Let the Targaryen bastards rise. House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 7, Rhaenyra sets the Mysaria whisper train running on the streets of King’s Landing, and before long a procession of commoners, many of them with silver hair, are heading to the coast to be transported to Dragonstone. Of course, poor Ser Steffon Darklyn learned the hard way that just because the scrolls say you have Targaryen blood, that doesn’t mean you won’t be burned to a crisp. Not every bastard who’s gathered on the island will make that elusive connection to the riderless beasts slumbering in the pit. Rhaenyra will have to consider the feelings of Prince Jacaerys, as her designated heir who’s both an established dragonrider and a bastard. And she’ll have to hire a new crew of dragon priests. How do you say in High Valyrian “take this job and shove it wherever you want”? “Dragons are sacred. They are the last magic of Old Valyria in this sad world.” They are not playthings for men’s games. Our order will have no part in this!” Thank you for your service, but Rhaenyra is going to try anyway. If she can get even one of these Targaryen-spawned strangers to mind-merge with a creature, then she will have a new weapon in her effort to end the conflict.
For Rhaenyra, Seasmoke’s conscious choice of Addam of Hull seemed to confirm that, however much he’s studied the old texts for blood matches, ultimately the dragons will speak for themselves. So he does his part. He calls a great meeting. And then he steps out of the room (the pit) and gives the floor (the platform) to Vermithor. Vermithor, the great bronze beast second only to Vhagar in his terror, proceeds to incinerate most of the bastard blood present as he stomps around like the Rancor monster and consumes the flaming human remains like a grilled snack. But not Hugh the Hammer. It’s the blacksmith of King’s Landing for whom the hundred-year-old dragon bends its neck. Rhaenyra’s return on her bastard investment is working. And Hugh wasn’t alone in his journey to Dragonstone. The local riff-raff in the taverns of King’s Landing will be happy to know that their drinking buddy Ulf White is now a dragonlord.
When Ulf rides Silverwing on a merry ride through the city, prompting an angry Prince Aemond to jump on Vhagar, it’s just a message being sent between half-siblings. Come closer if you dare, says Rhaenyra’s gaze on the crest. Because Team Black just leveled up in the dragon department. And Aemond puts Vhagar in a tough spot to get home.
With so many up-close and personal moments with dragons in this episode, it’s also important to note that Hot DOT The sound editors win this week’s achievement award. Check out the noises Vermithor makes when Rhaenyra calls to him in High Valyrian, like ice cracking on the surface of a lake. Or the clicking, roaring vocalization when Syrax and Seasmoke face off on a stretch of beach. And when Silverwing picks Ulf out in the depths of the dragon pit, even after he runs his boot through a patch of steaming eggs, the sounds in his massive throat are like a hot engine ticking in the sun. Physically, these rhythms live up to their terrifying grandeur. But since the gods sent them to Westeros, they shouldn’t sound like anything else in the realm — and it’s a testament to the unique sound design in this episode that they don’t.
“There’s nothing clean here.” While Aemond’s response to the last episode’s mutiny was to send the royal guards assigned to protect his mother and Aegon’s sister-wife to lifelong service at the wall, Alicent takes a guard and a horse and builds a simple shed in the Royal Forest. Dismissed from the prince regent’s small council and shocked by the common people’s reaction to her during the mutiny (do they not know her dedication to serving the realm?), Alicent tells her guard that she’s going to stay in the forest for a while, with no set plan for returning. She floats in a secluded mountain lake, surrounded by wildflowers. And she seems to be considering her next move as she enjoys these few moments of solitude, free from the filth and chaos within King’s Landing.
Rhaenyra increasing her stock of living dragons at an exponential rate is certainly a win for Team Green. But while Vhagar remains a formidable foe no matter how many dragons you throw at him, Hot DOT He also teased another intriguing future twist for Team Black: the appearance of Daeron Targaryen, both as a character in the series and as another dragonrider for the Blacks. The other Targaryen brother and Tessarion, his dragon, have taken flight.
And what about that? other A potential dragonrider? While five is the number of winged fire-breathers we actually see in this episode, six is the suggestion, because once Lady Rhaena and her entourage are free of the gates of the Eyrie, she sneaks off to the Vale alone and returns to the site of the dragonfire. She knew something was wrong with Lady Jeyne Arryn’s explanation and wants to see this wild, sheep-eating dragon for herself. Rhaena once nearly died when she attempted a dragonbond. But now, House of the Dragon It could very well be combining Rhaena with Nettles, a key character from George RR Martin. Fire and bloodIf Rhaena becomes a dragonrider, it will be another boon for Rhaenyra and her allies. But who will look after the Targaryen girls?
“Your royal half-brothers, Aegon and Aemond, whose blood is pure, wage war against you for your throne. Are they bound by honor? A simple shipwright swears to serve you while your brothers seek to destroy you.” Mysaria’s speech in support of Rhaenyra’s plan to turn Targaryen bastards like Addam, Hugh, and Ulf White into dragonriders also reflects a theme that’s been lurking in the musty corners of castles across Westeros. If Rhaenyra had relied entirely on codes of honor (in the same way royalty in the realm has always clung to power), would Vermithor and Silverwing ever have had cause to awaken? Going back further in time, and thanks to another appearance by the Ghost King Viserys in Daemon’s haunted chamber at Harrenhal, is honor enough to justify rule? “I never wanted it,” Viserys’s shattered face tells his brother. “Crush whoever wears it,” he says, holding his crown in his hands. “You always wanted it, Daemon. Do you still want it?” All season long, Daemon has been discovering how his lust for power, his desire to seize what is his perceived right, has been twisted against him in ways he never expected. He will not stand for anyone to question him. But what if he is the one who questions himself? As Alicent finds her agency at the Red Keep increasingly silenced, what, if anything, have her years of service to the crown accomplished within her? And if Rhaenyra finally wins—if all falls into place and she manages to vanquish Vhagar, halt the march of the black forces, and bring the Red Keep to its knees—will her rule be all it would have been had Aegon II never made his claim? For with Team Black as it is currently composed, honor and the purity of Targaryen blood have taken a backseat to the rise of a bastard army. When it comes to honor, did blood ever matter?
Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is a freelance writer and editor based in Chicago. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.