By: Kelly Kearney
A queen’s job never ends, and it’s something Rhaenyra quickly learned last week when she was pulled in a dozen different directions, all while discovering her kingdom was bankrupt. This week, she takes one look at her half-empty Small Council and decides the best place to shift the blame for the bankruptcy is onto a newly appointed Master of Coin.
Meanwhile, her Hand, Corlys, is off fighting revenge wars against the remaining Triarchy survivors, while Lord Ormund Hightower occupies her attention with an attempt to sack the loyal merchant town of Tumbleton. Knowing the Dragon Queen would never set her own supporters on fire, it’s a thorn in her side he hopes will draw her out of the Red Keep to fight for what he believes is Aegon’s throne. It’s a battle of wills between House Hightower’s newest power player and the newly crowned queen.
Will the Real Daeron Targaryen Please Stand Up!
We begin in Tumbleton, with Lord Ormund (James Norton) forcing his men into the homes of nobles who bent the knee to the “bitch with a dragon,” he so lovingly calls Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy). We thought Aemond and Daemon were privileged and pompous, but Lord Ormund is giving them a run for their money. We quickly learn his mission is to restore the rightful man–Aegon to the Iron Throne. His army needs a place to rest and regroup before the next fight, and he’ll make sure his soldiers mind their behavior… as long as these “traitors” in Tumbleton mind theirs. He motions to a young man beside him, explaining that leadership means being firm but fair with the people beneath you. Is this boy the real Daeron (Benjamin Evans Ainsworth)?
The answer comes quickly when Ormund’s second-in-command bows to the young man with a respectful, “My Prince,” before delivering news from a raven out of Storm’s End. Lord Borros Baratheon has sent excuses instead of soldiers, but he did sign on to a marriage pact between one of his daughters and Aemond. Speaking of missing prince and stand-in king, there has also been no signs of Vhagar, making Ormund less than eager to commit his forces to a battle without that fiery back-up. Until the largest dragon in the world shows her face, Ormund’s position is too vulnerable. He assures the worried Daeron that his brother will join them soon.
Back in King’s Landing, Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) questions why Ormund would sack the market town of Tumbleton, as it is neither a Hightower nor Targaryen stronghold. Its lord is a pushover, its walls are poorly defended, and strategically, it makes little sense. So why this town? What is Ormund really plotting?
The queen realizes if she were to attack Tumbleton to get to Ormund, she would be killing the very townsfolk who supported her claim to the throne. If she does that, the realm will start calling her “Maegor Returned.” The optics would result in an uprising loud enough to wake the gods who put her on the throne—and perhaps convince them to take her right back off it. It’s a trap, and a painfully obvious one, which only makes Rhaenyra more suspicious of what Ormund is actually after.
Grand Maester Orwyle (Kurt Egyiawan) and Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) convince the queen to park the dragons in King’s Landing and send Daemon and his men into Tumbleton to root out the Hightower army house by house. The bloodshed would be far less than if she descended on the town with dragons blazing. Rewarding both his loyalty and sound advice, Rhaenyra appoints Orwyle to her new Small Council. When he attempts to officially check-in by grabbing one of those spheres filling a bowl in the middle of the table, Rhaenyra stops him and refers to the tradition as “relics of an old regime.” Small is the operative word here, because her council consists of Mysaria… and only Mysaria. Every idea has to pass through the “White Worm” before it ever reaches the queen.
Speaking of which, Rhaenyra’s first idea for dealing with the financial fallout caused by her blockade is to appoint a Master of Coin… and then blame all the missing gold on him. She asks Mysaria to look into Ser Torrhen Manderly. His recent display of loyalty caught her attention, and he might be the perfect person to absorb the people’s hungry anger. If he’s willing, he can worry about the kingdom’s finances while she worries about Lord Ormund Hightower.
