House of the Dragon Episode 206, "Smallfolk": Easter eggs and secrets

With her husband and his dragon MIA and her forces depleted, Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) is making some daring moves in the sixth episode of House of the Dragon's second season. "Smallfolk" sees Rhaenyra wrangle with the difficult prospect of finding more dragonriders while simultaneously putting a scheme into effect with her Mistress of Whispers Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) to incite a riot in King's Landing. And while she's busy with that, the Greens are feeling out their new equilibrium with Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) as Prince Regent. Things are getting messy.

As we do every week, we're scouring the new episode of House of the Dragon for all the easter eggs, secrets, and hidden little details we can find. FULL SPOILERS ahead for the episode.

House of the Dragon Episode 206, "Smallfolk" easter eggs

Our watch begins with the opening credits; they run a little longer than previous weeks, which allows for some new images! In addition to bringing back Vhagar killing Lucerys Velaryon and Arrax and keeping the scenes representing Blood and Cheese, the credits now include a final shot which shows the Battle of Rook's Rest. The gold dragon Sunfyre lies on the left, his rider Aegon II beside him; the red dragon Meleys on the right beside Princess Rhaenys Targaryen. Aemond Targaryen stands in the middle, his sword raised high as Vhagar soars above him. Around them, the bodies of the slain; some 900 men lost their lives at Rook's Rest.

"Smallfolk" opens in the Westerlands, the domain of House Lannister, and if you got immediate chills from hearing "The Rains of Castamere" again, you're not alone. House of the Dragon wastes no times reminding us that these are the ancestors of characters like Tywin, Tyrion, Cersei and Jaime from Game of Thrones.

• The castle in this scene is the Golden Tooth, which is ruled by House Lefford, one of the most prominent vassals to House Lannister. It's at the far eastern edge of the Westerlands, near the Red Fork river which runs directly through Riverrun. As such, it's a key strategic border stronghold for the Lannisters.
• Lord Jason Lannister is the twin brother of Lord Tyland, who serves on Aegon and Aemond's Small Council. They're played by the same actor, Jefferson Hall.
• A brief reminder, Jason is the great-great-great-grandfather of Tywin Lannister.
• The Lannister army marches with a couple of lions in cages. That's a cool nod to their house symbol, but also pretty indicative of the sort of pompous pageantry they're bringing into war, since lions would be pretty much impossible to control in a battle.
• Lord Lefford says he has 500 men ready to go. Jason's army already consists of 1,000 knights, and around 7,000 archers and men-at-arms. That makes it the largest army we've seen assembled yet on House of the Dragon by far.

Back in King's Landing, Aemond is less than pleased to get the message from Jason summoning him to the battlefield.

• Aemond's plan to send Ser Tyland to treat with the Triarchy from the Free Cities in order to break the Sea Snake's blockade is Otto Hightower's idea in the book.
• The necessity of it is even more pressing in the show. Aemond points out that the Free Cities are just across the Narrow Sea, while any ships from Casterly Rock or Oldtown will take months to get to King's Landing. King's Landing is on the eastern side of Westeros, while both Casterly Rock and Oldtown are on the western coast; in order for their ships to get to the capital, they'll had to sail all the way around the southern side of the continent.
• Aemond points out that the Triarchy would love an opportunity to damage the Sea Snake. Don't forget, both Corlys Velaryon and Daemon spent a good amount of time fighting the Triarchy in the Stepstones during season 1.
• The Red Kraken, Lord Dalton Greyjoy, still hasn't returned any of the letters from the Iron Throne. It's not clear yet what side he'll be on in the war.

Rhaenyra hatches a mad plan

On Dragonstone, Rhaenyra's black council convenes to discuss their next moves. It's a very different atmosphere than in King's Landing, but still tense.

• Corlys Velaryon places the Hand of the Queen pin on himself, rather than waiting for Rhaenyra to do it. These two feel like equals in a very cool way.
• Corlys is the one who calls for Ser Steffon Darklyn to be brought forth. The show doesn't make it explicit, but it seems like Rhaenyra, Corlys, and Jace are the only ones at the table who are aware of her plan to put Steffon on a dragon before she lays it out.
• Ser Steffon Darklyn being related to the Targaryens through his grandmother Aeriana is not from the book. Timeline-wise, Aeriana would likely have been an ancestor who dated back to the early days of House Targaryen's reign, likely the generation before or after Aegon the Conqueror.
• Lord Bartimos Celtigar in particular is incensed by this plan. The Celtigars are one of the only houses aside from House Targaryen and House Velaryon which traces their lineage back to Old Valyria. Is he upset because this plan is crazy, or because his own house is being passed over yet again?

