Summary
House of the Dragon loses some focus and ping-pongs between perspectives in a way that can feel disorienting. But at least we can put a theory to bed, and there’s plenty of setup for future payoffs.
It wouldn’t be accurate to say that House of the Dragon Season 3 slows down in Episode 4, but it definitely feels like less of significance happens in it than usual. Then again, that probably depends on how you define significance. A lot of the stuff here will be very important down the line; it’s just that this hour doesn’t make it totally clear in what way, or to what extent, and there’s such a dizzyingly constant shifting of perspectives that it can be difficult to keep up with everything that’s going on.
Still, at least we can put a theory or two to bed, even if there are still plenty of things we don’t know. Let’s break down what we do.
And The Theories Were Correct
This hour begins by confirming what many had already suspected — that Daeron, son of Alicent and Viserys, is the dark-haired squire of Lord Ormund Hightower. It doesn’t, however, give us much of a sense of him yet. He’s mostly just a proxy for Ormund, a laughably arrogant wannabe historian who thinks himself far above his station. This is later confirmed by Alicent, who also reveals that he has a peculiar sensitivity to odours, which is a pretty funny quality for a guy like him to have.
His touchy nose doesn’t solve the immediate problem that the Hightower host has forcibly moved into Tumbleton, though. It’s a peaceful enough takeover, but it comes with an implicit threat. Rhaenyra can’t quite understand it, since Tumbleton isn’t defensible and has no real tactical utility. But she can’t forcibly displace the Hightowers without upsetting the smallfolk she’s now a champion of, so she’s kind of stuck, especially with a limited small council and plenty of problems of her own to be dealing with in King’s Landing.
As with any hostile occupation, it takes roughly five minutes for the soldiers to start abusing their station. One of Ormund’s men, Garrick, tries to force himself on a local, so Ormund orders him to be gelded and his arm broken as recompense, which is fair enough, but is mostly posturing. He later forces Daeron to execute the guy who justifiably attacked Garrick to teach a bizarre lesson about kingly duty. This is because, of course, Ormund is trying to install Daeron, with the backing of his feisty dragon, on the Iron Throne.
The Hand of the Queen
On the subject of Rhaenyra’s small council, it’s also missing a Hand. After upsetting Corlys by refusing to legitimise Alyn, he has decided that he’d be more useful to the crown elsewhere. In his stead, he promotes Alyn to speak on his behalf, which is a risky play since he isn’t exactly schooled in the particulars of court. However, if Rhaenyra won’t elevate him as a Velaryon, he may as well make himself useful in other ways.
As it happens, Alyn and Rhaenyra get on quite well, since both have a fair amount of experience in maddening fathers, although it surprises me that Rhaenyra needed sage wisdom to figure out that cats might get rid of her rat problem. She also promotes Torrhen Manderly as Master of Coin, mostly so the smallfolk have someone to blame when they learn that the treasury is empty.
Needless to say, the early portion of this reign isn’t going especially well.
Dead Dragons
The dragon is the quintessential image of A Song of Ice and Fire, a towering, imposing monstrosity that belches fire and smoke and razes entire cities and navies as if it’s no big deal. There’s something a bit eerie and uncanny about seeing dead ones, but Aegon and Larys seem to run into them every five minutes. First, it’s Aegon’s rotting mount, Sunfyre, which has now become a bit of a local attraction for ruffians who are charging a penny to touch the decaying lizard. Larys has to pay twice, since in his grief, Aegon uses two hands — he also refuses to leave the dragon’s side and insists she’s alive, almost giving his identity away.
Next, it’s Meleys, the Red Queen, or at least I’m pretty sure it is; it’s pretty difficult to tell since the corpse has crashed through a wall. Here, again, Aegon’s a nightmare, costing Larys all of his coin because he refuses to play nice and clean out the latrines to maintain his cover. He’s still clinging to the idea that he’s a king, and that every garrison in the land should bend the knee at his very presence. Pretty soon, he’s kissing the feet of a thug to save his own skin.
The Witch of Harrenhal
For the first time since Aemond arrived there, House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 4 checks in on Harrenhal. Ser Criston Cole’s host arrives to find the place empty aside from, of course, Alys Rivers, who is still functioning as a creepy steward but claims that Aemond has fled the place and taken Vhagar with him. That kind of puts a damper on Criston’s planned reunion, so he instead decides to wander off and harry the rivermen instead.
What this means for our purposes is that we still have no idea what’s going on with Aemond. Alys is solidifying her power rather quietly, but it’s obvious that she’s going to become much more important as the season progresses.
Daemon’s Deception
Meanwhile, Daemon travels to the Eyrie to petition Lady Jeyne Arryn for some cash. As he’s departing with the swag, though, Caraxes develops a mind of his own and rushes over to a nearby cave, where it turns out Rhaena is hiding with Sheepstealer. Daemon, putting two and two together about Jace’s death in the Battle of the Gullet, tries to give her some sage wisdom, but she’s adamant about remaining on the run and not abandoning her dragon, however feral he might be.
This leaves Daemon in a bit of a predicament. His response is to lop off the unrecognisably disfigured head of some randomer and present it to Rhaenyra as the queen’s justice, pretending to have executed the rider and left Sheepstealer to its own wild devices. Rhaenyra has questions, obviously. But Daemon isn’t interested in answering them, and she barely has time to ask more. Running a kingdom — let alone seven — turns out to be rather full-on work.