And who better to fill her in on the man than one of his relatives? Rhaenyra visits Alicent (Olivia Cooke), hoping the Queen Dowager can offer some insight into Ormund, but Alicent barely knows him. Viserys warded Daeron—Alicent’s youngest son—to Ormund when he was a boy, but she only knew the lord before Otto arranged her marriage to the king. What she can say is that Ormund thinks very highly of himself. He’s snobbish, well-read, and prides himself on his knowledge of history, art, music, and anything else that separates him from what he considers the uncouth masses of Oldtown. Ignorance disgusts him, and so do the people he considers beneath him. As for Daeron, Alicent says Ormund took him in as a child and raised him like a father. The conversation turns painfully awkward when Rhaenyra asks whether Alicent regrets sending Daeron away. The easy answer is, she doesn’t. She gave Viserys four children, but she wanted one of them to have a quieter life as a Hightower instead of another Targaryen prince burdened by dragons and prophecy. Looking at how her other children turned out, sending Daeron away may have been the most maternal decision she ever made… until now. Now Rhaenyra has the boy squarely in her crosshairs to protect her reign. That realization visibly unsettles the queen. Viserys chose her to be a fair and just ruler, yet here she is looking for ways to kill his youngest son—her own brother—and using his mother to help her do it. This isn’t the future her father dreamed of when he named her his heir.
Trying to ease her own guilt, Rhaenyra admits she would have spared Daeron’s life if things hadn’t gone this far. Judging by the look on her face, she’s lying to both Alicent and herself. As Rhaenyra leaves, Alicent takes a deep breath and offers the only useful intelligence she has. Ormund has one unexpected weakness: strong smells. Any overpowering odor completely overwhelms him.
A Dead Dragon and Two Missing Hands
After noticing her Hand is missing from court yet again, Rhaenyra sends Alyn (Abubaker Salim), Corlys Velaryon’s eldest son, to find him. When he does, Corlys (Steve Toussaint) reminds him that he’s the Hand of the Queen—not the mouth of the Queen, and his services are better suited to fighting not speeches and quelling the fears of the struggling people. Rhaenyra’s true strength now lies with her dragons, and besides, the Sea Snake is still salty over his queen denying his sons their legitimacy. Corlys suggests Alyn take his place at court, but his son is uncomfortable with the idea. He wasn’t raised among nobles and doesn’t think he belongs in the political arena, even if Corlys insists he certainly looks the part. She may not be willing to give Alyn the Velaryon name, but Corlys can still give him a chance to earn one for himself instead of living in the shadow of the legacy the queen is denying him. With that settled, the Sea Snake and his men set out to deliver a little justice to what’s left of the Triarchy survivors raiding their markets and towns.
Meanwhile, Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Larys (Matthew Needham) continue their trek toward Rook’s Rest. When they arrive at the battlefield, Aegon is stunned to find Sunfyre lying exactly where the dragon fell months earlier. The magnificent beast appears dead, preserved almost like time itself refused to touch him. Aegon collapses to his knees and embraces the beast. Sunfyre hasn’t rotted with time, but he certainly isn’t the vibrant, golden dragon he once was.
Their reunion is interrupted by two opportunists demanding payment for getting close to the dragon. Aegon’s emotional attachment immediately makes the men suspicious and Larys opens his purse ready to pay the men away. He poses as a wandering holy man to calm the situation, but the longer Aegon clings to Sunfyre, the more dangerous the encounter becomes. Larys begs him to walk away, as the dragon is obviously dead and he will be too if these opportunists realize who he is. Aegon refuses to believe his golden fiery beast is gone forever, he can still feel him, even if at a distance. Convinced that Sunfyre’s heart is still beating somewhere beneath those battered scales, he practically begs his oldest companion to wake up. Larys knows every extra second they spend beside the dragon increases the odds these strangers figure out exactly who they’re traveling with. Whether Aegon accepts it or not, it’s time to leave this ghost behind.
