Small Council: What did everyone think of House of the Dragon Episode 204?

What did we think of the latest episode of House of the Dragon? Read our takes, tell us yours and vote in the poll!

DAN: I'll say up front that I think this was the best episode of the season so far and I don't think it's particularly close. I've enjoyed the new episodes, but I was getting a little tired of characters fretting about the dangers of all-out war without seeing what they mean for myself. After the Battle of Rook's Rest, I understand why Rhaenyra and Rhaenys were worried; that was a brutal fight as captivating and epic as anything Game of Thrones ever gave us. And it was the first time in this franchise that we've seen dragons, all of them flown by characters we know and like ("like" being a subjective term) fighting each other in broad daylight. It wasn't just House of the Dragon's version of a big Game of Thrones battle scene; it gave us something new, and I won't forget it anytime soon.

The battle itself was spectacular, but I also have to applaud the careful setup. Between Criston and Aemond mounting their secret plan, and Aegon getting so frustrated and drunk he decided to invite himself to war, there were no wasted pieces. I loved Rhaenyra telling Jace about the Song of Ice and Fire. That reminds us that this battle (and the show as a whole) exists within a wider context. Everything came together very nicely.

I liked Daemon's scenes at Harrenhal, especially his conversation with the lively and mysterious Alys Rivers, but the dream sequences aren't doing much for me. They're a bit broad and obvious for my tastes. What do you all think?

CAMILA: While I do believe this episode was INSANELY good and gave us all many things to think over (Daemon’s trippy and nightmarish visions, Aegon drunk dragon driving into battle, Aemond playing an UNO Reverse card on Aegon, and DRAGON FIRE PTSD), I still hold last week’s episode closest to my heart. I do love me some battles, but I’m a dramatic scene lover and it will take a lot to dethrone that ending with Rhaenyra and Alicent talking.

Alys was incredible in this episode. As a long-time Alys enthusiast (and someone who had actually considered auditioning for her part), Gayle Rankin is absolutely knocking it out of the park. She exudes mystery and allure. I’m very excited to see how things play out for her as the series continues on.

RIP to the Queen Who Never Was (and never will be now), Princess Rhaenys. She was wonderful and loyal to the bitter end. Also, I’d do anything to have her and Catelyn Stark sitting in the same room one day, just so she could teach Catelyn how to properly treat a human who, though born from an affair, is innocent and does not deserve to be punished for a crime he himself didn’t commit. That’s all.

Also… Aemond. Aemond is literally everything; he continues to be my favorite war criminal, my Almond Joy. Was he checking to see if Aegon needed to be finished off? Was he about to slay his own brother if Ser Criston had not called out to him at the end? Honestly, he’d make a much better king than Aegon II, that’s for sure.

JOEL: What always impresses me is how good Alicent is at playing the political game. At this point, she is a political animal, but rendered fairly toothless. Still, as Lord Larys gently grills her in her quarters, her responses to his digging are measured and guarded. She doesn't reveal anything verbally, though you can see him making overt observations. Unfortunately, she didn't show the same restraint when speaking with Aegon, carelessly cutting him deeply when his lack of confidence is so obvious. Of course, this slip on Alicent's part costs her dearly, as Aegon rushes to his dragon, to war, and maybe, to death.

The battle, of course, is the highlight of the episode. We finally see a true dragon-vs-dragon (or two) sky battle, and it was spectacular. The outcome wasn't ideal (depending on what side of the fence your allegiances lie). The dragon fights in the air felt real and intense; the scene is the franchise's crowning achievement thus far. It also led to some long overdue comeuppance for Cristin Cole, as he was not the one who led the troops into the breach of the fortress and he failed to protect his king.

It will be interesting to see the fallout of all we witnessed in this episode.

DANIEL: After a careful, intentional build-up, the Dance of the Dragons has finally begun! “The Red Dragon and the Gold” isn’t just my new favorite episode of House of the Dragon, but deserves a place right up there with the best episodes of Game of Thrones. The Battle at Rook’s Rest was always going to be a do-or-die moment for the series, and I’m overjoyed that the show rose to the occasion. It did Rhaenys, Meleys, Aegon, Sunfyre, Aemond and Vhagar proud. And Criston Cole too, I guess. It was a good episode for Criston.

