Small Council: Let's debate the new episode of House of the Dragon, "The Red Sowing"

DAN: I've got to start with the big action scene at the end, where the hopeful dragonseeds try to make nice with Vermithor and he roasts 90% of them. Part of me wants to say that I wish the episode stuck closer to Fire & Blood, with the dragonseeds trying to claim their own dragons one at a time on thier own schedules, but the longer this show goes on, the clearer it becomes that the book is being used as a loose template at best. It was a blast watching the dragonseeds run for their lives, and I loved how different the encounters were between the successful dragonseeds and their mounts: Addam and Seasmoke, Hugh and Vermithor, Ulf and Silverwing.

Ulf may become my new favorite, by the way. I'm a fan of anybody who brings humor to this show and I was laughing out loud as he tried to wriggle out of answering Rhaenyra's call, and this after bragging about his Targaryen ancestry to his drinking buddies for who knows how many years. And I loved seeing him whoop and holler as Silverwing flew over King's Landing. I'd forgotten how few people smile on this show.

On the other side of funny, I loved the scene where Larys Strong and Archmaester Mellos tried to help Aegon walk; man, they did not hold back on the gnarly burn makeup. I also felt for Jace as he laid out his objections to Rhaenyra over recruiting bastards as dragonriders. I think he's catastrophizing a bit, but after being called a bastard himself behind his back his whole life, I get why it's a sore spot for him.

Daemon, Daemon, Daemon. At least his long boring journey at Harrenhal seems to be coming to an end, what with the Riverlords getting together and pledging themselves to his cause and Oscar Tully served him some crow. This story lost me a while ago, but the big pow-wow meeting was entertaining.

On the other hand, I think the dream sequence where Old King Viserys asks if Daemon still wants the crown may be the worst one yet. Weren't these dreams supposed to be mysterious and spooky? Viserys just literally says Daemon's internal conflict out loud to him, no nuance and subtlety needed. Game of Thrones had it right! No more dream sequences for the rest of the show; they've lost their privileges.

ALEXANDRIA: I'm starting with the bad first. I love a well-used cameo and loved seeing Viserys (even though I'm getting bored of Daemon's visions), but I agree with Dan that this vision was the worst so far. I'm glad that it all seems to be over. Can the show start using the powerhouse that Matt Smith is?

Alicent taking that walk and attempting to figure things out in her head was great. She was so certain for so long, and now she realizes her one mistake has led to the deaths of so many. Part of me thinks that she feels the weight of Luke's and Jaehaerys' deaths on her shoulders. All she's tried to do is what is expected of her as a woman, and it's all backfiring and seems all for nothing. Seeing this weakness in her gives her a level of humanity that we haven't seen for so long, so bravo to the writers for that one.

Getting Hugh's backstory was great. With nothing about his lineage in the book, I enjoyed this addition and the way the story was told. It gives us enough information to infer who his mother was, and it's easy to see why he was so ashamed of her. Knowing about his and Ulf's parentage (assuming Ulf is telling the truth), I have even more appreciation for their dragons accepting them. Seasmoke chose Addam because of his connection to Laenor, and now Hugh and Ulf's dragons are accepting the grandchildren of their former riders.

My only issue is still with Rhaena's storyline when it comes to dragons. If the show does take Nettles out of the story, I'm going to be disappointed. And I screamed at Rhaena for just rushing into the wild of the Vale. She has zero survival skills, nothing to work with while she's out there. All this time, she's shown how smart she is, and in this scene, she was just a pure idiot.

Ulf flying over King's Landing was the perfect ending to the episode. The joy on his face as he gets to show off to his drinking buddies is such a light moment to break up everything that is to come. I didn't realize how much we needed this light-hearted moment. Then having Aemond follow him back to Dragonstone on Vhagar and have to turn back was just the icing on the cake.

I'll finish with the big scene before that, though. Vermithor is one grumpy dragon! I don't mind that this was changed from the story that the book tells us because I just loved watching Vermithor make it clear that he was not going to accept any of them. That is until Hugh shouted at him—and I love that Hugh put his life on the line to protect the girl that was about to become Vermithor's next snack. Hugh proved that he does deserve to be a dragonrider (even if I know what's to come for him).

