House of the Dragon Episode 2 has been released after much record-breaking premiere last week. The pilot episode kicked off the series with some violent forces including the combat tourney, unsettling childbirth and the naming of Princess Rhaenyra as the heir to the Iron throne, a first in the history of Westeros.
The second episode is titled, ‘The Rogue Prince’ and has a runtime of about 54 minutes in total. Based on George RR Martin’s Fire & Blood, the episode teleplay is written by Ryan Condal and directed by Greg Yaitanes. Starring Paddy Considine as King Viserys I Targaryen, Milly Alcock as Young Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen, Emily Carey as young Lady Alicent Hightower, Rhys Ifans as Ser Otto Hightower, Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon, Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Velaryon, and Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole.
-House of the Dragon Episode 2 Review Contains Some Spoilers-
The series takes a leap of 6 months and starts with an unsettling visual of the stepstones, which is a pocket of islands south of Kings Landing. Lord Corlys demands the King take military action against the thieves who have taken his ship. The stepstones are believed to be supported by the Free Cities and are supposed to be surrounded by the thieves that stole the ships, they are ruled by Craghas Drahar, the Crabfeeder.
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Meanwhile, Rhaenyra tries to put in her opinion about the situation and assert her power as the heir but she is met with awkward silence and ignorance, especially by the hand of the King. She is instead sent off to choose a Kingsguard from the soldiers selected from one of several influential families.
But she chooses instead Ser Criston Cole, the knight who bested Daemon in the earlier tournament and the only candidate with military experience, even here Otto Hightower tries to oppose her decision, so that she could choose men from influential families that could become allies, but she defends her decision and Hightower abides.
King Viserys is however pestered by his council to marry, as a widowed King will give the throne an unstable image, and a new wife will be able to give him a male heir as well. We see Otto Hightower trying to manipulate the King by telling him not to marry out of pressure but on the other side, sends off his daughter Alicent to have a relationship with the King.
The episode shows how influential families like Lord Corlys Velaryon, is even ready to marry off his underage daughter to the King, so he could be a step closer to the throne. It is political gameplay and Viserys seems to be falling into the plan set by Otto Hightower. In terms of action and violence, the episode takes a step back.
It is setting up a base for all the drama and bloodshed to come in the coming episodes. Even Prince Daemon seem to have retreated from the Red Keep and has made Dragonstone his home for now. We were also introduced to Lady Mysaria, who was declared to be his second wife and bearer of his child.
The episode shows a face-off between Daemon and Rhaenyra in the Dragonstone and it clearly reflects how similar they are in their ways, which will become even more evident as the story progresses and the Princess matures. Even in the end, Daemon is about to do the same thing that Rhaenyra suggested at the start of the episode but ignored by the council.
House of the Dragon Episode 2: Final Thoughts
The second episode was more about creating tensions between the characters, political games and mind play between powers, which will see more fruition in the future. Princess Rhaenyra might be named an heir but she clearly senses that it will be taken away from her as soon as the King bears a male child.
Her conviction to get onto the Ironthrone will only grow from now on and with Alicent Hightower getting close to the King, she might try to find other allies, as even her only friend has kind of backstabbed her.
The show is released on HBO at 6 PM PT and HBO Max at 9 PM ET every Sunday. It is also streaming on Disney+ Hotstar for Indian viewers and is released at 6:30 AM IST every Monday.
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