House Of The Dragon recap: Episode one

Viewers who expected fewer “gratuitous” sex scenes in the prequel to Game of Thrones didn’t have to wait long to be surprised. Warning: Spoilers

SPOILER WARNING: We are about to recap episode one of the Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon. That means spoilers aplenty. You have been warned.

Well, dear reader, Nerd Christmas has arrived. House Of The Dragon, the first of several eagerly anticipated and delightfully geeky TV shows scheduled to air in the coming months, has just made its debut on Binge and Foxtel, and there is much to discuss.

Since this is the premiere, and it has been years since Game of Thrones finished, let’s run through the essential background information before we leap into the episode itself. This is just the basic knowledge that will help you place HOTD in its proper context.

This show begins about 200 years before Game of Thrones. The setting, Westeros, is the same, but the political situation is rather different.

It has been a century since Aegon the Conqueror, the first Targaryen king, invaded Westeros and united most of its previously disparate kingdoms under his rule.

The Targaryens are distinct from the other families of the realm in one crucial way: they can tame and ride dragons (hence the title of the show). And they’re currently at the apex of their power. The only real threat comes from within.

As the voiceover before the opening credits notes: “The only thing that could tear down the House of the Dragon was itself.”

OK, on to the recap. As with Thrones, every scene of this show could spawn its own thousand-word thinkpiece, but I shall try (and probably fail) to keep things as succinct as possible.

Last spoiler warning. Keep scrolling at your peril. Picture: HBO

House of the Dragon is now streaming on Binge. The series will also be available to watch on Foxtel in 4K Ultra HD

Episode one recap

As the show begins, King Jaehaerys Targaryen has an urgent problem: His death from old age is fast approaching, most of his children are dead, the two who remain are not eligible for the crown, and he therefore has no heir.

There are two serious contenders to inherit the throne. Princess Rhaenys, the daughter of the king’s first son, is his eldest grandchild. Prince Viserys is younger, and was born to Jaehaerys’ second son, but has the crucial advantage of being a man.

We are in the high fantasy equivalent of medieval times here, remember. One’s genitalia is of paramount importance.

To resolve the succession crisis, Jaehaerys calls a Great Council, where all the major lords of Westeros will vote on their preferred heir. The king promises to accept their verdict, whatever it may be.

The lords choose Viserys, passing over Rhaenys on the basis of her sex. The king’s two grandchildren share a look, his somewhat sheepish and hers distinctly unimpressed.

That’s Viserys on the left, Rhaenys on the right, and Jaehaerys in the middle looking like your grumpy grandpa at Christmas. Picture: HBO/Foxtel/Binge

The credits roll, and then we fast forward nine years, only to find that the royal succession is again at issue.

Viserys now rules the Seven Kingdoms alongside his wife, Queen Aemma. The pair have only one living child – a girl, Princess Rhaenyra. It’s unclear whether Rhaenyra is heir to the throne, or whether it is the king’s brother, the roguish Prince Daemon.

The queen is heavily pregnant, however. Viserys is certain she’s carrying a boy. Should Aemma have a son, the succession will no longer be in question.

We first see Rhaenyra riding her yellow dragon, Syrax. (There will be a great many dragons in this show, all with distinct appearances and personalities. It’s important to remember which is which.) We also meet her best friend, Alicent Hightower.

A subsequent scene shows us a significant difference between the two girls: Alicent, who was not born a princess, is studious, timid and a stickler for the rules. Rhaenyra, while intelligent, is more rebellious and brazen.

After landing Syrax, Rhaenyra visits her mother. Here we get our first indication that Rhaenyra is not content with the traditional gender roles.

“I’d rather serve as a knight and ride to battle and glory,” she says.

“We have royal wombs, you and I. The childbed is our battlefield. We must learn to face it with a stiff lip,” Aemma tells her.

This is definitely not foreshadowing anything unpleasant.

Rhaenyra and Aemma. Picture: HBO/Binge/Foxtel

There is of course a third battlefield in Westeros – the political one. So it’s appropriate that we next eavesdrop on our first Small Council meeting of the series.

There are multiple characters worth highlighting here. The bearded, humourless fellow serving as Hand of the King, Otto Hightower, is Alicent’s father.

The black-skinned and silver-haired Corlys Velaryon, Master of Ships, is among the realm’s richest lords, and he’s also the husband of Princess Rhaenys.

The balding Lyonel Strong, Lord of Harrenhal, is of lesser importance now but will play a central role going forward. Don’t ignore him.

From Lord Corlys, we learn that trouble is brewing in the Stepstones. These are a series of islands located in the sea between Westeros and the eastern continent Essos. They straddle an important trade route.

We also learn that the king has scheduled an extravagant tourney to coincide with, and celebrate, the birth of his son. One might suggest he is tempting fate.

