The following contains spoilers for House of the Dragon.
In “Regent,” House of the Dragon falls prey to a tendency that it has avoided so far this season: to state things with a bluntness that feels at odds with the poetic dialogue and narrative. The show fails to display more trust in the audience’s intelligence and it uncomfortably sticks out. In spite of that, “Regent” is another propulsive episode as the fallout from Rhaenys’ (Eve Best) death at Rook’s Rest collapses upon everyone, made all the more complicated by Aegon’s (Tom Glynn-Carney) crispy body being transported back to King’s Landing in a crate.
Perhaps some of the Valyrian steel armor he drunkenly, arrogantly adorned saved him from the full brunt of Vhagar’s fire but, for all intents and purposes, he might as well be dead. The scenes of Grand Maester Orwyle (Kurt Egyiawan) and his team of physicians unclenching the armor from his skin, for they had fused together, were appropriately grotesque, made all the more so by just how calm Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) appears to be at his brother’s bedside. It’s a suitable level of calm for the character, who finds himself in the position of Prince Regent as the Small Council, unsure if Aegon will ever recover, chooses the perceived strength of a man over Alicent (Olivia Cooke), who has ruled as regent for the duration of Viserys’ (Paddy Considine) illness.
Alicent learns a hard lesson that many before her have learned, yet many still fail to understand: supporting a system that inherently places you in the lower rung of its hierarchy will never work out in your favor. It might cede you proximity to power, as it did Alicent for some time, but as soon as you start to breach that proximity and seize power itself, whatever kind it may be, the system will crush you without any hesitation. It’s the same system she upheld at the expense of Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy). It’s the same system Rhaenys warned her against – that instead of doing away with it altogether, she was stuck trying to build a window in the wall of her prison. And now that window itself has been shut.
Rhaenyra finds that being named Queen doesn’t mean very much if all the men around you are using you as a figurehead as they make all the important decisions themselves. But in this case, they are not even making any decisions – they are simply arguing and griping. It’s just an endless morass of people complaining constantly while offering nothing productive, all while under the impression that constantly yelling “fight!” is actually useful. Furthermore, Rhaenyra’s choices are weighing on her; both times she has sent out dragons, both people and dragons have died. That others are losing their lives while she is at Dragonstone, including her young son (Elliot Grihault), is troubling her deeply.
It doesn’t help, as she notes to Jace (Harry Collett), that he can fly off to the Twins and negotiate with the Freys but she can’t. But both Jace and Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) drive home a lesson that she so far has been reluctant to acknowledge and embrace: that her role as a sovereign requires her to do what good leaders everywhere have to learn to do: delegate. It’s been a frustrating journey with her character, but I appreciate the restraint from the show to make her even more of a contrast to Aegon and Aemond than she already is. And now, as she looks to the original Visenya Targaryen for inspiration, we will see how this combination unfurls for the rightful Queen.
Notes:
- I’m finding the Daemon (Matt Smith) at Harrenhal storyline a bit tiresome, but it was fantastic to see Nanna Blondell return as Laena.
- Ramin Djawadi continues to knock it out of the park – the score where Mysaria sends Elinda (Jordon Stevens) away in particular is just exquisite, exquisite work.
- The single tear down Steve Toussaint’s face as Corlys is mourning Rhaenys? Acting!!
- Loved, loved Baela’s (Bethany Antonia) characterization this episode. She does have a lot of Rhaenys and Daemon in her and I’d love to see.
- More on the plight of King’s Landing’s smallfolk next week.
- Apologies for the short review, but life is a lot right now <3
Catch up on previous House of the Dragon recaps and reviews.