House of the Dragon Recap, Season 1 Episode 1: The Heirs of the Dragon
I would characterize my feelings towards House of the Dragon (HotD, hilariously) as cautiously optimistic heading into last weekend. There was plenty of story, with the Dance of Dragons representing some of the most exciting and bombastic subject matter in all of George R.R. Martin’s supplementary writings. Miguel Sapochnik was responsible for some of the best episodes of Game of Thrones, and it sounded like he’d be working closely with George to make sure the story worked. After sitting down with a small group for the series premiere this past Sunday, I have to say: they got me again.
The episode itself was compelling. The tense meetings of King Viserys I’s Small Council made me think back to some of the best Thrones content from the first few seasons, and the juxtaposition of the Name Day Tourney’s violence against Queen Aemma’s tragic childbirth was, besides being extra upsetting to an expecting mother (my wife) and me, an apt and fair demonstration of the dangers faced by men and women in this world. Throw in some great-(and different!) looking dragons and sexual content bordering on superfluous and I felt like we were right back in the cozy confines of Westeros. Let’s get into the details!
How We Got Here – the Great Council of 101 A.C.
King Jaehaerys, the Old King, at the Great Council of 101 A.C.
The text near the opening of the episode tells us exactly where we are relative to what we watched in Thrones, but let’s quickly look back at the Targaryen dynasty prior to our new show. The opening scene depicts an event known as the Great Council of 101 A.C., which stands for After Conquest. This refers to Aegon Targaryen’s subjugation of the non-Dornish regions of Westeros, on the back of Balerion the Black Dread and alongside his two sister-wives, Visenya (riding Vhagar) and Rhaenys (riding Meraxes). If you want a deeper dive on his conquest, I have my own summary here and there’s plenty of material on the internet or in The World of Ice & Fire. Suffice to say, having three dragons was more than enough to overcome the resource and human capital deficits the Targaryens faced.
After Aegon died in 37 A.C., his eldest son by Rhaenys, Aenys, took over. He reigned briefly, dying rapidly of an illness and being replaced by his half-brother Maegor in 42 A.C. King Maegor had some serious beef with the Faith of the Seven (fair enough) and took an almost-Cersei-like approach to dealing with them. He also built a bunch of secret passages in the Red Keep and buried the workers alive to keep them secret. Not a particularly cool dude to work with or be around, he was found dead on the Iron Throne in 48 A.C. with multiple cuts and one piece of sword stuck all the way through his neck. As you could guess by the moniker, the comment in this episode that Daemon is another Maegor the Cruel in the making was not a compliment.
Jaehaerys, Aegon the Conqueror’s grandson through King Aenys, took the throne in 48 A.C. at the age of 14. He ended up building a lot of Westerosi infrastructure, healing rifts with aggrieved parties like the Faith, and generally crushing the ruling game along with his wife (and, yes, sister) Queen Alysanne. They both live a very long time by Westerosi standards, which necessitated the Great Council of 101 A.C. – all of their children are dead by then, and succession gets messy when it isn’t extremely easy or obvious.
In book canon, the decision comes down to Rhaenys’s (Jaehaerys’s only grandchild through his first son, Aemon) son versus Viserys (Jaehaerys’s grandson through his youngest son, Baelon), a question of whether the Iron Throne can pass through the female line or if it must always follow the penises. You can guess how Westerosi noblemen overwhelmingly voted, though Houses Baratheon and Stark notably endorsed Rhaeny’s line. The show tweaked this slightly, showing a decision between Viserys and Rhaenys herself, but the message is the same (women bad!) and Jaehaerys had already passed up Rhaenys once when he skipped her to name his (younger) son Baelon the heir.
So Viserys becomes King in 103 A.C. and inherits a kingdom not quite as hunky-dory as the one his grandparents created. It shouldn’t matter too much, because the realm is still prospering and no one is stepping to 10 adult dragons, but you can see why he’s a little desperate to produce a male heir as soon as possible and help everyone calm down a bit.