Next we catch up with Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) and Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox) as they lead what’s left of their army toward Harrenhal. The road is littered with the charred remains of Vhagar’s destruction. Burned horses, blackened earth; a haunting silence interrupted only by strange sounds echoing from inside the cursed castle. The two men lead their small army cautiously through the hollow halls until they’re greeted by Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin), who casually informs them that everyone is dead. Aemond was there, but the moment he learned Rhaenyra had taken King’s Landing, he flew away.
The revelation stuns Gwayne. No one bothered informing Aemond’s soldiers that he’s no longer king. Aegon is presumed dead, Aemond and Vhagar have disappeared, and the Dragon Queen now sits on the Iron Throne. What does this mean for his sister Alicent and the rest of the Greens? News travels slowly in wartime Westeros.
After confirming Harrenhal’s dragon nest sits empty, Gwayne and Criston realize Alys was telling the truth: Aemond fled. Unlike Criston, Gwayne immediately understands the situation. Their only chance to survive is to send a raven to Tumbleton and combine their forces with his cousin Ormund’s before marching on King’s Landing to save Alicent. Criston refuses. Instead, he wants to hold Harrenhal and stop the Rivermen from reaching the capital through sneak attacks. Gwayne points out the obvious problem: Daemon’s forces out number them ten to one, but that doesn’t scare Criston. Even if Daemon commands twenty times as many men, Criston compares their stand to a scorpion attacking an ox. The odds don’t matter, one venomous surprise attack could turn the tables. For a foot soldier turned Hand to the King, Criston has a different perspective than the Noble-born Gwanye. If the Greens lose there is no home for him to return to. Fighting is all he has left. So he’ll fight until he dies, and he expects every man under his command—including Alicent’s considerably less enthusiastic brother—to do the same.
When Alyn delivers the news of his father’s crusade, the queen is less than thrilled. Corlys has men who could lead that fight, she ordered him to the Keep and his refusal could be seen as treason. While standing over the destroyed Painted Table of her father’s–what she calls his life’s work, Alyn appeals to the understanding daughter in her and explains how his father has been through a lot of losses. This fight might breathe life back into him, making him a better advisor to her in the long run. She mulls that over while they talk about her father who many saw as weak but she now has respect for wearing the crown knowing it could be ripped from his head at any moment. “Fathers have a maddening capacity to at onice inspire and incense” she says, and Alyn smirks in agreement. It is a friendly moment between the two, and it is broken by another reminder of Aegon. His rats are eating through their father’s legacy, and Alyn, offering his first piece of useful advice to the queen, says as a sailor they kept cats to keep the rats away.
Tangletongue and Mangleface
After leaving Sunfyre behind, Larys and Aegon make their way to a war-torn town. Aegon can’t help but notice the destruction of that Dragon Vs. Dragon battle and how it left the people in squalor, starving, and sifting through tainted water to quench their thirst. Then he spots Meleys’ body, decayed and hanging over the town’s wall as a reminder of what they lost and who took it. After a few threatening encounters with locals, the two travelers pretending to be displaced commoners, get jobs emptying latrines. Not exactly the work of royals and Aegon’s outrage almost blows their cover. After a few close calls and Aegon forced to kiss a commoner’s filthy foot, Larys convinces the former King to play along. Rhaenyra declaring him dead means his return to the throne will be all the more legendary. Aegon goes along with the plan but the work of a commoner and being ordered around by one, can either humble the former King or anger them. There is no telling which way Aegon will go. He will either find empathy for the people of Westeros who lie victim to his family’s war or his ego will blind him to their pain and only fill him with rage. Time will tell.
Over at the Red Keep, Hugh (Kieran Bew) approaches Rhaenyra with a request to let him join Ulf on his mission to Tumbleton. Not only can he help keep an eye out for Aemond and Vhagar, but his wife also lives in the small town. Outside of his new responsibility as a dragonrider, she is still his top priority. He points out that Ulf has no personal stake in protecting Tumbleton, but he does. Rhaenyra agrees to allow Hugh to go while Ulf takes over his post at the Red Keep. Keep watch over the town—and over each other.
