House of the Dragon Rhaenyra the Cruel : Schemers see their sins laid bare in perfect hour of television

Following a compelling season premiere, writer Sara Hess delivers the best hour of television in 2024 with Rhaenyra the Cruel.

Like the premiere, both sides of the conflict are reeling from tragic events. In the premiere, it was the death of Rhaenyra’s son. In Rhaenyra the Cruel, Jaehaerys’ murder causes everyone to take stock to reconsider their weaknesses.

Rhaenyra confronts Daemon’s damaged psyche via a frank conversation in one of the year’s best scenes. Emma D’Arcy and Matt Smith should earn Emmy nominations on this scene alone. The incredible Rhaenyra-Daemon scene is dethroned in the same episode.

Rhys Ifans delivers the best career performance in Rhaenyra the Cruel as Otto Hightower. His cold, calculating, and successful strategic maneuvering regarding his great-grandson’s death shines. His confrontation with his grandson Aegon and Ser Criston Cole (Fabian Frankel) shines brightest. Otto complements his scathing rebuke of Aegon as a leader with a fond remembrance of Viserys as a friend and ruler. Tom Glynn-Carney is also great as Aegon.

While the insides of King’s Landing and Dragonstone are fighting, the people outside the families are suffering. The short scenes with a family suffering due to losing goats or Aemond confiding in a prostitute all go a long way in showing the collateral damage of families at war.

Overall, House of the Dragon is firing on all cylinders.

After the overview and ranking of Rhaenyra the Cruel 10 out of 10 (Masterpiece), let’s dive deeper into Rhaenyra’s rebuke of Daemon, the scolding of the century, and a failed parent trap. House of the Dragon is streaming on Max.

Absence of Trust

Rhaenyra receives news about Jaehaerys’s death from Dragonstone’s small council. After burying a child, Rhaenyra is appropriately mortified. Even some of the small council members believe she is responsible. She denies wrongdoing and catches Daemon’s eye.

Before dismissing Daemon to Harrenhal, Rhaenyra admonishes him for his reckless actions. She ordered him to kill only Aemond. Daemond’s disregard for Rhaenyra’s order injures her claim. Rhaenyra’s accusations go deeper than just this singular event.

Daemon still can’t get over being passed over for the throne. He believes it was because his brother and now Rhaenyra are intimidated by his power. Rhaenyra counters with the truth. The throne wasn’t taken away from Daemon. He lost it due to his untrustworthiness. Visitors couldn’t trust him, and neither can she.

After sending Daemon away, Rhaenyra confronts Mysaria over her involvement in the murder plot. Daemon promised to set Mysaria free when only Rhaenyra could do so. Rhaenyra agrees to honor Daemon’s promise.

Undoing Otto’s ‘Rhaenyra the Cruel’ Scheme

Aegon lashes out following the death of his son Jaehaerys. Alicent is also struggling but is more concerned over her daughter Helaena’s wellbeing. Otto comes up with a plan to garner sympathy from the public.

He organizes a public funeral in which his great-grandson is shown rather than kept in a casket. Alicent, Helaena, and Aegon don’t approve of the idea. However, Otto’s plan appears to work until Aegon acts out of vengeance.

Larys finds out one of the assassins is a ratcatcher. Instead of digging deeper to find the right ratcatcher, Aegon hangs all of them in the public square. Now, ordinary people are crying about their dead loved ones rather than sympathizing with the king.

Otto can’t take Aegon’s stupidity anymore. He takes Aegon to tasks for his narrow mind. Just as the ball gets rolling, an avalanche starts with the insertion of Criston. His plan to kill Rhaenyra pushes Otto over the edge. Aegon fails to show judgment over his impetuous desire for revenge.

Lack of temperance leads Otto to remember Viserys as ruler fondly. Aegon believes Viserys believed in him as king. Otto reveals that Viserys never wanted Aegon to replace him as King. Aegon fires Otto as the hand of the King and gives the pin to Criston. Aegon is a monster Otto created.

Ifans is incredible in this scene. His powerful voice and Hess’s brilliant dialogue smash Aegon and Criston to pieces.

Parent Trap Goes Wrong

Criston feels guilty over his absence in the last episode. While the assassins attacked, he was in bed with Alicent. He takes his embarrassment out on Ser Arryk.

Criston accuses Ser Arryk of dishonoring himself. He offers absolution by sending Ser Arryk on a suicide mission. His hair-brain scheme involves Ser Arryk going alone to Dragonstone, impersonating his twin brother Ser Erryk, and killing Rhaenyra.

Ser Arryk breaches the gates of Dragonstone, but Myseria alerts Ser Erryk in time. A battle between twins commences. Eventually, both brothers die. One is at the hand of the brother, and the other is by his sword after being overcome by grief.

The episode ends with Alicent failing to counsel her son, Aegon, and rekindling her doomed-to-fail romance with Criston.

Rhaenyra the Cruel Final Thoughts

The Otto-Aegon and Rhaenyra-Daemon scenes are the best of the entire series. These scenes in the same episode are a testament to Hess’s incredible script and Claire Kilner‘s directing. Add the brutal fight between the twin brothers and Aemond’s remorse and expand the conflict to the common folk, and you have the best television episode in 2024.