The heir for a day

In Harrenhal, Daemon's spooky dreamtime journey continues. In previous weeks, he was haunted by a specter of young Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock), his first wife Laena Velaryon (Nanna Blondell), and even his mother Alyssa Targaryen (Emeline Lambert). Now, he's reached the final boss of his dream trip: his brother, King Viserys I. Yes, Paddy Considine is back!

• King Viserys delivers his exact same "heir for a day" speech from the series premiere, but his delivery of the lines is different. It's less of a proclamation as king, and more conversational.
• The room itself is also bathed in paler, more surreal hues, compared to the warm, torchlit setting of the original scene.
• This scene is meant to represent the breaking point for Viserys and Daemon's relationship. Daemon had the opportunity to comfort his brother, and instead offended him and then walked away. He similarly walks away without argument here, but the door is locked.
• The sound of Viserys' crown hitting the throne is interesting. It seems to snap Daemon back to awareness. I wonder if there's anything outside the dream contributing to that sound? It almost reminds me of a bell being rung to wake someone from hypnosis.
• Once he's awake, Daemon loses it on Ser Simon Strong. In response to his raving, Strong actually shushes Daemon like he's a child. The old castellan is obviously used to people going borderline mad from sleeplessness in his castle.

Daemon then flees outside the castle, where Caraxes is slumbering in the godswood. Alys Rivers is waiting for him there, and there are a lot of little details to catch in their conversation.

• Alys immediately asks if Daemon was going to bid her farewell. She was waiting there for him, so she knew he was about to try to leave. What's her game?
• Alys' words about the person who strives for the crown being least suited to wear it recall a conversation Varys and Tyrion had near the end of Game of Thrones, where Varys pushes the idea that Jon Snow's reluctance to rule could well be the exact reason he'd be good at it.
• Alys also says that Viserys never wanted the crown himself. We didn't really see this in the show, but in the years leading up to the Great Council of 101 AC, Viserys wasn't pushing his own claim very hard. It was those around him, like Daemon and the Westerosi lords who wanted a male heir on the throne, who really pushed for Viserys to become king. Viserys stepped up to the responsibility, but he did not covet it.
• It's interesting that Alys Rivers says the wisdom of the Tullys has kept the Riverlords in line for centuries. House Tully wasn't actually the ruling house of the Riverlands before Aegon's Conquest. It's not clear if she just means in the 100+ years since Aegon's Conquest, or if she's referring to the ways the Tullys helped keep the peace even under the terrible reign of Harren the Black as well.
• Alys tells Daemon to do nothing while she sorts out the Riverfolk. That's the exact same thing that Alicent said to Aegon before the Battle of Rook's Rest. Fortunately, Daemon's a little better at loafing than his nephew.
• Alys has an actual barn owl! She said she was a barn owl trapped in human skin as a joke back in Episode 204. Kudos to the casting department for picking the right bird for the gag.

Ser Steffon Darklyn gets roasted by dragonfire

Back on Dragonstone, Ser Steffon tries his luck at taming a dragon. It goes about as well as you'd expect.

• The song the dragonkeepers are singing in High Valyrian to summon Seasmoke is the same song that Daemon sung to Vermithor in the season 1 finale. Read the translation of it from Valyrian to English here.
• Ser Steffon mutters a prayer to the Seven under his breath after the dragonkeeper song fades.
• Seasmoke is an older, more haggard dragon than he was when we last saw him up close at the Stepstones in Episode 103.
• After Seasmoke torches Ser Steffon and the nearest dragonkeeper, the dragonkeeper immediately pulls out a knife and slits his own throat. That reads to me like the dragonkeepers have a protocol for what to do if a dragon breathes fire on them, taking their own lives as quickly as possible rather than waiting for the more painful end of burning to death.

From the caverns of Dragonstone, we skip across the water to Driftmark, where Corlys Velaryon is taking stock of his ship the Sea Snake. It seems like it's almost ready to set sail.

• Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim) is wearing a piece of cloth tied around his head in this scene. We find out later that's because his silver Velaryon hair is starting to grow out, so he's hiding it.
• Alyn also says that the fleet will be ready to take on "Lions or Krakens." They're anticipating attacks from either the Lannisters or Greyjoys. I imagine if the Triarchy alliance pans out for the Greens, it'll come as a shock.
• Corlys says that Lord Bar Emmon wishes to send his nephew onto the crew as a boatswain. Sharp Point is a castle right on the tip of Massey's Hook, which is a peninsula that borders the Gullet on its southern side. The Bar Emmons are a vassal of Dragonstone.
• It's a cool bit of familial consistency that Corlys was resistant to the idea of becoming Rhaenyra's hand, and his bastard son Alyn is similarly hesitant to step up and become first mate.

