House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 4 is called
“The Red Dragon and the Gold”. Because the red dragon Meleys is killed, along with her
rider, Rhaenys. The gold dragon, Sunfyre, is badly hurt along with his rider King Aegon.
The winner of this battle is the dragon Vhagar and her rider Prince Aemond, who betrayed his brother
Aegon. Meanwhile, Daemon gets high with a witch, and meets a Tully and Blackwood, and
Alyn’s true identity is revealed. So what happens, and what does it mean? This
video has no spoilers for future episodes. Prince Daemon Targaryen is in the riverlands,
at the spooky ruined castle Harrenhal. Harrenhal seems connected to the magic of the old gods, of
the weirwood trees. So Daemon has crazy dreams, exploring his feelings about his family.
He sees young Rhaenyra, his wife, and niece, sitting on the Iron Throne. This mirrors shots
from Season 1 when Rhaenyra saw Daemon on the Throne. Daemon feels hurt that his brother Viserys
chose Rhaenyra to rule instead of him. Part of Daemon wants revenge on this girl who stole his
Throne, who stole Viserys’ love, so he cuts off her head. Did Daemon ever really love Rhaenyra, or
does he just use her to get closer to the Throne? Daemon feels guilty for how he’s treated Rhaenyra.
Rhaenyra speaks in the Valyrian language, and a translation says “I was an innocent. You
exploited me and abandoned me. You sullied my name at court. You empowered my rivals. You tried
to make my ruin”. Cause in Season 1, Daemon hooked up with young Rhaenyra. He created a damaging
sex scandal and tried to use it to marry Rhaenyra for her Throne. Later, Daemon undermined Queen
Rhaenyra’s authority and tried to escalate war against her wishes. Daemon choked Rhaenyra. Daemon
had Jaehaerys killed and Rhaenyra was blamed. Now, Daemon is gathering an army but he isn’t telling
Rhaenyra his plans. Is he loyal to his queen, or will Daemon take Rhaenyra’s Throne?
In the dream, Rhaenyra says Daemon created Rhaenyra. Daemon has influenced his niece – he
taught her that sex is for pleasure, which led her to have catastrophic sex with Criston and Harwin.
Daemon taught her that a ruler must be feared, which led her to fake Laenor’s death, to
the horror of Corlys and Rhaenys. But also, Daemon’s chaotic behaviour is why Viserys chose
Rhaenyra as heir. It’s why Rhaenyra is queen. So in that sense, Daemon created Queen Rhaenyra – and
yet he undermines her. Previously, Rhaenyra said that Daemon’s heart belongs only to Daemon. Will
he continue in his selfish destructive violence? Daemon sees blood on his hands – he’s
guilty of hurting the people he loves. We learn that in the crownlands, House Rosby
and House Stokeworth have joined King Aegon and the greens. They said they’re against Rhaenyra
because Rhaenyra supposedly killed Jaehaerys, which was actually Daemon’s fault. So
again Daemon’s atrocities hurt his queen. Simon Strong calls Daemon the king … dot dot dot
… consort. It’s not clear if Daemon is a king consort who serves his wife Queen Rhaenyra, or if
Daemon is a king taking power in his own right. Daemon wants to gather an army in the
riverlands. The riverlands are ruled by Lord Grover Tully of Riverrun. But Grover is
sick and old and cannot speak. So instead, Daemon meets Grover’s grandson and heir, Oscar
Tully. In the book, Oscar has a brother named Kermit and a father named Elmo – author George
Martin named these characters after Muppets. Oscar can’t command the riverlords until Lord Grover
dies. So Daemon suggests that Oscar murder his beloved grandpa to become the lord. When Viserys
was dying, Daemon showed him love and respect. But Daemon has no sympathy for other families. He
complains that the Tullys are a fish without a head – because the Tully sigil is a fish and
they have no leader. This also evokes a shot from Season 1 of a fish having its head cut off.
Which was right after Daemon murdered his wife Rhea – another crime of which Daemon is guilty.
Oscar Tully is one of the most important politicians in Westeros, but Daemon rudely
dismisses him. It’s terrible diplomacy, which could hurt Queen Rhaenyra.
