TV Review: "House of the Dragon: Rhaenyra the Cruel" (S2, Ep. 2)
Loyalties are tested in both King's Landing and Dragonstone as the competition between Blacks and the Greens continues to heat up in the aftermath of a bloody assassination.
Hello, dear reader! Do you like what you read here at Omnivorous? Do you like reading fun but insightful takes on all things pop culture? Do you like supporting indie writers? If so, then please consider becoming a subscriber and get the newsletter delivered straight to your inbox. There are a number of paid options, but you can also sign up for free! Every little bit helps. Thanks for reading and now, on with the show!
After a truly horrifying premiere, the second episode of this season of House of the Dragon commits to the slow-burn ethos of the series as a whole. The slaughter of Prince Jaehaerys sends shockwaves through the kingdom, forcing everyone, both in King’s Landing and Dragonstone, to evaluate where to go from here and how to grapple with this act of aggression. It’s not long before the dominos begin to fall, leaving Aegon with a new Hand and Rhaenyra with a dead member of the Kingsguard.
It’s hard not to feel at least a bit sorry for Otto Hightower, who at last has to reckon with the fact that his grandson really is something of a dunce and is most certainly too emotionally immature and volatile to be able to be an effective ruler. Rhys Ifans continues to give Otto a world-weary mien, and this comes to the fore when it really dawns on him how catastrophically wrong he was to think that simply placing the Iron Throne in the hands of a male heir rather than a female one would keep the realm from descending into chaos. You can almost see the thought process going on behind his eyes as he really grapples with what this is going to mean going forward, right before he is booted from his position in favor of the woefully unprepared Criston Cole. It’s rather paltry wages for a canny political operator like Otto, even if one can’t help but also feel a bit of schadenfreude.
I particularly enjoyed his conversation with Alicent, the latter of whom continues to grapple with her own failings as a mother and as a political manipulator. Her bond with Otto has always been one of the most complicated in the entire series, and so it proves here. She badly wants to confess to him the truth about her dalliance with Criston but Otto, just as willing to be blind as she is when it suits his needs, rebuffs her (possibly because he thought she was going to admit to having once lusted after Rhaenyra herself). In the end, Alicent is truly alone, and this is what makes her such a pathetic and tragic figure.
Matters are just as unsettled at Dragonstone, particularly since, unbeknownst to the Blacks, there’s a traitor in their midst, and his presence leads to yet another fateful climax. Whereas “A Son for a Son” came to a close with the brutal slaughter of Prince Jaehaerys, so this one ends with the tragic clash of twins when Erryk and Arryk, the latter of whom takes his own life after defeating his twin, his other half, in hand-to-hand combat. This is yet another indication of the tremendous toll that The Dance is going to have on both the mighty and the small. Who could forget, for example, Aegon’s hanging of all of the rat catchers in King’s Landing? Obviously his blunt method works, since he does manage to catch the one responsible–as we can see when the camera zooms in on his dead face–but there are also many presumably innocent ones caught in the net. The grief of those who are left behind is wrenching to behold, and Otto at least is smart enough to realize that this has done lasting damage to their credibility and their reputation for being responsible stewards of the Seven Kingdoms. Aegon, however, like so many other headstrong young people, simply wants to do something, no matter how destructive it might be.
Indeed, the impact of royal rage on the masses is a running motif throughout the episode, particularly in the conversation that Aemond has with one of the many sex workers of King’s Landing, who reminds him of how much damage a prince can cause. For his part, he expresses regret at what happened with Lucerys, but whether you believe Aemond’s version of events at this moment will depend on how you view the character in the first place. However, given the look of horror on his face, his youth, I tend to believe him. When it comes right down to it, Aemond is no more a monster than his brother. Instead, they are both headstrong, foolish, and pampered young men who are in way over their heads and are far too quick to give in to those who don’t have their best interests at heart but merely want to exploit them. In this universe, power really does tend to distort the worldview of those at the top, and the effects are soon going to start radiating out to every corner of the Seven Kingdoms.
Of course, the devastation being wrought by these early steps in the Dance echoes all the way to the top, and we have to bear witness as poor Helaena becomes yet another prop in her grandfather’s efforts to solidify the power of the dynasty. It’s particularly jarring to watch her have to ride through the streets of King’s Landing, particularly since it’s clear how much this costs her, not just because she’s mourning the murder of her son (which, it bears repeating, happened in front of her very eyes) but also because the crowd that presses around her causes her to nearly lose her mind with panic. There are some truly great shots here, Phia Saban continues to give a truly remarkable and resonant performance as the tragic sister/wife of Aegon.
The true emotional centerpiece of the entire episode, however, is the brutal confrontation between Rhaenyra and Daemon, in which all of the ugliness and discontent that has been brewing between them is finally brought out into the open. This is the type of fight from which neither party escapes entirely unscathed, and it’s likewise clear that nothing between the two of them will ever be the same after this. Even though Daemon is undeniably a jackass and a rogue, he also has a point about the weakness of his brother, Viserys. The late king was a good man but, it must be said, a poor king (not that Daemon would have been any better, obviously). We’ve seen before that Daemon is the type who will always put his own interests ahead of those of the kingdom and his wife, and so it proves to be true here.
For Rhaenyra’s part, she’s starting to grasp that claiming the Iron Throne for herself isn’t going to be quite as easy or as bloodless as she no doubt hoped. She might be furious with Daemon for being (indirectly?) responsible for the death of a child, but her protestations do tend to ring a bit hollow. After all, it’s pretty rich of her to cry foul about taking away Helaena’s child when she was more than willing to do the same to Alicent. Just because Alicent is one of the prime movers behind the usurpation doesn’t mean that she’s any less a mother than Rhaenyra or Helaena. While Rhaenyra might be more likable and sympathetic than her book counterpart (and thank goodness for that), she still has her own blind spots. Moreover, by driving Daemon away she has left himself without one of her most formidable commanders and steadfast (if often recalcitrant) allies.
If there’s one island of calm in all of this, it’s the relationship between Corlys Velaryon and Rhaenys Targaryen. Theirs is truly a relationship of equals, two strong minds and two strong wills working in concert rather than in constant opposition. This marks them out as remarkably distinct from their Targaryen counterparts, who are always threatening to tear themselves apart. It’s always a pleasure to see Eve Best and Steve Toussaint, even in their more subdued moments.
While it might be quite deliberately-paced, I continue to find myself drawn into the world House of the Dragon is slowly revealing to us. Power is a fickle thing in this series, and even a propaganda coup like Otto’s–in which Rhaenyra is branded as “Rhaenyra the Cruel”--is not always enough to keep one on top. Fortune is a wheel, and it remains to be seen what it has in store for the Greens and the Blacks next week.