House of the Dragon The Rogue Prince Review: Selfish idiocy reigns in otherwise stellar episode

House of the Dragon started off in a strong enough fashion. The Rogue Prince takes the proverbial ball and amps everything up.

The political machinations are better defined. Milly Alcock is given more room to flex her incredible screen presence. Everything Matt Smith does as Daemon Targaryen is intriguing.

The Rogue Prince takes place six months after the pilot and spends the bulk of the episode dealing with King Viserys’s heir. Of course, Rhaenyra was named heir at the conclusion of the pilot. However, the small council would feel better about Viserys’s claim to the throne if he remarried.

The only suitable match seems to be Lord Corlys Velaryon and Princess Rhaenys Velaryon’s 12-year-old daughter. Luckily, King Viserys doesn’t feel good about this arrangement in spite of the allegiance it would form. Meanwhile, the connection between Alicent and Viserys has strengthened since the pilot. Rhaenyra has issues at first with her father remarrying. However, in a chaotic small council meeting, Viserys chooses his wife in such a manner that angers everyone except Otto Hightower.

Viserys’s decision probably isn’t smart. However, it’s the manner in which he announced that’s the bigger problem. He has multiple opportunities to discuss his decision in private with Rhaenyra, Corlys and Otto, but decides to announce it in public.

Meanwhile, Otto takes members of the King’s Guard to Dragonstone. Daemon is getting married, expecting a child and has taken a dragon’s egg that belonged to Rhaenyra’s dead little brother. Rhaenyra is told not to go. She disobeys and takes her dragon to Dragonstone. Rhaenyra convinces Daemon to return the egg without bloodshed.

The Rogue Prince is a packed episode from start to finish. The performances continue to shine and the cinematography is even better than in the pilot.

There is one issue in The Rogue Prince that carries over from the pilot. The way men in Westeros are so dismissive of women continues a nasty theme of this series. Perhaps Rhaenyra will change things, but that doesn’t appear to be the case at this point. The Rogue Prince does show off Rhaenyra’s capabilities, but only up to a certain level.

In spite of a couple of chinks in the armor, House of the Dragon is off to a stronger start than Game of Thrones.

With the overview out of the way, let’s dive deeper into the elements that stood in The Rogue Prince. There may be some minor spoilers. House of the Dragon is available to stream on HBO Max.

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Square off with The Rogue Prince

Daemon has been quite productive in Dragonstone. He rules over the former home of the Targaryens with his City Watch troops at his disposal.

Daemon sends a letter to the king announcing a wedding and his future 2nd wife is pregnant. Everyone at the small council recognizes Daemon’s trying to provoke King Viserys. The king wants to head to Dragonstone in person. Otto forbids it and chooses to go instead of the king.

Daemon also manages to draw Rhaenyra’s ire. He took her baby brother’s dragon egg. Her anger is spelled out all over her face. Alcock does a great job of generating rage through her facial expressions. The way she can narrow here eye like she staring darts into you is spine tingling, not unlike Emilia Clarke in Game of Thrones.

Otto takes some men from the King’s Guard to Dragonstone. Daemon meets with them. He brings his dragon as backup. Before things turn crispy, Rhaenyra emerges from the cloud-like fog below on top of her dragon. She confronts her uncle.

Rhaenyra straight up tells her uncle to kill her and be done with this pettyness over who is the rightful heir. Daemon retreats and gives the egg back.

Matt Smith is once again tremendous with even less screen time in the pilot. Daemon is so good at stirring things up. He’s tough to read, but there’s a reason for everything thing he does.

Bend the Knee to Rhaenyra

Rhaenyra is a fantastic character. She has the bravery of Arya Stark and the diplomacy of a Tyrion. Unfotunately, the small council is trying to pigeon hole her into a corner. Rhaenyra is the heir, yet she’s still serving as a cupbearer. She should be on the small council at least to gain experience and her voice should be heard. If she’s wrong then, explain why her intuition is incorrect. Unfortunately, the small council doesn’t offer any wisdom.

Otto and Viserys dismiss Rhaenyra to interview a new knight. The knight will serve as her personal body guard. All of the knights who try out come from famous houses. Rhaenyra points out that most of them lack any real battle experience. Ser Criston Cole is the exception. He’s the knight who defeated Daemon during the tournament. She hires him over Otto’s objections. Her reasoning is so sound that even Otto can’t disagree.

There’s also a great scene involving Rhaenyra and Rhaenys Valerion. Rhaenys makes it clear the small council will never accept a queen on the Iron Throne. Afterall, Rhaenys was rejected and had as much of a claim as Viserys. Rhaenyra coldy replies the council rejected Rhaenys and they bent the knee to her. A fantastic scene, which represents Game of Thrones at its best. Two intelligent characters land verbal barbs on one another and both have legitimate points.

A Selfish Marriage

Meanwhile, Rhaenyra and her father are barely speaking to one another. Grief has been tough on both of them. Rhaenyra and her father receive helpful advice from Alicent. Rhaenyra eventually acknowledges that her father needs to remarry to solidify the throne.

The first and considered best candidate for marriage is Rhaenys and Corlys’s 12-year-old daughter, Laena. The king meets with Laena and everything about their interaction is awkward. Laena delivers a speech about being a good wife and match the for king that’s clearly written by Corlys. Rhaenys isn’t much better as she tells her daughter she won’t have to sleep with the king until she’s 14-years-old.

Meanwhile, the connection between Viserys and Alicent continues to grow. At this juncture, it hasn’t proceeded past the talking stage.

King Viserys shocks everyone with maybe the exception of Otto by announcing to the whole council he’s going to marry Alicent. Rhaenyra is enraged and understandably walks out of the room. Corlys is outraged and storms out as well. The Rogue Prince ends with Corlys meeting with Daemon to discuss a partnership of sorts.

The marriage announcement makes Viserys look like a fool, which I don’t know if that’s the show’s intention.

The Rogue Prince Final Thoughts

Except for the marriage announcement, The Rogue Prince is a tremendous episode of television. Alcok shines the brightest in this episode, but it was also nice to get more backstory on Corlys and Steve Toussaint makes the most of it.

I’m interested to see more out of Alicent. She seemed shocked by the announcement too, but who knows. Also, I need a giant crab vs dragon fight soon.

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