July 9, 2024
Courtesy: HBO
"The Red Dragon and the Gold" is The House of the Dragon's fourth and arguably the most emotional episode. With 8.1 million viewers watching, the series continues to be a juggernaut for HBO.
In this episode, a beloved character dies, Criston Cole is on a rampage, Aemond is as ruthless as ever, and the dragons battle is a special effects bonanza at Rook's Rest!
Daemon (Matt Smith) is again having a nightmare in the Castle of Horrors... er... Harrenhal. This time, it's about young Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock), who sits on the throne, taunting him about creating and destroying her. He slices her head off, and her headless form accuses him of doing what he always wanted to do since he wants the throne for himself. After following a hooded figure through the halls, he meets himself wearing an eye patch similar to Aemon's (Ewan Mitchell). Talk about a nightmare from Hades!
He later encounters Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin), the creepy witch who foretold of his death in the previous episode. She deduces he fought with Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) and that he's having issues with his denial to the throne when she says, "It's a hard thing, I imagine, to give obeisance to one who replaced you as heir. And a woman, too, a girl child you bounced on your knee. Does it please you that her legitimacy is contested?" Dameon is clearly struggling with guilt and resentment towards Rhaenyra or Viserys (Paddy Considine). Maybe even both, as he's struggling with his own claim to be king. She offers him a drink, and we wonder why he would ever take anything from Alys.
Courtesy:HBO
The next day, he's at a meeting with Riverlord figureheads and hallucinates his dead wife, Laena. It's always great to see Nanna Blondell in the role.
Ser Simon Strong informs him that Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) has struck out from King's Landing, taken the castles of House Rosby and House Stokeworth, and increased his army.
Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) again proves his complete ineptitude at being king. He's an embarrassment who needs to be coddled, and Alicent (Sarah Cooke) has no time for his foolishness since she has her own problems. She's taking Moon-tea to abort Criston's baby! She asks Maester Orwyle if Viserys wanted Aegon to inherit the Iron Throne, and Orwyle pretends he has no knowledge and makes a hasty exit. This was an unintentionally funny scene since he knew the Moon tea was for her. One thing about Orwyle is that he knows when to play dumb.
Larys Strong (Matthew Needham), ever the messy, slimy salesman, knows that the Moon tea was for Alicent, knows she's sleeping with Cole, and is questioning Aegon being king. Larys is a lot of things, and being perceptive is one of them.
One thing House of the Dragon is really good at is showing us how women are just as capable as men, and even more so, but will always be treated less than they are worth. It happened in last week's episode, where the men at Rhaenyra's council treated her as if she was a simpleton. In this week's episode, they did the same to Rhaenys, flexing their dominance until Corlys entered the room, and their tone immediately changed. While Rhaenyra fights to claim the Iron throne that is rightfully hers, Rhaenys, the Queen that never was, is the very definition of living in a world (Westeros) that belongs to men.
This brings us to Rhaenys (Eve Best), who has married Coryls (Steven Toussaint), Westeros' second most powerful man. Rhaenys can never reach her truest potential as Queen since her grandfather Jaehaerys I denied her the throne in favor of her uncle Baelon. Rhaenys has every right to the Iron throne that has always denied her, yet she accepted what will never be with dignity and grace. Always the voice of reason, even through her pain and loss, she found love with Corlys, even though he fathered a bastard child away at sea. That revelation was brought to light in this episode with none other than Alyn of Hull, the sailor who saved him in previous episodes. In those moments, more screen time should have been devoted to Rhaenys and Coryls. Quite frankly, they both never got the screen time they deserved.
Courtesy:HBO
Rhaenys heads to Dragonstone because Rhaenyra is missing, and Ser Alfred Broome keeps leading the charge to send their dragons to fight.
Aemond lets us and his brother know who should be the rightful heir between the two when he strategically lays a trap with Cole for Rhaenyra without informing Aegon. Why would they? Aegon shows us in every episode how incompetent he is. Since Aegon humiliated him last week, Aemond was more than ready to return the favor - lethally.
