Highlights
- House of the Dragon season 2 dives deep into political turmoil and power struggles post-tragic events, setting the stage for escalating tensions.
- Alicent’s failed bid for the throne highlights gender bias and the dark humor of political betrayal, as Aemond takes power amid chaos.
- Rhaenyra’s evolving strategy includes recruiting new dragon riders and sparking unrest, as Daemon’s campaign faces obstacles at Harrenhal.
House of the Dragon is coming off the death of one beloved character and the severe maiming of a questionably tolerated one. After Rhaenys and Aegon suffered their fates at Aemond Targaryen’s hands, most fans would prefer to see the one-eyed wonder take his leave. Instead, he takes the throne. Power corrupts everything in Westeros, but some people show up to power with the corruption handled in advance. The Dance of the Dragons finds a dozen new and old logistical problems as House of the Dragon season two crosses into its second half.
Director Claire Kilner is back after helming this season’s second episode. “Regent” does have a newcomer in writer Ti Mikkel. According to Mikkel’s IMDb page, she was previously an assistant to Game of Thrones producer Vince Gerardis. She has “Additional Crew” or “consultant” credits on every episode of House of the Dragon‘s first season. Mikkel is also noted as a story editor for every episode of season two so far.
Is Aegon alive after Rook’s Rest?
|
Title |
“Regent” |
|---|---|
|
Director |
Claire Kilner |
|
Writer |
Ti Mikkel |
|
Release Date |
July 14, 2024 |
Surprising absolutely no one, Aegon II Targaryen is very much alive. Rhaenys Targaryen, on the other hand, is dead. Most of “Regent” is about mourning the loss of the Queen Who Never Was and dealing with the fallout of the king being severely injured. Rhaenyra, Corlys, and Baela take it in turns to mourn their loss. Meanwhile, Cole leads a parade in King’s Landing, showing off Meleys’s head as a trophy. The local smallfolk interpret the monstrous skull differently, cowering in fear when they’re supposed to be cheering. Alicent also watches with disgust, turning her eyes toward Aemond with a knowing glance. Aemond won’t admit his involvement, and Criston Cole is happy to keep his mouth shut. This leads to a darkly hilarious shared circumstance as the show depicts the leaders of both parties.
Aegon is badly burned, his Valyrian steel armor fused to his grilled flesh. The Maesters do what they can, but there’s no guarantee that the king will regain consciousness anytime soon. This leaves the throne open, but almost everyone has their favorite option in mind before the debate starts. In Dragonstone, Rhaenyra has spent week after week arguing with a room full of lords who swear loyalty to the crown while bemoaning the gender of the person wearing it. Rhaenys has been the loudest supportive voice in the room, and her absence is brutal. Rhaenyra lands a hilarious counterpoint when Alfred Broome gives her some guff about lacking wartime experience. She points out the fact that her father instilled generations of peace, ensuring that Broome would have no more battle experience than any given lady. Alicent was refreshingly free from this debate, but she stepped into the problem.
The “Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party” meme comes from a viral 2015 tweet by one Adrian Bott. The joke is that the post’s central character voted for the hilariously named political outfit with the expectation that the titular big cats would never attack her personally. Alicent Hightower keeps her face for now, but she’s very much the latest victim of this meme. Alicent puts herself forward as an interim replacement for her son, but almost every other voice in the room proudly proclaims that they’d sooner die than support a woman taking the Iron Throne. Somehow, Alicent forgot that the main reason anyone supports her son’s claim to the throne is that he had the good fortune of being assigned male at birth. Sure enough, Aemond takes the throne with near-universal approval. His obvious sadism and willingness to stab others in the back will surely have no negative results.
How is Daemon’s campaign at Harrenhal going?
Daemon has House Blackwood’s army, but he wants the Brackens as well. Good judgment and good sleep both elude him, as Harrenhal seems to wreak havoc on his mental health. He imagines sex with his own mom while eating dinner, suggesting a substantial psychological decline. Daemon initially attempts to win over the Brackens by threatening them with dragon fire, but they’d rather die than work alongside the Blackwoods. Daemon nominates Willem Blackwood to lead a violent siege of Bracken territory, ideally motivating them to fight by threatening or destroying everything they love. This plan briefly appears successful, but Alys Rivers alerts Daemon to the weaknesses of his brutal strategy. A small army of Bracken citizens appears to chastise Daemon, denouncing him as a tyrant and denying him their support. This should be the end of his wildly unsuccessful campaign, but luckily, he’s not the only guy with a dragon on Rhaenyra’s side.
Jacaerys has been begging for a chance to prove himself for some time. Finally, he stops asking and picks his own path. Jace flies to the Twins to forge an alliance with House Frey. It’s a tough negotiation, but Jace knows what he wants. All he needs from the Freys is an open road. If Cregan Stark’s northern army can make their way to the Riverlands, Jace undercuts Daemon and buys his mom a ground army. The Freys play hardball, demanding Harrenhal as payment. Jace agrees, extracting a promise that the Freys will bend the knee. Jace arranged a considerably better scenario with one day’s ride than his great uncle/stepdad did in the entire season so far.
How has Rhaenyra’s strategy evolved?
Things are falling apart in King’s Landing. The smallfolk are actively rioting as Aemond bars the gates to trap his subjects. There may never have been a better chance to strike than now. Rhaenyra hears the men at her small council consistently ignore her input and suggest half-baked strategies. She wants to ride into battle on her dragon and win the war by herself. Unfortunately, every other person in her midst pushes back against the idea of their leader putting herself in danger. Mysaria has one solution. With the queen’s blessing, she sends one of Rhaenyra’s maids off to King’s Landing to start a whispering campaign and stoke greater unrest in the capital. Rhaenyra also makes a bold hiring decision, offering Corlys the position of Hand of the Queen. He’s conflicted, but a chat with Baela seems to push him in a positive direction. Acknowledging the difficulties in her marriage, she sends Alfred Broome to Harrenhal to report on Daemon. It’s time the rogue prince was put in check, so that’s a welcome choice.
Finally, Rhaenyra has a chat with Jace when he arrives home. She admits her pride in her son, but she also bemoans her inability to be as bold as he is. She feels trapped, and their lack of dragons could keep them far away from victory. Jace points out that they have dragons but no one to ride them. A little back and forth reveals countless unnamed heirs scattered across the Seven Kingdoms. If even a couple of them with even a drop of Targaryen blood in their veins find a connection with the queen’s dragons, they add exponential growth to their armies. It’s finally time to bring the Dragonseeds into the Dance of the Dragons.
“Regent” is the tense political duel that followed “The Red Dragon and the Gold.” It’s a mix of qualities that moves all the characters into strange new positions. So much has happened over the first five episodes that the remaining three could include massive new leaps. With Aemond on the throne and Rhaenyra looking for new dragon riders, the Dance of the Dragons is prepared to escalate yet again.
Leave a Reply