Obviously, the battle itself was the standout. I loved how it spent equal amounts of time putting us in the sky with the dragonriders and on the ground with the soldiers who were just trying to not get squashed. I wasn’t expecting how much this clash between Vhagar and Meleys would feel like watching a kaiju movie, but it worked so well to establish the terrifying nature of these dragon fights. Yes, the war may be won with dragons flying behind armies of men as Aemond said, but once those dragons get into it, the armies of men had better get out of the way! Extra props to Ramin Djawadi, who delivered a wondrous, fresh score for the battle rather than reusing music from Game of Thrones, and made judicious use of silences to drive up the tension. Rook’s Rest was just great, all around.

I feel like I’m enjoying Daemon’s spooky vacation at Harrenhal more than most. Dream sequences are an important part of A Song of Ice and Fire that Game of Thrones largely shied away from; often that worked well for the series, but there were also plenty of times where the show’s reluctance to delve into the more surreal elements of its source material did it a disservice. (I’m looking at you, House of the Undying.) The dreams aren’t particularly hard to parse, but they have so many little details in the costuming and staging and props that make them really enjoyable to me. Alys Rivers convincing Daemon to drink weirwood paste was a highlight.

What else? Alicent Hightower’s search for information about Aegon the Conqueror was compelling; I like that she’s having second thoughts, and that her internal conflict is bringing her personality closer to that of her father Otto Hightower. I got chills when she informed Larys Strong that Rhaenyra and Aegon’s supporters would believe what they wished and die by the thousands, and gasped when she was her most cynically honest with Aegon at the worst possible time. The Small Council scene where Aemond dressed Aegon down in High Valyrian was also fantastic, and of course, the Song of Ice and Fire speech from Rhaenyra and Corlys Velaryon’s return to Dragonstone were also great. There was just a lot to love in this episode! With more dragon battles and shocker deaths on the horizon, I can’t wait to see where House of the Dragon goes next.

ALEXANDRIA: Of course, the Battle at Rook’s Rest is the big moment of the episode. Eve Best was everything from start to finish. We’ve watched Rhaenys show restraint and compassion so many times, but in the end, she had to make up for not unleashing Meleys at Aegon's coronation. I feel like that moment as she tells Meleys to attack, knowing she can’t really win against Vhagar and Aemond, she knows that it has to be done. She can’t go back to Dragonstone without at least trying.

The dances of the dragons was perfect. Everything was clear, including the identity of the dragons. I never thought I’d feel all that bad for CGI dragons, but I felt terrible for Sunfyre as Meleys grabbed his wing. Then watching Vhagar crush the life out of Meleys was heartbreaking. It’s easy to forget these dragons have their own stories, and it makes me want to see and hear about more of them.

I know the fight was changed a little from the way the book tells us, but these changes make me smile. They remind us that we can’t trust our own history books. Not really. History is always written by the victor. Fire & Blood is mostly told from the perspective of those who supported the Greens. Why would the Greens want to let anyone know that Aemond tried to kill his own brother? They wouldn’t, so the events of the battle had to change slightly in the retelling. We’re just seeing what really happened.

I do also need to talk about Rhaenys at the start of the episode. She treats Alyn with such compassion and care. It’s a shame Catelyn Stark wasn’t around to see how a child of an affair should be treated. They are innocents. These moments in this episode alone prove why she should have been Queen of Westeros. Rhaenyra is going to be at a loss without her main advisor.

I’m loving Daemon’s visions. At first, I wasn’t too sure, but the first vision in this episode reminded me of Daenerys seeing the Iron Throne with the ash coming down around it. Game of Thrones never utilized visions in the way it could have, and I’m glad to see House of the Dragon is rectifying that. These visions are foreshadowing so much, and I can’t wait to see what it means for Daemon as the episodes continue.

There are other great moments in the episode. We have Alicent showing how she is much more like her father than she would like to admit, Criston Cole realizing that he can’t control Aemond (and we see he isn’t a worthy Hand) and Rhaenyra sharing the Song of Ice and Fire with Jace. Some of these smaller, quieter moments are building up to some bigger things, and it just has me excited for the next episodes.

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