‘House of the Dragon’ Recap: Season 1, Episode 4
House of the Dragon has been telegraphing Daemon and Rhaenyra’s attraction ever since he clasped that Valyrian steel necklace around her neck in the premiere. And anyone familiar with what Game of Thrones showed us about the Targaryens knows that intrafamily romantic relationships — in this case between an uncle and his teenage niece — are par for the incestuous course for this silver-haired, dragon-loving family.
So this week’s major development isn’t a surprise so much as it is an icky inevitability: Daemon gets hot and heavy with his brother’s young daughter, and afterward, there are consequences aplenty.
Read on for the highlights of Episode 4.
GUESS WHO’S BACK, BACK AGAIN | Since last we saw Rhaenyra, Viserys has sent her on a “Take Her to Wife… Please!” tour, in which potential hubbies in several locations line up to We open on Rhaenyra in a large hall full of males who would like to be her husband. The first is an old man, the second a young boy. Rhaenyra mocks them, then decides that she’s outta there. As she and Ser Criston leave the room, one very young suitor from House Blackwood sticks his sword into the abdomen of an onlooker who’d heckled him during his presentation. Even though they’re not supposed to sail back to King’s Landing for quite some time, she orders the knight to have her ship readied.
They’re very close to King’s Landing when a dragon buzzes the boat, knocking everyone down but not doing any real damage. And the look on the princess’ face when she stands up is more than a little excited: The dragon is Caraxes, which means Uncle Daemon is in town.
Everyone hastily files into the Throne Room, where Viserys stands in front of his sharp-edged seat. Despite her attempts to blend into the crowd, the king quickly notices the early return of his obstinate daughter, and he’s not pleased. But now is not the time, because Daemon is walking down the aisle toward his brother wearing a crown made of… is that bone? Driftwood? Bleached crab legs? Anyway, he’s also holding out the Crab Feeder’s sword. “Add it to the chair,” he says, dropping the weapon to the floor with a clang.
Viserys asks about Daemon’s unique headwear. “Once we smashed the triarchy, they named me King of the Narrow Sea,” he replies. “But I know that there is only one true king, Your Grace.” AND THEN HE KNEELS. “My crown, and the Stepstones, are yours.” Well, that was unexpected. Daemon adds that Corlys has sailed home to Driftmark and that they left 2,000 of the Crab Feeder’s men staked to the sand to warn anyone who might try to take over the area again.
There’s a long, tense moment in which Viserys takes Daemon’s crown, and Daemon shares a loaded look with Hightower. But then the king says, “Rise,” and embraces Daemon as everyone applauds. I should note here that Daemon spent some of his time away at the salon, because he’s sporting a new, short haircut that reminds me of when This Is Us’ Rebecca decided to be impulsive.
And at a party to celebrate the prodigal’s return, a drunk Viserys is acting as though he and his brother haven’t been estranged for literal years. Rhaenyra, however? Dead to him. Alicent takes pity on the princess and teases her about how romantic she imagines it is to have thousands of men line up for the chance at her hand. But Rhaenyra scoffs, “How romantic it must be to get imprisoned in a castle and squeeze out heirs…” realizing only afterward that she’s just perfectly described Alicent’s reality. (She apologizes.) The girls share a very sweet moment during which they acknowledge how much they’ve missed each other, and I’ve read enough of Fire & Blood to know that I should savor this while it lasts.
THE ICKY PART | Now let’s get into the part of the episode that I really, really am not looking forward to: Rhaeynra and Daemon nearly making the dragon with two backs. She seeks him out to ask why he’s really returned, but all he’ll say is that he missed the comforts of home. She notes a new maturity in him. “You’ve matured yourself, these last four years, Princess,” he says, eyeing her in a way that is decidedly un-avuncular.
They slip into High Valyrian to discuss Daemon’s wife and how much he hates her, and how marriage may not be a life sentence for men, but it frequently — thanks to the risks of childbirth — is a death sentence for women. “You cannot live your life in fear, or you will forsake the best parts of it,” he counsels her as only someone who has never had to face the concept of fatally hemorrhaging from a very precious orifice could. She says she doesn’t want to live in fear, “only solitude.”
At the small council meeting, Otto has word that Corlys — who’s still cheesed off that Viserys didn’t choose his daughter, Laena, as a wife — has allied with the Sea Lord of Braavos by promising Laena to the Sea Lord’s son. And if he does that, “we…