Daemon instead summons the Blackwoods, cause House Blackwood is one of the most powerful
houses in the riverlands, and they’ve already fought a battle in Rhaenyra’s name.
Later, Daemon has a vision of himself wearing an eyepatch like his nephew Aemond. Cause
Daemon influenced Aemond. Aemond admires Dameon’s strength and badassary. Aemond idolises Daemon so
much that Aemond was stoked when Daemon tried to assassinate Aemond. But Daemon is a terrible role
model to his nephew. Daemon’s murder of Jaehaerys might’ve taught Aemond that killing your own
family is super rad and cool, inspiring Aemond to attack his own brother Aegon and kill his cousin
Rhaenys this episode. Daemon’s bad influence contributed to the monster Aemond became.
Daemon speaks with Alys Rivers, the mysterious witch of Harrenhal. Rivers
is the bastard name of the riverlands. Like, in the north, bastards are called Snow, like
Jon Snow. In Dorne, bastards are called Sand, like Ellaria Sand. <Bastards only get a surname
if they have a highborn parent. Alys Rivers is said to be the daughter of Lyonel Strong, making
her the half-sister of Larys Strong. But no one’s entirely sure where Alys came from.
Alys works with potions and books, so Daemon asks if she’s a maester – maesters make
medicine, and study, and give advice. Alys says there was a maester here, but he ran away in
the night. Maybe Alys scared off the maester, with spooky dreams. In the books, some maesters
hate magic – we see conflict between science and magic, like with Maester Cressen and Melisandre.
It seems that at Harrenhal, magic is strong. Cause when Harrenhal was built, “Black” Harren
Hoare cut down some weirwood trees. Heart trees, which are the trees with faces on them, sacred to
the old gods. Weirwood trees contain the spirits of the dead. In the books, the old gods seem to
be a hive mind of the souls of dead children of the forest, humans and nature. And these spirits
can give people dreams. Greenseers like Bloodraven the three-eyed crow can enter peoples’ dreams and
communicate with them. He gives dreams to Bran, and possibly to Jon Snow. Maybe Alys is also a
greenseer, and she’s giving Daemon these dreams. House Strong are of the First Men, the oldest
humans in Westeros, who are connected to the old gods, and Harrenhal is next to the Isle of Faces,
the centre of weirwood power in the south – so it makes sense that Alys could have this magic.
Alys jokes that she’s not a woman, she’s a “barn owl. Cursed to live in human form”. It’s
funny that Alys is possibly a powerful sorcerer, but she acts super casual and relaxed. While
Daemon acts like a powerful dangerous prince, but we know he’s really insecure. Daemon and Alys
are opposites, so she’s a perfect character to penetrate and explore Daemon’s feelings.
But the owl joke might have truth to it. Cause greenseers are also skinchangers, who can
control animals, like how Bran controls ravens and wolves and.. Hodor. In Game of Thrones, we see
a wildling who skinchanges an owl. So it’s totally possible that Alys can magically control owls,
to spy with them. Her joke could be kinda true. Alys says that Daemon’s bed at Harrenhal is made
of weirwood. In the books, sleeping on weirwood can give you crazy dreams – it happens to Jaime
Lannister when he sleeps on a weirwood stump. And Sweetrobin Arryn sits a throne of weirwood, and
some fans think he has magic dreams. So it makes sense that if Daemon sleeps on a weirwood
bed, he could have some mystical dreams. Alys also gives Daemon drugs. She makes
this.. potion, that’s got.. red stuff in it. In the books, Bran eats a white and
red paste of weirwood seeds. And it gives him crazy magic visions. There’s a theory that
this paste contains the corpse of Jojen Reed. So maybe Alys gives Daemon the same thing, to give
him visions. Who did she kill and make into paste? It's funny that Daemon drinks this mysterious
potion from this witch when last episode, he refused to eat peas in case they were
poisoned. He is a suspicious man but he won’t say no to free drugs from a goth girl he just met.
