Exploring "House of the Dragon"--"The Black Queen" (S1, Ep. 10)
The season finale of the hit HBO fantasy shows why the series is a worthy successor to "Game of Thrones."
Well, kids, we finally made it. We’re now at the end of the first season of House of the Dragon, and what a wild trip it’s been! While the penultimate episode focused on the events in King’s Landing after the death of King Viserys, “The Black Queen.” Except for a devastating sequence which takes place at Storm’s End, the episode’s action mostly takes place on the gloomy, bleak island fortress of Dragonstone, where Princess, and then Queen, Rhaenyra has to decide what to do about her half-brother’s efforts to usurp her crown.
As it has been the case for several episodes now, the highlight of “The Black Queen” was Emma D’Arcy’s performance as Rhaenyra. From the very moment they took over the role from Milly Alcock, D’Arcy has shown remarkable versatility in the role, allowing us as viewers to see the many different aspects of her character. In this episode, we truly feel with her as she agonizes over what to do about Aegon’s seizure of the Iron Throne. Rhaenyra is truly caught on the cleft stick of destiny. On the one hand, allowing him to remain on the throne–along with all of the symbols of the much-vaunted Aegon the Conqueror–means not only giving up that to which she has a legitimate claim but also, and perhaps more importantly, sentencing herself and her sons to the perpetual threat of execution. After all, can we really believe the cunning Otto Hightower when he claims that they will all be safe, with Rhaenyra acknowledged as Princess of Dragonstone and her elder boys appointed as a squire and cupbearer to Aegon? We all know just what kind of person Otto Hightower is, and we know how those with royal blood in their veins, particularly Targaryen blood, think about potential rivals to the throne. In case you missed it: it isn’t pretty.
On the other hand, deciding to declare all-out war on her half-brother, she will do the very thing she swore to her father she would not do, i.e. tear apart the realm he left for her to rule. She is smart enough to realize that there can be no hope for the realm if she resorts to the usual strategies for dealing with conflict. The bitter irony here is that it is precisely this awareness of the costs of armed conflict which makes Rhaenyra the obviously better choice to sit on the Iron Throne. No member of the Greens–with the possible exception of Alicent–has any thought for the realm as a whole. Everyone from Otto Hightower to Ser Criston Cole is simply out for their own benefit, and they couldn’t care less who they have to step on or crush in their pursuit of ultimate power.
As if all of this isn’t enough, Rhaenyra also has to contend with husband Daemon, who shows himself in a not particularly flattering light throughout this episode. Not only does he abandon her to have a miscarriage on her own, ignoring her cries of anguish, he also assaults her when she reminds him of the Targaryen prophecy regarding the impending threat from the north. This violent outburst isn’t surprising to those of us who have watched this series from the beginning, for all that there are a number of people on Twitter and elsewhere who worship at the altar of “Daddy Daemon'' (a phenomenon that has proven puzzling to those involved with the series). Even so, the moment when he grips her throat in an iron grip is a potent reminder of the danger that has always lurked beneath his charming exterior. When it comes right down to it, Daemon exhibits all of the worst Targaryen traits, and when his will is thwarted–or when, as becomes clear, he has been shut out of the prophecies of the powerful, his solution will always be a violent attempt to bludgeon his opponents into absolute submission.
Unfortunately for our beloved queen, however, things are about to get even worse for her and, though she does everything she can to protect her two elder boys from the vicissitudes of war–even going so far as to have them swear on an oath that neither of them will engage in any type of battle–events quickly spiral out of control once the younger of the two, Lucerys, reaches Storm’s End, where he comes face-to-face with none other than Aemond. To his credit, he refuses to break his oath to his mother (oaths are, as everyone knows, a key building block of tragic narratives) and, after being thoroughly rebuffed by Lord Borros Baratheon, he takes to the skies on Arrax, driving right into the teeth of a raging storm. Aemond, determined to get at least a bit of revenge for Luke’s taking of his eye, pursues him on the monstrous Vhagar.
The duel between Vhagar and Arrax has been one of the most highly-anticipated (and dreaded) moments in the finale, particularly given both the trailer for the episode and its leak. It is also one of the most haunting passages in Fire and Blood, as the tragic death of Luke is the catalyst which moves the brewing civil war from the realm of diplomacy and ravens into full-scale war, with dragons as the resident weapons of mass destruction. And it is indeed a beautifully-shot sequence, and the juxtaposition of Vhagar’s enormity next to Arrax’s tinier form is like something straight out of an animal horror movie (think Jaws or Anaconda). Even those who haven’t read the book surely know how this will end.
