*Guest star spoilers, plus spoilers from episode 6.*
Penultimate episode time! I wouldn’t say this one hits the heights of some of the franchise’s best—it doesn’t give us the sheer momentousness of an episode like “Baelor” or “The Rains of Castamere”—but it still has some great stuff and leaves me excited for the season finale.
In the last episode, Rhaenyra’s attempt to have a distant relation claim a dragon ends tragically, and she’s ready to give up the whole idea—until she learns that Laenor’s former dragon, Seasmoke, has a new rider. After meeting Addam of Hull, she gets behind the idea to search for potential dragonriders in the lowborn bastards of King’s Landing instead of in the genealogies of the noble houses. Meanwhile, Daemon seems to have caught a break at last in Harrenhal. The ailing lord of House Tully has finally died, and he hopes that his successor, young Oscar Tully, will get the Riverlands to bend the knee. But the new lord doesn’t prove as moldable as he expected.
I didn’t mention the Greens at all in my episode summary. It’s not that they’re absent in this episode, they’re just not up to much of anything big. The Blacks, it seems, have had more work to do to maneuver them into the place they’ll need to be for the season finale, so they do a lot of the heavy lifting today.
Nearly everyone is against Rhaenyra’s plan here. Once the idea is brought to her, Rhaenyra herself questions it at first, thinking that the smallfolk couldn’t possibly muster the same loyalty as the nobles who’ve pledged themselves to her. But she comes around, and as she puts her plan into motion, tons of people have misgivings, from her Small Council to some of the bastards who are being asked to risk their lives to claim a dragon. I especially like a scene between Rhaenyra and Jace, reflecting on the lot of a highborn bastard who’s claimed by his royal parent vs. a lowborn one who is not. Not to mention, this plot gives us another appearance from Samson Kayo’s smallfolk character, so that’s fun to see!
Speaking of guest appearances, we also see Viserys again in another of Daemon’s dreams! Paddy Considine gets more to do this time around, speaking to Daemon more directly. Viserys examines the crown Daemon covets, thinking back on “all that pain it caused” and noting that “it crushes whoever wears it.”
Last week, I really loved Ser Steffan the would-be dragonrider. Today, I love Ser Oscar Tully, the new lord paramount of the Riverlands. When Daemon first met him, he was jittery and easily intimidated, and he held his own against the Targaryen prince largely because he couldn’t even fathom speaking on his grandfather’s behalf—even if his grandfather was too old and ill to speak himself. But now, he’s the one in charge, and it’s up to him to do right by his house and the entire Riverlands, getting the minor houses to accept his leadership. His interactions with Daemon are absolutely delicious. I’m scared for what might happen to him in the finale or in future episodes, but it’s clear that this kid is more than anyone bargained for.
With most of his screentime tied up in this dream sequence with Viserys and this faceoff with Ser Oscar, Daemon himself doesn’t impress all that much today. Which is fitting for the circumstances—Matt Smith does what he ought to do and allows us to see Daemon twisting in the wind a little. When the newly lorded Ser Oscar comes to him, Daemon thinks he’s got it all sewn up, tossing off a bored, “Truly glorious, well done,” at the boy’s new position, even as Ser Oscar points out that his grandfather dying after a long illness isn’t exactly an accomplishment of his. And as Ser Oscar admits his concern that the minor houses won’t follow him, both because he’s too young to effectively lead them and because they hate Daemon, our man Daemon simply replies, “I don’t need their love. I need their swords.”
But from there, things don’t go the way Daemon plans. I won’t get into the specifics of it today, but Daemon is not ready for Ser Oscar’s first outing as lord paramount. Smith takes Daemon from commanding to confused to imperious to amused to quietly seething to “oh shit.” He’s much more reactive than proactive today, although Smith still turns in a good performance. My personal favorite moment comes after Daemon has been attempting to play the part of a good sport about Ser Oscar badmouthing him to the minor houses. His carefully worn self-deprecating smile disintegrates when Ser Oscar says, “I see no reason to cast aside that loyalty [to Rhaenyra as Viserys’ heir], no matter how loathsome I may find her representative the prince.” At that, Daemon switches on a dime, and he replies in an eerie-calm tone, “King. Mind your tongue, boy.” Nicely done.
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