House of the Dragon Episode 4 Recap and Review: King of the Narrow Sea

A slower HOTD episode sets up more succession drama.

Well, if fans were thinking that the Game of Thrones universe could not get further in graphic nudity and uncomfortable adult situations, they were wronged. Episode 4 of House of the Dragon was equally shocking and uncomfortable for some.

Spoiler alert: this post contains major spoilers for the House of the Dragon Episode 3

 

Episode 4 starts with Rhaenyra listening to some royal suitors from across the seven kingdoms picked by her father. Each of the suitors tries to explain what makes them worthy of taking the princess’s hand. But like always, Rhaenyra is not a little bit impressed by any of the suitors and instead decides to mock them. Eventually, she leaves after getting fed up with them all.

 

It’s almost been a year since the last episode already. Daemon returns to King’s Landing and attempts to make peace with his brother as he bends the knee and pledges allegiance to the brother. This also includes all the respect and power he has gained in the Free Cities. Apparently, that is enough for King Viserys to let go of the past enmity, and both the brothers hug.

However, it does not take long from here for things to become rather complicated. Most people around Viserys celebrate the return of Daemon. However, that is something that Princess Rhaenyra cannot simply buy and hence, inquires her uncle about his real intentions.

 

This leads to a frank conversation in which both the niece and the uncle discuss how they are tired of politics and that they are nothing more than royal pawns. Rhaenyra expresses that she does not want to be a queen isolated in a castle, as her purpose in life is not to give birth to children just like Queen Alicent and her late mother. She further mentions that she would not mind having some fun and getting into trouble at times.

It turns out that Daemon cannot be happy enough to show some adventure to Rhaenyra. He helps her sneak out after the dark, and in disguise, both wander and explore the nightlife of the city. But hold on, House of the Dragon is just about to get steamier than usual!

 

After watching a street performance written to mock Rhaenyra as an heir, both Daemon and Rhaenyra end up making their way into a busy brothel nearby. This is where the most uncomfortable moment (yet) in the House of the Dragon arrives.

Daemon and Rhaenyra kiss and start undressing each other. However, Daemon realizes that it is perhaps going too far, and he stops, leaving the princess alone. But it looks like the event has, in a way, turned the princess on. She arrives back at the castle a little tipsy and sleeps with Ser Criston Cole.

It turned out that one of Otto’s spies back in the streets had witnessed the entire incident and informed the hand about Rhaenyra and Daemon’s adventures. The hand in turn, informs the king, who does not take the accusation against her daughter lightly.

 

Now this is where House of the Dragon has started becoming interesting. The king confronts Daemon, who, for some reason, does not intentionally let the king know that nothing “actually” happened and that he stopped. Instead, he asks for the hand of the princess in marriage. This greatly angers the king, who banishes him to the vale, disinheriting his brother altogether.

On the other hand, Rhaenyra lets the king know that nothing had happened. She claims to have been accused of nothing. Quite intelligently, Rhaenyra uses the moment to get her revenge on Otto for leaking the news. She agrees to marry the son of Lord Corlys’, which would strengthen the House Targaryen, on the condition that Otto will have to be removed from the position of the Hand.

 

Since Viserys was already quite annoyed with Otto pestering him with the topic of heir and for bringing the absurd news about his daughter, he finally decided to relieve Otto as the Hand. Of course, this turned out to be quite shocking for Otto.

Episode 4 then ends with Grand Maester bringing a “tea” from the king, and it will rid her of “any unwanted consequences”, which means that the king does not buy Rhaenyra’s version of the story. But could it also mean that he found out about her and Criston cole? Well, if that’s true, we shall find out in the next episode.

Nevertheless, episode 4 was, perhaps, the best one till now. House of the Dragon finally seems to be gaining some momentum and preparing viewers for exciting things ahead!

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