House of the Dragon S2 Ep 4 Review
When did the Dance of the Dragons, the civil war that nearly destroyed House Targaryen, begin? The answer was simple to me: when Aemond lost control of Vhagar, and she ate Lucerys and Arrax over the Stormlands. That seemed like an appropriate opening salvo for a war. So imagine how frustrated I was to see the first few episodes of House of the Dragon’s sophomore season drag their heels on the matter. Satisfying as it was to see Rhaenyra tell Alicent how badly she misunderstood Viserys last words, I wanted more. I wanted to see the epic battles and the Dances between Dragons that give this war its name. A huge draw to the series was the promise of seeing dragons fighting dragons, which we only got once in Game of Thrones. And since that once was in the divisive “Long Night”, that wasn’t a very high bar for fans.
No more. After weeks of dealing with poorly-adapted war crimes, offscreen battles, and trying to delay the inevitable, the Dance of the Dragons gives us what we want: dragons fighting dragons, epic medieval battles, and people dying in spades. I daresay it, but this might be the best the Ice and Fire has been since Battle of the Bastards!
Aegon Finally Realizes How Much of a Loser He is
Aegon II will be known to history as Aegon the Elder, distinguishing him from Rhaenyra’s son, who shares the name. However, I have a better epithet for him: Aegon the Foolish. The show’s pulled no punches in, showing us how inept and unsuitable Aegon is to be king. He and everyone else knew it, but people wanted him to be king anyway and talked him into it. And Aegon was enough of a fool to buy the hype. But once he became king, he realized that it was just that: hype. In truth, no one sees him as a king, and this episode drives that point home. His advisors don’t respect him. He learns his Hand and brother are making war plans behind his back, with the latter insulting him in High Valyrian, which Aegon can barely speak. Even his mother, now aware thanks to Rhaenyra that Viserys never wanted him to be king, tells Aegon that no one expects him to do anything! His mother thinks he’s worthless!
Aegon may be scum and lacking as a human being, but this episode still managed to make me feel pity for him. Knowing what King’s Landing is like, he likely grew up having people tell him he was meant to be a king because he’s a man. But I’m betting that even Aegon the Conquerer would consider him a disappointment! It’s not hard to imagine how much of a negative impact that has on the man. He becomes so desperate to prove he’s not a loser that he takes his Dragon, Sunfyre, and flies out to fight the Blacks. He thinks he’s being heroic and brave! But, as this episode demonstrates, he’s not; he’s just a fool, and it’s about to cost him everything.
How happy Aegon is when he sees his Dragon Sunfyre makes things even sadder. For all his faults, he genuinely loves Sunfyre, and the feeling is mutual. If only Aegon had taken Sunfyre and fled Westeros when he could, he would have been truly happy.
The Battle of Rook’s Rest Was Franchise’s Best in Years
One of the saddest aspects of the later seasons of Game of Thrones is how much the large-scale battles decayed in quality. By the time of the final season, the series had abandoned any sense of tactics or strategy in favor of the mindless charging headfirst that’s all too common in Hollywood. Instead of making the show look good, all it did was make the characters taking part look stupid, culminating in the final battle against the White Walkers. Many of the casualties we saw (when we could) could’ve been avoided if the living had a plan in mind.
Thankfully, the first large, onscreen battle in House of the Dragon avoids that pitfall.
Criston Cole and Aemond launch a siege on Rook’s Rest, the last Black stronghold in the Crownlands, to draw out Rhaenyra or one of her dragon riders. And, thankfully, House of the Dragon gets how to portray medieval battles. We see Green warriors moving in organized units, planning out their attack and not just mindlessly rushing the castle walls like idiots. The result is a sense of realism that late GoT failed to demonstrate. The fact that the battle was filmed in the same woods used for the opening to Gladiator only makes the entire thing even cooler than it already is. This! This is what the fans have wanted for years!
As good as that is, it’s just the appetizer before the main course.
The First Dance of the Dance of the Dragons
While Rhaenyra and Jace wanted to go to Rook’s Rest, Rhaenys is smart enough not to let them take the bait. Unfortunately, she’s not smart enough to ask others to accompany him, leaving her to face the Greens alone and giving us the first true dragon-on-dragon battle of the Dance of the Dragons.
Since Danaerys had the only known dragons left in the world, we didn’t get to see dragon fights in Game of Thrones until near the end, and the one against the undead Viserion was pretty lackluster. Seeing a real fight between dragons was one of the big selling points for the prequel, and the show did not disappoint! It was as brutal, violent, and fiery as fans expected. And even though I already knew how things would play out, I still felt my jaw drop at the outcome.
F in the chat for Rhaenys Targaryen, the Queen who never was, and Meleys, the Red Queen. They died, but at least they went out like badasses. As an aside, I couldn’t help but feel sad when I saw Meleys use her last moments to look at Rhaenys. Dragons may be unable to speak, but I could tell Meleys was asking Rhaenys to forgive her for letting her down.
That isn’t even the most surprising moment of the episode, though. It’s what happens afterward.
I Think Aemond Tried to Commit Regicide
Ever since I saw Aemond claim Vhagar as his Dragon, I thought he would make a better king than his brother. Looking back, I was impressed by the feat he pulled off, as he’d likely be no better a king than Aegon is. However, that won’t matter, as Aemond made a play for the Iron Throne.
Aemond ordering Vhagar to attack Rhaenys and Meleys while his brother was still fighting wasn’t just him being reckless. I think Aemond was trying to kill his brother, having become fed up with him after years of being belittled. The fact that Criston finds him standing over the mauled Sunfyre with his sword drawn and holding the crown and dagger of Aegon’s namesake proves it to me. If Criston hadn’t shown up, Aemond might have killed Aegon then and there. He might have even tried to kill Sunfyre. In addition to being a kinslayer, he’d be a kinslayer and a dragonslayer.
Aegon remains alive, but from what I remember from the books, he’s going to wish he had died that day. And Aemond can act as king in all but name. And with Rhaenys and Meleys dead, neither side has won anything.
Finally, House of the Dragon is Showing What it’s Made of!
Now that’s more like it, HBO. This was everything that the fans had been wanting for the Dance of the Dragons and then some. And this isn’t even the halfway point for the season. I can’t guarantee it, but I hope we see even more battles like this! This was the best the franchise has been since the Battle of the Bastards eight years ago! And plenty of others seem to agree. Just look at the ratings.
And that’s not even getting into the other storylines from this episode, like Corlys bastard sons or how Harrenhal is getting to Daemon. This was everything that I’ve wanted from the show, and I cannot wait until next Sunday to see where we go from here!
