‘Home of the Dragon’: Viserys and Alicent Get Collectively

SPOILER ALERT: Don’t learn when you’ve got not watched the second episode of “House of the Dragon,” titled “The Rogue Prince,” now streaming on HBO Max.

Within the courting world of Westeros, age is only a quantity. After dropping his spouse Queen Aemma final episode —which happened six months in the past within the “Home of the Dragon” timeline” — King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) felt the strain to discover a new spouse and begin making royal heirs. Any Westeros king would do the identical factor, however the disturbing half is that Viserys’ cousin Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Finest) was taking part in matchmaker along with her personal daughter, the way-underage Girl Laena Velaryon (Nova Foueillis-Mose). Incest isn’t new to the world of “Game of Thrones” or the Targaryens, however the age distinction between Viserys and Laena was nearly as stomach-churning as final week’s medieval C-section carried out on the queen.

After the sequence premiere, this episode was quieter when it comes to violence and raunchiness, nevertheless it arrange some main alliances. Beginning off, we discovered a bit extra about Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) and the troubles dealing with his home. Pirates from the Free Cities of Essos, led by a person referred to as the Crab Feeder, are attacking Corlys’ ships and feeding his sailors to a consortium of killer crabs, however Viserys and his council refuse to take motion. On prime of that, Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) has overtaken Dragonstone since being banished from King’s Touchdown. Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock) suggests sending a crew of dragonriders as a present of power, however her father Viserys dismisses her.

As an alternative of plotting with the council, Rhaenyra sizes up the brand new knights being chosen for the Kingsguard. The one one with precise fight expertise is Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), who’s the Dornish jouster from final episode’s match. He will get the job.

In the meantime, Viserys and Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey) are nonetheless spending time collectively, and he exhibits her his spectacular scale-model of Previous Valyria. He additionally confides in her that he and Rhaenyra haven’t spoken a lot since Queen Aemma’s horrific loss of life. Alicent then meets up with Rhaenyra, they usually pray within the sept for his or her lifeless moms and for Viserys to see Rhaenyra as “greater than his little lady.”

Talking of little women, Rhaenys and Corlys have the right match for Viserys. To additional unite the Targaryen and Velaryon homes, they need Viserys to marry the younger Girl Laena. The king isn’t certain what to do. After a clumsy dinner with Rhaenyra and a gross maggot therapy for his rotting pinky, Viserys goes on a stroll with Laena. He learns that Rhaenys and Corlys put Laena as much as the association, telling her she wouldn’t should mattress the king till she turned 14.

Throughout this cringey first date, Rhaenyra and Rhaenys (who’ve the closest “Recreation of Thrones” names since Bran, Bronn and Brienne) watch from afar and get right into a tense dialogue in regards to the line of succession. Rhaenys admits she’s bothered by the Viserys-Laena state of affairs, however that’s the way you play the sport of thrones in Westeros. Nonetheless possibly somewhat jealous she was handed over for the Iron Throne years in the past, Rhaenys, the “queen who by no means was,” says Viserys will finally remarry and have a male inheritor, who will rule as an alternative of Rhaenyra.

Residing in Dragonstone, Daemon sends a letter to King’s Touchdown proclaiming himself because the rightful inheritor and asserting that his lover Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuna) is pregnant. The king’s council realizes he’s stolen a dragon egg, so that they ship Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), Ser Criston and a batch of the Kingsguard to place a cease to Daemon’s treason. Once they meet him on the bridge in Dragonstone, they’re met with a squad of Daemon’s Metropolis Watch followers, and tensions rise instantly.

Otto accuses Daemon of declaring struggle on the king, and the 2 sides draw their swords. All of a sudden, Daemon’s large purple dragon, Caraxes, flies up, and the tide shifts in his favor. However earlier than he can stroll away with the dragon egg, Rhaenyra swoops in on her dragon unannounced, and calms issues down. Daemon returns the egg, however stays in Dragonstone — and it’s revealed that he was mendacity about Mysaria’s being pregnant all alongside.

Again in King’s Touchdown, Viserys is upset with Rhaenyra for disobeying him, however she says outcomes are outcomes, and factors out that she retrieved the dragon egg with out bloodshed. The time has additionally come for him to decide on a brand new spouse, and he chooses Alicent Hightower, because the sequence premiere had foreshadowed when her father despatched her to consolation Viserys. Their age distinction, by the best way, continues to be surprising, however much less so than Viserys and Laena — and this marriage additionally presages an eventual rivalry between Alicent and Rhaenyra. Everybody on the council is shocked, however none extra so than Corlys, who’d been ‘transport his daughter and the king.

In a basic “Recreation of Thrones” backdoor assembly, it’s then revealed that Corlys turns to none aside from Daemon to hitch forces and get again on the king. Corlys says he and Daemon have lots in widespread: They each take what they need, they’ve older brothers in energy, to not point out they’ve nice hair. So begins the brand new Daemon-Corlys alliance to tackle the Crab Feeder and kick off the Warfare for the Stepstones.