Rumors afoot in King's Landing

In King's Landing, Mysaria's rumors are starting to take hold. Last episode, we saw her agent Elinda Massey meeting with Dyana, the serving girl who was abused by Aegon in season 1. Now we see Mysaria's plan at work as the brothel madame spreads gossip that the royals are feasting in the castle while the peasants starve in the city below. Ulf the White (Tom Bennett) is also there, and the madame plays on his sympathies for Queen Rhaenyra. Don't forget, he was openly talking about how he thought Rhaenyra was the rightful heir only a few episodes ago.

Speaking of Rhaenyra, she gives old Bartimos Celtigar a good slap on Dragonstone for constantly second-guessing her. "It is my fault, I think, that you have forgotten to fear me," Rhaenyra says. At the end of Episode 205, we saw that Rhaenyra was studying records of Visenya, the sister-wife of Aegon the Conqueror who was renowned for her ferociousness. Rhaenyra is starting to emulate her in more ways than one, being more severe, carrying a sword, and even tying her hair back in a braid similar to Visenya's favored hairstyle. This scene also clues us into the fact that Rhaenyra discussed her plan to have Steffon try to mount Seasmoke with Mysaria ahead of time.

Back in King's Landing, things are getting tense. Bullet point time:

• This scene opens with Hugh's wife Kat (Ellora Torchia) waiting in a food line. The food runs out just before she gets there. That family cannot catch a break.
• Meanwhile, a cart of sheeps rolls through the city. Those sheep aren't heading to the castle, they're going to the Dragonpit for the dragons. We've heard plenty of discussion about how many they're eating right now, especially Vhagar.
• The person who raises the cry of frustration that there's enough sheep for the dragons but not the people is Ulf.
• A fight almost breaks out between hungry smallfolk and some of the gold cloaks as the sheep are wheeled offscreen.
• In the Small Council chamber, Aemond is confused about why people are mad at him for Rhaenyra's blockade. Larys Strong tries to use the opportunity to lobby for the position of Hand of the King, but Aemond sees right through it and orders him to bring Otto hightower back to King's Landing for the post.
• Lord Jasper "Ironrod" Wylde is the other person in the room during this conversation. He practically rolls his eyes when Larys suggests himself as Hand and looks pretty delighted that Aemond shot him down.
• After getting news that Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) has awakened, Aemond goes to visit him. Aegon claims he doesn't remember anything, but it seems pretty likely that he does and is just scared. Aemond immediately hurts him by pressing the hard marble ball from the Small Council chamber into Aegon's wounds. Who knows how much worse this scene might have gone if not for the timely arrival of Grand Maester Orwyle (Kurt Egyiawan)?
• Aemond is wearing Blackfyre, the sword of Aegon the Conqueror which Aegon previously wore. So he's fully claiming all the symbols of the throne.

No safe place to be a sheep in the Vale

In the Vale, Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) walks with Prince Joffrey, the youngest of Rhaenyra's children with Harwin Strong. They come across a bunch of charred sheep bones and grass, which indicates that a dragon has been on the hunt.

• Back in the Eyrie, we get a glimpse of Aegon the Younger and his baby dragon Stormcloud. Aegon the Younger is Rhaenyra's oldest son by Daemon.
• Lady Jeyne says that Prince Reggio from Pentos is sending a merchant cog called the Gay Abandon to ferry Rhaena, Aegon the Younger, and his brother Viserys to the Free City. That will be important later.
• Jeyne also gives some details about the dragon who's moved into the Vale. It hasn't been confirmed outright yet, but that dragon is most likely a wild one from the book named Sheepstealer. We'll probably see him next week.

The brothers of Hull get candid

On Driftmark, we finally get an open conversation between Alyn and Addam of Hull (Clinton Liberty) which confirms what they actually know about their parentage.

• Alyn is shaving his head in this scene, which gives us a look at the platinum Velaryon stubble growing in. A very cool detail.
• In The House That Dragons Built behind-the-scenes documentary for this episode, which is available on Max, it's revealed that the shots of Alyn shaving his hull were actually far more complicated than they looked. Every time the camera does a close up on just his hands and head, that's actually two totally different people, a stunt person who's head is in the shot, and a hair styling expert who's hands are doing the shaving.
• Alyn says that part of why he doesn't want to accept the post of first mate to Corlys is because he doesn't want the crew to "get the wrong idea," aka realize he's Corlys' bastard and think it's favoritism.
• This scene confirms that Alyn and Addam do indeed know they're Corlys' bastards. So this seems like an open secret to everyone involved. Corlys knows, Rhaenys knew, and Addam and Alyn both know as well.

