Friends!
Welcome to Week Two of House of the Dragon.
I have been so thrilled by the wonderful response to the show, and also to my recaps returning! So many readers have commented or messaged to say they feel like the band is getting back together - and not in a “Guns ‘n’ Roses without Slash” way, but in a “Spice Girls at the 2012 Olympics” way!
Queens Posh, Ginger, Baby, Sporty and Scary, First of their Names.
I try to be as comprehensive as I can in the recaps, but clearly it’s a big show, with lots happening, so I’m bound to leave some things out. And it’s not necessarily because I didn’t notice, just couldn’t find the right place to put them.
If this happens, I’m going to try to corral these thoughts for a sexy bit of extra content. “Sextras”, if you will.
So before we jump into Episode 2, a few sextras from Ep1:
The Wounds of King Viserys
Years ago I read that the point of having an Iron Throne constructed out of literal swords was that it was supposed to make whoever sat on it uncomfortable.
I can’t remember where I read that, but as a theory, it seems legit. If you’re going to be able to wield absolute power, the very least you could do would be to have a spike in your bottom as you do it.
Viserys seems to be particularly sensitive to cuts and scratches from the steel beast; we see him prick his thumb just after he sends his brother away for allegedly insulting his dead son.
It’s a contrast to Daemon - admittedly we only saw him sitting on the Throne briefly when he sneaked back into the Red Keep, but he seemed to be able to move around it without giving himself an ouchy.
The big question is whether the suppurating sore on Viserys’ back is indeed a chair-induced injury - which is his own theory - versus something more sinister.
Otto Hightower certainly insists the Maesters keep schtum about the whole thing, so what else could it be? Some sort of infection, not healing because of compromised immunity perhaps? Or maybe a type of genetic condition? Hemophilia infamously spread through the European royal houses in the 1800s because Queen Victoria was a carrier; could this be the Targaryen version?
“Hooray for inbreeding!”
Gawayne and the Green-With-Envy Knight
Prince Daemon was definitely making a POINT when he chose Otto Hightower’s eldest son Gawayne as his first opponent during the Tourney.
The Hand had just dressed down the King’s brother for going rather too apeshit with his thuggish Goldcloaks; and we know from Daemon’s impassioned use of the C-bomb later in the episode that he has disliked the people closest to Viserys for a long time.
So it was poor Gawayne who suffered the physical burden of Daemon’s rage - having his horse purposefully tripped by the Prince of the city, then unceremoniously dragged off the field of play with gods-knows-what bodily injuries. Let’s hope he returns in future episodes.
Thank goodness his horse survived though. What with everything else happening in that montage, seeing the Tourney turn into the Grand National would have really stung. Sure, in real life, a small baroque fence would have been established to put the poor beast out of its misery, but guys, this is a FANTASY show.
“Neigh, good sirs!”
Let Them Eat Cake
Rhaenyra and Alicent had a lovely little exchange in the godswood while doing their history homework, in which the Princess pretended to blow off study to dream of her preferred way to spend her future - flying around the world with Alicent on dragonback, seeing famous landmarks and eating cake.
Admonished by Alicent for not being serious she shoots back “I never jest about cake.” Damn, this is a girl who knows her priorities.
“Have you heard the one about a brave knight from Nantucket?”
Magical Mysaria Tour
The last we see of the banished Daemon in this episode was the no-longer-heir taking his dragon Caraxes out for a spin with his brothel-owning boo Mysaria.
It’s likely she’d never seen a dragon so close up before, given her expression of delight when Daemon pressed her hand to its scaly neck.
Mysaria’s flowing cape can be seen as Caraxes takes to the skies, so it seems she’s now with him for some long haul travel. That’s a challenging ride, but still, it could be Jetstar.
Dragon Map
Finally, I’ve been trying to get better at using my iPad, so I constructed a Hot D Family Tree of sorts based on Ep1. God knows how big this might get, but let’s see if we can build it out!
Thank you to everyone who has signed up for my Patreon for Hot D. If you want to join up to throw me a few bucks for the recaps, now is a great time! Thank you once again for your amazing support.