“House of the Dragon” recap: The dragons dance

Dragons from both sides of the Targaryen civil war finally enter battle in episode 4.

In the haunted halls of Harrenhal, Daemon (Matt Smith) continues to see the ghosts of the girl he once knew. He dreams he’s in the Throne Room of the Red Keep, walking toward the Iron Throne just as his descendent Daenerys Targaryen will in the centuries to come. He finds another Targaryen queen, a young Rhaenyra (a returning Milly Alcock) accusing him of treason in their mother tongue. “You created me Daemon. Yet, you are now set on destroying me,” she says in Valyrian as he begs her to stop. “All because your brother loved me more than he did you.” In a fury, Daemon slices dream Rhaenyra’s head off but as Viserys’ crown clanks to the ground, her decapitated head creepily asks, “This is what you always wanted, is it not?”

As Daemon wakes from his nightmare, he imagines blood on his hand before it disappears. Whatever is going on in Harrenhal, it’s getting to the normally fearsome warrior. He seems out of sorts when he meets young Oscar Tully, heir to Riverrun and grandson to the ailing Grover Tully (The Sesame Street names are a joke carried over from the book). After suggesting Oscar place a pillow over his grandsire’s face so he can take over, Daemon says “House Tully is a fish with no head” and demands to see Rhaenyra’s loyalists in House Blackwood. He might have Harrenhal, but he has no forces save a dragon, and he needs men of action.

Related: The Witch Queen of Harrenhal: House of the Dragon star Gayle Rankin discusses the enigmatic Alys Rivers

But the curse of the castle continues to prey on his mind. After another nightmare, he stumbles upon Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin). Alys is a bastard of House Strong and brews Daemon a sleeping draft, but after witnessing her many witchy ways, he looks at the cup doubtfully. Before he drinks, time shifts suddenly and he’s in a meeting with Ser William Blackwood, who is pledging his allegiance to Rhaenyra. Daemon tries to get his bearings, but sees a vision of his dead wife, Laena, serving as cupbearer. The curse of Harrenhal might be driving him mad.

Rhaenyra goes missing on the eve of war

On Driftmark, Rhaenys meets Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim) to thank him for saving Corlys’ life, but has ulterior motives. Noticing the younger man’s resemblance to her husband, she cradles Alyn’s face and says with deep sorrow, “Your mother must have been very beautiful.” When Corlys (Steve Toussaint) interrupts the awkward encounter and dismisses Alyn, she snaps, “I know who he is, Corlys.”

Corlys finally returns to the Small Council after hearing how rudderless it has become in Rhaenyra’s mysterious absence. The querulous Ser Alfred Broome (Jamie Kenna) chafed at Rhaenys acting as if she was Hand of the Queen, even though she’s wiser than anyone else on the council. Corlys reads the other lords the riot act, but it takes over half the episode before Rhaenyra returns and admits she went to see Alicent (Olivia Cooke) in King’s Landing. Jace (Harry Collett) reacts to this information with enough sullen fury to make Jon Snow, who he resembles, proud.

Rhaenyra explains, “I inherited 80 years of peace from my father. Before I ended it, I needed to know there was no other path.” There is no way forward now but war. Echoing something Cersei Lannister once said to Ned Stark, Rhaenyra knows in this game of thrones, she either wins or she dies.

She tells the council with a new sense of resoluteness that “There are those that have mistaken my caution for weakness. Let that be their undoing.” Since Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) is on the march with the Greens’ forces to Rook’s Rest across the narrow channel from Dragonstone, they must strike. Rhaenyra and Jace argue over which of them will ride on dragonback to battle, but in the end, Rhaenys volunteers, since both she and Meleys are battle-tested. Her husband watches as she leaves, uneasy with the task she’s taken.

In the caverns of Dragonstone, Rhaenys emerges armored and crowned like a Targaryen of old. She nuzzles her head into Meleys and whispers in Valyrian, “We’re off to battle again, old girl.”

Ser Criston the Kingmaker

Before heading to Rook’s Rest, Ser Criston the Worst has been rampaging through the crownlands capturing Rosby and Stokeworth and beheading Lord Gunthor Darklyn at Duskendale for failing to bend the knee to King Aegon II. His forces have grown — so has his reputation as Kingmaker — but not everyone is so impressed. Before his death, Lord Darklyn spits on the cocky knight saying, “You are not fit for the white cloak.”

Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney, who is weirdly sympathetic in a way Joffrey Baratheon never achieved) isn’t so thrilled to hear that Daemon has taken Harrenhal, which is his Master of Whisperers' very own holdfast. Larys (Matthew Needham) claims this isn’t an issue, since the castle will drive Daemon mad. From what we have seen so far, he might be right.