Free from the refrain of "Daemon, Daemon, Daemon!"

Back on Dragonstone, Rhaenyra is having a crisis of faith. Jace approaches her to question why she struck Lord Bartimos Celtigar, but she dodges the question. A few key details:

• Rhaenyra says she's ordered Lord Walys Mooton of Maidenpool to march on Rook's Rest. Criston only left a small garrison there to guard the remains of the castle...as well as the wounded dragon Sunfyre, who Rhaenyra believes is dead.
• She also says she's sent another letter to the Vale urging Lady Jeyne to bring her army to the field. So it sounds like Jeyne has paid Rhaenyra's shrewd idea of sending baby dragons to the Vale back by procrastinating her march to war.
• As Rhaenyra shouts that she wishes to be free for even one hour from the constant refrain of "Daemon, Daemon, Daemon," Mysaria walks onscreen. In this moment, she's Rhaenyra's best answer to the fact that Daemon Targaryen has abandoned her with whatever supposed military prowess he possessed.
• Jace seems suspicious of Mysaria. I think that's less because Jace has anything against her personally, and more because of the realization that his mother is plotting secret plots against the Greens without involving him.

Clouds over the Blackwater

Now that the stage has been set, it's time for things to kick into overdrive in King's Landing. As a peasant gathers clams and mussels outside the city, a boat full of food washes ashore bearing a sail with Rhaenyra's red-and-black Targaryen banner. Then a whole fleet more of them arrive, and we're off.

• Alicent coming to check on Aegon and saying "I'm sorry" to him is heartbreaking; she rarely shows outward emotion to her sons. The bit Orwyle says about Aegon sleeping "nine hours out of every 10" is directly from Fire & Blood.
• Otto Hightower hasn't been returning any of Alicent and Orwyle's letters. Orwyle says he sent letters to Highgarden, Oldtown, and all the other great houses of the Reach. The question of where exactly Otto Hightower is at the moment is looming large.
• Orwyle also informs Alicent that war is breaking out in the Reach, meaning the march of the Hightower host is not going uncontested. House Beesbury has declared war on the Hightowers over the murder of Lord Lyman Beesbury, who got his head smashed in by Criston Cole during the Green Council coup.
• When Alicent goes outside the Red Keep, the Green soldiers who walk across the screen behind her have bandages around their heads. It's a reminder that this force is still exhausted and injured from the Battle at Rook's Rest.
• There's a brief moment where Alicent considers going to talk to Criston before Gwayne (Freddie Fox) notices her.
• Alicent asks after Daeron Targaryen, her youngest son. Gwayne describes him as a kind young man gifted at the lute and sword, which is very different from his brothers. We almost certainly won't see Daeron this season, but the show is doing a great job of setting him up.
• Without going deep into spoilers, if House of the Dragon sticks somewhat close to the book, this may be the last time for a very long time that either Criston or Gwayne is in King's Landing.
• After her discussion with Gwayne, Alicent goes to fetch her daughter Helaena (Phia Saban) so that they can go pray together for Aegon's recovery. Helaena has three crickets in little cages, and comments on how it's strange that one of them stopped singing. My best guess is those crickets are meant to represent Aegon, Aemond, and Helaena; the one that stopped singing is Aegon, who's bedridden. The show does love to use Helaena to sneak in cryptic hints.
• Hugh (Kieran Bew) sees Cheese's dog in the streets of King's Landing. He stops just long enough to pet it before the food riot breaks out.
• Hugh punches out a dude and steals his bag of lettuce. Without going into spoilers, Hugh is a character who has a large role to play in the Dance of the Dragons, and he isn't always honorable. I like how this scene starts to let us see that darker side of his character.
• The peasant who hits Alicent in the face with a bloody fish calls her "the Queen of Fishes." With the Sea Snake's blockade in place, the smallfolk have basically been surviving on fish alone.
• One of Aegon's Kingsguard lickspittles slices off the arm of a peasant who grabs Alicent. It's possible that House of the Dragon may use this incident to set up the Shepherd, a major villain for later in the series similar to the High Sparrow from Game of Thrones.
• Aegon's three Kingsguard lickspittles go down to the violence of the mob. It's not clear if they survived. The one who gets Alicent to safety is Ser Rickard Thorne (Vincent Regan).
• Alicent took a cut on her forearm during the chaos. It happens to be in the exact same place where Alicent slashed Rhaenyra's arm with the Valyrian steel dagger in the season 1 episode "Driftmark."