When we next see Ulf (Tom Bennett), he’s wandering through King’s Landing looking for his drinking buddies when he spots some anti-Dragon Queen graffiti. Later, he tries to use that information to manipulate Rhaenyra’s emotions after she not only refuses to grant his pub friends pardons and homes, but also orders him to get his wine from inside the walls of the Red Keep. He’s never allowed back in the pubs—or to mingle with the commoners again. As a dragonseed, his life belongs to the realm, and if some random Hightower loyalist in a tavern drives a knife into his belly, that puts her throne—and the realm—at risk.
For a man whose blood runs golden mead, Ulf doesn’t take the news lightly. He informs her that he saw graffiti referring to her as the “Queen of Bastards,” probably written by some of the very subjects who find her less than kind. Then he leaves her with that image hanging over her head right after denying him the only thing he asked for.
Back in Tumbleton, Lord Ormund gets word that one of his soldiers, Garrick (Douglas Russell), assaulted the family that was forced to house him. Not only did he attack one of the women, but he also broke another woman’s arm when she tried to stop him, resulting in her brother punching Garrick in the face. When the news reaches Lord Ormund, he sides with the family and orders a punishment to fit the crime: geld Garrick and break his arm. Any future offenses, and he will be hanged. As Garrick is dragged away screaming, Ormund turns to Daeron and quietly educates him on how to keep control of a tenuous situation. Chaos is clawing at their gates, so they need to shut it down before it drowns them in it.
At the Red Keep, the High Septon’s refusal to anoint Rhaenyra as queen becomes a bothersome situation, one she brings to Grand Maester Orwyle. She wants his opinion on how much influence the Greens truly have over the Faith. Orwyle assures her that the Faith has always remained separate from the politics of the kingdom. Yes, House Hightower funded the construction of the Starry Sept, and Oldtown—the Hightowers’ stomping grounds—served as the Faith’s seat for centuries. The Seven are woven into the very fabric of House Hightower the way dragons are woven into House Targaryen. But just as the Targaryens only have the illusion of control over their dragons, the Hightowers have the illusion of control over the Faith. The Faith prides itself on its neutrality.
When Rhaenyra points out that the High Septon doesn’t seem eager to support her reign, she wonders what Orwyle would think about replacing him. Orwyle believes that would be a mistake. Not only would she anger the faithful and risk losing their support, but if she truly wants to leave the relics of the old world behind, this could be another opportunity to do exactly that. Why does she need to be anointed by the High Septon when she already sits on the Iron Throne and her dragons rule the skies? Perhaps this is the beginning of a new chapter for Targaryen rule.
When she says “replace,” Orwyle cautiously asks if she means permanently. Rhaenyra jokes that she never took him for someone so dark. Killing the High Septon wasn’t on her to-do list, she simply wants him watched. Above all else, she reminds Orwyle to gather every piece of correspondence between Lord Ormund Hightower and the Red Keep following her father Viserys’ death.
To the sound of Caraxes’ roar, we catch up with Daemon (Matt Smith), sitting below the throne of Lady Jeyne Arryn (Amanda Collin), who admits she never thought she’d see the prince in the Vale again—especially after the death of his first wife. But after countless ravens informed her of his army’s progress through her lands, here he is, kneeling at her feet. Daemon admits time has healed his wounds. He’s back to make good on her promise: the protection of a dragon in exchange for fighting men. She has her beast, so where are the men? Jeyne jokes that perhaps she should send babies instead, since Rhaenyra is apparently so good at getting them killed, bringing up Prince Joffrey and his barely mature dragon, who were struck down by the queen. Some might find Daemon’s demands on behalf of the crown a bit insulting. Rhaenyra is on the throne, and her enemies have either fled or been killed. The war is over, so why does she need more soldiers? Daemon smirks and admits he isn’t really there for fighting men. He only used that as an excuse to bend her ear about gold. She could prove her loyalty to the crown with a generous donation to refill the coffers the Hightowers emptied and hid away. Sarcastically, Lady Jeyne feigns shock that the prince has shown up waving an empty cup and begging for coins. Daemon shoots back that if she fills the cup, he’ll stop bothering her and fly off her island, to which she agrees to provide the gold.
