feed it to her dragons?”
Rhaenyra claims all she wants is an end to this contest for her throne, but even their father knew dragons came with fire, and that fire burned the souls of their riders. It’s why he chose peace instead of dragons and fear, and his kingdom reflected that.
More important than what Aemond is up to is Rhaenyra’s new-found interest in her sister, the dreamer. She asks what Helaena dreamt the night before, but “a grey mare” isn’t the answer she was hoping for. Rhaenyra straps on a smiling, cordial face but continues to pressure her bedridden sister with more details. Did she see Daemon? The Winter Wolves? Anything about Ormund? Heleana doesn’t know how to answer and just turns her head from the increasingly agitated queen. That’s when the nice sister act is dropped and Rhaenyra angrily grabs Helaena demanding she tells her the future. With a rage-filled, tear-quivering voice, the queen demands to know if the gods want her to win this fight and secure her reign. Helaena quietly looks away as Rhaenyra notices her own tight grip on the girl and finally sees the dragon change her sister warned her about.
Next, we head to Harrenhal, where Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) is trying to prepare for battle, but his wounds aren’t helping his sword fighting. Alicent (Olivia Cooke) arrives, and he is surprised—and happy—to see her when she announces that “The city has fallen. You are all I have left,” and then the two kiss and embrace. After some not-safe-for-the-family-photo-ops kissing, the curious Aemond asks about Aegon, who he learns is most likely dead. Alicent confesses she did all she could to protect all of her children, and then grasps her son’s chin and asks if she failed him. Aemond would never admit this and the two fall into that familiar Game of Thrones incestous embrace. In the middle of their hook-up, Alicent whispers into her son’s ear, “In this moment, I will give you a son,” and that’s when common sense and genetics kicks in. The idea freaks the usual game for mummy, son, out and he pushes her off of him and takes off out of his bedchamber. It was all a dream and his mother has only just arrived with news from King’s Landing.
Meanwhile, the Winter Wolves are gaining ground carrying Cole’s (Fabien Frankel) head on a stake like a battle flag. According to Gwayne (Freddie Fox), they are only two days away from Tumbleton, but Ormund (James Norton) isn’t worried. He has a plan to bring the queen to her knees. Gwayne, however, seems to be working on a plan of his own.
Speaking of side-quests, Daemon (Matt Smith) lands in the Vale and demands to see Rhaena (Phoebe Camobell). He pleads with a choked-out “please” for Lady Jeyne (Amanda Collin) to give him one day to rein his daughter in. Rhaena promised to stay hidden, but the townspeople have been whispering about the girl in the mountains ever since she’s been flying off searching for Vhagar. The last Jeyne heard, there was a sighting near Fairmarket. Daemon doesn’t even let her finish before taking off to find his daughter.
The Search for Vhagar Continues
When we catch up with Daemon’s other daughter, Baela (Bethany Antonia), she and her partner in the skies, Addam (Clinton Liberty), continue their search for Vhagar. They remain two days behind her, and the hunt has been exhausting. While taking a short rest on the ground, Addam asks Baela for a favor. He hopes she would speak to the queen on his behalf about legitimizing him and Alyn as Velaryons. Too bad for him, that disaster at the Gullet means Lady Baela isn’t in any position to ask the grieving queen for anything. Addam then wonders if her father, Daemon, might have some sway. He turns on the charm—obviously smitten with Baela—until she mentions his brother, the man she was recently kissing. Addam had no idea, and when he realizes his brother and the woman he has feelings for might be an item, his smile turns to confused disappointment. The moment is interrupted by the distant cry of a dragon. “Is it Vhagar?” Addam asks. It isn’t, but that doesn’t mean danger isn’t flying in the skies.
Back at Harrenhal, Aemond wakes from his sexy, incestuous dreams to find his mother has arrived with news from King’s Landing. Rhaenyra has taken the throne, and Ser Adrian Redfort (Barry Sloane)—who Alicent claims remained loyal to the Greens but is actually sworn to Queen Rhaenyra—helped her escape and kept her safe from the wild men roaming the forests. She insists that without him, she would be dead.
Aemond quickly grabs her face, frightening her as if he isn’t buying a word of her story. She softens and tries to sell the grieving mother routine with, “You’re all I have now.” Her flirtatious desperate act works because Targaryen men are powerless to their mommy issues.
