*Spoilers for episode 4.*
Not quite as “omg!!!!” as some of the episodes that preceded it, this is a bit of a transitional episode, re-setting the stage after big shakeups. It’s still a good one, though, with important things happening in smaller ways.
Last week, part of Ser Criston’s secret plan involved Aemond and Vhagar lying in wait to back up his army, but Aegon’s sudden arrival on his own dragon threw a major wrench into things. The whole thing ended with the deaths of Rhaenys (who clashed with both brothers in the sky,) her dragon, Aegon’s, and countless soldiers from both sides on the ground. Now, the Blacks and Greens are both trying to pick up the pieces. Aegon is still alive but grievously injured, and a regent needs to be named to rule in his stead. Rhaenyra’s camp knows they have limited time to act before Vhagar is back to full strength after the battle, but Rhaenyra’s struggles against the opinions of her advisors, who want to keep her out of the fray at all costs.
Parading the head of Rhaenys’s dead dragon through the streets of King’s Landing is such a good scene, because it’s so horrible. While doing the same with Jaehaerys’s body earlier in the season paid off for the crown, because it whipped the citizens into a frenzy of sympathy for Aegon and Helaena, this move just unsettles them. The repeated declaration that this is “the traitor dragon Meleys” is completely lame—like, what do you mean this dragon was a traitor? Dragons are loyal to their dragonriders, not political factions. Ser Criston and co. holding up the head of this slain dragon as an enemy is so much more pathetic than they think it is.
In part, though, the big show is misdirection so Aegon can be brought into the castle. While the maesters do everything they can to try and save him, Alicent addresses his small Council about naming a regent. While nothing that goes down in this scene is unexpected, it’s still wonderfully well done, and all the character dynamics are impeccable.
Both Alicent and Rhaenyra are struggling with the Small Council’s view of them in this episode. When Rhaenyra attempts to talk strategy and gets pushback from one of her advisors, she points out, “There’s been peace in our lifetime. You’ve seen no more battles than I have.” Later, she laments in private, “They talk around me, not to me. They would make me queen, but they wish to keep me here, confined.” At the same time, though, she acknowledges that she is at a disadvantage. Not because her sex inherently means she can’t do war—rather, it’s because of how she was treated/raised due to her sex, taught diplomacy and history instead of fighting. The gaps in her knowledge and training aren’t her fault, but that doesn’t make them any less material. This puts Rhaenyra in the position of trying to figure out new ways to wage war that lessen their impacts.
Then we’ve got Daemon. He’s still siloed in his own story over at Harrenhal, but that’s very intentional. Even though he’s dealt with indignities, annoyance, and strange dreams over in the Riverlands, it’s clear that he’s making the choice to be here for the time being. When he confronts a minor house and tries to force their allegiance, I get a kick out of how casual and bored he sounds as he sits on dragonback saying, “Bend the knee to me, or your house burns.” Like, this stuff is way below his pay grade, but here he is. He also takes part in actual physical labor, working on the repairs to Harrenhal. The dude is dug in.
But even though this is far from a glamorous, badass showing for Daemon, his own sense of self-importance is fully intact. I’ve figured for a while that Daemon was on his way to a Prince Philip attitude sooner or later, and here it comes—when Ser Simon mentions him being Rhaenyra’s king consort, he immediately notes, “That last bit seems unnecessary, don’t you think?”
In contrast to Philip’s endless whining and face-losing behavior, though, Daemon has some cognitive dissonance going on. At this point, he still seems to think he’s a good guy in all this—it’s not craven of him to avoid sending ravens to Dragonstone, and it’s not a betrayal of Rhaenyra to work toward his own interests instead of hers. None of it dampens his view of himself.
I’m not shy about how much I hated Philip on The Crown—which is in part a testament to Matt Smith’s strong, infuriating performance—so I’m not thrilled about this direction for Daemon, even if I figured it was going to be inevitable. For now, though, I’m interested in how Smith can play a similar dynamic in a very different way, and curious to see what we’ll get from Daemon in the coming weeks.
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