People were clamoring for more action. Well, they got it.
In this episode, forces are mounted and bodies start piling up. While Prince Daemon struggles to get the Riverlanders, Ser Criston Cole begins marching on Crownlands houses, assaulting those who resist and beheading Lord Darklyn for refusing to declare for Aegon II after being defeated.
And as things get bloodier, the issues on both sides of the conflict begin to boil over.
The Green Dysfunction and the Black
Cole's actions confuse Aegon II, who thought he should be moving against Daemon at Harrenhal. He learns that Cole and Prince Aemond are acting on their own strategy, openly undermining the king. Aemond gets some good revenge for his repeated humiliation by Aegon, exposing how ineffectual he actually is as a leader in front of his small council. When Aegon finally seeks his mother's advice, she's too cynical and embittered over the whole situation to coddle him. As right as Alicent is to lambast Aegon for his failures as a monarch, I think it's just another example of the dysfunction within this side of the family. She and her dad really do not get that simply throwing cold logic at a kid their whole life isn't a sound method for raising well-adjusted adults, royal or otherwise.
Meanwhile on the blacks end, the issues are less character-related. Sure, Rhaenyra's quite arrogant and Daemon's a sociopathic rogue, but for the most part, Team Black seems to be made up of respectable figures; even Rhaenyra and Daemon are somewhat respectable, in spite of their flaws.
This group's problems are mainly poor communication, flightiness, and impetuousness. Rhaenyra's black council is full of old lords and knights pestering her to take full advantage of her dragons, for one thing. Dragon riders like Daemon, Jace and Baela are all clearly eager to do just that, but are stayed either by Rhaenyra's will in Jace and Baela's case, or by political necessity in Daemon's. Rhaenyra's the queen who goes running off to meet Alicent in King's Landing without telling any of her people; she could have been killed before they even realized she was gone. Even Corlys and Rhaenys, seemingly the most stable of the group, are facing a succession crisis of their own as they both try to support the queen's claim; more on that in the miscellanous section.
Then there's whatever the hell's going on with Daemon at Harrenhal.
Harrenhal and other curses
When he's not trying to bully or persuade River lords into fighting for him, the bad guy we root for is plagued by some pretty morbid nightmares. Or maybe they're more than nightmares. He is haunted by the ghost of Rhaenyra's younger self in his sleep, and haunted by a vision of his dead wife Laena Velaryon during the day. At one point, he thinks he's following Aemond through the castle, but then sees it's actually himself... looking like Aemond; very Empire Strikes Back.
I have to reiterate again, using Harrenhal and the atmosphere of its supposed curse to offer a window into Daemon's mind is a really great idea from the writers. The place is a monument of tyrants, first Harren the Black who built it and then Aegon the Conqueror who burned it. So it’s fitting that it’s giving Daemon — who seems to have had tyrant potential from a young age — such restless nights. Harrenhal gives him a position to engage in political intrigue and still dominate others with his violent presence, while also delving into a surreal new side of the series that pits him against his own inner demons.
Aside from the dragons, there weren't really any overt displays of magic in the previous season. Something supernatural is going on at Harrenhal, though. Whether the place is cursed due to its numerous dead residents, if it's a result of the mystical weirwoods that were chopped down and built into the castle, or if the oracular Alys Rivers is simply drugging Daemon with some kind of magic hallucinogen; we don't actually know if he drank that horrific looking cocktail she whipped up for him.
And while Daemon's off losing his shit, the war is getting underway.
Cole and Aemond successfully bait the blacks into sending a dragon after them by making a member of Rhaenyra's council their next target. To avoid sending Rhaenyra or one of her kids, Rhaenys volunteers to engage Cole's army as she is a powerful dragon rider but also one of the more expendable ones. Lord Staunton's relatively small keep of Rook's Rest is the site of our first dragon battle. And it does not go as planned for either side.