Where We Stand: A Trip Around the Small Council
The Small Council of King Viserys I after Daemon’s establishment of the Gold Cloaks
The biggest and most consequential introductions we get in this episode are probably the members of King Viserys’ Small Council. They get a lot of screentime, and the showrunners linger on the tensions between members and between the council and the King himself. Let’s do a quick lap around and get to know the people serving the realm:
Hand of the King: Otto Hightower
House Hightower has generally flourished from their seat of Oldtown since long before Aegon’s Conquest. They were a driving force behind the founding of the Citadel, the center of learning in Westeros, and the Starry Sept, a significant church for the Faith. Otto began serving as the Hand of the King for Jaehaerys and continued in the role when Viserys was crowned. He’s renowned for his learnedness and has been acting as Hand for 15+ years, having reached about as high a station a second son can attain. Besides his older brother (Lord of Hightower) and his daughter, Alicent, we don’t know much about his family.
Master of Coin: Lyman Beesbury
Lord of Honeyholt, a small castle not far from Oldtown in the Reach. He also continued service from Jaehaerys to Viserys, and seems to at least not have done anything to prevent the realm from growing richer in those years.
Master of Coin Lyman Beesbury and Grand Maester Mellos
Grand Maester: Mellos
Appointed by King Viserys, he’s considered a moderating voice, and, from what we’ve seen, not a great doctor. Leeching can be helpful, but not for everything.
Master of Laws: Lyonel Strong
Master of Laws Lyonel Strong (left)
Lord of Harrenhal (site of the Great Council of 101 A.C.) and head of House Strong, he was named Master of Laws by King Viserys. At this point he would be near the same age as Otto, with both of them a bit younger than Beesbury. House Strong has been in possession of Harrenhal for some 35-40 years when we join the show.
Master of Ships: Corlys Velaryon
Lord of the Tides (head of House Velaryon) and husband to Princess Rhaenys, Corlys is well-known throughout Westeros for his exploits at sea. He’s a natural sailor, and travels across the Narrow Sea to Essos and beyond regularly. Through his voyages he has greatly increased the wealth of House Velaryon, to the point that they are currently the wealthiest house in the realm. Along with being concerned about the Triarchy (an alliance of Essos Free Cities Myr, Lys, and Tyrosh) in the opening episode, he and his wife are still a little annoyed about being passed over by the Great Council.
Lord Commander of the Kingsguard: Ryam Redwyne
Lord Commander Ryam Redwyne behind King Viserys
Well-known as one of the greatest knights of his day, Ryam had a brief and notoriously unsuccessful run as Hand of the King to Jaehaerys before the Great Council of 101. He continued in service as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard from Jaehaerys to Viserys.
Master of Whisperers
I don’t think we’ve seen a Master of Whisperers, but whether that’s because they aren’t present or King Viserys doesn’t employ one, I’m not sure.
Commander of the City Watch: Daemon Targaryen
King Viserys’ younger brother is somewhat of a hero of the people. He’s an accomplished warrior and tournament knight, and as we saw in the premiere enjoys being among the common people (and brothels) in King’s Landing. I thought Matt Smith did a great job channeling the dashing rogue energy Daemon should have, and while he did a bit of surreptitious throne-sitting and eavesdropping, no one in Westeros thinks of him as particularly cunning or methodical. We saw Daemon’s…enthusiastic approach to leading the City Watch, and it’s easy to imagine how he wasn’t a good fit as Master of Laws or Master of Coin. His travels and exploits outside of Westeros are rivaled only by Corlys Velaryon, and he wields one of the ancestral Valyrian steel swords of House Targaryen, Dark Sister.
It’s going to be very interesting to see how all of these people get along and who they ultimately support, and we’ll get into our initial impressions of that a bit later.
Notable Appearances: Criston Cole, Syrax, Caraxes
Criston Cole
The dude knows how to make an entrance. Unhorsing Daemon Targaryen and beating him in single combat (with the help of some premature celebration) should make a big impression on anyone watching based on Daemon’s reputation, and the “He’s Dornish!” line reading from Alicent makes me think it’s the equivalent of having a European accent in our world. Pretty cool to see a morning star in action as well; like Oberyn Martell’s use of a spear, it’s nice to see a changeup in the weapons department.
Syrax
Rhaenyra’s mount is described as being somewhat large with yellow scales. She spent most of her time inside the walls of the Red Keep rather than in the Dragonpit in King’s Landing, with large chains keeping her grounded when not flying with Rhaenyra.