The potion makes Daemon black out, skip time and lose memories. So Daemon is super high during
an important meeting with Ser Willem Blackwood. We saw Willem in Season 1 – he was the young
boy who killed a Bracken in front of Rhaenyra. Now he’s all grown up, and is leading House
Blackwood. Cause last episode, Lord Samwell Blackwood was killed at the Battle of the Burning
Mill. Samwell’s heir is Benjicott Blackwood, but Benjicot is too young, so for now his uncle Willem
leads the Blackwoods. And Willem still hates House Bracken. So he says the Blackwood army will
join Daemon if Daemon and his dragon attack the Brackens. But Daemon is not listening because
he has a vision of his ex-wife Laena Velaryon. Last season, Daemon married Laena and had
two daughters, Baela and Rhaena. They lived together in Pentos, until Laena suffered birth
complications and killed herself with her dragon Vhagar. Daemon was not a great husband to Laena
– he refused to go back to Westeros with her, he didn’t communicate well, he ignored their
daughter Rhaea, their relationship suffered. So Daemon’s vision of Laena is another reminder
of Daemon’s failures. Showrunner Ryan Condal says Laena Aemond and Rhaenyra are sins of
Dameon’s past that he must face and atone for. Daemon is on a deep psychological journey, facing
his demons, which is great, but he’d better be quick about it because there’s a war happening.
His wife and queen Rhaenyra needs him, and is angry that Daemon’s not replying to her texts.
At Harrenhal, we see a black goat, which writer Sara Hess described as a “haunted” goat.
A hundred and seventy years from now, in the Game of Thrones books, Harrenhal is held
by Vargo Hoat, nicknamed “the goat”, who has a black goat as his sigil. This represents a god
called the Black Goat of Qohor, a god of death who demands blood sacrifice. Last episode, Alys said
Daemon would die here, so this black goat of death could be a dark omen. Vargo is brutally killed at
Harrenhal, so maybe this goat is some kind of time travelling goat-ghost. Or maybe it’s just a goat.
We also see some dogs. Dogs are the sigil of House Clegane, and in the Game of Thrones books,
Gregor Clegane holds Harrenhal before he dies horribly. So these animals represent victims of
Harrenhal’s curse. Will Daemon be its next victim? On Driftmark, Rhaenys Targaryen meets Alyn.
Alyn is the sailor who saved Corlys’ life on the Stepstones. And we learn that Alyn is
Corlys’ bastard son – Corlys cheated on Rhaenys with another woman. In Westeros, it is common for
married lords to have bastard kids with mistresses and sex workers. And the books explore how that
sucks for the men’s wives. In Game of Thrones, we see Catelyn’s pain over Jon Snow, who is
supposedly the bastard son of her husband Ned Stark. Catelyn is sometimes cruel to Jon,
excluding him from the family, hating this walking breathing symbol of her husband’s infidelity.
Si Alyn seems afraid of Rhaenys – this angry dragonriding princess could mess him
up. But Rhaenys doesn’t blame Alyn, it’s not his fault he was born. Rhaenys is angry
at Corlys. But Corlys acts defensive, he doesn’t acknowledge Rhaenys’ feelings, so Rhaenys drops
the subject. Once again, Corlys puts his own desires ahead of Rhaenys. Like when he married
Laenor to Rhaenyra against Rhaenys’ wishes, like when he abandoned Rhaenys for years to fight
his war. Rhaenys’ actor Eve Best says Rhaenys feels she’s “losing Corlys”, and that the “steady
rock of their marriage is shaking”. Tragically, this painful scene is the last conversation we see
between Corlys and Rhaenys before Rhaenys dies. On Dragonstone, the black council is a mess.
Cause their Queen Rhaenyra is gone to King’s Landing and is not communicating. And the king
consort Daemon is gone to Harrenhal and is not communicating. The council has no leader. While
the Criston’s enemy army is rampaging through the crownlands nearby. These lords, Gormon
Massey and Bartimos Celtigar are from the crownlands – their castles could be attacked next.
Gormon Massey compares the complex politics of the riverlands to a Lyseni orgy – Lys is an
eastern city famous for its sex workers and slaves. Last season, we heard that Johanna Swann
was kidnapped and sold to an eastern brothel. In the books, Johanna eventually becomes a famous
courtesan and practically the ruler of Lys. She’s probably hosting a Lyseni orgy right now.