This is due to Aegon II. The guy just couldn't deal with being made to feel so impotent and useless while having access to so much unchecked power, and his mother's dismissive words were the last straw. He downs some wine and takes off on his dragon Sunfyre to show people he means business. Aegon is braver than kings like Joffrey and Tommen Baratheon, but he's also a lot more reckless. He gets into a dragon battle with Meleys, and the older, seasoned dragon starts overpowering and ripping Sunfyre to shreds. And just when the king thinks he's getting saved by the timely arrival of Aemond on Vhagar, it gets even worse.
The plan seemed to have been for Cole to draw out a dragon by attacking Rook's Rest, with Aemond then ambushing whoever the blacks sent; don't ask how they snuck Vhagar's big ass into that forest without any of the locals noticing. But Aemond clearly decided to exploit his brother's stupid risk, holding back to let Sunfyre distract Meleys, then taking it even further by hitting Rhaenys and Meleys with dragonfire while they're grappling with Sunfyre... which does more damage to Aegon than Rhaenys, knocking the king out of the sky as the two older dragons clash.
And though I do think this whole show has been worth making just for the shots of Vhagar and Meleys locked together and flaming each other as they spiral to the ground, the depiction of dragons fighting dragons is rough to watch. These magnificent otherworldly creatures just eviscerating each other for the petty games that humans play, with great emphasis on their pain and exhaustion. Not to mention, the devastating effects of dragon warfare on the average foot soldier. Men are incinerated by the dozens, trampled under dragon feet, and a few unlucky guys are even scalded by Sunfyre's spilt blood. Criston Cole is left shellshocked and clearly ashamed of what he helped bring about.
The only one who really gets anything out of this is Aemond. He kills Rhaenys and Meleys, who then crash down into Rook's Rest and open the castle up to be sacked by what's left of Cole's army, making the blacks' intervention a major failure. And he also removed his brother as a rival to power, with Aegon and Sunfyre both being close to death, at the very least. Even Cole is disturbed by Aemond's ruthlessness. While he's falling to his knees, mortified, Aemond walks away from the battle as if it all went well. For him, it did.
This is just the start of what is known as the Dance of Dragons.
* I'm enjoying the cameo appearances from Milly Alcock in Daemon's dreams of young Rhaenyra; maybe Emily Carey can reappear as young Alicent at some point, perhaps to haunt the increasingly guilty adult Alicent. I think Daemon's seeing Young Rhaenyra in his dreams because it was the age she was at when he started to love and hate her, right around the time her father named her heir over him. Her stating that Viserys loved her more than him provokes his dream self into cutting her head off. His Aemond vision is a bit easier to read; he sees himself as Aemond because Aemond is becoming the thing he's only ever threatened to be. Aemond's all the deadly ambitions of young Daemon, but without the love and family loyalty that kept Daemon from flying all the way off the chain.
* Rhaenys meets Alyn, and immediately recognizes him as her husband's illegitimate son. She encourages Corlys to acknowledge him, but I guess it's a touchy issue for him. Maybe he was just embarrassed about being caught as a philanderer. It's a shame one of their last conversations was argumentative. Corlys is gonna have a hard time finding another wife who matches up to the badass dragon rider who was cool enough to bring him picnic lunches at work.
* It's cool that they reintroduce Willem Blackwood, who we saw as a boy back when Rhaenyra had all those suitors last season. Also, Ser Oscar Tully is introduced but quickly dismissed by Daemon; that's now two ancestors of the Stark kids from Game of Thrones that we've met, one from the mother and father's side of the family.
* Alicent is taking moon tea to head off any pregnancy Criston Cole may have left her with. Don't blame her on that one.
* Speaking of which, Larys Strong's scene with Alicent was intriguing. He clearly knows Alicent and Cole are a thing, but his suggesting that Cole could be killed on his campaign make me wonder if he's jealous. We know Larys has his own weird sexual thing with Alicent, and he's gone out of his way to make himself beholden to her... whether she wants it or not. He also seems concerned with her apparent lack of belief in the greens' cause.
