At the start of this episode, we get close-ups of the Valyrian steel necklace that Daemon gave Rhaenyra in episode one (which also serves as her sigil in the show’s opening credits). As Rhaenyra listens to her would-be suitors, the audio on the episode is slightly muted — as if Rhaenyra is dissociating. A similar effect was used in episode three when Daemon received a letter from King Viserys and then beat up the messenger who delivered it.
Both Rhaenyra and Daemon emerged feeling victorious at the end of their fights with the Crabfeeder and the wild boar. And now this episode brings them emotionally closer (albeit in a very damaging way). Rhaenyra is being hosted by a Baratheon lord in this scene, signaling that other lords in Westeros are putting their own resources and time into the quest to find the princess a future husband.
The halls are drafty, with yellowed leaves on the floor, perhaps letting us know that the prosperous time of summer is coming to an end in Westeros. Fall is upon the kingdom, and a restlessness seems to follow. In George R.
R. Martin’s “Fire and Blood,” there’s a single line about the vicious duel we see in this episode: “When Rhaenyra visited the Trident in 112 A. C.
, the sons of Lord Bracken and Lord Blackwood fought a duel over her. ” In the books, Lord Bracken (the older guy dressed in yellow in this scene) wins the duel. But “House of the Dragon” seems to have taken liberties with rearranging the story, making it so the younger Blackwood is the victor.
This scene also serves as a reminder of the loss of innocence among young men in the realm, who are pushed towards violence while the younger women are pushed towards sex and reproduction. Right before the camera cuts away, you can see that young Blackwood is about to puke after brutally stabbing his hot-headed nemesis. In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, you can see that Rhaenyra seems to have eaten the top lemon slice off of multiple cakes.
Perhaps there’s some symbolism in the fact that the princess goes straight for the tart fruit itself, instead of taking the whole cake. In “Game of Thrones,” lemon cakes were known as Sansa Stark’s favorite treat , further connecting little details in “House of the Dragon” to its HBO predecessor. In episode three, Alicent seemed very far along in her third trimester.
Now “House of the Dragon” hopped forward a bit in time, so her second baby has been born already. Maegor the Cruel was the Targaryen king who ruled about 60 years before King Viserys. In his brief stint as king (which lasted about six years), Maegor enlisted a bunch of builders and stone masons to create hidden passageways and rooms throughout a holdfast inside the walls of the castle grounds.
Known as Maegor’s Holdfast, this structure is where all the royal bedrooms are. You might remember it from the notable “Game of Thrones” battle episode in season two, “Battle of Blackwater,” because Cersei and Sansa and the rest of the royal family were instructed to stay in Maegor’s Holdfast. As explained in “Fire and Blood,” Maegor threw a big feast for all the people who worked on building the holdfast — and then he killed every last person.
That way only Maegor and his confidants would know the secret tunnel passages and hidden rooms. Daemon has been compared to Maegor already in “House of the Dragon,” and this revelation of a secret staircase in Rhaenyra’s room is one more connection the prince has to the former king. More accurately, Mysaria is a “mistress” of whispers in King’s Landing now.
She employs children (or “little birds”) to spy on the royal family and other goings on in Flea Bottom, deploying information back to Otto Hightower. Kingsguard are sworn for life and prohibited from owning land or taking a wife or fathering children. This means sex is off the table, too.
Rhaenyra has to coerce Criston into coming inside her room, and then also seems to kiss him totally against his will. But once his white cloak is removed, and he seems to have a moment to think about it, Criston willingly goes to bed with the princess he is sworn to protect. So far the godswood has been the location for important emotionally charged conversations between Rhaenyra and Alicent.
In episode one, both girls were 14 years old and dressed in more modest, simple dresses. But in the episode four confrontation, Alicent seems much more committed to her role of queen and all the station and visual status that comes with it. She’s wearing Targaryen red, with flowing sleeves that echo her blue dress in episode one while seeming more mature and embellished given her new status.
Rhaenyra, on the other hand, seems dressed in a way that closely matches her episode one dress. She’s not there to make a show of importance — instead, Rhaenyra seems to be trying to reclaim some of the innocence and closeness that she shared with Alicent when they were younger. Both girls are about 18 years old in this point of the story.
Read our breakdown here of how old the characters are in “House of the Dragon,” and how old the actors are who play them. It’s also worth noting for this episode that the actors who play the younger versions of Rhaenyra and Alicent (Milly Alcock and Emily Carey, respectively) previously told Insider that they’re characters are “a little bit in love,” and that they talked with director Clare Kilner about that underlying drive to their relationship. The Targaryen dynasty ultimately owes its existence to a young girl, even if she’s not mentioned as often as Aenar.
The Doom of Valyria, often called the Doom, was a cataclysmic event that destroyed the prosperous city filled with dragons and dragonlords. Valyria was home to the original Targaryen and Velaryon families (which is why people from both of these Houses frequently discuss the importance of their bloodline). They are the only two families who survived the Doom of Valyria, and credit for that goes to a young girl named Daenys.
Twelve years before the catastrophe, Daenys had a prophetic dream about Valyria’s destruction. Her father, Aenar (the man Viserys mentions in this episode), agreed to move House Targaryen across the Narrow Sea. Daenys was known as “Daenys the Dreamer,” and cemented a belief in Targaryens that their dreams could be real, prophesied events of the future.
That’s why it’s notable that the Valyrian steel dagger that has the inscription of the “Song of Ice and Fire” prophecy once belonged to Aenar Targaryen. Though they don’t name it, the scene between Rhaenyra and the Grand Maester makes it clear that he has brewed her a batch of moon tea. The drink is used around Westeros, most frequently in brothels, to prevent pregnancy or abort an early stage pregnancy in women who have had sex recently.
So it’s basically like taking Plan B ( which prevents pregnancy from occurring ) or an actual abortifacient drug. If the maester is telling the truth and Viserys was the one who asked for moon tea, then it means the king doesn’t fully trust his daughter’s word about her sexual exploits. Or maybe Alicent had it sent, which would mean that she also doesn’t fully Rhaenyra.
Fans will have to wait until next week to see the outcome of this salacious series of deceptions. “House of the Dragon” airs Sundays on HBO at 9 p. m.
ET. For more of Insider’s coverage, read our interview with Milly Alcock and Emily Carey here. .
From: insider
URL: https://www.insider.com/house-of-the-dragon-season-1-episode-4-recap-hbo-2022-9
