Plot: King Viserys weighs options to solidify his lineage while trying to prevent war with the Free Cities. Rhaenrya confronts Daemon when he steals a dragon’s egg.
Review (SPOILERS): After last week’s series premiere, the second episode of HBO‘s House of the Dragon takes something of a step back in pacing. Knowing that there will be a significant time jump at some point this season in which Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke will take over the roles of Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower, I was not expecting “The Rogue Prince” to jump six months from where the previous episode left off. In the wake of the deaths of Queen Aemma and Viserys’ male heir, Baelon, the King now must contend with facing the calls for him to solidify his reign in the absence of a male successor to the Iron Throne.
From the very start, “The Rogue Prince” outlines the rift between Viserys and Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint). When a band of warriors from the city of Myr begin a blockade of shipping lanes overseen by Lord Corlys’ navy, he and his wife, Lady Rhaenys (Eve Best), beseech the King to take action. Viserys remains ambivalent about provoking war. Corlys and Rhaenys instead propose that the King remarry to try and have a male heir and they suggest their eldest daughter, Laena Velaryon. Viserys takes the proposal to Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans). While the King is treated for a gangrenous finger that was cut on the Iron Throne, Ser Otto suggests the King consider marriage. The Velaryon clan are closely matched to the Targaryen line but Viserys is troubled by Laena’s age (she is twelve years old).
While Viserys questions getting remarried, he has two significant conversations. One, with Rhaenrya, continues to dismiss her desire to become more involved with royal affairs. The King had earlier dismissed her suggestion during the Small Council meeting and sent her instead to name a new Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, for whom she selects Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel). Rhaenyra’s disdain is reinforced when Rhaenys told her niece that men would never truly accept a woman on the Iron Throne. The second conversation was between Viserys and Alicent Hightower who continued to spend private time with the King at her father’s urging. The sympathetic Alicent even offered the King a gift of a repaired dragon statue that was broken during a prior rendezvous. The King, visibly touched by her kindness, nonetheless asked her to keep their time a secret lest Rhaenrya not understand their relationship.
The various conversations between the characters are put aside when it is discovered that a dragon egg was stolen from the King’s paddock by none other than Prince Daemon (Matt Smith). The Prince left a letter declaring that he was taking Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) as his second wife and the dragon egg was to be placed in his unborn child’s crib, per Targaryen custom. The King planned to fly to Dragonstone to confront his brother but Ser Otto insisted it was too dangerous and he would go in his place. When a showdown occurs in front of Dragonstone between Daemon and Otto, Rhaenyra arrives on dragonback and insists her uncle kill her or return the egg which was originally to be her late brother’s gift. Daemon relents and returns the egg and slinks off to lick his wounds.
Back at the Red Keep, Viserys is appalled that Rhaenyra defied his orders not go to Dragonstone despite her success. The two reconcile and Viserys begs her forgiveness for deciding to remarry. Rhaenyra understands why he must and the two make their way to the Council. There, Viserys states his intention to remarry and that his bride will be Alicent Hightower. Ser Otto is pleased, Rhaenyra wells up with tears, while Lord Corlys is incensed and insulted by the rejection of his daughter. The episode concludes with Lord Corlys speaking of his family’s long heritage and ties to Old Valyria alongside the Targaryens. It is revealed he is speaking to Daemon who admonishes Corlys not to speak ill of his brother. Corlys continues to outline the need for them to unite and reclaim the Stepstones from the Myrish blockade while on screen we see the vicious Myr warriors killing sailors and feeding them to crabs.
“The Rogue Prince” is an interesting follow-up to the premiere of House of the Dragon in that it is primarily made up of characters talking in scenes of pairs rather than showcasing much action or intrigue. There is an ongoing chess match in this series and all of the pieces are taking their positions. By the end of this episode, things had progressed much faster than I had expected with the alliance between Daemon and Corlys already beginning as does the rift between Rhaenrya and Alicent. The inevitable massive battle of the Stepstones will be quite something to see and I expect that we won’t be disappointed based on how epic Game of Thrones battles have been in the past. Viserys continues to be a sympathetic character but I can’t help but feel he will end up very similar to King Robert Baratheon. Rhaenyra is becoming a stronger leader and all of the machinations behind the scenes are already setting up an eventually tragic ending for all. A solid second episode but one that takes a much different approach to pacing compared to last week.