House of the Dragon – The Rogue Prince

By: Kelly Kearney

In breaking with tradition by declaring his daughter, Rhaenyra, his successor to the throne, King Viserys angered his volatile brother, Daemon Targaryen, who technically is the rightful heir. The fallout of his choice has unsettled the family and distracted him from his duties, namely, taking a new wife and dealing with a murderous “Crabfeeder” of a man, who has been unleashing chaos in Lord Corlys’ shipping channels. As the King’s Master of Ships, Corlys feels abandoned in the face of this monstrous threat and comes up with an interesting way of uniting house Velaryon with House Targaryen to ensure his “Sea Snake” needs are met. SIdes are being taken and everyone has their eyes on Viserys throne, explaining why the showrunner referred to the series as, “Succession with dragons.” 

MAKING WAVES IN THE TRIARCHY

There’s trouble brewing in the Triarchy–the alliance built between the Free Cities of Myrs, Lys and Tyrosh and it’s wreaking havoc on Lord Corlys’ (Steve Toussaint) shipping lanes in Essos. In episode one the Sea Snake, as he is often referred to, alerted the King’s Small Council to the rebellion taking place in the sea; mentioning a man they call, Crabfeeder,” who has some sort of undefined alliance with the Triarchy. Six months later and Corlys’ pleas for help have still gone unheard. King Viserys (Paddy Considine) has been too busy dealing with the fall out of his dead wife and choosing Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) as his heir.

When we do meet the Crabfeeder (Daniel Scott-Smith) he’s exactly what his name suggests–a feral-looking man dressed in crab-like armor who tortures pirates by feeding them to live crabs. When the camera pans across his killing fields we see two of Corlys’ wrecked ships and the sailors being torn apart by the Crabfeeder’s army of pincers. When news gets back to Lord Corlys about the attack, he storms into a Small Council meeting with demands for action. He warned them about what was happening in the shipping lanes and in their failure to act, things have only gotten worse. The problem is that the Free Cities are just that–free, and Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), the King’s Hand, tells Lord Corlys that the kingdom of Westeros cannot start a war with them even if this Crabfeeder is gobbling up his men and making it hard to ship goods out of Essos. This infuriates Coryls who then questions the King’s power over his people by asking why the Crabfeeder would fear them when his own brother has disobeyed his orders without paying a single consequence. Daemon (Matt Smith) has been allowed to invade Dragonstone with his army of Gold Cloaks and has been squatting on sacred land ever since his brother booted him out of King’s Landing for making a mockery of baby Prince Baelor’s death. Now he’s making a fool out of the King by ignoring his royal decree, and Viserys still turns a blind eye to his disobedience. So, why would anyone fear a King who can’t even control his brother? Cracks are starting to form in the King’s court and there’s little doubt Daemon will find a way to turn those fractures into canyons. The King fires back at Corlys that he sent a group to the Triarchy to negotiate a peaceful end to the rebellion. Princess Rhaenyra questions why her father would waste time talking when she has a very convincing dragon who can take care of this the Targaryen way. Viserys brushes off the would-be-Queen’s attempts at handling the Triarchy with threats of fire and blood, sending her off to choose a Knight to fill an empty spot in his Kingsguard. A task thats the equivalent of a ribbon-cutting ceremony isnt as appealing as helping to rid this murderer from Westeros–not to mention reminding the Free Cities just who their dealing with. If she’s bored with her duties she doesnt show it when Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) stands out among all of the Knights trying out for the position. We saw in episode one how good of a  fighter Cole is–so good, in fact, that he took down Daemon Targaryen with little effort. Those are the kinds of skills Rhaenyra wants to see in the Kingsguard and chooses him to fill the open slot. Otto Hightower does his best not to roll his eyes–knowing the Princess would choose the handsome Knight after she gave him her favor in the jousting competition. The Hand is nothing if not observant, and he’s definitely clued into Rhaenyra’s crush now. 