He may not have it out for his mother, but he storms outside to thank Ser Adrian with a dagger to the throat. Alicent is horrified, but there are secrets at Harrenhal that cannot be trusted with strangers. That’s when Alys (Gayle Rankin) arrives to announce dinner is served.
Speaking of dinner, the Sea Snake (Steve Toussaint) has a few lives left because he is back and sitting at the dinner table in Tumbleton, where he’s questioning what Ormund is up to. His men dragged Corlys to the Hightower stronghold, and the Hand wants to know why.
Ormund offers the Sea Snake pigeon pie and a chance to join his little “oust the queen” endeavor. Without their leader, the men of Driftmark won’t venture to King’s Landing, leaving Team Black vulnerable, and the city will “again eat of its own disorder.” When Daeron (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) asks how that helps keep the Winter Wolves away from Tumbleton, Ormund’s creepy smile fades, and rage simmers beneath the surface. As he picks at his meal and leans into his newfound vegetarianism, he questions what Corlys sees in the Targaryens. He understands loyalty to his wife’s bloodline, but she is dead, and he knows dragons always devour their own. Why lower himself to their—what Ormund sees as—lesser blood?
The mention of his wife has Corlys on his feet. Rather than die in chains trying to strangle the life out of the sarcastic, pompous Hightower, he asks to be taken back to his cell. Ormund agrees, but then grabs a cleaver from the table and asks Corlys for one more favor. The look on his face says it will be anything but pleasant for the man who has been dodging the Grim Reaper all season.
“He Gave Himself to the Dust”
Daeron takes his Ormund concerns to Gwayne, questioning what kind of king he is to allow an impotent madman to get them all killed. The Winter Wolves are coming, and Ormund—like Criston Cole—seems to have a death wish, or an ego too big to see reality. Gwayne explains how Cole “gave himself to the dust” because power can be a delusion that can’t outrun reality. They are staring down the sword of Rhaenyra’s army, and Gwayne doesn’t see a way out of it. Daeron wonders, as king, if he can simply demand his army lay down their swords, but Gwayne points out that they would still end up on the gallows. He suggests the young King fly away on his dragon, but Daeron knows that won’t stop Ormund. Besides, who would shelter a cowardly king who abandoned his own men to die? He’s realizing how insignificant he truly is, dragon or not, “Rhaenyra can keep the crown for all I care.”
In the Red Keep, Rhaenyra listens to Torrhen Manderly (Dan Fogler) complain about the people blaming him for their poverty. The anger has even reached his daughter, who was accosted by the furious smallfolk. The queen questions how this is her problem to fix, and Manderly reminds her she was the one who dumped the city’s financial crisis in his lap. She flips his outrage back on him and asks what he has actually done to fix the issue. Once again, he’s stunned by her blame. He finally realizes he was nothing more than her scapegoat. At that, Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) and Grand Maester Orwyle (Kurt Egyiawan) quietly look away because that was exactly their plan all along.
The queen then changes the subject and asks Alyn (Abubakar Salim) if there’s any word from his father, but Lord Corlys has gone silent. They have no idea he has been captured by Ormund. There’s also no word from Alicent at Harrenhal or from Daemon, who appears to be on a secret side quest and, once again, disobeying his wife’s commands. Rhaenyra is growing frustrated and agitated by the power she has that somehow still isn’t enough to intimidate people into obeying her.
When LadySabitha Frey (Sarah Woodward) redirects the queen’s attention to Harrenhal, reminding her the entire reason she’s on the small council is because she was promised the castle if Ser Adrian succeeded in killing Aemond. The queen cuts her off and tells her to take the haunted castle. She orders her to gather her remaining men and march for Harrenhal.
That’s when Addam and Baela interrupt the small council meeting to alert Rhaenyra to the strange sight they witnessed. The dragon they spotted was Sheepstealer—and he has a new rider. They couldn’t catch up to him or see who was sitting on the dragon’s back, but add this to the long list of problems facing this newly throned queen..
Stunned, she leaves the council chamber with Mysaria, who points out that the head Daemon dropped on Rhaenyra’s table wasn’t Sheepstealer’s rider or the person who killed Prince Jace. He spent a long time in the Riverlands, lied about that head, and has now disappeared on a mission of his own. To Mysaria, all signs point to one thing: he’s a traitor to the crown. Of course, Mysaria—the queen’s trusted adviser and lover—would be more than happy to kick Daemon to the curb and become Rhaenyra’s one and only. The queen can’t believe Daemon would turn on her, as he swore to serve her. Mysaria tells Rhaenyra she knows him to be a liar—takes one to know one—and wonders if there’s anything he could do that Rhaenyra wouldn’t defend. That truth strikes a nerve, and Rhaenyra quietly turns her attention to Ser Addam and asks for him to come to her chambers.