In a brief scene shortly afterwards, it’s revealed that Viserys has suffered a strange wound, described by the man himself as “a small cut from sitting a throne”.

This wouldn’t even rank in the top ten most memorable scenes from the episode, but it carries a quiet significance.

The background here is that the Iron Throne, which is made of real and very sharp swords, has a habit of injuring its masters. The Mad King from Thrones, Aerys Targaryen, cut himself on the throne so often that he was nicknamed “King Scab”. His reign ended in the rebellion that ended his family’s dynasty. Other kings are also known to have met unfortunate ends after injuring themselves on the chair.

And we actually see Viserys gain a fresh cut later in the episode during a fiery discussion with his brother. This does not bode well.

The Small Council meeting. Note that Rhaenyra is present as a cupbearer. Picture: HBO/Binge/Foxtel

Moving on.

It is already apparent that Prince Daemon, currently serving as commander of the King’s Landing city watch, is something of a troublemaker. We witness a conversation between him and Rhaenyra in the throne room.

“I heard your father was hosting a tournament in my honour,” Daemon says when asked why he has returned to court.

“The tournament is for his heir,” Rhaenyra tells him.

“Just as I said,” he shoots back. Cheeky lad.

Two things worth noting here: The physical intimacy between the pair (who are uncle and niece), and the fact they converse in Valyrian, the language of the Targaryens’ ancestors. All other characters speak to each other in the common tongue.

This series is about Targaryens. We should probably expect some incest. And there was definite tension between Daemon and Rhaneyra here.

The prince appears to be quite the sexual being, we should note, as he pops up again a short time later copulating in a brothel. He loses interest halfway through and walks away with a frustrated grunt.

“I could bring in another. Perhaps a maiden. Perhaps several. I could even arrange one with silver hair,” his partner offers. Her name is Mysaria, and she’ll be a recurring character in this series, so keep an eye on her.

Daemon’s only response is to look broody and depressed.

Mysaria and Daemon in a scene from the show's trailers. Picture: HBO/Foxtel/Binge

The showrunners have previously said HotD will feature sex, but only when it’s done for “a compelling story reason”. They’ve also said it will not be “done gratuitously or to titillate” - an allusion to Thrones’ habit of introducing nudity for no apparent reason.

Whether that promise rings true in this instance, I shall leave you to judge.

This interaction does serve a clear story purpose, though, as it tells us a couple of interesting things about Daemon: first, he is into women with the Targaryens’ characteristic silver hair. Again, the word incest comes to mind. Second, there is a more vulnerable man lurking underneath Daemon’s confident facade.

It also shows us Matt Smith’s butt, so if you’re into that, happy days.

Elsewhere, Viserys visits the queen while she’s having a bath, in a scene that sheds further light on his obsession with having a son.

The king had a dream, one he believes was prophetic, in which he placed his son upon the throne, prompting all the dragons to “roar as one”.

“This is the last time, Viserys,” Aemma says of her pregnancy, citing the miscarriages and other lost children she’s endured in the past.

“I know it is my duty to provide you an heir, and I’m sorry if I have failed you in that. I am. But I’ve mourned all the dead children I can.”

Viserys does not object to this declaration. Nor does he support it.

That face when she reckons five dead kids is enough. Picture: HBO/Binge/Foxtel

A sequence of scenes involving Daemon, one of which counts as this show’s first serving of gratuitous sex, show us that: He seeks the approval of his brother, he and Otto Hightower very much dislike each other, and underneath his cocky exterior is a vulnerable side. We need not go into any more detail yet.

And that brings us to the centrepiece of the episode, the tourney.

The tourney itself ends with a lowborn knight, Ser Criston Cole, defeating Daemon. More importantly, as that’s happening, Aemma’s labour goes horribly wrong.

The ensuing scene is, I would argue, more harrowing and harder to watch than all but a small handful of scenes from eight seasons of Game of Thrones. Faced with the prospect of losing both his wife and child or trying to save the baby – by cutting Aemma open while she’s still alive and conscious – the king chooses the latter.

And so we watch as a confused, then panicked, then terrified, then screaming Aemma is butchered. When it’s over, both she and the child are dead.

The showrunners make an interesting choice with this sequence, which is well worth discussing. The final tourney fight and Aemma’s death are happening simultaneously, and we’re constantly cutting between the two scenes. Why?

The answer lies in the conversation we mentioned earlier between Aemma and her daughter, the one in which Rhaenyra said she’d rather be a knight than give birth, and Aemma replied that “the childbed is our battlefield”.

It’s ironic that as the men peacock around in their finest armour and play at pretend war on the tourney grounds, the queen is fighting and losing a much more real war. While the men win glory, applause and the favour of young women, she earns only a gruesome death.

“They never tell you how they all s*** themselves. They don’t put that in the songs,” King Robert Baratheon said back in season one of Thrones, lamenting the glamorisation of death in battle.

