Holy, powerful acting Batman! Scandal, drama, unfortunate parenting, and death are the necessary ingredients for this week’s House of the Dragon episode. And it cooked!

Before we get too far into the episode, here’s a quick reminder to catch our show, “Decoding Dragons,” where Liza Phoenix and I break down all things House of the Dragon (also available on YouTube and podcast format)! We dive deep into lore, symbolism, easter eggs, and even more of Westeros and Game of Thrones. If you don’t have 40 minutes to listen or watch, but you do have a few minutes to read, continue forth, my Lords and Ladies. If you don’t want to get burned by spoilers, I suggest watching the second (and first) episodes before continuing!

Let’s get into the despair and grief of it all!

The Aftermath

Episode 1 ended with a horrendous murder of a child in his bed. Actually, decapitating a child in his bed. I think that makes a difference. Episode 2 opens with the aftermath of this action, beginning with a Small Council meeting being held with a grieving King Aegon. Yes, that is small on purpose because I do not wish to call him King. Throughout the Small Council Meeting, Tywin Otto, the Hand of the King, decides to use this tragedy in Team Green’s favor.

Knowing full well the weight of this implication, they agree to have a funeral procession parading the tiny body in front of the smallfolk and force the grieving mother, Halaena, to ride in an open carriage behind the body. She is accompanied by her own mother, Alicent, but that brings little solace due to Alicent being the most absent mother imaginable, who carries her frustration for her position out on her children.

They grossly sewed the child’s head back to the body as if to parade it around as the next Circus Act.

Otto knows this will turn the tides in Aegon’s favor when the larger houses hear of the hideousness of this act carried out by Rhaenyra …and Rhaenyra knows it, too. She and Daemon get into a heated argument about the implications of what has happened. Emma D’arcy puts on a Master class for this scene, everyone. We got to see Rhaenyra return to child Rhaenyra as every word projected disdainfully at Daemon, dripped with the feelings of a 14-year-old forced to grow up far too fast. Daemon pleads with her to understand he did this to weaken Team Green, but Rhaenyra knows he has shown her as vulnerable and emotional. As every woman knows, emotional is not what you want to be called in a workplace surrounded by men.

Ratcatchers No More

Aegon decided to act on his emotion, foregoing logic and hanging every Ratcatcher in King’s Landing. Larys Strong apprehended the Knight that Daemon hired to slay Aemond Targaryen, who quickly turned on everyone involved. However, he did not know the Ratcatcher’s name, only his profession, and therefore, all of them had to die. Otto discovered this and was infuriated by his grandson’s immature irrationality and faced him in a confrontation that better win Rhys Ifans an Emmy.  He oozed, “I am surrounded by idiots,” and “I am truly too old for this shit,” with an eye roll and a turn of the shoulder. He told Aegon this act had turned his people against him because he had publicly hung every Royal-hired ratcatcher. He did this in front of their sons, their fathers, their mothers, their wives, and more. This means people will no longer show empathy but anger, bitterness, and betrayal. Aegon mentions how his Father is dead, and Otto simply replies, “And we are the poorer for it.” Because of a seed planted by Larys Strong last episode, Aegon questions Otto’s loyalty (and age) and forces him to resign his position. Which he immediately hands over to none other than…Ser Criston Cole.

Crispy Cole does not get a headlined section. He gets the bottom of the Ratcatcher section because that’s what he is. Mr. Cole had the audacity to blame the little Prince’s death on Ser Arryk since he was in bed asleep like a normal person. We know Mr. Cole was busy with Alicent in bed, which means you, sir, should be to blame. However, because Crispy Cole is quickly becoming the most hated man of the series, he sends Arryk on an adventure to kill Rhaenyra in Dragonstone…on his own. He is challenged to mimic his twin, infiltrate the castle, and slay Rhaenyra. He sends him alone, knowing full well he will not return. What a twisted sense of purpose.

We do also see that the blockade set up by Team Black on the Gullet is paying off, and resources are becoming more expensive and fewer and farther between in King’s Landing.

The Battle

Unfortunately, there is no dragon battle in this filler episode full of conversations that definitely could have just been emails (except a couple). Ser Arryk infiltrates his way into Dragonstone (wearing his white cloak of the Kingsguard ?!?!) and finds his way to Rhaenyra’s bed chambers. It seems as if his impossible task will be successful, except for the fact that Mysaria saw him on her way out of Dragonstone to go be Rhaenyra’s Mistress of Whispers, leading to her potentially alerting the castle to the intruder since she had just seen Erryk. Right when he unsheathes his sword to strike, his twin brother, Ser Erryk, forces his way into the room, and the battle begins! The choreography was fantastic, and the duration of the battle made it known how challenging it is for these two to be battling each other. In the end, one delivers the final blow to the other and promptly ends his own life, knowing he could not go on without his twin, but not before asking for forgiveness…even though they had chosen opposite sides and probably not seen each other in quite some time. But one soul, two bodies, amirite? It’s the battle we all wanted for The Hound and The Mountain; let’s be serious.

We saw Daemon fly away on Caraxes in this episode, and Rhaenyra ordered Baela to ride Moondancer to King’s Landing and to “stay high and keep your distance.” Aemond took the death of the little Prince as a compliment because he now thinks Daemon is afraid of him. (no).  Rhaenys and Corlys have an interesting conversation about the progression of the war while spending some much-needed time in bed, renewing their intimacy.

All in all, it seems as if we are in a tug of war of “I don’t want to shed blood, but this is all horrible, and why is it happening to me?” We are ready for bloodshed, guys. Ya’ll are Targaryen’s. Flip that coin and get toasting some peasant marshmallows!

Did you watch the latest episode? What did you think? Let us know what lore we should dive into next!