The sad story of Lord Larys Strong

Following the riot in the streets, the action moves back inside of the Red Keep, where King Aegon has regained consciousness. It's time for him and Larys Strong to have a heart-to-heart.

• Larys tells the servant to hold King Aegon's milk of the poppy for an hour. He's not doing that to be cruel (although it does show his power over the injured Aegon), but because milk of the poppy clouds a person's mind. We saw King Viserys push it away during his final hours in the first season as well. The implication is that if a person is on milk of the poppy constantly, they won't be able to think straight, which is a very dangerous position for Aegon to be in right now.
• Larys tells the story of how he was born at Harrenhal...and he mentions that a member of the Strong household was accused of sorcery because of his twisted leg. Could he be referencing Alys Rivers?

Daemon finds forgiveness

Next, Daemon Targaryen finally finds a light at the end of the tunnel for his long series of visions. It's one last Paddy Considine cameo to see him through:

• The first vision of Viserys showed how Daemon turned away from him at a crucial moment. This one shows Daemon actually comforting his brother instead.
• Shoutout to Sian Brooke, who plays Aemma Arryn. She's back for a cameo here too, even if it's only as a corpse.
• When Daemon wakes up to the news that Lord Grover Tully is dead, it's the only time we've ever seen Daemon actually wake up from sleep during one of these visions. Every other time, he shifted from the dream to real life in a jarring slip of reality. This time, as he finds forgiveness by comforting his brother, we see that he was actually sleeping restfully before he startles awake. Daemon has passed through the gauntlet of his demons, and so have we viewers!
• Whether or not you believe Alys Rivers about the weirwood bed, it is worth noting that Daemon isn't sleeping in it here, but at the table in the great hall of the castle.
• Alys Rivers went to help oversee Lord Grover's final hours. Did she help Grover along into the grave? That certainly seems to be the implication.

Addam of Hull, Seasmoke chooses you!

We're nearing the end now, with one of the most exciting scenes of the episode. As Addam of Hull goes about his business on the beach of Driftmark, the dragon Seasmoke soars overhead...and then turns around, flying right for him.

• Clinton Liberty did all his own stunts for this sequence. You can watch him in action in The House That Dragons built on Max.
• It's not entirely clear why Seasmoke chooses Addam, but the best running theory is that the dragon senses the blood of House Velaryon in him. Seasmoke's previous rider was Laenor Velaryon, who would be Addam's half-brother. Perhaps the dragon senses something in Addam that reminded him of his previous rider?
• In the book lore, a dragon does not take another rider until its previous one has died. We last saw Laenor Velaryon sailing across the Narrow Sea after faking his own death in season 1. A few episodes ago, there were subtle hints that Laenor may have died off screen. Seasmoke choosing another rider fits with that theory.

Our final scene from "Smallfolk" is all about Rhaenyra, Mysaria, and their budding romance. One more run of bullet points for the road:

• When Rhaenyra ponders whether Daemon has turned against her, Mysaria says it's more his way to "disappear." She would know; after using Mysaria to incense his brother Viserys during the first season, Daemon abandoned her to go fight in the Stepstones for years.
• Mysaria's story about how she got her scars from her father is not drawn from the source material, but adds a lot to her character, both in this scene and in general. In the book, Mysaria actually does get pregnant with Daemon's child early in the story, only to lose it during a storm at sea. The show played that element off like a ploy, and now we know that Mysaria couldn't have had a child regardless.
• Rhaenyra Targaryen doesn't have a romance with Mysaria in the book, but she is still strongly alluded to be queer. The show didn't have time to cover Rhaenyra's supposed romance with Laena Velaryon during season 1, which is the main way that manifests in Fire & Blood. Bringing her queerness back into the series in this way feels like a perfect way to address that, while making an already complicated situation with Mysaria even moreso.
• Ser Lorent Marbrand tells Rhaenyra that Seasmoke has been spotted with a rider flying over Spicetown. That's the town on Driftmark where Alyn and Addam live.
• Rhaenyra immediately flies out, thinking it could be one of the Greens who has claimed Seasmoke. It makes total sense that she wouldn't consult anyone before doing so, because Rhaenyra and Syrax are really the only dragonriding pair experienced enough to confront Seasmoke anyway.

"Smallfolk" ends with Syrax and Rhaenyra soaring away from Dragonstone. From the trailer for Episode 207, we know they're on a collision course to meet with Addam of Hull nearby. What will happen next?

With only two episodes left in its second season, whatever's coming on House of the Dragon is sure to be epic. New episodes premiere Sunday nights on HBO and Max.

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