BURY ONE, MARRY ANOTHER

Back at the Red Keep, King VIserys has been dodging his Council’s questions about taking a new wife for the last six months. He’s chosen his heir, but since a woman is literally the very last resort for a ruler, they want him to marry immediately and start working on making a son. After angering Lord Corlys over the mayhem taking place in the shipping lanes, the Sea Snake and his wife, and “the Queen that never was,” Rhaenys (Eve Best) proposes an idea to strengthen his power and their shared bloodline by marrying their daughter, Laena. Two houses with Valyrian blood could unite Westeros and help soothe the hurt feelings over his appointment to the throne–being that he was King Jaehaerys’ second choice anyway. It seems like a winning idea but Viserys isn’t over the loss of Aemma and worries about what a new wife would do to his daughter–who is still mourning her mother. Predictably, she isn’t happy about the Council tossing the memory of her mother aside for a new wife. She expresses this to Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey) –daughter of the King’s Hand, who herself isn’t happy with the idea since she has been spending secretive alone time with Viserys to keep him company. Under her father’s direction, we see that Alicent has become a sounding board for the King to bounce his worries off. The most recent topic is her best friend and how she’s handling all the recent changes after her mother’s death. It isn’t entirely clear how Viserys views Alicent, but it is clear she has feelings for the man that goes beyond her royal duties. So, when Rhaenyra tells her she wishes her father could see her as a future Queen and capable Dragon warrior, Alicent stays quiet about a similar conversation she had with the King. He mentioned his daughter hasn’t spoken to him outside of the Small Council meetings and Alicent did her best to soothe his fears by saying her father doesn’t know how to talk to her either. She is the one who has to make the effort with Otto, and she tells Rhaenyra she might do the same. 

If Alicent and Rhaenyra aren’t happy about this wedding idea, King Veserys is even less enthused. Besides the fact he isn’t over the death of his wife and child, he also isn’t looking forward to marrying the twelve-year-old Laena (Nova Foueillis-Mosé). When we see them walking through the Keep’s gardens trying to get to know each other, it is very clear this old man feels rightfully uncomfortable courting a child–no matter how good their union would be for Westeros. Physically and mentally the age difference is disturbing to watch, as we see the two talk dragons and  bringing children into the realm one day. The fact her mother told her she wouldn’t have to bed the King until she was fourteen years old does little to ease Viserys’ mind. 

From the Red Keep’s balcony Rhaenyra watches her father try to make a connection with this child and future step-mother and that’s when the child’s mother, Princess Rhaenys, pops up to put her two cents in. She questions the future Queen’s feelings about the marriage and gets the brush off until she attempts to remind the young woman of royal traditions. Now with her attention captured, Rhaenys explains how quickly Rhaenyrs will be replaced. Laena will have many children and statistically, some will be males who will push the King’s oldest daughter out of the line of succession, “…because that is the order of things,” she says, and she would know, she was pushed out of the way to the crown by Viserys. It’s obvious her little speech means she’s still not over it. Misery loves company and Rhaenys would gladly let Rhaenyra sit alongside her at the loser’s table. Rhaenyra, the young and naive girl that she is, fires back that she will become Queen and create a new order–one with a feminist tilt. Besides, it’s not women the Kingdom rejected, it was Rhaenys. OUCH! “Men would sooner put the realm to the torch than see a woman ascend the Iron Throne,” Rhaenys says calmly, and the King knows this. 

ROYAL ROT AND THE STOLEN DRAGON EGG

In the previous episode we saw King Viserys dealing with a festering wound caused by one of the blades protruding from his Iron Throne. Six months later and the wound hasn’t healed and now he’s sitting with his hand in a bowl of maggots hoping they will eat off the dead flesh and save his injured finger. While the worms get to work he mentions his marital worries to Otto Hightower, who seems to share in his concern. Grand Maester Mellos (David Horovitch), the Keep’s medical expert, disagrees and thinks uniting the last two Valyrian houses is a good idea. 

