Every episode of House of the Dragon season 1, ranked worst to best

2. “King of the Narrow Sea” (Episode 4)

The fourth episode of the series is both the high point for the younger echelon of actors, as well as one of the most morally complex installments of the season. While later episodes of House of the Dragon tended to absolve some of our main characters of guilt for their actions, painting them as victims of misunderstandings or mistakes, “King of the Narrow Sea” leaned into the moral grayness. Daemon seduces his niece Rhaenyra, taking her out for a night on the town in King’s Landing that ends with a trip to a brothel. That scene was one of House of the Dragon’s early shockers; just how much was the series going to show? How are we even supposed to feel about this sequence where our main character’s uncle is grooming her like this, especially once we eventually find out that they ultimately end up marrying as adults?

Things only get more complicated when Rhaenyra goes home after being abandoned by her uncle and sleeps with her sworn Kingsguard protector Ser Criston Cole, who we now know is The Worst. She also lies to Alicent about her adventures, taking things a step farther even than she needed to in order to convince her friend of her innocence, and at the end gets Alicent’s father Otto fired as Hand of the King.

All in all, this is easily one of the juiciest episodes of House of the Dragon season 1. The political intrigue and complex character dynamics are think here, and Milly Alcock, Emily Carey, Smith, Considine and all the rest turn in stellar performances.

On top of that, Rhaenyra’s trip into King’s Landing serves as one of our only good looks at the lives of the smallfolk during the show to date. That goes a long way in terms of expanding our understanding of this time period in Westeros, and even though it only lasted a short while, it added a lot.

This is a bloodless episode with not a single act of violence. The political and relationship drama are more than enough.