Baela asks her grandparents Rhaenys and Corlys to come help, but they still can’t
do much without their queen. Rhaenyra really should’ve left someone in charge,
or left instructions while she was gone. But finally, Rhaenyra returns. And she
reveals that she was secretly meeting with the enemy queen, Alicent. Her son Jace
is outraged that Rhaenyra risked her life. But Rhaenyra says she had a responsibility
to try to make peace. Now that peace failed, she accepts she must fight for the Throne, or die.
She learns that Criston has taken Rosby, Stokeworth and now Duskendale. Rhaenyra’s
Kingsguard Steffon Darklyn is from Duskendale. He’s distraught to hear that
his father Lord Gunthor Darklyn was killed. Now Criston is marching to attack Rook’s Rest, a
small castle near Dragonstone. So Rhaenyra decides to send a dragon to burn his army. She says she’ll
go on her dragon Syrax, but Rhaenyra is the queen, she shouldn’t risk her life or they could
lose everything. Jace says he’ll go, but Rhaenyra won’t let him. Jace’s dragon Vermax
is relatively small and weak. Rhaenyra doesn’t want Jace to get killed like how her son Luke
was killed. So Jace is frustrated. He glowers and fondles his sword, just like Daemon
does. Jace imitates his awful step-dad. Earlier, Jace was about to send
dragons without Rhaenyra’s approval. Will Jace disobey Rhaenyra, like Daemon does?
In the end, Rhaenys says she’ll fight for Rook’s Rest on her dragon Meleys. Because Meleys is
Rhaenyra’s “largest dragon” in Hot D. Caraxes is her second biggest dragon. Followed by Syrax then
Vermax and Moondancer. The dragons Vermithor and Silverwing are bigger than Meleys, but they don’t
have riders. And Vhagar is bigger than them all, Aemond’s dragon is the deadliest being alive.
But Meleys is strong and fast, and Rhaenys is an experienced rider. Rhaenys says Meleys has been in
battle before. Which is odd, cause the books don’t mention Meleys fighting any battles. The last
seventy years have been mostly peaceful under King Jaehaerys and Viserys. But Rhaenys’ husband Corlys
fought in the Stepstones for years. In Hot D, their son Laenor joined the war on his dragon
Seasmoke. So maybe Rhaenys and Meleys also fought in the Stepstones, off-screen. In the books, forty
years ago, Rhaenys’ father Aemon did fighting pirates on Tarth. The home of Brienne. Maybe in
Hot D, Rhaenys and Meleys fought there as well. The actor Eve Best says Rhaenys is the most
capable and experienced and responsible dragonrider. Unlike young Jace and Baela and
Rhaenyra, Rhaenys knows the horror of war, and will use dragonfire with restraint,
causing minimal bloodshed. Maybe Rhaenys should’ve used restraint when she killed all
those civilians in the Dragonpit last season. Eve says Rhaenys doesn’t like Rhaenyra. Rhaenys
has always felt bitter that Rhaenyra gets to be queen, while Rhaenys was rejected from the throne
years ago. Rhaenys still suspects that Rhaenyra was involved in the death of her son Laenor. They
have heaps of unresolved tension. But Rhaenys doesn’t want to see another worthy woman denied
the Throne because of her sex. So Rhaenys puts aside their differences and fights for Rhaenyra.
Rhaenys is called the Queen Who Never Was, because she almost got the Throne. A tiara is almost a
crown. So maybe this tiara symbolises the power Rhaenys almost had. The tiara has antlers on it.
Because Rhaenys’ mother Jocelyn was a Baratheon, and their sigil is a stag. In the books, Rhaenys
has black hair, because the seed is strong, children of Baratheons tend to have black
hair. So Rhaenys flies off to Rook’s Rest. Rhaenyra tells Jace about Aegon the Conqueror’s
dream. Aegon dreamed that darkness from the north will threaten the world of men – which sounds
like the white walkers. To save the world, the Targaryens must unite the realm with the
“prince that was promised”. In the books, it seems like Jon Snow or Daenerys might be
this prophesied saviour – though in Game of Thrones it’s Arya who kills the white walkers.
