Small Council: What did you think of House of the Dragon Episode 4?

Every week, we talk back and forth about the latest episode of House of the Dragon. The small council is in session!

DAN: This episode was tense. Last week had a dragon air force and Daemon cutting a guy in half, but I was much more nervous watching “King of the Narrow Sea.” Oh my god, is Daemon making out with his niece? Why did he cut the encounter off? Now Criston Cole is getting into it? How will Viserys react? No blood was shed but the stakes felt very high.

I liked how Rhaenyra’s secret trip into the city started in familiar, almost innocent territory. The idea of a princess dressing up like a commoner and mixing with the rabble is an old trope; I thought of Jasmine escaping the palace in Aladdin, Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday, or any number of schmaltzy princess switch movies on the Hallmark Channel. It felt fun and comfortable, which lowered our defenses for the hard right turn into full-on incest. Killing characters unexpectedly isn’t the only way to shock viewers.

There was a lot of sex on Game of Thrones, but the show never seemed much interested in exploring what it meant or putting it in context. I liked how “King of the Narrow Sea” juxtaposed several different sorts of sex, from Daemon and Rhaenyra’s wildly transgressive hook-up to the steamy workplace romance between Rhaenyra and Criston to Alicent on the clock with Viserys. I felt bad for Alicent here; I’m finally getting a handle on her as a character.

And then there was the morning after when nighttime lust gives way to shame, lies and hypocrisy. The characters mostly all acknowledge the big double standard at work here: were Rhaenyra a man, her trysts would barely be worth commenting upon, but because she’s a woman, all is put at risk.

At the same time, “coupling” with your uncle and seducing a guy who works for you is questionable regardless. But at the same time again, Rhaenyra is young and Daemon is actively trying to use her to get one over on her father. This was knotty, layered, compelling stuff.

I even felt kinda bad for Otto Hightower when Viserys fired him. I think this was the best episode of the show yet. What about you?

ARIBA: This week’s episode of House of the Dragon was everything I expected it to be and more. After Daemon’s victory in the Stepstones, I anticipated he’d make a ruckus about returning home victorious. While he did enter with some fanfare, he immediately started sucking up to Viserys. It all felt so calculated and manipulative, and I was here for it.

There is something about Matt Smith as a villain that fascinates me. He will always be the Doctor to me, but I can’t pretend he doesn’t make a dang good villain. He’s cunning, conniving, and evil, but not in an obvious way. He’s perfect casting for Daemon.

Admittedly, I wasn’t here for the whole niece/uncle hook-up scene between Rhaenyra and Daemon, but these are the Targaryens we’re talking about. We knew this is something they do, but we’ve never seen it so blatantly before. In the original show, Viserys was extremely creepy with Daenerys but it thankfully never went anywhere. Things were different in “King of the Narrow Sea.”

The sex scene itself was interesting. The moment got away from Daemon because he hoped to control his niece but instead found that she welcomed his advances. That really threw him for a loop. And his grand plan was fascinating. Like, did he really think that was going to convince his brother to let him marry Rhaenyra by creating all this drama?!

All in all this episode was very complicated, and I am waiting to see the fallout. It’s all gonna blow up in someone’s face, you just know it!

SABRINA: I agree, Dan. “King of the Narrow Sea,” as an episode in its entirety, had the most to say in comparison to what we’ve seen so far. This is the rawest we’ve seen Rhaenyra and Daemon is at his most vulnerable. Alicent’s plight as an isolated queen whose role is to pacify others is examined more fully. Sex, intimacy, lies, and the hard truth are weaponized, uplifted, cast down, and put plainly. The camera, as a lens, feels like it’s critiquing the plot. It’s weighing in. It feels omnipresent and voyeuristic.