* Alicent also seems fixated on reading up on history, particularly the history books owned by her late husband. She claims she's just seeking wisdom, but I'm thinking she's trying to figure out what the Song of Ice and Fire is. I'm getting late-stage Lady Macbeth vibes from Alicent now.
* It's good casting on the actor who plays Gwayne Hightower, even if he does look too young; but then so does Olivia Cooke as Alicent. I can believe that guy as Otto's son. He always happens to share his father's straightforward logic, though Gwayne's more witty. Pairing him with Criston Cole reminds me of Bronn and Jaime Lannister's dynamic in Game of Thrones.
* Next to Larys, Alys Rivers might be one of the most intriguing characters from the source material. So far I'm liking her portrayal in the show, how she walks the line between mischievous free spirit and dead serious prophet.
* Loved the (mostly one-sided) High Valyrian exchange between Aemond and Aegon. Ewan Mitchell's delivery makes it sound more authentic than it has in the past, and I love that Aegon could understand it, but doesn't really know how to speak it because he's too lazy to actually learn a second language.
* I was excited to finally get a look at Aegon's dragon. In the histories, Sunfyre is cited as the most beautiful dragon people had ever seen, and I feel like they sold that well in his brief time onscreen here. The golden hues of his scales, his look being more like a dragon from classical fantasy, even his roar sounded softer and more ethereal than the other dragons. They also captured the affection between Aegon and his dragon. It just made it that much harder to watch the poor beast get so brutally savaged in the climatic battle.
* Sad to see Eve Best go; the show is full of strong performances, but she really pulled off that effortlessly cool vibe that her character should have. RIP Rhaenys, the Queen Who Never Was, and Meleys, the Red Queen.
Quotes:
Daemon: “So he’s alive?”
Ser Oscar Tully: “Yes, gods be good.”
Daemon: “Well, my time is short and I have need of an army. Perhaps you might place a feather pillow over his head and speed along your inheritance?”
Ser Criston Cole: “This is a better death than a traitor deserves. You should thank me for it.”
Lord Gunthor Darklyn: “Yours will come in kind.”
Aegon II: “I give you a job, and now you just sit there. It’s your fucking castle!”
Larys Strong: “Well, that castle is more crippled than I am, Your Grace. It’s like to drive Daemon to madness as he attempts to make use of it. It is beyond his faculties.”
Cool how he just calmly laid out what is currently happening in Daemon's subplot from a purely realist perspective.
Daemon: “You are a strange kind of woman.”
Alys Rivers: “I’m not woman at all. I’m a barn owl. Cursed to live in human form.”
Alys Rivers: “It’s a hard thing, I imagine, to give obeisance to one who replaced you as heir. And a woman too. A girl child you bounced on your knee. I mean, does it please you that her legitimacy is contested? As you stand here, with a castle and a dragon, attempting to draw an army of men.”
Ser Willem Blackwood: “I was given to understand that you wanted an army.”
Daemon: “Well, who doesn’t these days?”
Alicent: “Do you think wearing the crown imbues you with wisdom?”
Aegon: “Wha… What would you have me do, mother?”
Alicent: “Do simply what is needed of you. Nothing.”
Rhaenyra I: “There are those who have mistaken my caution for weakness. Let that be their undoing.”
Criston: “Stalwart men of House Targaryen, your king has joined you! Hold to your courage! Hold to your wits! For the Seven have blessed and shielded this host with divine purpose! For the one true king, Aegon! ADVANCE!”
Rhaenys: (in High Valyrian) “Attack, Meleys.”
Five out of five dancing dragons.
"good casting on the actor who plays Gwayne Hightower, even if he does look too young; but then so does Olivia Cooke as Alicent"
ReplyDeleteTrue story. Olivia Cooke was (believably) playing teenagers as recently as 2018. She looks not one second older than her actual age of 30.