Rhaenyra says this mystical destiny justifies their war. Like it’s okay to kill lots of
people with dragons, because hundreds of years from now we’ll save the world. Is that a
good belief? The books question prophecy. Like, Rhaegar Targaryen thought he was the chosen
one, and that led to a terrible war and got Rhaegar killed. Stannis Baratheon thinks he’s
the chosen one, and he does evil things like burning people alive. So we should be sceptical
of Aegon’s dream. Later, we see Criston use the religion of the Seven to justify war. Both sides
use mystical ideology to justify mass destruction. In King’s Landing, Alicent has this model
of a dragon. In Season 1, this model broke, so Alicent had it fixed. It was a symbol that
Alicent might hold the Targaryen family together. That’s part of why Viserys decided to marry
Alicent. But now, Alicent drops the dragon model, and it breaks again – House Targaryen is split
in two, as though Alicent broke this family. Alicent has been having secret sex with
Criston Cole. She doesn’t want to get pregnant, so she drinks moon tea. Moon tea prevents or
aborts pregnancy. It’s based on real-world abortifacients, with ingredients like pennyroyal
and tansy, which were used historically, and today. <Moon tea can be dangerous. In
the books, a young Lysa Tully got pregnant from Littlefinger, and moon tea almost
killed her. It has to be brewed correctly, so Alicent gets hers from Grand Maester Orwyle.
Last season, Rhaenyra drank moon tea, cause Rhaenyra also had secret sex with Criston.
That’s part of what destroyed Alicent and Rhaenyra’s friendship, Alicent was outraged
that Rhaenyra broke the rules and lied about it. So it’s ironic and hypocritical that
Alicent also has secret sex with Criston and also drinks moon tea. The rules and the
truth don’t seem to matter like they used to. Cause Alicent’s family is at war, her grandson
was murdered in her home. And last episode, Rhaenyra revealed that Alicent was wrong about
Viserys’ last words. Viserys didn’t want their son Aegon to be king. Viserys’ last words
were actually about Aegon the Conqueror’s dream. So now, Alicent reads history books.
Trying to find evidence of Aegon’s dream, to confirm that Rhaenyra was telling the truth.
In the books, Rhaegar Targaryen finds some old scrolls that convince him to be a warrior, which
seem to be connected to the prophecy of the prince that was promised. So there are scrolls about
the prophecy somewhere. Will Alicent find them? Alicent asks Orwyle what he thinks Viserys wanted.
Did Viserys want Aegon or Rhaenyra on the Throne? Orwyle was on Viserys’ council for years, he must
have some idea of Viserys’ wishes. But Orwyle says he doesn’t know. It would be dangerous
for Orwyle to question King Aegon – Orwyle saw what happened to Lyman Beesbury when he
spoke for Rhaenyra. So Orwyle stays neutral. Alicent needs a friend and an ally, now that Otto
and Criston and Talya are gone. She’s so isolated. Criston Cole battles through the crownlands. He
forced House Rosby and House Stokeworth to join his army. And then he takes Duskendale.
Duskendale is a port town ruled by House Darklyn. Many years later, the Mad King Aerys
Targaryen is kidnapped by the Darklyns. Barristan Selmy heroically rescues the Mad King from
Duskendale. Then the Mad King kills every Darklyn. And kills every Hollard, except for
Dontos Hollard, who later helps Sansa Stark. Criston defeats the Darklyns, and forces them to
join his army. Criston calls Rhaenyra a “Whore”, because she had sex with Harwin, and with
Criston before she rejected him. Criston weaponises a sexist narrative to justify his war.
He also says the gods of the Seven bless their army with divine purpose. Criston’s horse has
the sacred star of the Seven upon it. He uses the appearance of religious virtue, though we know
Criston’s murderer who breaks religious rules. Like Alicent, he wears a “cloak of righteousness”.
Lord Gunthor Darklyn calls Criston “Kingmaker”. In the books, Criston is remembered as
the man who crowned Aegon and caused this war. Though in Hot D, characters like Otto
are more responsible for Aegon being king. One of themes of the books is how historical
memory is different from the actual events. Darklyn says that Criston’s death will come.