As Daemon straps the chests onto Caraxes, we’re reminded of the lesson Viserys taught Rhaenyra seasons ago: a Targaryen’s rule over dragons is only an illusion. Caraxes ignores Daemon’s orders to return to the Red Keep, making an unexpected pit stop to investigate the hidden Sheepstealer.
Rhaena the Unfortunate
When Daemon comes face-to-face with his daughter, Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell), and her massive dragon, he is stunned. The queen believes Sheepstealer is responsible for Prince Jacaerys’ death, but Rhaena insists she was only trying to help. Daemon begs her to leave the wild, untamed beast behind and return with him to King’s Landing so they can explain everything to Rhaenyra. She refuses, as she could never abandon her dragon. It’s all she has. Her entire life she has been disregarded and pitied—the poor Targaryen girl without a dragon, and now she finally has one, and she isn’t leaving his side. Besides, she couldn’t look her aunt in the face after what happened to Jace.
As Caraxes and Sheepstealer growl at one another while father and daughter each order their dragons to stand down, it’s obvious this family has reached an impasse. Rhaena will remain hidden in exile among the caves of the Vale, concealed from the queen, whom Daemon promises will hunt her down. She asks her father to keep her secret and allow Rhaenyra to believe she and Sheepstealer died during the Battle of the Gullet, but doing so would make Daemon guilty of treason. When he hesitates, Rhaena angrily reminds him that she’s never asked him for anything in her life, and it seems it was a mistake to start now.
She climbs atop Sheepstealer, and as the dragon emerges from the cave, he somehow seems even larger than Daemon imagined. Sheepstealer soars high above a flock of sheep, as Daemon notices the herd below and smirks. You can practically see a plan beginning to form.
In Tumbleton, Lord Ormund is busy smelling a collection of fragrant oils, reminding us of the weakness for pleasant scents Alicent mentioned earlier. His sniff fest is interrupted by a raven carrying a message from Gwayne Hightower. The mood in the room instantly changes and Lord Ormund draws his sword and absolutely loses it. He starts smashing furniture, ripping apart the message, and throwing a full-blown tantrum while Daeron quietly cowers through the meltdown. Once he regains his composure, Ormund reveals the bad news. Daeron’s brother Aemond and Vhagar will not be coming to help them overthrow the queen. They’ll have to come up with a new plan.
Back at the Red Keep, Orwyle uncovers all of the correspondence between Lord Ormund and King Viserys. He discovers that while plenty of messages were sent from the Red Keep to Oldtown, none were ever returned. Rhaenyra is stunned. She hoped the letters between her father’s Hand–Otto Hightower might reveal something useful about her newest enemy. Instead, they reveal something even more telling: Lord Ormund viewed himself as the king of Oldtown. He neither sought nor cared about the approval of the Red Keep. Rhaenyra realizes she isn’t dealing with just another lord who has occupied one of her towns, she’s dealing with a man whose ego is somehow bigger than all of her dragons put together. This thorn in her side is much larger than she expected—and it’s probably not coming out easily.
Later, Daemon returns to the Red Keep, interrupting Rhaenyra’s meeting with Ser Torrhen Manderly (Dan Fogler), with news that he has returned not only with gold but with justice. He drops the charred skull of who he claims was Sheepstealer’s rider onto the table in front of the queen, to everyone’s shock and disgust. According to Daemon, both the traitor and the problem are gone. The wild dragon flew away, and he doubts anyone will ever see the beast again. They discovered the rider hiding in the caves of the Vale. Then, as only Daemon can, he immediately sits down and starts criticizing the new Master of Coin and Mysaria while offering his own ideas for how the money should be spent. He couldn’t care less about the starving people, he wants the soldiers paid.