Criston Cole, leading Aegon's army, has taken Duskendale and beheads Lord Gunthor Darklyn, who warns him he will meet a similar fate. Oh, how we wish this were true! With his growing army, Cole heads northeast to House of Staunton and not to Harrenhal - uh oh!
At the council meeting, Aegon learns that Daemon has taken Harrenhal and starts throwing his usual temper tantrum until Aemond confidently tells him they have seized most of the coastline near Dragonstone. In a deliciously wicked scene, he speaks in high Valyrian so only he and Aemond can understand and effectively cuts him off at the knees without breaking a sweat. Aemond is growing on us! Later, tired of hearing Cole's accomplishments at being named "Kingmaker" by the people, with a wounded ego, he stalks off where Alicent tells him she wants him to do nothing because he's a loser. She doesn't use those exact words, but she knows he's inept when she tells him, "You have no idea the sacrifices that were made to put you on that throne." To prove himself, he drunkenly takes Sunfyre and heads to war with Cole, tinkering with Ameon's master plan.
Rhaenyra returns to Dragonstone and explains to Jacaerys (Harry Collett) and everyone why she went missing in action. She has decided to challenge Cole with Syrax at Rook's Rest. Jacaerys volunteers to go with Vermax, but knowing it's a suicide mission, Rhaenys says she will go with Meleys. We couldn't have been any prouder of Rhaenys at that moment because that's what a queen at heart does. She deserves all the accolades and then some. But knowing what's coming, we wish she hadn't. If only she had destroyed the entire House of Green in season 1 when she had the chance. All it took was one word: "Dracarys!"
Rhaenyra tells Jacaerys about the secret that Viserys passed down to her: Aegon the Conqueror's dream, "A Song of Ice and Fire," and the prophecy of the Prince that was Promised. We have to admit it gave us chills. The direction of the cutting scenes was really well done.
Cole and his army advance at Rook's Rest, and they see Rhaenys swoop in on Meleys like a blaze of glory, breathing fire, taking out a sizable chunk of Cole's army. Cole quickly sends a signal in the air, revealing the master plan. Aemond and Vhagar are hiding between the cover of trees, waiting to ambush Rhaenys and Meleys; however, before they can, Aegon, drunk as a skunk, comes flying in with Sunfyre. Ameond angrily tells Vhagar to wait and watches the confrontation between Aegon and Rhaenys on their dragons in the skies. Rhaenys and Meleys are winning, but at that moment, Aemond and Vhagar show up, and the special effects are absolutely amazing, showing Vhagar's mammoth size compared to the other two dragons. Aegon is instantly happy to see Aemond but then realizes that Aegon has murder in mind as he says, "Dracarys". Vhagar spits fire and causes Sunfyre to tumble from the air with Aegon badly wounding him.
Courtesy:HBO
This was the time for Rhaenys to get out of there, but with a determined look, she spun around and ordered Meleys to attack Aemond and Vhagar, which was quite foolish given Vhagar's size. The two dragons battle, and Vhagar gets tousled to the ground, taking out several soldiers beneath them, including Cole, who got toppled from his horse. Vhagar takes to the skies as Rhaenys and Meleys search for them. In a gut-wrenching moment, Vhagar sneak attacks Meleys and snaps her neck, killing her, not before Meleys gives one last look to Rhaeyns, which makes us reach for tissues. With Meleys airborne falling to her death, so does Rhaenys as Meleys explodes on impact.
Cole searches for Aegon and sees his presumably lifeless body with a wounded Sunfyre. A determined Aemond advances towards Aegon, with his sword drawn to finish the job. With Cole approaching, he picks up Aegon's dagger and, with a satisfied smirk, walks away.
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We knew Rhaenys' death was coming, as foretold in the books, but House of the The Dragon has once again upped the emotional stakes and given Princess Rhaenys a warrior's death. Eve Best was amazing and infused regality into the role. She was a breath of fresh air, and she will be missed!
Watch the preview of next week's episode below.
House of The Dragon airs on HBO and streams on MAX Sundays at 9 EST.
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