ThisHouse of the Dragonreview contains spoilers.
Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma DArcy) says precisely four words in theHouse of the Dragonseason 2 premiere.
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By episodes end, a six-year-old child is killed while Aemond remains whole and healthy.
Welcome back to another year ofHouse of the Dragon!
A Son for a Son is a muscular return for theGame of Thronesprequel.
Its said that the act of filmmaking is all about making choices.
That rings particularly true forHouse of the Dragon.
The source material for this series, George R.R.
As a dramatized endeavor,House of the Dragonmust fill in narrative answers where Westerosi historians have only questions.
That storytelling confidence allows for an appropriate expansion of scale.
Jaces offscreen travels between seasons took him to The Vale of Arryn and The North.
A Son for a Son opens on a familiar fog-drenched landscape being picked over by crows.
The subsequent sight of a snowy wall removes all doubt of where we find ourselves.
This eras ruling Stark, Cregan (Tom Taylor), tells his royal guest about this lands customs.
It eclipses all things.
All men of honor must pay its price.
Martins books is that it presents grittily realistic fantasy world where morally ambiguous characters do mostly bad things.
They just fail to do so because life is an impossible thing.
So no, you cant have your sheep back.
The smallfolk really get their day in the sun this time around.
These moments stick out, perhaps a little too much.
Also sticking out, and to better effect, are two dragon flyovers.
with the same urgency one might yell grenade!
Aegons mother, the Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) could use some good news herself.
King Viserys Is widow cant seem to take enough hot baths to wash away all her perceived sins.
Probably because shes fucking her sons Lord Commander of the Kingsguard Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel).
This is another story element that the Targaryen history texts leave out or attribute to crass rumor.
But once again,House of the Dragonsucceeds simply by choosing to go there.
Because thats what people are: impossible.
But you didnt come all this way to read about Kings Landing inflation or Alicents sexual appetites.
Lets talk about the rat in the room: blood and cheese.
The one aspect of A Son for a Son that will be long-remembered is its horrifying last act.
After all, can you recall what else happened inGame of Thrones The Rains of Castamere a.k.a.
The Red Wedding episode?
Its tremendously important thatHouse of the Dragonnails this moment and its tremendously satisfying that it does.
Daemon takes Rhaenyras I want Aemond Targaryen proclamation to heart and fast travels to Kings Landing.
The killers instructions are simple: a son for a son.
The fact that these men are strangers only enhances the dread.
Someone is going to die and theyre going to die badly.
Remembering their sex-based requirements for murder, the men ask Helaena to identify the boy.
Somewhat to their surprise, Helaena answers honestly, perhaps unable to even process the horror shes living through.
As you might have guessed, this is a big moment from the source material.
But the horror is very much the same.
Their place in history was sealed the moment Rhaenyra said she wants Aemond Targaryen.
That all but ensured that someone else, someone innocent, would die in his place.
Because thats how civil wars work.
In the end, Rhaenyra saying those four words was still four words too many.
New episodes of House of the Dragon season 2 premiere Sundays at 9 p.m.
Learn more about Den of Geeks review process and why you’re able to trust our recommendationshere.
Rating:
5 out of 5
