Time doesn’t skip anymore on “Home of the Dragon.”
Simply as Season 2, Episode 1 picked up no more than a day or two after Season 1’s conclusion, mere hours cross between Episodes 201 and 202. The 72-minute episode written by Ryan Condal and directed by Claire Kilner is the sequence’ longest thus far, demonstrating the price of the Targaryen civil warfare within the aftermath of younger Jaehaerys’ dying, but in addition in the way it impacts these not of royal blood.
The quiet, panicked opening sequence depicts servants and small folks fleeing and frenzied, the best way civilians would possibly evacuate an unsafe public area even in our world; one thing unhealthy has occurred, one thing we should get away from — the camerawork and an erratic however becoming rating from Ramin Djawadi convey how the very surroundings shifts when tragedies like this happen. Djawadi’s most celebrated work tends to be melodically memorable, straightforward to hum (just like the present’s theme), however right here he reveals off his vary with an uncanny solo violin and tune that couldn’t be tougher to duplicate.
In IndieWire’s assessment of Season 2 (at the least, of the 4 episodes critics screened earlier than launch), Ben Travers identified that “Alicent (Olivia Cooke) is left with the ‘what hath I wrought’ arc,” which continues right here from Episode 1. Regardless that this little one homicide isn’t not directly her fault or attributable to her kids, she and the remainder of the Greens are fast to acknowledge the act of revenge set in movement with “A Son for a Son,” the dominos knocked over by Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) that escalated this warfare into an entire new echelon (all she wished was Luke’s eye). The “what hath I wrought” arc isn’t stale as of Episode 2, and Cooke is great, particularly in her first scene the place shock and grief intertwine. Each gasp, choke, and sob elevates the dialogue and emotion on the proper moments; the worry imbued in “the gods punish us. They punish me,” and the best way she breaks down on the mere considered daughter Helaena (Phia Saban) experiencing the loss of a kid.
For no matter group characters or viewers could align with, this episode and the story at massive don’t work should you can’t really feel for Helaena and Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney). Saban and Glynn-Carney ship two excellent performances, every with a novel and disparate method to their character’s anguish and and methods to even start transferring ahead. The place Aegon howls with rage, hurls furnishings, and accuses his council of negligence (to not point out the execution of each ratcatcher within the Purple Hold, congratulations to the rats), Helaena is weeping, silent, secluded. Her misery on the funeral tracks with all of Saban’s selections thus far, {that a} lady who prefers privateness and seclusion would balk on the reverse — particularly whereas sitting in a carriage behind her son’s decapitated physique.
Each the small council and procession scenes underscore the weirdness of warfare, in that blame for Jaehaerys’ dying falls on Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy). It doesn’t matter that “the boy” (as he’s strategically referred to when folks ostensibly can’t bear to utter his title) was killed by a gold cloak, a employed gun; nor does it matter that Daemon (Matt Smith) solicited this crime within the first place or that Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) pointed him in the fitting path. What issues is whose banners any of those folks would fly and which ruler they help on the throne: Rhaenyra. In contrast, the blame for Lucerys’ dying finally ends up largely with Aemond or his dragon Vhagar as an alternative of Aegon — maybe one other means wherein Westerosi patriarchy isn’t so dissimilar to our personal.
However irrespective of how a lot hatred and title calling they ship her means from King’s Touchdown, Rhaenyra is aware of the reality, and her doubts about Daemon result in an electrical scene between D’Arcy and Smith (should you sluggish it down and watch it backward you’ll hear “WHERE ARE MY EMMYS” on a loop). It helps that the present’s de facto leads are two of the best actors in a massively expert firm, however that is a kind of scenes that units “Home of the Dragon” aside from “Recreation of Thrones” on writing alone. The dialog flows naturally, the language suits the present’s universe, and the precise content material of what they’re saying is deeply compelling and propels the present’s narrative. Daemon’s dialogue and physique language acutely seize any particular person too obstinate to confess their true emotions or that they have been improper about one thing. Kilner retains the actors and digicam transferring organically, monitoring how the connection itself shifts inside just some minutes. Up till now, at the least all through their marriage, Rhaenyra and Daemon have been a united entrance, it doesn’t matter what different folks could say about both or each of them behind their backs. Right here, these cracks burst open, fracturing an already divided home.
The fast brothel scene with Aemond has two important moments; first, his act of contrition about “that enterprise with Luke,” which is simply concerning the least enthusiastic declaration of remorse potential (additionally not an apology), and doesn’t carry a lot weight uttered behind closed doorways to a stranger. It’s for the viewers, and a part of the present’s ongoing marketing campaign of humanizing sometimes monstrous people (Aegon, Daemon), however such is the sport with the thrones and all.
The second key takeaway is what his companion says, although Aemond himself is probably not receptive to it: “When princes lose their mood, it’s usually others who are suffering — small folks like myself,” she says. Daemon misplaced his mood and executed a half-baked revenge plan that killed a toddler; Aegon misplaced his mood and ordered the deaths of males he employed, males with wives and youngsters who then felt Aegon’s personal ache.
After which there are the troopers, those who lose probably the most even when it’s what they pledged. Episode 202’s climax is the reunion, battle, and demise of knights Arryk (Luke Tittensor) and Erryk (Elliot Tittensor) Cargyll. On the bombastic orders of Ser Sore Loser Criston Cole, Arryk is shipped to Dragonstone with orders to kill Rhaenyra whereas pretending to be his brother. On the floor, this plan is outright goofy — Otto (Rhys Ifans) even refers to it as a “prank” — however couldn’t be extra harmful for Arryk, surrounded by enemies. It’s left unsaid, however this isn’t a mission from which he seemingly would have returned, even when he did succeed.
It’s a brutal struggle, directed with the identical dynamism as Rhaenyra and Daemon’s earlier argument. Punching, kicking, and different hand-to-hand fight intercut the swordplay, with D’Arcy caught within the center (rendered just a little ineffective, even when they proceed to behave with full gusto). The twins’ shouts of agony are as a lot bodily ache as emotional turmoil as a result of they know earlier than everybody else current that that is definitely the top. It’s an impressive farewell for the Tittensor brothers, a remaining scene as memorable and impactful as any lead character may ever hope for and as soon as once more illustrating the very human lives being misplaced in a dance of dragons.
The weakest a part of the episode — and the one time I actually felt its runtime — is that remaining scene with Alicent and Cole. Their pairing isn’t in “Hearth & Blood,” and it’s considerably repugnant, even when that’s by design. It’s a bit shallow, as added backstory goes, for Alicent to have an affair with Rhaenyra’s previous lover, but it surely’s additionally not meant to engender empathy or compassion in viewers. There is no such thing as a absolution for both of those folks, as Cole himself says in Episode 2 — however to that finish there’s additionally no added worth to watching them make the identical unhealthy selections time and again, least of all if it’s only for the sake of conserving intercourse within the present when it’s transfixing sufficient in any other case. I (and the gods) will reserve judgment for now and monitor the connection’s trajectory. However please, lock the door this time.