Everyone has more bite as well. If Episodes 2 and 3 were simmering pots, the writers turned up the heat with Episode 4, because those pots are now boiling over. But there’s also innocence and vitality at play here. There’s a dichotomy that’s twisted. Honestly, it’s unsettling, but it’s meant to be. There’s so much beauty and ugliness in this episode. It’s very human. I think this is the most this cast of characters have just been people. Flawed, caustic, hypocritical people seeking connection that’s either rejected, fully accepted, or resigned in its allowance.

If I had to choose a favorite scene, mine would be Rhaenyra and Criston’s first time together. The power imbalance is immense. And the story is very aware of that. But it’s also framed as a choice they’re both making. The time spent on Rhaenyra removing Criston’s armor so that he’s just a man before her, her giggles throughout the whole sequence, the lighting, and the fact that they’re giving themselves to each other contrasts well with the Daemon/Rhaenyra scene, which was about thwarted dominance; and the Alicent/Visery scene, which was about submission.

There’s an equality to that love scene that hearkens back to what Daemon said to Rhaenyra about intimacy being about both the man and the woman. It was nicely done. And the lone bit of joy in an emotionally volatile sea of mess.

CHELSEA: Well said, Sabrina. I loved the intensity, intimacy, and voyeurism of this episode. It should surprise no one that a woman, Clare Kilner, directed this episode. Her points of view are on full, fantastic display, especially in the sex scenes that bring the characters’ anger, isolation, lust, and need for dominance to a head.

This episode further cemented how much I love Daemon and Rhaenyra’s “I do what I want” energy, but it also gave me a deeper appreciation — or at least empathy — for Alicent. Previous episodes made her out to be a naïve tool for her father’s ambitions. But “King of the Narrow Sea” gave her feelings and behavior deeper meanings, showing that at the end of the day she truly does love the Targaryen family that she married into despite their abundant flaws. I think future episodes will show how Alicent isn’t just an innocent bystander or pliable pawn in the inevitable Dance of the Dragons.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Every week I look forward to the crimes Daemon Targaryen will commit and thinking up ways to support him. The same goes for Rhaenyra, who in this episode almost slept with her uncle, seduced her guardsman, shut down Alicent’s hypocritical accusations by lying on her dead mother, and gaslit her dad into firing his right-hand man. Truly a queen.

Support women’s rights but more importantly support women’s wrongs.

DANIEL: Chelsea, I am right there with you in supporting the crimes of Daemon Targaryen. It’s so fascinating to me how both House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones can make us root for things that would horrify us in other contexts. A lot of comes down to the excellent writing and performances from actors like Matt Smith and Milly Alcock. I’m not saying I’m shipping Rhaenyra and Daemon…but I’m not not saying it either. Is House of the Dragon making us all worse people? Who can say?

Obviously I have to echo what everyone else has said about the quality of the sex, lies, and scheming in this episode. Game of Thrones got a lot of well-deserved flak for its often brainless use of sex scenes to shock viewers or spice up exposition, but House of the Dragon has been much more intentional. Each sex scene tells us specific things about the characters and their relationships with one another. Despite having three sex scenes in one episode, there’s never a feeling that any of them are there just to meet some sort of arbitrary quota. They’re all necessary, and some of them could have serious ramifications.

I’m going to be that one annoying person in the room who steers the conversation away from all the steaminess for just a second though, because one other thing that struck me from this episode was Aegon’s dagger. When House of the Dragon first started introducing the whole “Aegon had dreams about the White Walkers” plotline, I wasn’t sure whether it best served the narrative or was just cheeky fan service. Ultimately, it’s a bit of both. We know that the White Walkers won’t be around for hundreds more years. At the same time, the reveal that the catspaw dagger belonged to Aegon gives every scene involving it way more weight. That’s the very same dagger that almost slit the throat of the future King of the Six Kingdoms, and was used to kill the Night King. It also adds a lot of extra layers to this show as well, such as when Daemon references Aegon’s multiple wives and Viserys holds Aegon’s own dagger to his throat while shouting, “You are no conqueror!”

But at the end of the day, nerd out over the knife though I might, this episode was all about the interpersonal relationships heating up. And my did they.

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