Like how Alys predicted Daemon’s death. Criston kills Darklyn, takes his men,
and marches to Rook’s Rest. Criston and Aemond plan to use Rook’s Rest as a trap –
they want to lure Rhaenyra’s dragons there, and ambush them with Aemond’s dragon Vhagar.
King Aegon doesn’t know about this plan, so he’s furious. He doesn’t want Rook’s Rest,
he wants Criston to take Harrenhal back from Daemon. But the Lord of Harrenhal, Larys Strong,
says it’s fine. He says Harrenhal will drive Daemon mad. Does Larys know about the Harrenhal
curse, about the weirwood dreams and Alys Rivers? Alys and Larys may be half-siblings. Maybe
Larys asked Alys to drive Daemon crazy. King Aegon is angry that he’s not
included in Aemond and Criston’s plans. Just like Alicent was angry when
Otto and the council plotted without her. But Aemond enjoys tormenting Aegon. Aegon
had humiliated Aemond at the brothel last episode. So now Aemond humiliates Aegon.
He speaks in the Valyrian language, showing off his mastery of their ancestral tongue.
He criticises Aegon for putting his dumb friends on the Kingsguard – we see Leon fidgeting, and
Martyn staring at the ceiling. And Aemond doesn’t say the Kingsguard is Aegon’s, he says
“our Kingsguard”, as though Aemond is just as much a king as Aegon is.
Aegon tries to reply in Valyrian, but he doesn’t know the language well enough.
So despite Aegon’s symbols of legitimacy like the Conqueror’s armour and crown, Aegon is
incompetent, an unworthy king. And he knows it. The greens struggle to get enough
food to feed their dragons – Vhagar, Sunfyre and Dreamfyre are at King’s Landing. And
since the Velaryons are blockading the Gullet, the greens can’t get supplies by sea. In Game
of Thrones, feeding dragons is a big problem for Daenerys. Her dragons start eating children.
Tyland mentions the blacksmiths. Previously, Aegon promised money to help blacksmiths like Hugh. But
Aegon forgets his promise, gets bored and leaves. The council is left without a king and without
a queen. Just like the black council don’t have a king or a queen for a while. Both sides are
heading for war and they don’t have clear leaders. Alicent feels terrible while the moon tea does
its work. She’s frustrated that her body is stopping her from joining the council meeting.
Just like Rhaenyra was frustrated when her body giving birth kept her out of politics. Queen
Rhaenyra and Queen Alicent face many of the same challenges, but they’re stuck on opposite sides.
Larys sees Alicent’s pot of moon tea, which she foolishly left out, so Larys knows she’s having
forbidden sex, which is dangerous secret. Larys says that we must indulge our appetites. What
are Larys’ appetites, what does he want? Last season he masturbated over Alicent’s feet. And he
seemed to enjoy cutting out peoples’ tongues. What other horrors does Larys do for fun?
Larys asks how Alicent feels about Criston, and asks if she doubts if Viserys wanted Aegon to
be king. He knows Alicent’s deepest insecurities, and probes them to manipulate her.
Alicent says Viserys’ wishes no longer matter. The truth no longer matters. Cause this
war is happening, “many will die”, and the winner will rule. Previously, Alicent stood up for truth
– like the truth that Rhaenyra had bastards with Harwin. But now she feels she’s also in the wrong,
and she spirals into nihilism and helplessness. Aegon complains to Alicent that no one listens to
him. Aegon feels insecure that he’s not a worthy king. So he asks his mother what he should do.
And Alicent basically says Aegon’s useless. That he should shut up and listen and do “nothing”.
