House of the Dragon is BACK! Season 2 Episode 1, A Son for a Son, premiered Sunday 6/16/24 after two years of eager anticipation. The Game of Thrones precursor series follows House Targaryen during the Dance of the Dragons, a war for the throne between Rhaenyra and her half-brother Aegon.
This series is not, strictly speaking, sapphic. In fact, there’s an awful lot of heterosexual baby making. But, 1) I’m sapphic and I like it, so it is and 2) the show emphasizes the relationship of the two woman at the root of the conflict, Rhaenyra and Alicent, Aegon’s mother and Rhaenyra’s one-time best friend.
The vibes between these two are strong, y’all.
The palpable chemistry between the two lead actresses also gave rise to The Sapphic Meme of 2022, the negroni spagliato, gaining so much interest that mainstream outlets like NPR reported on it.
I rest my case. House of the Dragon is sapphic.
Season 1 Recap
King Viserys names his daughter Rhaenyra as heir to the Iron Throne, alienating many allies including Hand Otto Hightower, who plots for Viserys to marry his daughter Alicent. They have a son, Aegon II, but Viserys believes Rhaenyra has the best temperament to take up the mantle of the Song of Ice and Fire, the secret prophecy that led Aegon I to conquer Westeros. His refusal to name his firstborn son as heir breaks tradition, pitting Aegon II, Alicent, and Otto (“The Greens”), against Rhaenrya and her allies (“The Blacks”) as his health fails.
The Blacks gain a tentative allyship with House Velaryon when Rhaenyra marries their son Laenor and Daemon marries their daughter Laena. The marriage alliances attempt to heal old slights, but the ground gained is threatened when Laenor “dies” and Rhaenyra marries Daemon in the grand tradition of Targaryen incest.
The Black and Green children have a bitter rivalry. Would-be heir Aegon is a loose cannon, while brooding Aemond suffers from second-son ego. Rhaenyra’s sons Jacearys and Lucearys are well-adjusted and boring. Their obvious bastardy does not engender sympathy to Rhaenrya. When Aemond claims ancient dragon Vhaegar, he duels Jace and loses his eye.
On his deathbed, disoriented Viserys alludes to the prophecy and Alicent believes he is naming Aegon II as heir. The Greens instate Aegon II to the throne, while Rhaenyra rallies her forces from the Targaryen’s ancestral home, Dragonstone. Rhaenrya, favoring diplomacy, sends Jace and Luce to Winterfell and Storm’s End.
Luce arrives at Storm’s End, but Aemond and Vhaegar arrive first and Aemond can’t resist the opportunity to give chase. He loses control of Vhaegar, who kills Luce and his dragon, drawing first blood.
When Rhaenyra hears the news, all benevolence visually drains from her body, replaced by rage emanating from every pore. War is on.
Episode 2:1 Recap
The Blacks
My gaze is forever torn between north and south.
We pick up with Jace arriving at the Wall to seek support and men for Rhaenyra’s cause. The resident Stark tells Luce that even Jaehaerys and Allysan’s dragons wouldn’t fly over the wall, illustrating the importance of the Night’s Watch and leaving us uncertain if the North will declare for Rhaenyra. Jace receives urgent news from Dragonstone.
The mother grieves as the Queen shirks her duties.
Rhaenys returns to Dragonstone from patrolling the ocean on her dragon Meleys. Always itching for a fight, Daemon asks that Rhaenys fly with him to King’s Landing so they can kill Vhaegar. Rhaenys, happy to remind Daemon of his place, asks if that is Rhaenrya’s command. Daemon resents Rhaenyra’s mourning, but Rhaenys affirms the Black Queen’s wisdom to show restraint in her grief.
Rhaenrya touches down in Storm’s End where a gaggle of small folk are examining a dragon wing that’s washed up on the beach. She grieves over Luce’s body, then returns with it to Dragonstone. She is unmoved by her council’s positive updates, simply saying “I want Aemon Targaryen.”
You only blame me because your true enemies are out of reach.
You don’t have to tell Daemon twice. Eager for any sort of action, Daemon sets his sights on the White Wrym, Mysaria, who manages a spy network inside King’s Landing. She is brought to Dragonstone for interrogation. Daemon receives the name of a “ratcatcher” in King’s Landing who knows how to access and navigate the Red Keep through hidden tunnels.
Twas the blackest of treacheries.
Jace arrives home. He reports to Rhaenyra that house Aryn and House Stark have pledged support. Mother and son embrace in their shared sorrow, and the Blacks set a funeral pyre for Luce.
The Greens
All seaborne travel and trade to King’s Landing will soon be cut off.
King’s Landing prepares for war. Farmers tithe one-tenth of their animals to feed the dragons. Blacksmiths build Scorpions, catapults that hurl spears into dragon’s vulnerable bits, which seems nerve wracking since Aemond hasn’t given up joy flying Vhaegar. Apparently they don’t have suspended licenses in King’s Landing.
