“The Rogue Prince” is a sleepy sophomore outing for House of the Dragon

The second episode of House of the Dragon is here, and it’s not as good as the barn-burning premiere. “The Heirs of the Dragon” deftly introduced us to a large new cast of characters and set up some juicy conflicts. “The Rogue Prince” takes those balls and walks with them. I’d have preferred it run, but there’s still stuff to be enjoyed here.

Right at the top, the show deftly informs us that six months have passed since the end of “Heirs,” that Daemon has taken up residence on Dragonstone even though the king told him to head back to the Vale, that Viserys has done nothing to expel him, and that Ser Harrold Westerling (the thus far underused Graham McTavish) has been installed as the new Lord Commander of the Kingsguard following the death of the last one. I appreciate how smoothly “The Rogue Prince” slips in these details; it’s feeding us exposition but it doesn’t feel forced. I also like how skipping forward in time makes this feel a bit like a standalone episode. We still follow up on everything from the premiere, but we also have a whole new set of conflicts to deal with.

And things get off on the right foot as Corlys Velaryon bursts into the meeting demanding that King Viserys do something about Craghas Drahar, aka the Crabfeeder, a pirate who’s harassing the Velaryon fleet and hampering trade along the Narrow Sea. Corlys wants to take him out, but Viserys is wary of provoking a war with the Free Cities, which back him. The good part comes when Rhaenyra, who until then is keeping the guys’ cups full as they talk, cuts through the noise with a suggestion: send dragonriders as a show of force, a way to intimidate the Crabfeeder and his backers into submission without actually provoking war.

The dynamics at play make this one of the best bits of the episode. Corlys wants one thing, the king and the rest of the small council want another, and then Rhaenyra turns the energy of the room upside down with her suggestion. It also effectively dramatizes her inner conflict: she wants to be taken seriously as the heir, but is worried she’s still being seen as a stopgap measure until someone else comes along…a male someone. I felt for Rhaenrya here, especially when the king ushers her out of the room to go pick a new Kingsguard member; clearly, she has an uphill fight ahead of her.

I wish there were more moments like that in the episode, moments where the characters’ inner conflicts bleed out for all to see. Instead, we get some awkward dinner scenes between Rhaenyra and Viserys where neither is able to say what they really mean or want. They make more of a connection at the end, with Viserys telling Rhaenrya how much he misses her mother. But even then, her response is, “It pleases me to hear you say this, to know that I’m not alone in my grief.” It just seems like such a muted and formal expression of mutual grief. I get that these are fancy folk, but it’s kind of unsatisfying to watch. Go to him, Rhaenrya! Go to her, Viserys! Someone do something.

That time the king went on a first date with a 12-year-old

I’m also having trouble getting a grip on Alicent Hightower. She continues her hangouts with the king, marveling at his scale model of Old Valyria (which is basically his version of playing with model trains) and offering him advice about how to talk to his daughter. The scenes are sweet — I believe that Viserys finds her a comfort — but I wish I knew what Alicent was getting out of this. Does she honestly like spending time with the king, or is just doing this because her father asked her to? “Will you see the king tonight?” Otto asks her later. “If you wish it,” she replies. But she also has Viserys’ little broken dragon model repaired. I want more of an idea of Alicent’s internal life. The fact that she picks at her cuticles hints at turmoil inside. But what kind? Tell me more.

As for Rhaenyra, I liked the scene of her and Alicent goofing off in the godswood in the premiere, but their scene in the sept this episode, while sweet, seems a little too heavy and formal. I want an idea of what these girls are like when they’re just being buddies, but I don’t think I’m gonna get much of that, because at the end of the episode Viserys announces he’s going to marry Alicent, so it can only be downhill from here.

There’s a subplot about Viserys, now bereft of a queen, needing to marry again so that the realm has stability. As Otto intends, he’s falling for the teenage Alicent (wow gross), but Corlys Velaryon and his wife Rhaenys want him to marry their daughter Laena, who is 12 (wow gross even more). There is a skin-crawlingly compelling scene where Viserys, who considers the marriage as a means of strengthening his ties to the powerful House Velaryon, walks through a garden with this little girl, essentially on a first date with a pre-teen. It’s wildly, almost comically uncomfortable, as it should be; I do like how House of the Dragon isn’t pulling its punches when it comes to how backwards the idea of political marriages are. But no matter how normalized they were at the time, this is beyond the pale even for a courtly creature like Viserys.