Alicent is not wrong. Aegon should listen and learn. Maybe Alicent and Otto should have
actually taught Aegon more. Alicent is also frustrated that no one listens to her. So
you’d think Alicent would sympathise with Aegon. But Alicent is so shaken by Rhaenyra’s
revelation and Jaehaerys’ death, and the moon tea. And Alicent has been disgusted with Aegon
ever since he raped Dyana. So Alicent is harsh to her son. When he’s at his most vulnerable,
she gives him contempt. And this rejection from Aegon’s only parent leads him to go and get
burned at Rook’s Rest. Will Alicent feel guilty? Aegon smashes a wine jug that has a golden
dragon on it – foreshadowing the defeat of his golden dragon, Sunfyre. This episode,
we also see that dragon model smashed, and we see a dragon skull – lots of symbols
of dead dragons for Meleys and Sunfyre. Aegon mounts his dragon Sunfyre, who has
shining opalescent scales. The books say Sunfyre is the most beautiful magnificent dragon
ever. And Aegon drunk drives his dragon to Rook’s Rest to try and prove that he’s not useless.
Criston and his army attack Rook’s Rest. The army includes Rosbys, Stokeworths, Darklyns
and Hightowers. They build battering rams and shields to protect them, as the Stauntons of
Rook’s Rest shoot arrows. We see Lord Simon Staunton leading his men – he left Rhaenyra’s
council last episode, to defend his castle. In the book, Criston besieges Rook’s Rest for nine
days. Criston burns villages and kills civilians to force the blacks to come save Rook’s Rest.
In Hot D, the ground battle barely gets started before Rhaenys arrives on Meleys.
She burns hundreds of men – soldiers seem helpless in the face of dragonfire.
But Criston springs his trap. Aemond and Vhagar are hiding nearby, ready to kill Rhaenyra’s
dragons. But then Aegon shows up on Sunfyre – this is not part of the plan. And Criston is terrified
that his king is in danger. But Aemond sees an opportunity. Aemond wants Aegon to die so that
Aemond can take Aegon’s Throne. So Aemond waits and lets Aegon face Meleys alone. Meleys is an
older bigger dragon than Sunfyre, and Rhaenys is a more experienced dragon rider than Aegon.
Meleys and Sunfyre spit fire at each other, and Meleys wounds Sunfyre with her claws.
When Aemond and Vhagar join the fight, Aegon thinks his brother Aemond will save
him. But Aemond and Vhagar burn Sunfyre. Aegon and Sunfyre crash to the earth –
Aemond betrayed his brother and king. The books say that dragons are mostly immune
to fire, but not entirely. Younger dragons, like Sunfyre, are more vulnerable. And
older dragons like Vhagar have hotter, deadlier flame. So it makes sense that Sunfyre is
hurt by Vhagar’s flame. But the main way dragons fight is with their claws, teeth and tails –
their claws are razor sharp and long as swords, their jaws can crunch through armour,
and their tails can knock men flying. Rhaenys gets pretty close to dragonflame.
Can Targaryens be burned? In Game of Thrones, Daenerys seems to be immune to fire. But, in the
books, no one is immune to fire. Book Daenerys gets burned. Jon Snow gets burned. Targaryens
are more heat resistant than normal people, but they can be killed by fire. And that seem
to be true in Hot D as well. We saw Daemon get burned by fire and he still has the scar. So it
looks like Targaryens can be burned in Hot D. Rhaenys faces Vhagar. Vhagar is bigger and
stronger than Meleys. Rhaenys knows Vhagar will probably kill her. The actor Eve Best says
this is “a suicide mission”. But Rhaenys wants to finish this fight. In Season 1, Rhaenys could have
killed Aemond and Aegon and Alicent and but she chose not to. And maybe that was a mistake, cause
peace failed and led to this war. Aemond killed Rhaenys’ ostensible grandson Luke, and Aemond took
Vhagar, who was the dragon of Rhaenys’ daughter Laena. Previously, Vhagar was ridden by Rhaenys’
uncle Baelon, and Meleys was ridden by Baelon’s wife Alyssa. These dragons are like family, so
it’s tragic to turn them against each other. But if Rhaenys can kill Vhagar, the greens will lose
their biggest military asset, this could end the war. So Rhaenys takes the risk and fights Vhagar.