Aegon the Magnanimous!
New King Aegon is surprisingly jolly after dragging his feet through the coronation last season. Now he daydreams about who he will be as King. Viserys’ “pliable” reputation dogs him, and indeed, we see several similarities between the two. Aegon is mischievous, indulgent with his heir, and easily pushed around by his advisors. Interestingly, he is also empathetic to the small folk, perhaps due to spending so much time sowing his wild oats amongst them.
During a small council meeting, we see glimpses of the darker side of Aegon established last season when Lord Lannister issues the gentlest admonishment to Aegon’s heir. I held my breath, wondering if we were about to see a glimpse of a Joffrey-like zeal for humiliation. But the moment passes, with Aegon turning his attention to Aemond and the council.
We must play the board before us.
The game of thrones thrives in the Red Keep, with Otto at the helm. He cautions Aegon to exercise restraint. War risks their dragons and thus their claim to power. He criticizes Aemond’s murder of Lucerys and undermines Alicent at every turn. Larys replaces Alicent’s staff with his own picks and sidles up to Aegon to cast doubt on Otto’s guidance. Aemond and Criston Cole strategize to take the Crownlands by force, but Aemond has little faith that his brother will act independently. He bemoans Alicent’s hypocrisy - she started the war by crowning Aegon but blames Aemond for escalating it. Criston defends her, blaming Rhaenyra as usual.
Criston don’t blame rhaenyra for random shit challenge: impossible
She holds love for our enemy. That’s makes her a fool.
Alicent continues to be a conduit for conversation on sex, power, religion, family, and motherhood. She swaps footsie with Larys for sex with Criston, who seems absolutely miserable with the arrangement, harkening back to Alicent’s own reticence to be intimate with Viserys. She conspires with Otto to control Aegon without hesitation, repeating the cycle started when Otto sent her to Viserys’s chambers as a girl.
Despite it all, she remains softhearted towards Rhaenyra, hopeful the Black Queen will bend the knee and war will be avoided. She still lights candles for the dead, and by the number burning, we see that her losses have grown immensely from Season 1. She lights one for Viserys, then, hesitantly, one for Lucerys.
Blood and Cheese
A son for a son.
Daemon dons his crime hoodie and enters King’s Landing. There, he pays assassins to bring him Aemond Targaryen’s head.The assassins enter the Red Keep and make their way up to the Royal’s quarters.
They do not find Aemond, stumbling instead into Queen Haelena’s quarters. Aegon’s sister-wife is given Sophie’s Choice at knife point, and she identifies which sleeping child is her son. The camera focuses on Haelena scooping her daughter out of bed and stumbling away, while horrific sound effects make it clear what is happening off-screen.
Haelena stumbles into Alicent’s room, clutching her daughter. Alicent and Criston are mid-coitus, but Haelena characteristically doesn’t comment. Wrapped in a sheet, Alicent squats beside her daughter and ask what happened.
“They killed the boy.”
Initial Thoughts
Alicent continues to be the most interesting character. She’s a very real portrait of a traumatized child who upholds the system rather than breaking the cycle. Her hypocrisy and victim mentality war with her optimism and desire for peace.
Criston’s lack-of-enthusiasm while having sex with Alicent is sure to renew the conversations about consent that started when Rhaenyra pursued him last season. Can Criston, as the sworn protector of these women, safely reject their advances?
This episode gave Aegon some much needed humanizing. He’s actually kind of…endearing?
Adult Rhaenyra consistently underwhelms me. She hardly speaks in this episode, though actor Emma D’Arcy shines when conveying emotion physically. I miss the Young Rhaenyra’s snark. However, the contrast between Rhaenyra and Alicent as mothers remains one of the most interesting aspects of the show.
I enjoyed the scene at the Wall as an homage to the pilot of Game of Thrones. I suspect people will continue to complain that they are uninterested in the Ice and Fire of it all, given the lackluster ending of GoT, but the prophecy’s inclusion is deliberate. Fans should remember that the Westeros IP belongs to HBO and they are investing in strengthening the overall story, to which the prophecy is central.
Likewise, people will continue to criticize the reliance on circumstances to explain ruthlessness. The assassins only killed the child because they couldn’t find Aemond. Aemond didn’t intend to kill Luce, he lost control of Vhaegar. Alicent didn’t deliberately disregard Viserys’s decision about the heir, she misunderstood the prophecy. These are valid critiques, but the showrunner’s choices seem deliberate given that they are consistent. It gives the Dance a Greek tragedy vibe, where the more absurd the situation, the more tragic the resulting events.
Needs more gay! Can we get Alicent and Rhaenyra in a room next episode? I won’t get my hopes up.