Did Alicent actually consider that Viserys was speaking about their son? Or was that merely what she wished to consider? (As necessary, ought to a drama hinge its central battle on the sort of verbal mix-up higher suited to a sitcom? Answering that’s, at this superior stage, maybe past the scope of this recap.)
The daring stealth mission during which Rhaenyra sneaks again into King’s Touchdown (with Mysaria’s assist) to drive a one-on-one assembly together with her frenemy of frenemies clears all this up. Alicent actually believes Viserys needed Aegon. For her half, Rhaenyra actually believes Alicent actually believes it. However as soon as the dowager queen mentions the Conqueror’s “Music of Ice and Fireplace,” Rhaenyra figures out what went mistaken and gives a clarification … which Alicent refuses to heed, though she appears to know in her coronary heart that it’s true.
So there you might have it: The struggle will proceed as a result of Workforce Inexperienced’s captain can’t deal with the reality. Alicent’s refusal to vary course undoes not solely Rhaenyra’s peacekeeping efforts — and Princess Rhaenys’s earlier than that — but additionally her personal. The fan discourse about this must be enjoyable, in accordance with sure definitions of “enjoyable,” anyway.
Greater than clearing up the wacky mix-up on the coronary heart of all of it, although, the scene’s main worth is in reuniting the actors Olivia Cooke and Emma D’Arcy. Their chemistry is as pure and compelling as that of any two performers on tv. Their characters’ energies really feel as entangled because the dueling dragons within the present’s Season 2 brand; watching them tear and pull at one another results in outcomes simply as flamable. Quibble if you’ll with Rhaenyra’s rashness in in search of an unprotected viewers with the Queen in King’s Touchdown. However including this scene, which isn’t within the ebook, made for a greater present.
Whereas Rhaenyra and Alicent try to maintain the peace, although, the boys surrounding them struggle for the alternative. Rhaenyra’s Black Council, made up primarily of minor lords scared to lose what little energy they’ve, pushes for an assault straight away. Her estranged husband, Daemon, flies straight for the moldering ruins of Harrenhal, key to the necessary Riverlands area. He’s greeted by a realistic castellan, Sir Simon Robust (Simon Russell Beale), who arms the fort over to him and not using a struggle, and a mysterious servant, Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin), who tells him that Harrenhal is the place the place he’ll die. You win some, you lose some, I assume.