As has happened repeatedly in this season, however, the series makes a notable change to how events transpire. In the book, it is the belief of most of the maesters that Aemond deliberately set out to kill his young nephew, motivated by his long-simmering hatred of the other for the destruction of his eye and further goaded by one of Lord Borros’ churlish daughters. In the series’ version of events, both Aemond and Lucerys fail to really control their mounts, with Arrax breathing fire on Vhagar, who isn’t going to take this lying down. With one sharp bite, the larger dragon seems to devour Luke and sends Arrax’s broken body tumbling into Shipbreaker Bay many thousands of feet below. It is a truly stunning and viscerally horrifying moment, particularly because it is, when it comes right down to it, an accident. Neither of the two combatants really wanted matters to come to this; they were just two foolish boys who got caught up in the heat of the moment, unable to control the enormous weapons of mass destruction at their command.
Of course, this isn’t the first time that House of the Dragon has made to the source material. Who could forget the moment when Alicent heard her dying husband whisper that he wished for Aegon to take the throne and, hearing what she wished to hear, proceeded to act accordingly? Misunderstandings are, of course, the fundamental building blocks of classical tragedy. They are, in many ways, what makes tragedy…tragedy. As viewers, we know the truth, that Aemond didn’t really intend for Vhagar to kill young Lucerys, any more than Viserys intended his younger son to inherit the Iron Throne. In both cases, unfortunately, what’s done can’t be undone, and the consequences for both their family and all of the Seven Kingdoms will be very dire indeed.
The brilliance of a show like House of the Dragon is that it allows us as viewers to feel with the characters as they are swept up on the tides of history, with each action and misunderstanding leading to the next, until all of Westeros becomes, as Rhaenyra so eloquently puts it, an empire of ash and bone. Now, it has to be said that, at this point, it’s unlikely it could have ever ended up any other way. Whatever he might tell Rhaenyra during their fateful meeting on Dragonstone, it was unlikely that Otto Hightower was ever going to let her live, let alone let her sons get so physically close to the Iron Throne and the man seated upon it. It’s hard to see this as anything other than another scheme on his part, an effort to get Rhaenyra to let her guard down just long enough to render her vulnerable.
While some haven’t particularly liked the series’ tendency to lean heavily on the misunderstanding trope, I actually think these changes make for more compelling drama. If anything, Fire and Blood is even more brutally cynical than Game of Thrones; In the world it creates, almost everyone–whether Targaryen or not–is truly terrible. This is as true for Alicent as it is for Rhaenyra, and for the most part the pleasure of this particular book lies in its expansive view of the history of the dynasty, rather than in giving readers a character that the viewer can identify with or even like. While it may be true that the individuals who populate House of the Dragon may lack the charisma of some of their counterparts in Game of Thrones, I think it might be going a bit far, as some reviewers have, to suggest that there are no true heroes in this series. From my point of view, what we have in House of the Dragon is a tragic melodrama about a family torn apart by power. While this might not be the most optimistic of stories to tell, it’s one that I think many people will understand, even if the people in question happen to ride dragons and rule over an entire continent.
However, I do have a few complaints about this finale, as well as the season as a whole. While I was suitably horrified by the swift and bloody end of dear, sweet Lucerys, it has to be said that his death lacked the powerful emotional punch of his grandfather’s, or really almost any character from Game of Thrones. This isn’t Elliot Grihault’s fault at all. He’s done a very good job of conveying the young prince’s vexation at being an unwilling heir to Driftmark and the power of House Velaryon, and his scene at Storm’s, we simply haven’t gotten to spend enough time with him as a character for his death to have true emotional heft. Instead, most of its significance stems from how devastating it is for Rhaenyra, and it is truly a gunt punch to see her response to the news. After turning to the fireplace to collect herself, she turns back to the camera, and the steely, furious look on her features lets us know in no uncertain terms that the Dance of the Dragons is about to begin in earnest. There can be no going back now, and the realm will burn.
Overall, I think that “The Black Queen” was truly a powerful piece of television. Then again, the entire season has been nothing less than a titanic achievement in serialized storytelling. Like many others, I was a bit skeptical at first that this series would ever become anything other than a pale copy of Game of Thrones. Throughout the first season, however, it repeatedly showed that it had the ability to become something with its own peculiar genius. In large measure, this is because of the strength of its performances, from the outstanding Eve Best as Rhaneys–certainly one of this season’s MVPs–to Matt Daemon’s lip-curling Daemon. These are people we can’t take our eyes away from, and they are what keeps us returning to Westeros week after week.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like we’re going to be getting a second season of House of the Dragon anytime soon. However, given just how rich and complex the series was during its first season, I strongly suspect that it will be one of those shows that rewards multiple viewings. And, in the meantime, there is always Fire and Blood to read and re-read. The world that George RR Martin has given us is rich and complex, and I know I can’t wait to spend more time there.