Eve Best points out that unlike Aegon and Aemond, Rhaenys doesn’t say dracarys, meaning fire,
because Rhaenys is not trying to cause maximum destruction or collateral damage. She just
tells Meleys to attack Aemond and Vhagar. Vhagar is bigger, but Meleys is faster, and
Rhaenys has sick moves. Rhaenys attaches a belt to hold her in her saddle, and then flies Meleys
upside down to attack Vhagar with her claws. This was inspired by real-world birds of prey who
turn upside down and lock together in a death spiral, like a deadly dance of dragons.
Meleys and Vhagar crash to the ground, and the impact knocks men off their feet –
the director compared this to a nuclear blast. Dragon war is uniquely destructive – the war
has crosses a line into apocalyptic devastation. Rhaenys has another opportunity to run away, but
again she turns back, and Vhagar kills Meleys. When Rhaenys sees Meleys die, the fight goes out
of her. Dragons and their riders have a magical bond. It’s like Rhaenys’ soul is killed before
her. Rhaenys lets go and falls to her death. Eve Best says that after all Rhaenys’ grief, the
loss of her son Laenor and her daughter Laena, and the tension with her husband Corlys,
her death almost feels like a relief. It’s tragic that Rhaenys was almost a ruling
queen, but died for Queen Rhaenyra instead. Tragic that she dies not knowing the truth about her son
Laenor. But Rhaenys was a Targaryen dragonrider, with fire in her blood. The book says she “lived
fearlessly, and died amidst blood and fire”. Aemond enjoys his victory. Until now, Aemond
only acted like a bad guy. Aemond pretended that he killed Luke deliberately, but when
that was actually an accident. But now Aemond has betrayed his brother Aegon, and killed his
cousin Rhaenys. Now Aemond truly is the monster people thought he was, he is now a
kinslayer, a traitor and a killer. Criston sees the aftermath of dragonfire –
ash and bone. This destruction is exactly what Rhaenyra and Alicent and Rhaenys hoped to
avoid. This is why Rhaenyra delayed and delayed for five episodes. But the war still happened.
Criston feels powerless against dragons. What is his value now? How many more will burn?
Criston finds Aegon and Sunfyre badly hurt. We don’t yet know if they’ll live or die.
Aemond approaches with his sword out – as though to finish off his brother Aegon, and
become king. But he stops when Criston sees. The fall of Aegon is another failure by Criston.
Criston’s plan got the king and his dragon badly hurt. When Criston is the leader of the
Kingsguard. He failed to guard the king, just as he failed to guard Prince Jaehaerys, just
he failed to guard Aemond when Aemond lost his eye. This episode, Gwayne asks if Criston
has grown tired of living. Last season, Criston almost killed himself out of
guilt and stress. How will he handle this new failure and the trauma of this battle?
For thirteen episodes the Targaryen family gradually broke apart. And this horrific
devastation is the result. Rhaenyra and Alicent don’t want this war. But the blacks and
greens are locked in a spiral of destruction that could consume the realm. In the books,
this war is called the Dance of the Dragons. I’m locked in a spiral of destruction with
my ancient rival Alt Schwift X. Alt Schwift X and Glidus made 36 hours of videos about
House of the Dragon, that you can watch now at nebula.tv/AltSchwiftX. They also made a
twenty-two hour long video about Jon Snow, and they’re making more weekly videos about Hot D
Season 2. These videos are also available as audio on podcast apps, using the Nebula RSS feed.
Nebula is an independent video site owned by creators, where we can make ambitious projects
without worrying about demonetisation or The Algorithm. Nebula has exclusive Originals from
creators like Isaac Arthur, Lindsay Ellis, Tale Foundry, and Abigail Thorn, who is in House
of the Dragon Season 2. You can watch her play, The Prince on Nebula. As well as 58 hours of
Schwift and Glidus dragon talk. Nebula is a much better business model for creators
than YouTube ads. So to support Alt Shift X and Alt Schwift X and Glidus, sign
up to Nebula at nebula.tv/AltShiftX. Or /AltSchwiftX. If you wear an
eyepatch. Using the links you can get an annual plan for just 30 bucks. It’s
a great way to support Alt Shift X. Thanks. Thanks to the Patrons, including
Cecilia Rose Qu'in, Jake, Alexa K, Tackett Coffman, Elusivetoast,
avocadoeclipse, and JIGGYG123. Cheers.
