The dragons enter the fray with predictably deadly consequences on a thrilling House of the Dragon.
ThisHOUSE OF THE DRAGONreview contains spoilers.
Most of those thoughts amount to: This wasnt supposed to happen.
Nuclear deterrence was supposed to hold.
Westeros, of course, has its own version of nuclear deterrence in the form of dragons.
Fear of it is, in itself, a weapon.
The Greens will make the same calculation.
It turns out the Greens did not make the same calculation, nor did Rhaenyra for that matter.
Deterrence fails in the final act ofHouse of the Dragonseason 2 episode 4.
As such, we can see the action a fair bit better than in the usualGame of Thronesskirmish.
The sight of Vhagar slowly morphing from a camouflaged hump in the woods to a sky-scraping kaiju is wonderful.
The reactions of the various Staunton and Targaryen soldiers are believable and tense.
One of the best moments of the episode belongs to Lord Simon Staunton (Michael Elwyn).
Death is here and its too beautiful to look away from.
Who could have guessed though that Aemonds humiliation and frustration would turn into a fratricidal ideation so quickly?
Though that move proved to be disastrous almost immediately, Aegon still cant learn the right lesson from it.
This time around its Alicent (Olivia Cooke) who unknowingly pushes her son towards his most self-destructive instincts.
All that has gotten her is theMoon Tea-inducedstomach ache and a son who doesnt listen.
Now that son is either dead or severely maimed.
Arguably the most tragic motivation of all of the Rooks Rest participants belongs to Rhaenys (Eve Best).
Shes among the most level-headed advisors at court on Dragonstone.
And then she dies.
The tragedy of her life is that she was never able to come to terms with the betrayal.
Impressively,House of the Dragonseason 2 episode 4 makes the already-strong episode 3 even better in context.
Before I ended it, I needed to know if there was another path.
Well, Rhaenyra and Alicent did talk it all out.
But uncovering that misunderstanding doesnt mean the war can suddenly stop now.
The nukes have been launched, theres nothing left to deter.
hammering home who really should be a Targaryen king of the two.
Before that, we hear High Valyrian in Daemons continued spooky visions at Harrenhal.
Speak plainly, he says in the episodes first bit of English dialogue.
So young Rhaenyra does exactly that, saying, You created me, Daemon.
And now you are set on destroying me.
All because your brother loved me more than you.
He cuts her head off.
Daemons cursed journey in Harrenhal continues to be superb entertainment.
It combines the necessary plot mechanics of the developing war in the Riverlands (Willem Blackwood is back!
House Tully really sucks!
Rosby and Stokeworth have entered the war!)
with legitimately artful character work.
Whats not up for interpretation though is that deterrence has definitively failed in the Dance of the Dragons.
The scaly weapons of war have entered the atmosphere and where they fall is anyones guess.
New episodes of House of the Dragon season 2 premiere Sundays at 9 p.m.
Rating:
5 out of 5
