Though we’ve seen dragon riding before, this is the first time we’re shown the inherent danger in climbing onto a beast like Vhagar and taking her for a ride. With tiny Aemond on her back, her size is even more apparent. ( This infographic may not be perfect, but it’s helpful.) She’s also a storied warrior, originally ridden by Aegon I’s sister/wife Visenya during the Conquest of Westeros. Vhagar is massive, huge, gigantic, a dragon that could make playthings out of other dragons, at least twice the size of Daemon’s Caraxes and Rhaenyra’s Syrax. For all the obvious reasons, House of the Dragon had to go big with its dragons, and Vhagar, the biggest prize of all, had to be shown off in all her glory in order for us to understand the stakes of Aemond’s gain. Until the final few moments of the episode, when the showrunners cram in their big Laenor reveal and Rhaenyra and Daemon’s wedding, they finally hit the appropriate narrative pace for a show of this scale.Īemond’s long, luscious (and dark as hell) bonding scene with Vhagar does the right thing in taking its sweet time. This is the tip of a chilly wave-beaten island, yet apparently no one expects the gray skies and crystallized breath.įor all its contrivance (why would the sickly king make this journey to attend the funeral of his estranged brother’s wife?) this episode gets one thing right that we’ve missed out on until now: It slows the tempo down to a conversational crawl and digs into the little slights and shared looks.
(Aegon is also a pre-teen lush.) Viserys’s mind is wearing down like his degrading body - at one point he calls Alicent “Aemma.” And whoever planned this event didn’t think to offer victuals to the mourners - or to throw it in a sensible, indoors location. Aegon is currently betrothed to his sister Helaena, a little Louise Bourgeois in the making who whispers songs to spiders and generally avoids conversation. Harwin is confirmed dead, and although Rhaenyra’s boys may not know that he is their real father, Jace at least senses that their mourning loyalties ought lie with him. Otto Hightower is again Hand of the King, despite the fact that he’s been away from court for a decade and there surely must be another reliable agent Viserys can employ. Here are a few things we learn right away.
It’s hard to tell precisely how much time has lapsed since Laena’s death - perhaps a few days - but it was enough for the various dispersed Targaryens to descend on Driftmark and bring with them their genetically endowed abilities to be uniquely awful. It’s a mirthless party, where everyone casts side-eye at friends and enemies alike, and the camera mingles among them like an acutely aware guest. Laena Velaryon’s funeral, and more specifically the post-funeral patio luncheon, throws the whole cast of characters together from the get-go, including some who haven’t seen one another in years, like Rhaenyra and Daemon. In its seventh episode, House of the Dragon tips that convention on its side.
Procedurals like Law & Order have the perfect setting for their blowups - the courtroom, where accumulated evidence is hurled at witnesses and defendants until emotion carries them off toward confession. Gossip Girl, the premier example, virtually never deviated from the form every gala or school gathering at Constance Billard was an excuse to send Upper East Siders snaking across rooms to whisper accusations and then explosively confront foes. A standard television-episode plotting method: Use the first act to create chaos between characters, the second act to heighten it, and the third to bring all the major players together at a party/event/function, where different pairs can mingle and stew, and the tension can finally come to a boil.
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