Things get worse when the insecure king hears that the smallfolk are calling Ser Criston the Kingmaker and that his Hand has been plotting with his brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) over battle strategies. He and Aemond fight over the wisdom of claiming Rook’s Rest over Harrenhal, with Aemond disdainfully dressing his brother down in perfect Valyrian. Aegon must have slept through his Valyrian lessons, because he can barely get out a clear sentence in response. He does know the Valyrian word for war, but that might be the first word a Targaryen ever learns.

Related: House of the Dragon director confirms major Game of Thrones Easter egg in episode 3

He sulks off but finds no comfort from his mother Alicent, who has gotten herself knocked up by Ser Criston and has spent the episode dealing with the effects of a Moon Tea-induced abortion. As she holds heated stones to her belly to provide relief, she searches Viserys’ books for proof of his thinking about the succession. During a tense conversation with Ser Larys, she admits that whatever her husband’s intention was, it died with him. However, she still has to deal with the idiot she might have mistakenly put on the throne.

When Aegon complains no one cares what he thinks, she dismissively asks, “What thoughts would you have?” Wearing the crown does not give him wisdom. She had hoped he would have learned from those with the experience and cunning to rule like the grandfather he recently sacked. When he whines about what she would have him do, she responds, “Do what is needed of you. Nothing.”

But Aegon does not heed her words. Drunk on wine and desperate to prove himself, he flees to the Dragonpit where he greets his dragon Sunfyre with a wasted smile. In Aegon the Conqueror’s armor, he mounts his beast and flies to the impending battle at Rook’s Rest.

As the Greens begin their daylight attack, Rhaenys and Meleys descend from the clouds. She starts streaking the battlefield with fire, but Ser Criston reveals this was all part of a trap by sounding horns that awaken the nearby Vhagar. But before Aemond can join the fight, he sees Sunfyre flying into battle. He calls Aegon an idiot in Valyrian and tells his dragon to wait.

As Rhaenyra tells Jace of the Song of Ice and Fire back on Dragonstone, the dragons dance in the skies above Rook’s Rest. Seeing that Sunfyre has flown into battle instead of Vhagar, Criston panics, knowing the king has joined a fight he’s not prepared to participate in. Aegon yells “Dracarys” – which must be the second Valyrian word a Targaryen learns –and bathes Rhaenys and her dragon in fire. However, Meleys is swifter and swoops under Sunfrye, tearing into the younger dragon. Sunfyre almost crashes into the ground before Aegon manages to resume flight, but Meleys soon attacks again. Rhaenys seems to be winning the battle when Lord Staunton of Rook’s Rest sees the enormous wings of Vhagar lift from the trees.

Aemond rides into battle without armor. Aegon thanks the gods until he realizes his brother has no intention of leaving him out of his path of fire. Wings singed and damaged, Sunfyre drops out of the sky and crashes into the forest as Criston watches in horror.

Dazed but alive, Rhaenys has a chance to escape. As she rounds over the water, though, she knows a true Targaryen doesn’t flee from battle. Like a mighty warrior, she turns back toward Vhagar and commands in Valyrian, “Attack, Meleys.”

Though Meleys is mighty, Vhagar is easily three times her size. Rhaenys still puts up a good fight. Vhagar crashes to the ground, the force of it knocking Ser Criston unconscious. Her claws crush many Greens as she gets airborne again.

Related: Here are all the Game of Thrones spinoffs in the works

Still aloft, Rhaenys makes another pass over the castle when Vhagar zooms up from underneath and snaps Meleys’ neck between her teeth. The life goes out of the Red Queen’s eyes, and as Vhagar lets go of the dead beast, Rhaenys falls to her death on her dragon’s back. All hail the Queen that Never Was, for she died a true Targaryen death.

Ser Criston awakens to a vision of chaos and death. Knights have been incinerated in their armor and the forest burns where Aegon and his dragon fell. As he finds Sunfyre’s broken body, Aemond stalks toward it with his sword drawn. Was he about to finish off his brother? If so, he’s stopped by the sound of Criston calling his name. Aemond sheathes his sword and simply picks up his brother’s catspaw dagger, which has been thrown to the ground. As he draws closer to the mangled but still breathing Sunfyre, Ser Criston drops to his knees as he sees that the king has been grievously injured. Unconcerned for his brother, Aemond merely stalks away without another look.

Notes from the Archmaester

• Let’s raise our tankards to Eve Best, who made Rhaenys one of the most compelling characters on the show. Her presence will be severely missed.

• The Harrenhal sequences have been some of the most compelling of the season so far, thanks to stellar direction and a great performance by Matt Smith.

• This episode had potentially the most Valyrian ever spoken in either House of the Dragon or Game of Thrones.

• In Fire & Blood, George R.R. Martin named Oscar Tully’s father Elmo and his brother Kermit, so no one can say the man doesn’t have a sense of humor. That, or he’s just a big Sesame Street fan.

• Larys noticing the Moon Tea cannot come to any good.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.