You Don’t Have to Go to Home But You Cannot Stay Here
Next, we catch up with Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), Larys (Matthew Needham), and Tyland (Jefferson Hall) on horseback as they make their way to Braavos. Tyland still thinks Casterly Rock is the safer option, but the usurper refuses to listen. Braavos is where they are safest to fly under the queen’s radar. As they make their way down the road the three run into a group fleeing in the opposite direction. Whatever is causing this migration has the men worried. A local tells them an army, thousands strong, is making its way toward the region, and the men would be better off turning around while they still can.
Stubborn, Aegon chooses to stay the course, wondering if Rhaenyra knows where he is. Soon, the road becomes clogged with refugees, making it impassable. They know they can’t return to Rook’s Rest because Aegon might have been discovered, and they can’t continue to Braavos without being killed. The three are at a standstill and Tyland must be thinking, “I told you Casterly Rock was the smarter choice.”
Over at Harrenhal, Alicent lost her appetite after watching Ser Adrian die at the hands of her bloodthirsty son. Alys points out that her journey surely worked up an appetite, prompting the Queen Dowager to fake it by pushing food around her plate. The subject changes to how Aemond and Alys came together. Aemond explains to his curious mother how Alys saved his life, and the two plan to remain at Harrenhal, making the haunted castle the seat from which he will rule. Alicent is still confused, since Rhaenyra has six dragons and remains a threat to every Hightower from her throne. Aemond smirks at his mother’s concern, and admits he isn’t worried about dragons ridden by commoners. The new riders weakened her power, and in time, she will destroy herself. Until then, he and Alys will lie low, building a legacy in the Riverlands behind the haunted walls of Harrenhal. They will wait until Rhaenyra’s inevitable fall and when the time comes, reclaim his throne.
“A new dawn is coming. A new line of unsullied kings,” he says as he takes Alys’ hand. He then reaches for Alicent’s hand and tells her she will stay with them. This is news to Alys, who isn’t about to let her new mother-in-law move in. She suggests Alicent return to Oldtown and that’s when Aemond cuts her off. He insists there’s nothing left for her there; he is all she has left. Cue Alys’ eye roll. She rises from the table, clearly annoyed that Alicent has invaded her nest,but Aemond puts his foot down. He orders his mother to stay, and heads outside to chop more wood for the fire.
While he works, Alys follows and gives him an earful for ignoring her wishes. She sees right through Alicent’s lies and tells Aemond his mother can’t be trusted. He’s always had mommy issues—desperate to be her number one boy—so he can’t see it. Alys tries a different angle claiming their future never included his mother. That’s when Aemond realizes she wants him all to herself. While that may be true, and for reasons less about love and more about haunted real estate, Alys genuinely believes Alicent is a threat and has come to do him harm. When she warns him, Aemond turns on her and warns her she should keep her mouth shut. “You Targaryen boys all want the same thing, don’t you?” she fires back.
Meanwhile, Alicent rushes outside and finds herself standing before the weirwood tree where Ser Adrian’s body lies. She retrieves his dagger from beneath his coat before pausing when she notices a purple flower growing nearby. Thanks to Helaena’s ramblings about nightshade, Alicent recognizes the poisonous petals and quietly puts her plan into motion.
While mommy and son play odd couple with the castle witch, Aegon, Larys, and Tyland continue toward Braavos until they discover the army marching their way has been sent to Rook’s Rest in search of the Crown’s stolen gold. Larys tries convincing Tyland to surrender himself to save the king, but Lannister isn’t volunteering to be flayed by Rhaenyra. That’s when Aegon slowly dismounts his horse and tells both men to save themselves. He’ll face the army alone, dying as a brave king instead of a loser who fell at the hands of his brother. Tyland, also weighing his options, chooses to stay with him, while Larys—the self-proclaimed cripple—chooses to leave. He wouldn’t be much help in a fight anyway, and the usurper king agrees. As Larys rides off, he promises Aegon’s death will not be in vain. He’ll keep his memory alive through stories, and then he gallops away with the rest of the fleeing townsfolk while Tyland and a visibly terrified Aegon continue forward.
