The last time we saw Matt Smith’s Daemon Targaryen, he was being chased by seven bells from his brother’s Kingsguard. But you can’t keep a good(?) man for long, and he’ll surely be back on his feet in no time, quietly murdering his wife to make way for him to marry his niece. Think family values, Targaryen style – and believe it or not, this isn’t even the episode’s worst marriage-related decision. Gotta love Westeros, where you have about a 50% chance of surviving any marriage. So we open as Daemon puts on an impossibly large hoodie and goes to kill his missus, Lady Rhea Royce (Rachel Redford, obviously an alliteration queen). He could just file for an annulment or the local equivalent since they apparently never consummated their marriage, but maybe that would hurt his male pride or be a land grab for her wealth. Better to go straight to the kill – though his animosity towards Rhea is odd, since ‘actively hostile’ seems to be his type. Alas, his timing is off: Viserys (Paddy Considine) has taken the ship to Driftmark to arrange the betrothal of Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) and Laenor Velaryon (Theo Nate), son and heir of Lord Corlys (Steven Toussaint). Laenor Velaryon is gay, but dynastic marriages are rarely concerned with such details. In any case, the young couple both promise to look the other way and move on with their lives. Every Dragon in Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon Driftmark makes for a pretty cool location: it’s a combination of Mount St. Michael in Cornwall and rows of dimly lit studios filled with the richness of the sea, brought back from the Sea Snake’s many voyages. There, Viserys continues to talk about the importance of “finally” uniting their two houses, Targaryen and Velaryon, but his cousin Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) is literally the groom’s mother. It must be a deliberate attempt to show, once again, how outcast she was and how unimaginably patriarchal Viserys is. And yet he is the only one who foresees no problem with his daughter taking the throne. So much for his dreams of being a Dreamer, able to see the future. This week has another talky episode, but one that further exposes the rifts in the Targaryen clan. “ The shadowy sets and general darkness of the show are causing a few problems this week, and there’s an aspect of the costume that should be shocking and just… isn’t. Alicent (Emily Carey) finally decides to fight back this week, enraged that Rhaenyra lied to her (she didn’t exactly, but it’s a matter of degree) and turns on her husband and heir. It’s worth noting that he’s brought into this by Ser Larys Strong (Matthew Needham), who seems a bit small here. Perhaps the intrigue levels are rising. After this conversation, when Alicent enters the engagement party in green, she is supposed to make an important declaration of independence from the Targaryens. Her green dress should be a major moment – but House Of The Dragon needs to tell us that rather than show it because it hasn’t set up any of the necessary background. In the same scene, for example, Rhaenyra is in white rather than Targaryen black and red (an anachronism if we base this on medieval times: brides wearing only white actually go back to Queen Victoria in the 19th century) and we see Alicent in blue and copper only in this episode. If the series had earlier highlighted Alicent’s change in appearance when she married, or consistently put the female Targaryens in red and black like the males, then this might have been impressive. As it is, it’s just a good dress. It’s been a chatty episode up to this point, with some good heart between Alicent and Otto (Rhys Ifans), for example, and between Rhaenyra and Laenor. Interestingly, this is the second episode from director Clare Kilner, equaling the record of two episodes by Michelle MacLaren in seasons 3 and 4 of Game Of Thrones, the only previous female director of Westeros. Encouragingly, however, Kilner has one more episode to come, with Geeta Vasant Patel joining her later in the season. Baby gets behind the camera, but some sort of effort at equality, especially in a show so focused on gender dynamics. Hopefully, later in the series, the women won’t just have emotional drama like this and sink their teeth into some bigger-than-a-fist action. Or rather, a gauntlet vs. face match, towards the climax of this week. The week-long festivities planned for the royal wedding are derailed almost immediately when Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), in all his heavy armor, clashes with the velvet-clad Joffrey Lonmouth (Solly McLeod), aka the Knight of Kisses. , aka Laenor’s boyfriend. Things don’t go well for him, because you should never go to weddings if your name is Joffrey. Farewell, young Longmouth, we hardly knew you. Over the years, this world has taught us a lot about superstitions and wedding etiquette. You don’t need something borrowed or blue. it doesn’t matter if you see the bride before the wedding. But it’s a bad idea to tie the knot while nearby rats are feeding on the blood clot of your husband’s recently dead lover. It’s also not a very good sign if your own lover is contemplating seppuku at the same time, only to be stopped by your hostile stepmother. Nor is it very lucky if your dad collapses from his black wounds while you’re completing your vows or your uncle smolders you on the dance floor. Anyway, congratulations to the happy couple. Maybe everything will go well.
