House of the Dragon vs Fire & Blood: Book changes in Episode 204, "The Red Dragon and the Gold"

The fourth episode of the second season of House of the Dragon hits the mark dead-on. This is a masterfully directed episode of TV and a flawless adaptation of George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood that will remind audiences why this is the #1 show on television.

Symbolism permeates the episode. Nothing is left to chance under the penmanship of showrunner Ryan Condal and the vision of old-time Game of Thrones director Alan Taylor. There could have been no apter title for this episode than, “The Red Dragon and the Gold.” The episode adapts pages 434 and 435 of Fire and Blood, when the dragons begin their dance.

Harrenhal

In a reverse parallel as poetic and haunting as a nightmare, the episode opens with a call back to the series premiere where audiences first saw Rhaenyra resolutely walking into the empty Iron Throne room on her way to scold and tease her uncle for sitting on her father’s chair. This time it’s Daemon approaching the Iron Throne to find Young Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock returning for another surprise cameo) sitting on her rightful throne. But this is not reality, it’s sleep cursed by hubris and magic. This is Daemon’s worst nightmare: not understanding Rhaenyra although she’s speaking plainly to him in a language that used to be their secret code; she accuses him of creating and then destroying her until he decapitates her in a macabre single motion made even more cartoonish by her severed head still speaking on the ground. When he wakes, Daemon’s hands are stained with blood.

Daemon’s nightly torture seems never-ending, and his dreams soon bleed into his waking hours. Knowing his own fate, he imagines chasing his nephew Aemond through the corridors of Harrenhal, only to come face to face with him and realize it’s his own face staring back at him. Deep down, Daemon has always known he is (always has been, always will be) the cause of his own destruction, and (he fears) of his loved ones. His brief hallucination of the formidable lady Laena Velaryon, his late wife, proves that.

When he finally meets Alys Rivers, it is to these dark thoughts that she appeals, daring him to entertain and heed the worst of his doubts. I’m not sure why Daemon drinks the concoction she offers, but it certainly does not provide respite from his torment. Perhaps it’s because he understands she holds the truth of his future in a moment where he is desperate for a guiding light, and seeing his path through nightmares is easier than forging one that may lead him away from Rhaenyra.

Yet, despite his darkest thoughts and fears, Daemon is determined to raise an army in his wife’s name, and encourages young Oscar Tully to kill his grandfather Lord Grover to call Riverrun’s banners as only Daemon Targaryen could, and later summons the Blackwoods to mobilize the Riverlands. 

Daemon’s scenes certainly did not lack spark this week, but he must break the cycle and take matters into his own hands in Episode 5. A small difference from Fire And Blood is that the books tells us that Daemon was immune to Alys’ magic, which clearly doesn’t seem the case on the show. Gayle Rankin, the actress who plays Alys, has revealed a few things in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that suggest her character is straying quite far from book canon. 

"This person can tell the future, basically," Rankin said. "She's someone who has all of this power, who's been alive for potentially 400 years. How do we make her a person with a beating heart and wants and desires? I hope that's felt inside of our exploration with her.” About her scenes with Daemon, she continues, “She's going to hold a lot of power for the men inside of this story, especially Daemon, which I think is a really interesting slow burn. What does Alys want from Daemon and vice versa? What are they learning from each other? There's clearly a match happening here.”

King’s Landing

It can't be denied that Aegon understands nothing of war nor or ruling. Aemond, much more studious than his king, schools him in front of the council, then has the decency to continue doing so in Valyrian, a language he learned much better than his elder brother, who has trouble uttering three consecutive words. Aemond is not afraid to show his resentment of his brother now, and it’s incredible to see how no one in Team Green even remotely believes in Aegon or wants him to be king, save perhaps for Criston Cole, whose motivation really stems from being rejected by Rhaenyra.

Is there anyone who has love or any belief in Aegon at this point? Probably not, but the war is not truly about who should sit the Iron Throne nor why. It’s about different worldviews colliding and the inevitability of conflict. Or, as Ser Simon Strong put it last episode, “Sin begets sin begets sin.” In the book, we are given the understanding that there is some loyalty to Aegon at court, although we are not shown why, and it’s safe to assume that lords simply do not want Rhaenyra on the throne due to her gender.

It's clear that the writers have little left in store for Alicent. Most of her scenes this season so far have been about the illicit affair with her sworn sword, and the sequence with moon tea this episode is a continuation of that. It has no impact on the plot and I would have much preferred seeing more of another character. When she is finally given leave to speak halfway through the episode (way before Rhaenyra has appeared onscreen), Alicent makes sure her son knows she deems him worthless and uncapable. It’s significant that Aegon still listens to his mother and seeks her advice; he rocks as a child as he asks her, “What would you have me do, mother?” And it’s her harsh words that ultimately prompt him to ride Sunfyre to battle, where Larys’ spun tale of gossip had restrained him in Episode 3.

I appreciate the symbolism of objects falling and breaking. Alicent’s faith is shaking, but there is nothing she can do to stop or turn the tide. Now that she is aware of the prophecy and understands how useless, in the grand scheme of things, her “duty” has been — given that Rhaenyra was always promised — she drops the statuette of a dragon she once gifted Viserys. Similarly, Aegon shatters a beautiful wine pitcher with a golden dragon relief. Ah, the foreshadowing.