The Truth is Out and It’s Dripping in Dragon’s Blood
Elsewhere, Caraxes finds Sheepstealer, and the two dragons land so father and daughter can argue. Their dragons almost kill each other, and their riders, in the process. Rhaena cannot live in seclusion but she is equally afraid of Rhaenyra and of Sheepstealer–both are unpredictable and deadly. She insists she will find Vhagar, kill her, and pay some of her debt to Rhaenyra so she can return to her family and leave the isolation at The Vale. Daemon offers his help, as one dragon against Vhagar won’t survive, but two could. He understands her loneliness and admits he’s been alone before too. When his mother died and his brother fell into despair, he knew what isolation felt like, and he didn’t want that for his daughter. He confesses he could have been a better father, but now this is his chance to prove it.
Their reconciliation is cut short when two more dragons begin circling overhead before descending on them. Rhaena assumes her father betrayed her, but he swears he didn’t and tells her to run as Rhaenyra and Addam land, setting up a standoff between four dragons.
Addam winds up dragging Rhaena back as the queen realizes Daemon not only lied to her, but has been doing so for quite some time. The dragons launch into a full-scale assault, each trying to protect its rider, while Sheepstealer desperately fights to save Rhaena. As the dragons tear into one another, their riders scramble for safety. Rhaena screams for Sheepstealer, who puts up a valiant fight, but it’s three against one. Rhaenyra manages to get Rhaena onto Syrax, and the two take off as the young rider watches in horror while Addam and her father’s dragon attack her own. Sheepstealer is mortally wounded and limps away, presumably to die. Although we never see a body, and we know these dragons aren’t exactly easy to kill, there’s still a chance this isn’t the last we’ve seen of the wild one.
Highborns, Lowborns, and the Gap Between
While Rhaenyra is consumed with Daemon’s lies and Rhaena’s return, Mysaria has unofficially appointed herself the queen’s proxy—the one willing to listen to the people and their complaints when Rhaenyra cannot.
The queen has no time for the smallfolk, something Mysaria sees as a dangerous mistake. According to her friend, Sylvi (Michelle Bonnard) and contact from the tavern/brothel, the people are afraid and desperate for reassurance. Mysaria tells her to spread the word that she will hear their concerns and present them to the queen when the time is right—a judgment she’ll make herself, depending on Rhaenyra’s ever-changing moods.
Her old friend is stunned by the authority the former sex worker now believes she has. The dragons didn’t just change Rhaenyra, their proximity has convinced the lowborn Mysaria that she might one day be accepted by their rulers. Her friend quickly reminds her otherwise. She realizes she wasn’t summoned to the castle for the news from the streets at all, but so Mysaria could show off how far she’s climbed. Before leaving, she delivers one final warning:
“Within the walls of a highborn, a whore will always and ever remain a whore.”
When Rhaenyra returns to the Red Keep,she is solely focused on her men finding Rhaena a room where she doesn’t have to see her.
Those Dragon Boys and Their Mommy Issues
Back at Harrenhal, Aemond is practicing his sword fighting when his mother arrives with two cups of spiced wine–his favorite. Of course his cup is spiked with nightshade, and before he takes a sip he tells her about Alys’ fears that she has come to destroy him. As they grow closer, he quietly admits he tried to kill Aegon. Alicent lovingly calls him her “foolish boy” as she already knew what he did, and yet she still came for him. She is playing right into his hands, just as he’d always hoped she would choose him over her favorite son, Aegon.
Later that night in the Red Keep, there’s trouble in the royal bedchambers. Daemon visits Rhaenyra as she’s preparing for bed to explain why he hid the truth about Rhaena. Rhaenyra is in tears as she glances across the room at the skull he claimed belonged to the man who killed her son. Now it’s nothing more than a reminder of his betrayal.
Meanwhile, Baela visits the devastated Rhaena, who can barely bring herself to look at her beloved sister. Baela embraces her and promises this isn’t the end.
Outside the keep, Alyn receives an ominous message from Ormund–Lord Corlys’ severed finger. Alyn recognizes the jewelry immediately and quietly chokes down his grief.
Over at Harrenhal, Alicent’s plan is working. After Aemond drinks the poisoned wine, he collapses to his knees. Alys was right, she did come to destroy him. As Aemond gasps for air, Alys is practically doing a private little “I told you so” dance. Believing her son will die and her debt to Rhaenyra is paid, Alicent attempts to flee Harrenhal not remembering this witch her son is living with, was also a sort of Maester. Surely she has an anecdote to save him.
