House of the Dragon (2×07) The Red Sowing Review

For our review of the last episode of House of the Dragon, click here.

It was just a matter of time but war is upon us. After so much foot dragging while all the involved parties worked to get their metaphorical dragons together in order to mount any kind of offensive. That being said, some characters still have some things left to figure out, including whatever Daemon is trying to get out of Harrenhal. At the heart of this season, was the story of Rhaenyra and Alicent taking charge of their own lives and that story continued here as they handled things in different ways. Wanting to stand up for herself and her rightful claim to the Iron Throne, she had to change up her strategy, initiating the most chaotic boot camp ever. Alicent’s answer, however, was to leave King’s Landing do some much needed soul-searching so she could figure out the person she wanted to be now that her position has systematically been marginalized to the point of nonexistence. And maybe that was a person that didn’t need King’s Landing anymore

Meanwhile, picking up from where the last episode left off, Rhaenyra found Seasmoke and Addam of Hull. He assured her that he had no idea why any dragon would seek him out as he seemingly had little to do with the encounter haven taken place (as far as he knew). Nevertheless, Addam bent the knee for her and that was enough for her. Whether or not others would be okay with their arrangement, let alone believe that he had nothing to do with what had happened, remained to be seen. The biggest hurdle may prove to be Jacaerys and his insecurity. The biggest issue Addam faced was his lowborn status and that did not sit well with him and the history of House Targaryen but they failed to see the bigger picture. Maybe Rhaenyra had been targeting the wrong group of people to become prospective dragonriders, therefore she was pushed in the direction of Targaryen bastard children for which there are many.

Getting the message out to King’s Landing, through Mysaria, calling out to all the Targaryen bastards and attracting a large group that included Ulf and Hugh (Kieran Brew), a blacksmith struggling to make ends meet to support his family, which was made worse by the crown not paying him for his work building weapons they had commissioned. Once they arrived, they were literally put in the line of fire, in the range of a dragon named Vermithor. A predicament that would inevitably leave few survivors, in one of the best sequences of the season thus far, many perished at the fiery breath of the dragon and/or in the process of escaping the chaos that it caused. Emerging from those ruins was of course the aforementioned Ulf and Hugh, the former finding himself another dragon (named Silverwing) who deemed him worthy.

With Daemon’s biggest hurdle against acquiring a Riverland army gone, his grandsire and new lord of the Riverlands, the young Ser Oscar Tully (Archie Barnes), showed that he was wise beyond his years. He wanted to maintain the oath that his house swore to King Viserys and his heir but he was also self-aware and had his finger on the pulse of what was happening. Daemon just had to stay quiet to respect the process and let them resolve their own affairs to help Oscar shore up his position of leadership of his people.

Shots were fired, though probably inadvertent, as Ulf, likely unable to control Silverwing, was spotted flying above King’s Landing. Impulsively, wanting to respond, Aemond flew Vhagar towards Dragonstone but turned away at the sight of the show of force that waited for him. Rhaenyra was not playing around (whether or not she had anything to do with the incident involving Ulf and Silverwing remains to be seen).

Now that Rhaenyra has her dragonriders and Daemon presumably has the Riverland army, the Team Black offensive appears to be ready to go. However, drama at the top of King’s Landing makes the Team Green position does not appear so certain as behind the appeasement of Aemond, who looks more and more to be in it for himself, if only to prove wrong those who have doubted him all his life.

still courtesy of HBO

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.