REVIEW: House of the Dragon S02 EP02 the consequences of a poorly planned act

The first episode of the second season of The House of the Dragon (House of the Dragon) had a good debut, without rushing anything and willing to give due attention to the protagonists and horrors that are to come. 

Warning: This text contains SPOILERS for the second episode of The House of the Dragon (House of the Dragon), starting NOW.

Now the second, so far the longest, at 72 minutes and titled Rhaenyra the Cruel, picks up the story from the moment Blood and Cheese kill Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen and shows how the consequences will unfold in a huge domino effect on both sides: Green and Black. 

Rhaenyra the Cruel

Even if in small steps, we are heading towards what will become the famous Dance of the Dragons. While Daemon (Matt Smith) acted on impulse and managed to make everything worse, both sides are outraged by the death of an innocent child - but the Green Council is unaware of Rhaenyra's (Emma D'Arcy) innocence in this and that's where the biggest problem lies. part of the dangers. 

The aftermath of the Blood & Cheese arc is better than the murder scene itself 

Naturally, King Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) is furious and extremely disturbed by the death of his son and until then heir. It's a genuine anger that spans the entire episode and has room to escalate into full-blown war. 

In fact, the Blood and Cheese scene that was supposed to honor the book and be as impactful and graphic as it was, ended up not having the desired effect. But its consequences managed to patch up the frustration and deliver something better with fury, discomfort and revenge.

Even though Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) tries to calm the impulses of his grandson and king, Aegon is convinced that his son's death was ordered by Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy), supposedly motivated by her claim to the throne. With this theory in mind, he is determined to kill her, whatever the cost.  

To begin his plan and spread Rhaenyra's supposed guilt throughout King's Landing, he plans a public funeral procession through the streets with his son's body cobbled together in the coffin, while Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and Helaena (Phia Saban) are sitting in the back of the cart. . This is a scene that arouses a lot of anxiety and claustrophobia, whether due to the people increasingly surrounding the cart, or due to the discomfort expressed in Helaena, who from the beginning did not want to make her grief so public.

To top it all off, after capturing one of the assassins, who confesses to having worked in partnership with a rat exterminator, as he didn't know for sure the name of his accomplice, King Aegon simply orders the hanging of all the exterminators in King's Landing. In other words, if with the funeral procession he had won the city's sympathy, now with this opposite movement, everything could change. 

Either way, it was an effective move. The news reaches Dragonstone and Rhaenyra learns of Prince Jaehaerys' death and that she is being blamed for what happened.

Rhaenyra confronts Daemon

Without hesitation, Rhaenyra confronted Daemon for the murder, as he was clearly involved in all of this. He tried to defend himself by saying that the target was Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and denies that he ordered the murder of children if they couldn't find him. But the queen doesn't believe it and continues one of the first heated fights of the season.

After Rhaenyra calls him pathetic and points out that Daemon was acting this way out of resentment for not being named successor to the throne, he flies Caraxes out of Dragonstone. Unfortunately, this is the only (almost) decent scene with a dragon. 

Aegon makes one of the worst decisions 

Otto Hightower was one of the most prominent characters in this episode, trying to act as the voice of conscience as his role in the kingdom requires. He points out that the public hanging of the rat exterminators was a reckless move and could lead to problems, in addition to making it clear that his father never wanted him on the throne. This was enough to reinforce Aegon's desire for revenge and bring his worst impulses to the surface. 

King Aegon fires Otto as his Hand and replaces him with Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), who has lately been bringing (horrible) ideas into action. The last one, which Aegon accepted, was to send Arryk Cargyll (Luke Tittensor) to Dragonstone, to pose as his twin brother Erryk (Elliott Tittensor), with the intention of killing Rhaenyra.

The brutal fight between the twins 

Almost at the end we are surprised by the climax of the second episode of the second season of The House of the Dragon (House of the Dragon). Following the orders of King Aegon, instructed by Criston Cole, Arryk embarks on a suicidal mission to try to impersonate his brother to gain access to Rhaenyra. 

This results in a brutal war between the twins in the queen's room (with her present, in fact, a detail that is not included in the book). It's a fight that doesn't compare to the standards of Game of Thrones, but it is entertaining because it is so electrifying and, at the same time, exciting because it involves two brothers who care about each other, who do not want to continue with the mission, but who need greater forces. 

Alicent's drama

So far it's been the most boring part of the second season. Alicent wants to tell her father Otto, and daughter Helaena, about her affair with Criston Cole. With everything that's been going on lately, honestly, this is the last thing anyone would want to hear or care about. But this changes at the end of the episode, since Criston has been named the new Hand of the King. It will be interesting to say the least when Aegon discovers this a. 

Characters and performances

Arguably the highlight of this time is Tom Glynn-Carney in the role of King Aegon. His performance is impeccable, his power to portray a grieving character is more than convincing and all his breakdowns were worth it, making up for the more tepid scenes in the past. 

Credit must also be given to Phia Saban who manages to convey Helaena's discomfort, especially her anxiety at being lost in her own grief and having to deal forcefully with foreign policies. While Tom gives vent to his anger, Phia comes to address the opposite in hers, showing introspection and anguish.

Olivia Cooke remains excellent at the beginning of the second season of House of Dragon, showing more than ever the human side of Alicent, who suffers for her daughter, her family and increasingly fears the future that is to come. It is the character's flaws that highlight her humanized role, dialogues and more delicate scenes. Emma D'Arcy too, as she manages to show very well the transition from Rhaenyra's mourning to the awakening of her rational and strategic side. 

On the other hand, Matt Smith's Daemon is lights out. He even featured prominently in the fight with Rhaenyra in one line or another, but in the end he put his tail between his legs and did what the queen ordered. It lacks a lot of the power that was presented to us in the first season. Furthermore, another character who is in the background is precisely his rival Aemond, who until now has only appeared on screen for reflections, whining and self-pity – things that don't suit him. Of course, it's great to have contact with the human side of the characters, but, in this case, going too long becomes monotonous and boring. 

Technical aspects and soundtrack

the second episode of The House of the Dragon (House of the Dragon), directed by Claire Kilner – who made three episodes in the first season – and written by Ryan Condal, calmly presents the beginning of the episode and grows with the camera work and soundtrack that follows the chaos increasing in the Red Keep.

All the technical and sound focus was conducted to show the different angles of grief and revenge, whether in the dialogues between the main characters, or even between those who had minor roles in the episode, such as Jace (Harry Collett) and Baela (Bethany Antonia ). The photography and music explore the extremes between reckless revenge and fearful retreat.

Conclusion

In this episode, the qualities are concentrated in the performances of Tom Glynn-Carney, Phia Saban and Rhys Ifans, in the dialogues that are finally being built into something bigger and the beginning of more interesting action scenes. On the other hand, we want to see more of Daemon who is very erased in the plot, as well as his potential Aemond who until then hides among women and all he knows how to do is whine. 

Where to watch

The first two episodes of the second season of The House of the Dragon (House of the Dragon) are available at Max. There will be eight episodes in total, each released every Sunday at 22pm. 

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Text proofread by: Pedro Bomfim