There are spoilers in this recap of House of the Dragon’s premiere episode, well, for House of the Dragon’s premiere episode. A recap is pretty much what it sounds like. Please proceed accordingly.
Here we are again. It was HBO, the Seven Kingdoms, you, and me, who recapped Game of Thrones for NPR those many years ago. Having returned to our dragonscat, we are all here together.
The main thing is to forget all the things you know, you won’t be needing them much. I’ve written a couple of handy primers to help us all get in the right her game of Thrones opens about 200 years before House of the Dragons about 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. The now 100-year-old Targaryen Dynasty is at its height, as the royal family holds the reins to 10 full-grown dragons.
A century before, Aegon the Conqueror, founder of the Targaryen Dynasty, dracarysed Harrenhal, a vast ruined castle. A Great Council is taking place in 101 AC where the Iron Throne’s heir will be determined.
This is Rhaenys Targaryen, the king’s granddaughter (she is pictured with Corlys Velaryon, also known as the Sea Snake) who we will see a lot more of.
Aemma Arryn, who is pregnant with their daughter, Rhaenyra Targaryen, stands beside Viserys Targaryen, the king’s grandson. (I know, I know — we’re noDespite the fact that we are only two minutes into the episode, there are Rhaenys and Rhaenyra already lurking around. Almost all of the characters are wearing the same plantinum-blonde wig. Welcome to the Targaryen Dynasty.
Despite Rhaenys’ age, Viserys is chosen by the Great Council, because the patriarchy is utterly predictable.
Featuring an interface based on House of the Dragon drops
Credits at the beginning! This week’s episode does not swoop over a map of Westeros to see clockwork versions of the various locations. Rather, we zoom in on the three-headed dragon sigil of House Targaryen.
Unlike Game of Thrones, the House of the Dragons’ major conflict will not take the form of a sprawling global conflict joined by numerous far-flung Houses and kingdoms. A few familiar locations will play a significant role in defining the battle lines within one family. You do not need a map.
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King’s Landing is seen from the dragon’s perspective now, and it looks a bit more realistic. Since Game of Thrones ended four years ago, HBO’s VFX department has been updating its servers for four years, and it shows.
Does that gigantic domed building dominate the skyline? There will be no Great Sept of Baelor for years to come. Dragons of the royal family live in the Dragonpit.
A teenage Rhaenyra meets her friend Alicent Hightower, daughter of King’s Hand Otto Hightower. They walk through the same courtyard in the Red Keep that Cersei will turn into a giant Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? board, centuries later.
The show puts more of its chess pieces on the board: Queen Aemma is pregnant again, and offers the headstrong Rhaenyra some truly terrible “lie back and think of Westeros” motherly advice. Corlys Velaryon (told you!) warns that some of the Free Cities have formed an alliance called the Triarchy, and their admiral — one Craghas Drahar, aka Crabfeeder — is brutally ridding the Stepstones (a string of islands between Westeros and Essos) of pirates. Put a pin in that; it’ll come back.
There’s Daemon Targaryen, the king’s cheeky – or cheekbony, anyway – younger brother. There is a jagged and dangerous edge to the Iron Throne he sits on. Tetanus alone is a danger.
There appears to be an easy familiarity between Daemon and Rhaenyra. You’re supposed to notice something else as well – and if it squicks you out, you’re watching the wrong show, about the wrong family. An amulet made from Valyrian steel, the same metal as his sword, Dark Sister, is his gift to her.
The blood is flowing here
It is impossible for the king’s back wound to heal. He says it’s from sitting on the Iron Throne – which comes directly from the books. The Iron Throne isn’t supposed to be a place where anyone can rest comfortably. Hydrogen peroxide and Band-Aids are probably included in the royal coffers.
So far, has House of the Dragon seemed a bit light on GoT-level violence? I love you so much, sweet summer child. Daemon leads the City Guard (aka Gold Cloaks) in this sequence where they stick their swords into a lot of seedy underbelly areas of King’s Landing to attack the seeds.
In the morning, Ser Otto Hightower attempts to shame Daemon for his impulsive actions, but Corlys Velaryon and, conditionally, the king himself stand by the prince. The king’s upcoming birth of a boy, the king is certain, will be celebrated with a tournament. There are a lot of nobles visiting. According to the king, Daemon’s show of force will help protect the people. Daemon peaces out before anyone can say “Gold Lives Matter,” so that’s a good thing.