DANIEL: This was a really cool episode! I had my doubts about House of the Dragon making the Sowing of the Seeds a penultimate episode set piece, but I love how it turned out. Vermithor and Silverwing were breathtaking. It was easily the most detailed dragon work we’ve ever seen in either House of the Dragon or Game of Thrones, in terms of sound design, visual effects, and even literal screentime for the dragons. Similar to the Battle of Rook’s Rest, this was something we’d never seen on television before, and I ate it up.

At first I was upset to not see more dragons, though. The Sowing features quite a few other beasts in the book, while the show narrowed things down. On second viewing, I came around to it, though. It made the entrance for Vermithor and Silverwing incredibly memorable, while also leaving the door open for other dragons like The Cannibal, Grey Ghost, or Sheepstealer to turn up later. I did miss seeing Alyn of Hull take his own crack at mounting a dragon, but I like that he was so integral to Rhaenyra’s plan, since he was the one who brought her summons to King’s Landing and then ferried all the dragonseeds back to Dragonstone in secret.

As much as I don’t love Jace getting upset about the dragonseeds (which was his idea in the novel), I did think the scene itself worked really well. It makes sense for bastardy to be a sore spot for him, and that tension between him and Rhaenyra is going to add a lot to future events like the Gullet. Plus, his cryptic words worrying about what would happen if one of these bastards decides they should be king gave me chills. Season 3 can’t get here fast enough!

This was probably my favorite Daemon episode in a while, largely because the Godswood meeting was so good. I got flashbacks to Game of Thrones when Oscar suddenly turned things around on Willem Blackwood and demanded Daemon behead him. But I do agree with Dan and Alexandria that I could have lived without the Viserys cameo. I’ve generally enjoyed Daemon’s Harrenhal visions, but the show has overused them to such a degree that I no longer get excited about them, which is a shame. I also could have done without Alicent’s camping trip. That feels like an odd use of screen time this late in the season, but maybe it’ll pay off in some big way in the finale.

Oh, and I can’t forget to shout out Addam of Hull! His meeting with Rhaenyra was a total highlight. I wish we’d gotten a little bit more with him and Corlys Velaryon, but hopefully that’ll come in due time. Things are shaping up for an epic conclusion to the season in next week’s episode!

JOEL: Finally! An episode of House of the Dragon loaded with said dragons. A few episodes ago, we were treated to a big dragon battle, but we got to be up close and personal with some more dragons this time and it was pretty awesome.

Rhaenyra, after finding out about Seasmoke choosing a rider who is most likely a Velaryon bastard in Addam of Hull, decides to extend her earlier thought process of finding riders through ancient bloodlines. With a push from Mysaria, the queen brings in the Targaryen bastards from Kings Landing, hoping to find another rider. She gets two, but this is really the first classic, crazy Targaryen moment for Rhaenyra. She knows what is going to happen to all of those people when the dragons do not choose them. It is probably her most strictly evil act thus far, and one has to wonder if that will lead to others as the story unfolds.

Alicent takes a journey away from the intrigue, dangers, and for her, the frustration of being cast aside and ignored. It's another of these little storylines that seem to kill the pace of episodes this season. There is a point to it (we hope), as she seems to have a moment of self-realization while calmly floating in on the lake. There has been something building around her all season, a seething simmer, just ready to boil over. Let's hope there is a pay-off in the final episode.

Daemon finally accomplished what he set out to do: bring the river lords to heel and into the fold. It just took five episodes too many to accomplish the feat. Oscar Tully, however, did stand up to his liege, calling him out for Daemon's disrespectful earlier. Oscar demanded justice and got it. It was good to see someone show some intestinal fortitude toward Daemon.

There is just one episode left, and it feels like there will be a lot that won't get wrapped up. Will Rhaenyra's show of power get Aemond to back off? The previews would indicate that won't be possible. There could be a bloodbath in the last episode, but something tells me things won't go as expected. We just have to wait and see.

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