REVIEW: House of the Dragon – Season 2, Episode 8, “The Queen Who Ever Was”

Television Reviews

***SPOILERS***

In “The Queen Who Ever Was,” Tyland Lannister negotiates with the Triarchy of Essos to break the blockade. Larys tells Aegon he must leave King’s Landing and hide in Braavos. Jace bumps heads with Ulf. Corlys cautions Rhaenyra of the Greens’ strength. Ser Alfred arrives at Harrenhal at last and tells Daemon he should declare himself King. Alicent discusses the notion of leaving King’s Landing with Helaena. They’re interrupted by Aemond’s demand that Helaena ride to battle on Dreamfyre. Gwaine confronts Criston about his affair with Alicent. Tyland defeats Loha at mud wrestling. Baela cheers Jace up. Lohar agrees to sail with Tyland. Ser Simon writes to Rhaenyra, warning her of Daemon’s potential treachery. Alys leads Daemon to the Godswood, and he learns of the Long Winter. Aemond beseeches Helaena to ride with him, but she instead tells him his future; he does not take this well. Rhaenyra comes to Harrenhal and confronts Daemon directly. He shocks her by pledging to her again, and his troops follow suit. Allyn rejects Corlys’ meager fatherly offerings. Alicent meets with Rhaenyra at Dragonstone, apologizing and offering to help Rhaenyra take the Throne. Rhaenyra reminds Alicent that she would have to kill Aegon to remove all doubt of her claim. Alicent suggests they run away together, which Rhaenyra declines. Both navies sail for war as Alicent takes her leave and Rhaena approaches the dragon. Daemon and his troops ready for battle.

I was somewhat annoyed with the Tyland Lannister scenes this week. I know it has plot relevance in him obtaining naval forces and breaking the blockade, but it feels like wheel spinning. I think perhaps I just needed, like, half this much runtime for this plot element, and it would have been fine. This is worsened by Lohar, a character I found off-putting and unlikable. Lohar is the captain of ships for the Triarchy. She’s set up and described as a man, so this is supposed to be a big switcheroo. I don’t care about that; I just find her distasteful. I don’t obsess over gender norms and see no problem with lesbians, but this lady is just annoying and has no decorum. She even asks Tyland to get her wives pregnant for her so her kids can have his strength or whatever. I think the weirdness is the point; we’re seeing her from Tyland’s perspective, and he is understandably baffled. She isn’t like the ladies of Westeros; even a common prostitute there has better manners. You can (and may be intended to) argue that Tyland’s perspective on the matter is just cultural, but I would agree with him in this case. One good thing I’ll say is that at least this is all in the finale rather than peppered across multiple episodes.

I can’t say the same for Rhaena’s dragon hunting in the Vale or Daemon’s… whatever you want to call it in Harrenhal. I initially really enjoyed Harrenhal as a setting, especially the creepy atmosphere when Daemon first got there. But we all know this lasted way too long. Regardless of what happens in Fire and Blood, I think having Daemon and Rhaenyra separated for a whole season was a bad decision for the show. They’re my favorite characters, and both are extremely compelling, especially when they interact. Their reunion is my favorite scene in “The Queen Who Ever Was,” although I think the writers actually want us to go crazy. Rhaenyra is moved by Daemon’s renewed devotion and the army he has raised but dodges his attempt to touch foreheads with her. Girl, what more do you want? I think she wants me to lose my mind. Anyway, I feel similarly about Rhaena’s plight as Daemon’s delusions. I like the character and the idea of her claiming a dragon, but they have been stretching this crap out, and they really overdo it in “The Queen Who Ever Was.” I didn’t need to see the old girl huffing and starving so many times, and she doesn’t even get the dragon at the end of the episode! Not much happens in “The Queen Who Ever Was” at all, for that matter.

In Rhaenyra’s corner, we also have Addam, Hugh, and presumably Ulf, the new riders of Seasmoke, Vermithor, and Silverwing, respectively. I say presumably because Ulf has no respect and conducts himself the same way in the Queen’s presence that he did in the lowly bars of King’s Landing. Addam and Hugh also come from poor backgrounds despite their Targaryen blood, so I don’t see that as an excuse for Ulf. I don’t necessarily think he will be a traitor or a coward when the time comes, but I don’t exactly trust him. The way he speaks to Rhaenyra and Jace lends credence to Jace’s concerns about sharing the dragons, which I don’t like. That was a necessary decision, and I don’t want him to be emboldened in his opposition to it by Ulf’s poor behavior. 

Poor Aegon, amirite? His description of some of his injuries made me squirm when he spoke to Larys, the latter wanting to flee King’s Landing with the King. I don’t like Aegon, but they have been trying hard to make us feel sorry for him this season. It mostly works, but I won’t forget about him raping that poor maid in season 1. I’ve thought this was Larys’ plan for a little while now, to spirit the King away from danger. I admit that someone else said that, and it sounded plausible; I didn’t know what he was up to. It’ll be interesting to see what these two get up to outside the Red Keep. We also learn in “The Queen Who Ever Was” that Helaena knows what happened to Aegon; she saw Aemond disfigure him and leave him for dead. There’s also some kind of link between Helaena and Alys, unless the show was just emphasizing that they both have powers of premonition.

Speaking of Helaena, I like her more and more as the series goes along. I appreciate her refusing to do Aemond’s bidding and not wanting to fly out into battle. I’m not sure she’d be as useful as he thinks, anyway; she has been raised as a lady, a princess. She doesn’t have that type of battle in her like her two brothers do, and she’s better for it. Aegon and Aemond are savages. Trying to shield Helaena from battle is one of Alicent’s only admirable decisions, although Aemond is right that she doesn’t know anything about it, and both sides face annihilation at this point. For her part, Alicent meets with Rhaenyra, reversing the events of “The Burning Mill.” I truly don’t understand this choice or where Alicent thought it would get her. She comes to Rhaenyra begging to end the war and ultimately seems willing to hand Aegon over to do it. I don’t like Aegon, and I’m Team Black, but that’s your son. However, it also seems pretty naive of her to think a sacrifice like that could be avoided. How did Alicent expect such a meeting to go after she shunned Rhaenyra’s olive branch in episode 3? I liked Rhaenyra’s response, though, that she doesn’t really care what Alicent does. And the suggestion that the two could run away together (or that Rhaenyra would want to) is ludicrous, especially after all that has transpired. With rare exceptions, everything Alicent does makes me hate her more. Olivia Cooke rocks in the role, though, as does the whole cast. 

I’m conflicted about “The Queen Who Ever Was” and season 2 of House of the Dragon as a whole. It has been excellent in its performances, direction, and set design. This show is gorgeous to look at and brilliantly acted. But the story has left a lot to be desired this season, a problem I didn’t have with season 1. Certain events have been epic, like Rhaenys and Meleys going down as heroes at Rook’s Rest and Daemon pledging his forces to Rhaenyra. I hope this isn’t just a political alliance at this point; their relationship has been one of the show’s main anchors for me, alongside Rhaenyra and Alicent, Viserys and Daemon, etc. Anyway, these grandiose moments are let down by a season stuffed to the gills with filler. I genuinely think part of the solution would have been to restructure the seasons. I loved season 1, but maybe it should have slowed down a bit to save some flashbacks or time skips for season 2. I look forward to season 3, and I hope it’s less padded and more forward-moving.