Caraxes
First ridden by Daemon’s uncle, Aemon, Caraxes was a large dragon with red scales. Between Aemon and Daemon, he has already flown in many battles by the time of Rhaenyra’s coronation as Princess of Dragonstone.
Big Questions
What’s the Alignment of the Small Council?
Some of the battle lines are drawn pretty clearly, with Otto Hightower seeming to piss off and enjoy lording his position over both Daemon and Corlys Velaryon. Loras Strong, whose name alone suggests some male insecurity issues, opposes the mere concept of a female ruler, so he could be trouble. Canonically, the Faith is about as feminist as most major religions in our own world, but Mellos might stay out of things entirely; the Faith hasn’t had a formidable military force since the days of Maegor. Master of Coin Beesbury doesn’t indicate much one way or another, while Ryam Redwyne and Daemon both seem assuredly behind King Viserys. It’s worth nothing that family can be fickle and the Kingsguard tends to struggle figuring out what to do when power changes hands. Barristan Selmy famously served both the Mad King Aerys and Robert Baratheon before heading east to join Daenerys, but some of his brothers chose death or exile rather than protecting a new King.
Who’s least happy with the way it shook out?
Loras Strong isn’t thrilled to bend the knee to a woman, and Corlys Velaryon likely supports Rhaenyra as the husband of the passed-over Rhaenys, but the other members of the Small Council are harder to predict. Otto is clearly planning something; Daemon is either upset Rhaenyra passed him, disappointed his brother won’t trust him, or both; we don’t know enough to pass judgment on Beesbury or Mellos. Lord Boremund Baratheon seemed a little hesitant to bend the knee, though, which could be something to keep an eye on. I mentioned earlier that the Baratheons supported Rhaenys’s claim, and they’ve historically been close with the Targaryens, but they’re a powerful house located close to King’s Landing when sides are chosen. I’m going to say Loras Strong is the most uncomfortable with the development from what we’ve seen, with Daemon a close second.
What is Daemon really after?
Guess he likes to watch more than he likes being watched
This one is tough to figure out, but I got a strong feeling from the show that he’s less dastardly than hotheaded. I found it very interesting that we cut away from his speech in the brothel before he could utter the words “Heir for a Day” as reported by Otto Hightower, and I’m certainly petty enough to not put up a fight when someone close to me throws rumors in my face without talking to me first. He’s also not wrong in his assessment of Viserys; I thought his speech at the end was a warning to his brother that he should be keeping family closer to him than any of the power-hungry advisors he’s selected who have agendas of their own. Otto was right that absolute power it appealing to everyone, but Daemon does seem to enjoy the second son life of power, riches, and fame with few real responsibilities.
What’s the significance of Targaryen dreams?
Balerion is still the largest dragon seen in Westeros, though Vhagar (who we haven’t met yet) grew to nearly the same size
Okay, the biggest development for us major nerds was Viserys’s conveyance of an important Targaryen dream to Rhaenyra ahead of her coronation. He described a humanity-ending threat from the north requiring a Targaryen on the throne to fight back. It seems natural to suggest the threat in question here is the White Walkers and the Night King, who we saw defeated in the final season of Thrones. The Targaryens are big on dreams for multiple reasons, but the biggest is the dream that sent them from Valyria to Dragonstone in 114 B.C. Daenys (nicknamed the dreamer, for obvious reasons) saw the great city of Valyria consumed by fire, and her father Aenar packed up and moved to Westeros. Twelve years later, In 102 B.C., all of the volcanos in and around Valyria erupted at once, drowning the area in fire, smoke, and ash. If the Targaryens have been passing this newly revealed prophecy down for generations, it’s interesting to consider what it might mean for actions taken by members of the family over the centuries.
Of course, a key element of prophecies in fantasy storytelling is how unreliable they can be. People tend to see what they want to see, often blinding themselves to the true nature of people and events around them. Daenerys never sat the Iron Throne before the Night King was defeated in HBO’s version of Game of Thrones. Arya Stark was actually responsible for eliminating the threat from Beyond the Wall, using the dagger so plainly shown in this episode. It doesn’t necessarily mean the dream is worth discarding entirely (I would be surprised if the Starkgaryens fought the Night King before Cersei in George’s world), but knowing about this Targaryen belief will make interpreting their decisions more interesting.
