House of the Dragon Recap With Spoilers: Season 2, Episode 5

House of the Dragon brought the action last week, as the fourth episode of HBO’s acclaimed series ended with the infamous Battle of Rook’s Rest. Rhaenys, one of the best characters on the show, was killed in action, while the life of King Aegon II was left hanging in the balance. On Sunday night, House of the Dragon continued its momentum, as both sides of the war made some very important decisions. WARNING: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS from House of the Dragon Season 2! Continue reading at your own risk…

Rook’s Rest Fallout

The episode begins with the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Rook’s Rest. Corlys mourns the loss of his wife, Rhaenys, who was killed by Aemond and Vhagar. The head of her dragon, Meleys, is paraded through the streets of King’s Landing as a way to show strength, claiming that Aegon killed the enemy. But it has the opposite effect with the citizens, who see it as a bad omen.

Hugh is among those who sees the head of Meleys and worries for what the war has become. He knows it’s all about dragons now, which means danger for people in places like King’s Landing. As we’ll see later, he finally agrees with his wife that they should leave town, but things don’t quite break the way they’d hoped.

Aegon was almost killed in the conflict, with many of his wounds actually coming from Vhagar. The scene of the maesters trying to peel off the armor melded to his flesh is gnarly, and it’s not surprising to learn that he’s not in good shape. He’s alive, but there’s a fear he won’t ever be himself again. He’s clearly not in a good enough place to rule from the Iron Throne, which means someone will need to take his place until he recovers. There are quite a lot of hints throughout these scenes that Aemond did, in fact, try and kill his brother, but nothing is every fully confirmed. Just know that Alicent is suspicious and none of the men involved are willing to be honest with her.

Over at Dragonstone, Rhaenyra is now without her biggest ally, and the men in her council are growing impatient with her strategies. Rhaenyra reminds everyone, multiple times in the episode, that she is also sick of sitting around, and would much rather fly into battle herself. Jace wants to get in on the action, too, and he believes he can force Daemon’s hand in the Riverlands. Before getting to Daemon, though, he heads to the Twins to gain the loyalty of House Frey. Thanks to an agreement that promises them Harrenhal after the war, the Freys agree to stop Cole’s armies from passing and buy time for Cregan Stark’s army to arrive from the north.

Control of the Riverlands

Daemon’s war, which is quickly becoming more about himself than Rhaenyra, is slipping out of control. When the Brackens won’t bend the knee, he sends their rivals, the Blackwoods, to pillage and murder innocent people until House Bracken agrees to become part of his army. 

His issues go well beyond war, as Daemon’s visions inside the walls of Harrenhal have not stopped. In his most disturbing waking dream yet sees him sleeping with another Targaryen woman, who is later revealed to be his mother. His madness is becoming an outward issue that it would be impossible not to notice.

Rhaenyra is making moves of her own, working with Mysaria to potentially gain some traction with the frightened people of King’s Landing. She also makes a move to offer the position of Hand of the Queen to Corlys. 

Replacing Aegon

Someone has to rule while Aegon is recovering from his injuries. Alicent makes the most sense, since she did the same for King Viserys at the end of his life, but she is surprised to find the rest of the small council doesn’t agree. Aemond is named King Regent and Protector of the Realm, much to Alicen’t dismay, with even Cole refusing to back her. Now in charge, Aemond kicks right into all-out-war mode, almost as though this has been his plan from the jump.

One of Aemond’s first acts as King Regent is to deal with the unrest in King’s Landing by bringing down the gates to the city and keeping anyone from leaving. This includes Hugh and his family, who are stopped at the exit with little other plan to escape the walls.

Despite their differences of opinion on the war, Rhaenyra sends Ser Alfred to try and reason with Daemon, and find out if he’s acting on behalf of her interests or his own. She also, with the help of Mysaria, sends a spy into King’s Landing. Alfred can’t get to Harrenhal soon enough, as the Lords of the Riverlands have turned on Daemon for his treatment of House Bracken. They tell him they will not bend the knee to a tyrant before turning their backs on him and leaving the stronghold. He is losing hope of building the army he had wanted so desperately to assemble.

The episode comes to an end by beginning a story that fans have been waiting for all season. With Meleys and Rhaenys gone, Rhaenyra knows that she can’t stand against Vhagar in a war of dragons. Jace has the idea to find people with traces of Valerian blood in their veins and see if they can ride either of the formidable, riderless dragons that live beneath Dragonstone. Getting Vermithor and Silverwing into action could turn the tide of the war in Rhaenyra’s favor.