House of the Dragon Season 1 Episode 2 Recap and Review

The second episode of House of the Dragon  turns small details into big character moments.

Spoiler alert: this post contains major spoilers for the House of the Dragon Episode 2

House of the Dragon episode 2 starts with some gory clips of people being eaten alive by crabs. It looks like a view straight from Pirates of the Caribbean as it reminds us of the undead crewmembers of Davy Jones. However, it makes sense because it’s a punishment for the men of Corlys Velaryon also known as the Sea Snake.

It turns out that Myrish pirates have attacked the Sea Snake’s men. The Myrish army is being led by a man called Craghas Crabfeeder. Indeed, an appropriate name for someone who likes feeding his enemies to crabs.

While Corlys is incredibly concerned about his men being eaten alive, it turns out that the King’s council is not taking him seriously.

Soon, Milly Alcock will be replaced by Emma D’Arcy, as the older version of Princess Rhaenyra, which is slightly saddening for many fans as Milly has been absolutely killing the role. By far, Alcock is among the most charming and entertaining characters of the show. Perhaps that is because it reminds us of Arya Stark from Game of Thrones, in ways more than one.

On the other hand, the wigs on the men in House of the Dragon seem to get sillier than ever. And Princess Rhaenyra seems done with pouring wines for them at the boring cabinet meetings. So, she leaves no chance to present a rebuttal and to give her sound opinions on the matters that apparently, only men are to discuss.

But that is not the highlight of episode 2. Things get much creepier when Corlys offers the king her daughter’s hand in marriage. It sounds outright disgusting when viewers learn that Corlys’s daughter, Laena, is only 12 years old.

Of course, Princess Rhaenyra seems disturbed that his father is considering marrying again within a year of her mother’s death and that too, with a literal kid. Nevertheless, her status of being the heir would certainly get challenged if she was to give birth to a male in the future.

At the same time, Rhaenys Targaryen, the wife of Corlys and the “queen who never was” warns Rhaenyra that “men would sooner put the realm to the torch than see a woman ascend to the Iron Throne.”

Game of Thrones portrayed the sexism in Westeros quite aptly. Both Daenerys and Cersei continued their war for power and yet both ended up dying, only for a crippled male to claim the Iron Throne. But episode 2 of House of the Dragon is setting up the story for a woman to compete with the men, who in this case, is Princess Rhaenyra.

However, it makes sense that the kingdom would be a lot less progressing 200 years prior to the events of the Game of Thrones. As for the king’s council, there appears to be nobody sensible and responsible enough than Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King.

Earlier when the hand challenged Daemon’s claim as the heir, the reckless prince decided to face Otto’s son, Ser Gwayne in the jousting tournament. However, that was but one mere tournament. It looks like several months have passed since the events of the first episode and Daemon has already taken control of Dragonstone castle, challenging the king openly. As a show of his defiance, the reckless prince steals a dragon egg belonging to his late nephew who died in infancy.

While Otto makes the feud worse after traveling to Dragonstone with hopes of putting Daemon to justice, Princess Rhaenyra saves the day as she arrives on her dragon just in time. We also see Daemon’s massive red dragon ready to breathe fire at Otto and his men.

Nevertheless, Rhaenyra manages to convince Daemon to spare bloodshed and return the dragon egg. She reminds him that to restore his status as the heir, he must kill the current heir, which in this case is Rhaenyra herself. Daemon, however, is not ready for that (just yet) and the situation settles.

Back in King’s Landing, the King is finally convinced by his advisors and is ready to take a new wife. However, things become a lot more interesting when he chooses Otto’s daughter, Alicent Hightower as his wife-to-be. This obviously, is not taken lightly by Corlys who leaves the room feeling disrespected, followed by Princess Rhaenyra who seems both shocked and displeased.

Episode 2 then ends with Corlys scheming up with Daemon as he calls the marriage proposal’s rejection, “an absurdity”. The Sea Snake manages to strike a deal with Daemon. It’s simple. Daemon will help the Sea Snake in defeating the Myrish pirates that threaten the House Velaryon. In return, Corlys will offer Daemon his full support against the throne. And that means the story is just heating up!

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