After the maggot treatment King VIserys gets even worse news than his rotting finger; his brother Daemon not only took Dragonstone for himself but now he’s claiming to be the rightful heir to the throne. He’s also decided to take a second wife–his favorite sex worker, Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), who is pregnant with his child. Word is out that he stole dead Prince Baelor’s dragon egg to place in his infant’s crib, as is tradition in the Targaryen family. Daemon stole the egg during the few hours the Prince took his last breaths, and this realization ignites a fury in his brother that will inevitably be the first spark in what looks to be an epic family war. The King barks out that he will go to Dragonstone himself and take back the egg and the island his brother stole. Otto disagrees with this idea; the Kingdom and his soon-to-be wife need him. The Hand volunteers to go in his place, and predictably, Daemon doesn’t lay down the welcome mat when he and his men arrive. As we learned at the start of the series, the Prince and the King’s Hand hate each other, which is why Daemon brings his former City Watch men to meet Otto on the bridge into Dragonstone. With his fiery beast flying above their heads, Daemon and Otto trade insults and threats, with the Hand referring to Daemon’s mistress as his, “whore.” This doesn’t sit right with the Prince, who is just looking for a reason to draw his sword and strike his brother’s Hand down. Rather than get barbequed by Daemon’s pet, Otto and his men start to retreat but that’s when we see another dragon come swooping in with Rhaenyra on its back! She hops off the scaly beast and walks right up to her Uncle, demanding he return the egg that he stole. “My father named me Princess of Dragonstone. That’s my castle you’re living in.” He shoots back that his baby deserves a dragon’s egg just like Baelor did, but even Mysaria knows he’s picking a battle that they, but especially her, might not survive. Rhaenyra challenges Daemon to strike her dead if he wants the throne so badly, and confronting him seems to work because he tosses her the egg and storms back to the castle. Before she hops on her own ride out of Dragonstone, the Princess glares at Otto Hightower like she’s thinking, “Never send a man to do a woman with a dragon’s job.” We then see Daemon being scolded by Mysaria for lying about their pending nuptuals, but mostly about the fact he lied that she was pregnant. She explains that it was never her dream to gain power – only free from fear. 

Back in King’s Landing Viserys is still mulling over the idea of marrying Laena. She’s too young, and besides, her father, Lord Coryls, always seemed jealous of his accession to the throne. He asks Lord Lyonel Strong (Gavin Spokes), Master of Laws,  what he should do and gets the same response he’s gotten from everyone else–marrying her will secure his line to the throne, but not marrying her could ruin the already rocky relationship he has with her father. Angering the Master of Ships, at a time when they could be looking at a war with the Triarchy is not a smart move. They need Corlys and his fleet and this marriage will tie him to Viserys’ side, no matter what war the realm wages. Their talk gets interrupted by the announcement that Princess Rhaenyra has returned from Dragonstone! Returned? The King never knew she left! He is livid and accuses his daughter and only heir of acting reckless with her life and their throne! He calms a bit when she tells him she retrieved the egg from her traitorous uncle, and nobody had to die to do it–although Otto almost did if it hadn’t been for her quick timing. His anger cools and the two finally have their talk about her mother, Aemma. He insists he won’t ever recover from the loss, but the Princess knows it’s his duty to move on and her mother would understand that too. His little girl is growing up, and while he’s starting to realize this he also understands her stubbornness makes her vulnerable. With her consent to marry, Viserys calls a meeting with his Small Council, Lord Corlys included, and announces he is ready to marry immediately. The twist: it won’t be to Laena, but to Alicent Hightower, the daughter of the King’s Hand and best friend to Princess Rhaenyra! It’s a stab in the back to both Rhaenyra–who had no idea Alicent was seeing her father, and to Lord Corlys, who watched his wife and now daughter get passed over and still has no answers on what to do about the Crabfeeder! The only people who look pleased by the news are Otto Hightower, his daughter and the King. 

When we next see Lord Corlys, he’s getting reprimanded by Daemon for speaking ill of his brother. Yes, Daemon thinks Viserys is weak, but he’s allowed to say that the Sea Snake is not. Corlys needs help with the Triarchy and if the King won’t help  then maybe his outsider of a brother will? “Wading in the Stepstones is a chance for you to prove your worth to anyone who might yet doubt it,” says Corlys. The Sea Snake shares a sort of camaraderie with Daemon as Westeros’ second sons. He thinks it’s time to stop waiting around for their birthright to fall into their laps and just take them–by force if need be. The meeting between the two proves how precarious this line of succession is. It’s getting crowded, and sooner or later fire will fight fire for the Targaryen’s throne.