Even Laena’s mother is uncomfortable with it, not that it will stop her from pushing her into it. Rhaenys has a good scene with Rhaenrya where the older dragonrider tries to impart some wisdom to the girl who got what she wanted: a chance to sit on the Iron Throne. Rhaenys seems both feistier than a lot of the other characters — I like how direct she is with her language — but also resigned and maybe even a little bitter. She doesn’t think Westeros will ever accept a queen, and gets a bumper sticker of a line when she says, “Men would sooner set the realm to the torch than see a woman ascend the Iron Throne.” Perhaps she can be inspired. I’d like to see more of her.

Daemon Targaryen is here, and he brought some excitement with him

The plot of this episode kicks into gear about halfway through, when minders from the Dragonpit come to tell the king that Daemon Targaryen has stolen a dragon’s egg and intends to give it to his unborn child by Mysaria, the prostitute who flew away with him at the end of the premiere. (Thank goodness for Daemon, keeping things lively.) What’s more, he stole the egg that was meant for Viserys’ dead son Baelon, which is what finally spurs the king to act. I didn’t quite get that; so you’re only going to be concerned about your brother stealing a nuke when it’s a nuke you have a personal attachment to? Maybe Daemon is right that “being king” isn’t Viserys’ strong suit.

Otto leads a regiment of soldiers to Dragonstone where we get a fun confrontation on the bridge leading up to the castle. I like Daemon’s cavalier attitude as he tosses the egg from hand to hand, and the Clint Eastwood dialogue that gets volleyed back and forth. Otto: “You’d never survive this.” Daemon: “Happily neither would you.” Some characters sound like they lack urgency delivering this dialogue, but not Daemon. I also like that the show is continuing to hammer at his complexity: Daemon says he stole the egg to give to his unborn child, but Mysaria isn’t even pregnant; Daemon just made up a story so daddy-brother Viserys would notice him. Daemon’s wild, y’all.

Anyway, eventually everyone draws their swords, but then Caraxes shows up and it looks like Otto is ready to concede defeat; I don’t care how many soldiers you have, you’re not getting by a dragon. But then, we get a very cool shot of the mists surrounding Dragonstone bubbling up from beneath, and Rhaenyra emerges on Syrax. She’s here to claim the egg without bloodshed. “My father named me princess of Dragonstone,” she says. “This is my castle you’re living in, uncle.”

Rhaenyra shows some backbone in standing up to her uncle, who ultimately gives up the egg rather than accept her invitation and kill her, thus clearing his path toward the throne. This is a cool sequence, but I don’t think it’s quite enough to elevate what is a bit of a sleepy episode.

We end with Corlys Velaryon, angry that the king has chosen to marry Alicent rather than his daughter Laena, deciding to just take out the Crabfeeder himself, with Daemon’s help. This could be a good opportunity to get to know Corlys better, even if I’m not terribly excited by the Crabfeeder as a villain. We’ll see if the show amps up the incident next week.

House of the Bullet Points

• I like the little stool Rhaenyra has to stand on when picking a new member of the Kingsguard.
• Sometimes the show plays music while characters talk and sometimes it doesn’t. I don’t think it always chooses correctly; I was distracted by the score underneath the Rhaenys-Rhaenyra scene and wished they had just let the words do the work.
• Like his daughter, I’m having a hard time getting a handle on Otto. During the scene where Viserys shoves his hand into a bowl of maggots (thanks for that, HBO), he talks about missing his wife and sympathizes with the king over the need to remarry. “You are the king, but I do not envy you.” Is he being sincere or is he playing an angle?
• The workers in the Dragonpit speak High Valyrian. It’s cool to see how the language is integrated into the daily life of the Targaryens. I can believe that it would be passed down all the way to Daenerys.
• After the confrontation on the bridge, Daemon seeks comfort with Mysaria, who is understandably miffed that he’s bringing this heat down on them, since she attached herself to the prince in the first place so she wouldn’t have to live in fear. There’s probably a compelling character in there somewhere, but her speech was kind of generic and her made-up fantasy accent ridiculous.
• At one point Viserys seeks advice from Lord Lyonel Strong, his Master of Laws. He doesn’t make much of an impression here, but he’ll become more important as the show goes on.

Episode Grade: B-

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