Rhaenyra can’t look past the burned skull staring back at her and clears the room so she can speak with her husband alone. She demands to know who the dragonrider was and where their loyalties lied: with Ormund or with the usurper? Who was this person who summoned a dragon, and didn’t Daemon think to find that out before killing them? Unaware that the rider was actually Rhaena, Rhaenyra is furious she was robbed of the chance to look into the eyes of the person she believes killed her son. Daemon tries to calm her, reminding her that he delivered justice and that seeing the rider’s face would never have ended her grief. She takes a moment, dries her tears, and informs him that the gold he procured will go to the smallfolk—not his soldiers. The City Watch trusts him, so he must convince them to remain patient. Their debts will be paid when the time is right. Then she begrudgingly thanks him for delivering justice. As Daemon leaves the hall, he crosses paths with an eavesdropping Mysaria, who clearly knows he’s lying. She quietly asks whose head he actually placed on that platter of justice. Daemon, unsurprisingly, keeps walking.
Next we check in with Alicent and Helaena (Phia Saban), still captive in the Red Keep. Rhaenyra stops by to hand Alicent Otto’s ring and tell her she sent his body to Oldtown, as that would have been her father’s wish. As she leaves, something catches Alicent’s eye. Helaena appears to be hiding the early signs of a pregnancy. The longer the two women remain captive, the more dangerous that secret becomes. Her growing belly could be the end of Rhaenyra’s patience with them both.
Back in Tumbleton, the streets are cleared as the town goes into lockdown when Hugh, riding Vermithor, lands atop its walls. Meanwhile, back in King’s Landing, the Gold Cloaks are dragging people from their beds and beating anyone they suspect is responsible for the anti-Rhaenyra graffiti. Not exactly the best strategy for shaking those “Unkind Queen” allegations.
And Now It Begins
“Patience, my girl,” Daeron tells his young fly-ready dragon, Tessarion, as he lovingly embraces the beast in her den outside Tumbleton. Lord Ormund interrupts to remind the boy that he warned him not to show the dragon so much affection. The second Tessarion lays eyes on the Hightower lord, her wings flare and her growl deepens. Daeron quickly steps between them. Ormund uses the moment to explain just how deeply the Faith, the Starry Sept, and the Citadel have filled House Hightower with a superiority complex–one he doesn’t see the Targaryens sharing. He tells Daeron he was raised properly—with manners, discipline, and prayer—but his blood has been tainted by House Targaryen. Hightowers, he claims, were born better and the only thing keeping the dragonlords on the Iron Throne is the evil they unearthed in the form of dragons.
He tells Daeron he should consider himself fortunate to have been raised in Oldtown under his guidance. His brothers embraced that evil, but Daeron is a true Hightower. The moment Ormund reaches toward the prince, Tessarion growls again, forcing him to pull his hand back. It’s almost as if the dragon knows Lord Ormund isn’t to be trusted. With Rhaenyra on the throne and Daeron’s brothers either dead or in hiding, Daeron has become the obvious candidate to overthrow the queen and install a Hightower-minded king on the Iron Throne. To prove Daeron is the Gods’ chosen king, Ormund finally shows his true colors. He drags in the man who punched Garrick after the assault on his sisters, and places a sword in Daeron’s hands. The commoner dared raise a hand against House Hightower, and as the future king, Daeron must now enact justice.
The terrified man begs for mercy while Daeron pleads with Lord Ormund not to make him do this. He argues that kings can be merciful just as often as they can be deadly. Ormund disagrees and sees compassion as weakness. He reminds Daeron how much he sacrificed to raise him and orders the prince to prove himself. With trembling hands, Daeron drives the sword through the begging man’s chest before allowing Tessarion to barbecue the body. As the flames rise and reflect in Lord Ormund’s eyes, he turns to the bowing soldiers and declares: “And now it begins.”