No songs are even written about the women who die in childbirth.

Criston Cole gets his reward for playing at war – while the queen is away from the revelry, dying. Picture: HBO/Binge/Foxtel

Moving on from that unpleasantness, we come to another Small Council meeting, where the king’s advisers debate whether Rhaneyra or Daemon should be heir, now that the prospect of a new son is gone.

Viserys rubbishes the idea that Daemon would seek to take the crown from him, saying his brother lacks the patience to rule. This prompts one of the episode’s more profound quotes.

“The gods have yet to make a man who lacks the patience for absolute power,” Otto says.

He adds that Daemon would be “a second Maegor”, which is my cue to go off on an obnoxious tangent.

Daemon’s greatest sin is arguably his silly helmet. Picture: HBO/Binge/Foxtel

Aegon the Conqueror married his two sisters, as is the Targaryens’ wont, and had a son with each of them.

With his gentler sister Rhaenys (not to be confused with the Rhaenys in this show) he fathered Aenys, whose name can be pronounced as rudely as you wish.

With his other sister Visenya, a fearsome warrior, Aegon fathered Maegor.

Both of the Conquerer’s sons went on to become king. Aenys, a rather hapless man, ended up dying of stress as the realm rose up against him. He was followed by Maegor, whose violence and ruthlessness caused him to be nicknamed “Maegor the Cruel”.

Maegor was overthrown by Jaehaerys, the old king from the opening scene. He died in mysterious circumstances, and was found impaled upon the Iron Throne. Otto’s argument, then, is that the volatile Daemon would be a cruel and terrible ruler, just as Maegor was.

OK, fictional history lesson over.

Viserys says he will not be made to choose between his brother and daughter. Ultimately, though, Daemon makes him choose. When the prince makes an unsavoury joke about the king’s dead son, publicly labelling him “the heir for a day”, Viserys summons him to the throne room, shouts at him for a bit and then exiles him from the city (this is also the moment at which he cuts himself on the throne again).

He then formally names Rhaenyra as his heir. The great lords of the realm gather in King’s Landing to pledge fealty to her.

So, Daemon’s poor choice of words settles the succession issue. It also leaves Viserys surrounded by advisers who are not Targaryens, and may seek to manipulate him.

That face when your brother chose to CELEBRATE HIS OWN RIIIIISE. Picture: Foxtel/Binge/HBO

Having been pressured by her father, Otto, Alicent visits Viserys in his private chambers and offers him company in his grief. Despite the icky age gap between them, Alicent and the king appear to bond.

I need not elaborate on Otto’s motives here.

Finally, Viserys meets with Rhaenyra in the crypts below the Red Keep.

The backdrop for this scene is the gigantic skull of Balerion the Black Dread, the dragon of Aegon, and Maegor after him. Fun, insignificant fact: Viserys briefly claimed Balerion as well, though the old dragon died soon afterwards. Viserys never rode another.

It is here that Viserys tells his daughter about a prophetic dream Aegon himself had. He says the dream, not greed, is what truly prompted the Conqueror to invade Westeros.

“Aegon foresaw the end of the world of men. It is to begin with a terrible winter gusting out of the distant north. Aegon saw absolute darkness riding on those winds. And whatever dwells within will destroy the world of the living,” he says.

“When this great winter comes, Rhaenyra, all of Westeros must stand against it. And if the world of men is to survive, a Targaryen must be seated on the Iron Throne. A king or queen strong enough to unite the realm against the cold and the dark.

“This secret has been passed from king to heir since Aegon’s time. Now you must promise to carry it and protect it. Promise me this, Rhaenyra. Promise me.”

Viserys is quite obviously describing the climactic events of Game of Thrones, and his revelation about Aegon’s dream could lead us to reinterpret elements of the original series. Because if the Targaryen kings were aware of the White Walker threat all along, and were supposed to be preparing for it, that might explain some of their more eccentric behaviour.

The last thing I’d draw your attention to is Viserys’ phrasing: “Promise me, Rhaenyra. Promise me.” This is a direct echo of Lyanna Stark’s words to her brother, Ned, asking that he keep Jon Snow’s true identity secret, almost two centuries later.

I’m not sure that has any great significance. But it is a sign that House Of The Dragon intends to embrace its predecessor – more closely, perhaps, than we anticipated.

MVP of the episode

The couple who froze mid-screw to listen attentively to Daemon’s speech in the brothel. No matter how much you’ve paid for the sex, good manners remain priceless.

Villain of the episode

Dishonourable mention for Otto Hightower, who could at least show a smidgen of reluctance or inner conflict before pimping out his daughter.

The bigger villain, though, was the hapless Viserys. Was it a tough decision? Yes. Was Aemma going to die either way? Yes, apparently so. SHOULD HE HAVE SOUGHT HER INPUT BEFORE SLICING HER OPEN? For the love of the Seven, YES.

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