Across the bay

In Spicetown, Rhaenys approaches Alyn of Hull in acknowledgement of him saving Lord Corlys’ life. Even non book-readers might have guessed at this point that there is history between the Hulls and Corlys, history that Rhaenys seems to be perfectly aware of, and not holding a grudge over. Her telling her husband that his savior should be raised in glory and not hidden for somebody else’s mistake constitutes a blessing that Corlys will surely need a couple episodes from now.

As to how this situation is handled in the book — we are venturing into SPOILERyy waters here, you may move on to the next paragraph if you don’t wish to read — we have no indication that Princess Rhaenys was ever aware that her husband had sired bastards, nor would Corlys have ever acknowledged them had she still been living. Even when he does legitimize them and make them his heirs later on, it’s maintained that Addam and Alyn are Laenor’s bastards, not his.

On Dragonstone, the Black council is restless; they even openly challenge Rhaenys, Jace and Baela until Corlys arrives to silence all doubts. When Rhaenyra comes back, we as the audience are reminded that even if her council may doubt her, she possesses a morality that her opponent lacks. Legitimacy aside, she was not willing to start a war and shed blood in name of her crown alone. Her resolve is strengthened by the knowledge of Aegon’s dream, and a future that she must protect.

Too few have been Rhaenyra’s scenes this season, but Emma D’Arcy always manages to make them count. Their performance, paired with a striking soundtrack and the head of Balerion in the background, contribute to making Rhaenyra’s dialogue with Jace where she tells him of Aegon the Conqueror’s dream an iconic sequence. One that I can see take infinite forms on the internet, probably becoming the most remixed scene of the series.

In the book, there is no mention of the Song of Ice and Fire, which would make sense considering that it’s a secret passed on from ruler to heir alone, and the fictional sources writing Fire & Blood would not be privy to the information. What we do know from later books, though, is that the secret is lost in time, and this may very well be the generation where that happens.

It's opportune to remind readers that at this point in the book, Rhaenyra is said to have stepped away from the council, closed in her grief. That she attends and puts her council in their place episode after episode is to be considered an improvement. The Queen offering to ride to Rook’s Rest herself instead of her son is valid, but vain; we all know Princess Rhaenys’ fate from the book can hardly be changed. And Rhaenyra has no arguments to stop her, for her aunt meets all the requirements that Jace lacks: battle experience, a larger dragon, and someone who isn't the heir to the Iron Throne. So it is decided.

I am sad we did not get to witness any goodbyes between Rhaenys and her family, but I understand that any farewell would have interrupted the pace and fallen into fanservice. Seeing Rhaenys and Meleys prepare for battle with a sacred, ritualistic determination, as opposed to Aegon doing so while drunk, continues to speak volumes about these characters and their priorities. Rhaenys knows she may be sacrificing herself for a cause she believes in, one that might have been her own cause, decades earlier, perhaps. Aegon rides to battle because he is bored and feels undermined by his younger brother and council.

And the dragons danced

Rook’s Rest is, to me, the most epic battle scene we’ve ever seen. The Battle of the Blackwater, the Massacre at Hardhome nor the Battle of the Bastards can compare to the dancing of dragons.

I liked that Aemond and Criston Cole had devised a secret plan where the frontlines would send word back to Aemond, who hides with Vhagar in the trees. It was refreshing not to see Vhagar simply charging from the sky. In the book the trap was always for both Vhagar and Sunfyre to attack together. Here, Vhagar is part of the plan, but Aegon and Sunfyre show up unexpected.

Rhaenys and Meleys were nothing short of phenomenal. It’s in the quiet determination mixed with the knowledge that they will not fly away from this battle, but that they will cause the enemy serious damage before they fall together. It’s in the fierce resilience to continue fighting until their last breath, how fleeing was never even considered as an option. The loss of the Queen Who Never Was and her dragon will leave a gaping chasm in the hearts of Team Black.

Twice does Aemond try to kill Aegon this episode; he first commands Vhagar to breathe fire. After the battle, he finds Aegon unconscious on the ground and raises his sword, supposedly to finish what Rhaenys and the fall had started, but Criston arrives just in time to stop him. I wonder if the knowledge that Aemond would have murdered his king will turn Criston against him, or if his loyalty is only unquestioned when convenient.

We may not have spent much time with Meleys the Red Queen, but this episode fully conveyed her deep bond with Rhaenys, making her death all the more tragic. Rhaenys could have unfastened her braces and perhaps fallen into the sea, but she didn’t want to die a Velaryon death — just earlier in the episode she mentioned the words “watery graves” alluding to her husband’s near death at sea. She may have died anyway, or she may have survived, but what matters is that she chooses to fall with — and under the weight of — her companion, her dragon, knowing there will be no rising from it. That is how she chooses to go: not a pointless death, but a holy one in fire. She dies a Targaryen. Now you know where her daughter Laena got that wish from.

I finally thank the writers for an epic episode where the characters are done justice through their ambivalence and complexity.

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