Criticism of episode 4 of ‘The House of the Dragon’: Daemon and Rhaenyra almost burned

Possibly the relationship between Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower would have a different ending if they were born in another time and in another world, but in the universe of Westeros the two young women are weighed down by their gender and by the future plans that their parents have for them. . Given this, each one chooses a position, while Alicent accepts her destiny and approaches King Viserys to become his wife and mother of his children, although that does not make her happy, Rhaenyra rebels and refuses to marry the suitors. that have been awarded to him (he goes on tour to meet them). The two try to navigate the odds to maintain their friendship (or whatever), but their futures are doomed to clash.

Episode 4 of ‘The House of the Dragon’ is presented as the prelude to a conflict between them that is getting closer and closer and at whose epicenter is the Iron Throne. Still none of them is aware that they will end up facing him, but their roles and the decisions they are making lead them to it. In this chapter the battle is fought again through the corridors of the Red Fortress, waiting for the king to change his mind about his heir and for the princess to decide to marry. But none of this seems forthcoming.

Rhaenyra defies her father’s plans and rejects the list of possible husbands he sends before her to choose one. None convinces him. In her place, he allows himself to be attracted by her uncle, her Daemon, who intends to approach her to open her eyes and in the process take advantage of her. On the one hand, she takes him out of her castle and makes him step on the streets of King’s Landing so that she can see how the people doubt that she will become queen one day. On the other hand, she starts a game of seduction that takes them to a brothel where she seems to be willing to go further with her uncle.

Viserys and Daemon in ‘The House of the Dragon’. /

CR

This type of approach among the Targaryens is not strange. Marriages between siblings, or uncles and nephews or cousins, have been common in this house to keep the blood of the dragon pure since ancient Valyria. Daemon, however, backs down at the last moment and does not get to consummate any act with her. Rhaenyra’s horniness helps her discover desire, to discover his weapons of seduction and to take advantage of his position to bring Ser Criston Cole to his bed.

What she does not count on is the spies that the Hand of the King, Otto Hightower, has throughout the kingdom, in the most remote places, so that nothing that happens in his corners escapes him. And one of those informers tells him what happened between uncle and niece. Managing that information is not easy, but he uses it to pursue her goal: to convince the king to give up his idea of ​​making her daughter queen and decide on her son, who is also the her grandson. But this time the shot backfires, because Viserys is going to be aware of the ambition of his right hand, of his manipulative skills, of the way in which he has planned everything to reach the Throne. And so she gets rid of him.

It remains to be seen how Alicent, wife of one and daughter of another, is going to take this decision, also propitiated by her friend’s dalliances.

Alicent Hightower in ‘The House of the Dragon’. /

CR

Rhaenyra isn’t going to get away with it either. Her descent into hell hand in hand with her uncle has allowed her to see first-hand how dangerous and vile the adult world is, of which she, although she does not want to, is already a part of it. She has to stop behaving like a child. Her father continues to protect her and is already clear with whom he will marry her, with the son of Lord Corlys Velaryon, to unite the two most powerful families in Westeros. And it doesn’t look like she’s going to be able to run away from this suitor. Viserys does not want to leave any loose ends and in the face of a possible unfortunate consequence of the rapprochement between his brother and his daughter, he sends one of his advisers with a potion that frees him from a scion that nobody wants.

Everything has consequences. Rhaenyra has a hard time learning this lesson, but for her own good, she will have no choice but to understand it right away to measure her actions. Daemon already learned it. And Otto Hightower too. Proof of this is that both, for different reasons and ways, have ended up separated by the monarch. But that does not mean that none of them will stop until they achieve their goals. And now both of them have dropped their mask and we have verified what they are capable of to approach the Iron Throne. Because yes, in this series everything, everything that happens has a single purpose: to occupy that place of power that, however, its owners never finish enjoying.

‘The House of the Dragon’ approaches the equator and the two sides that are going to fight to inherit the kingdom can already be seen. The rest only have left on which side they position themselves.