We meet Daemon’s paramour, a sex worker named Mysaria, in a brothel scene that is factory-installed in George R.R. Martin shows, and discover that he has been having trouble getting a dragon in the air. A lady of the Vale married him earlier, but he does not care much about her. Thus, he is a Targaryen, and thus a man with very specific tastes about plantinum hair.
In many cases, knights who have never experienced real battle participate in the jousting tournament, which is a bloody and barbaric affair. In his victory over Otto’s son, Daemon looks pretty damn smug about the situation. Meanwhile, Rhaenyra bestows her favor upon the mysterious and handsome Ser Criston Cole. It’s important to remember his name, as he will play a pivotal role in the future.
Meanwhile, the queen goes into labor, and it doesn’t go well. There has been a breach of the child’s privacy. Before he gives his consent to have her baby surgically removed, the king visits her side and shares a tender moment. If the point is to remind us how dangerous childbirth can be, even in a world full of magic, that lesson was given. The show particularly lingers on this sequence; it urges us to keep watching; if the point is to remind us how dangerous childbirth can be, it is accomplished.
She passes away. After that, her child – a male heir – also passes away.
In a glimpse of Targaryen funeral rites, Rhaenyra instructs her dragon to burn the corpses of her mother and brother. It’s very metal.
There is a possibility that this meeting could have taken place over chainmail
It is unclear to whom the king’s High Council should eventually replace him due to the tragedy. In his argument for Daemon, Corlys cites precedent. In contrast, Otto maintains that Daemon is too impulsive, too ambitious, and too cruel to hold the Iron Throne. (Daemon, for his part, is Jay Leno-ing this meeting, which is to say: He’s listening in. He’s not, like, driving a classic car and wearing a lot of denim. Just to be clear.)
Rhaenyra is suggested instead by the other Council members. There will be a lot of sputtering, pearl-clutching, and monocle-dropping. The king storms out, leaving the question unanswered.
Alicent, Otto’s very! young! daughter, and suggests she go to visit the king in his chambers. To offer him … a kind ear.
For a start, at least.
George R.R. Martin’s whole story includes gross stuff, but it’s part of the package. A fish has to swim, a bird has to fly, and a father has to exploit his daughter in order to make money.
Alicent visits the king, and we see that he’s carving a large, scale model of King’s Landing from stone, like a model railroader in the Seven Kingdoms.
Scene 2 of the Contractually-Obligated Brothel. The king is enraged when Daemon toasts his late infant son, calling him “The Heir for a Day.” He promptly calls Daemon on whatever Westeros carpet Daemon is sitting on.
Angry words are exchanged between the brothers. Upon learning Daemon is no longer the heir to the Iron Throne, the king orders him to return to his wife in the Vale. Another nasty cut is promptly administered by the Iron Throne as if in response.
Under the huge looming skull of Balerion, Aegon the Conqueror’s dragon, the king and Rhaenyra chat in the cellars of the Red Keep.
A dragon is a dangerous force that man cannot control, as the king explains to his daughter. In the end, he sneaks in that she is the new Iron Throne heir.
Let’s cut to the Iron Throne. One by one, the lords of the Seven Kingdoms swear fealty to the king’s newly named heir, Princess Rhaenyra. There’s House Velaryon, House Hightower, House Baratheon, and then the current Lord of Winterfell, Rickon Stark, swears an oath with those round Northern vowels I’ve missed so much right as we flash back to the king warning Rhaenyra that the world will end with a great winter. It’s a nice touch.
In the meantime, Daemon and Mysaria leave King’s Landing.
Daemon’s dragon Caraxes has a saddle on its back called a huff. His taking Mysaria with him strongly suggests he’s not returning to the Vale as instructed.
Parting thoughts:
Rhaenyra, played by Milly Alcock, is the star of the show. As well as giving you the requisite patrician haughtiness, she reveals the layers of emotion simmering beneath the surface. Emma D’arcy will take over the role of Rhaenyra as an adult later in the season, and I’ll miss her.
What is the point of King Viserys being weak, or just that he’s not a bad guy? I still have no idea what we’re supposed to make of Viserys, since Game of Thrones tended to telegraph its incompetent characters. A display of tenderness in GRMM’s world is usually a sign of doom.
Fire & Blood, which was published in 2018, is presented as a series of conflicting historical accounts, told from different viewpoints. It’s a fun read because a lot is left open for interpretation, but serialized television can’t be as vague. Dramatizing both sides will be fun if the show picks a side.