Meanwhile, nobody is sleeping at the Red Keep. Helena has sweaty dreams of her next child’s birth. As the baby is whisked away, the vision shifts to her in the throne room atop Dreamfyre, raining dragonfire down on an army charging toward her. The dream changes again, showing Helaena living a simple life on a quiet farm with two young children, that gray mare, and a home seemingly far away from King’s Landing. The warm summer day quickly turns cold, dark, and snowy, as Helaena remains standing in the field beside her horse, but her children are nowhere to be found. Was this just another dream… or a glimpse of what’s still to come?
While Heleana sweats out the future, a sleepless Rhaenyra would love to pick apart her dreamer sister’s mind. Instead, she’s left wondering whether her reign will survive the mountain of problems burying her or if she’ll somehow prevail. When sleep refuses to come, she climbs out of bed, grabs the skull Daemon tried to pass off as Jace’s killer, and tosses it straight into the fireplace before heading to Mysaria’s room for comfort.
At first, she’s furious with Mysaria for being right about Daemon. Rhaenyra refuses to see his deception, framing it instead as a father protecting his child. When Mysaria points out that one lie often leads to another, Rhaenyra accuses her of trying to drive a wedge between the queen and her prince consort. The mood shifts when Mysaria realizes the woman from her past may have been right. Rhaenyra might never choose her over Daemon, but that doesn’t mean she can’t turn the queen’s anger into passion. When Rhaenyra quietly asks whether she truly deserves the crown her father left her, Mysaria gently holds her face and tells her she’s never been more certain. The conversation ends there, as the two women fall into bed, shelving the Daemon discussion for another time.
Vengeance and Its Dragons
Next, we head to the woods near Braavos, where a silent, worried Tyland and Aegon sit beside a campfire awaiting what feels like certain doom. When they hear the marching footsteps of an approaching army, Tyland draws his sword while Aegon stands ready to meet his final moments with his head held high.
The torch-bearing crowd closes in, and the two men prepare for one last fight to the death. When the leader orders them to drop their weapons and swear fealty to the queen, Aegon begins to panic. Tyland asks whether he’s actually going to obey and Aegon quickly answers. He looks around, grips his weapon, and refuses to kneel before the “fake queen.” He proudly announces himself by his full royal name, screaming and practically salivating as he prepares for what may be his final stand as king. His eyes are wild, but that’s not why the army suddenly starts backing away. The terror on their faces isn’t aimed at the ranting madman, it’s coming from the dragon quietly emerging from the woods behind him. Sunfyre is alive and ready to protect his rider! The embattled dragon may not be as beautiful as he once was, but then again, neither is Aegon. The two are perfect for each other.The moment Aegon realizes his baby has come home, he lets out a maniacal laugh before quietly whispering, “Dracarys.” Sunfyre answers the call, engulfing the army, their horses, and the ground beneath them in dragonfire. As the men burn the light in Aegon’s eyes rages on. He is now a man with a purpose and a beast to back him up.
Speaking of dragonriders looking for revenge, we catch up with Ulf (Tom Bennett) after the beating Daemon gave him last week. He’s now sitting around a campfire drinking ale… with Ormund Hightower!
That public spanking, combined with Rhaenyra banning her Dragonseeds from the pubs, has pushed Ulf firmly away from Team Black. Now he and his dragon are entertaining the enemy, while Ormund wears the smug grin of a man who thinks he’s already won a battle he hasn’t even fought yet. Ormund says he heard what Daemon did and offers his sympathy. He expertly taps into Ulf’s insecurities. Even with a dragon, the highborn still see him as beneath them. According to Ormund, Rhaenyra only views him as a useful tool, never an equal.
Apparently, this isn’t their first meeting, either. During an earlier conversation, Ormund promised Ulf a lordship and a castle. Ulf hopes it is Honeyholt, but Ormund thinks that isn’t grand enough. He offers him Driftmark, claiming it needs a new master. We know he sent Corlys’ finger to Alyn, but is the rest of the Sea Snake in pieces too? Ulf smiles at the sound of his new title: Lord of the Tides, it has a nice ring to it. He clinks his cup against Ormund’s, convinced his return to King’s Landing won’t involve another spanking but instead, DRACARYS! DEATH TO THE RULING CLASS! This commoner turned Dragonseed, is giddy over a little payback, that lets be real here, at least Daemon has it coming.