We recall and discuss what we saw in the seventh episode of 'House of the Dragon': another funeral, children's squabbles, and a long-awaited union.
The season of 'House of the Dragon' is nearing its end, but the feeling persists that the creators of the project are just getting started. It's as if we're watching a 10-hour teaser for the real series that will be coming sometime soon. The characters still aren't taking decisive action, and the behind-the-scenes intrigues are increasingly starting to resemble television 'soap opera.' So we live. We tell you about the soap of episode 7.
Previous recaps:
Warning: spoilers for episode 7 of 'House of the Dragon' follow below
Death and Life After
The new episode begins with a colorful scene of the funeral of Laena Velaryon, the wife of Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) who took her own life. The entire kingdom's elite gathered for the ceremony: from the full Targaryen family to the somehow reinstated Hand of the King, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans). According to Velaryon tradition, closely tied to the sea, Laena's body in an impressive coffin is thrown from a cliff into the water.
The funeral is not without a number of curious scenes. In one, Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) exchanges unmistakable glances with Daemon. Afterwards, they exchange condolences – the uncle is well aware that the deceased Ser Harwin was a closer person to his niece than he should have been.
In another scene, King Viserys (Paddy Considine) invites Daemon to return to King's Landing (for the umpteenth time, excuse me?!). The arguments are the same – it's time to forget past grievances, and there will always be a place for his brother at court. Daemon is ironic about the offer. But subsequent events will likely bring him back to the capital.
And even after the death of a spouse, there is life, as they say.
An Eye for a Dragon
Rhaenyra's and Alicent's children also receive a lot of attention in this episode. Thus, the previously humiliated Aemond Targaryen (Leo Ashton) sneaks under cover of night into the lair of the dragon that belonged to the late Laena. And by some miracle, the bullied boy manages to tame the fire-breathing creature and even fly on it.
When he returns, he is met by Laena's daughters, to whom the dragon should have passed by inheritance. However, Aemond declares that the dragon is now his by right. Rhaenyra's children, particularly Lucerys, come to the girls' defense. Alicent's blond son calls him a bastard, which starts a fight that results in Aemond losing an eye.
This incident becomes the cause of an open confrontation between Alicent and Rhaenyra. The queen demands vengeance and insists on taking the eye of one of Rhaenyra's children (even trying to persuade her guard Ser Criston to do it). Viserys tries to calm everyone down and find out the cause of the conflict. When it turns out that the talk of bastards is to blame, he flies into a rage and demands that everyone stop these rumors and dispel all doubts about his grandchildren. But bloodshed is still unavoidable — Alicent herself tries to attack the children, but Rhaenyra protects them at the cost of a wound on her own arm.
Well, the conflict ends with an unexpected proposal from Aemond himself — an eye for Laena's dragon. This arrangement seems to satisfy everyone.
The funniest thing in this whole heart-wrenching scene is the behavior of Daemon Targaryen. It was very accurately described in this meme:
What We've All Been Waiting For
Romantic vibes between Rhaenyra and Daemon have been in the air since the very first episode of 'House of the Dragon.' And now, finally, what was meant to happen happens (we're familiar with the books and have long known that it is from the union of this couple that Daenerys's own bloodline will come).
'History does not remember blood. It remembers names.' We figure out the Targaryen family tree and legacy. And we teach you how not to get confused about their children.
Open materialFirst, our heroes have unexpectedly tender sex somewhere in a tent near the Velaryon castle.
Second, they get married. How is this possible, since Rhaenyra is married to Laenor Velaryon? After the incident with Aemond and Alicent's outburst, the princess realizes that her position and her children are in danger, and she can find no better protection than an alliance with Daemon. Together they devise a plan to get rid of Laenor — the Targaryens bribe a knight close to Velaryon to kill the future consort in front of witnesses.
And here, for a moment, it might seem that here it is, the very boldness that the creators of the series lack, but… Laenor is not killed. It's just a staged death. And we had already hoped that Rhaenyra had become a ruthless bastard, ready to do anything for the throne. Now it's even interesting whether this plot twist will be played out in the future, or if Laenor was simply written out of the story this way.
While the authors entertain us little, we entertain ourselves — a cool meme about Viserys's changes from episode to episode has appeared online. So cool that Paddy Considine himself liked it. We await confirmation of the theory in the next episode:
Trailer for episode 8:
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