Season 1-Episode 02

The Rogue Prince

I will speak of my brother as I wish. You will not.

Daemon Targaryen, to Corlys Velaryon

Major Plot Points: Rhaenyra and her Aunt discuss the role of women in politics. Daemon has a temper tantrum and wants attention. Viserys wrestles with his conscience while being manipulated on all sides to pick a new wife. There is an all you can eat buffet for crabs.

Observations from a Book Reader:

1. Craghas Drahar aka “The Crabfeeder”, was indeed in the book. He is a cunning general that leads the forces of The Triarchy to attack the Stepstones. Map below shows where The Stepstones are located, and at this point in history Westeros had a shaky claim to them, as they bordered Essos and the independent land of Dorne.
2. The Triarchy is the name given to the alliance of Lys, Myr, and Tyrosh, 3 extremely powerful and wealthy cities in Essos.
3. It is still unknown exactly what caused the Valyrian Empire to fail. Some think it was a massive volcanic eruption, others that experiments with dragons and magic caused it to disintegrate. At its peak, Westeros is not even half as powerful as the Valyrian Empire was.
4. The Velaryons (Corlys’ family) came to Westeros with Aegon the Conqueror and at the time of this show, are by far the richest family in Westeros, with the strongest navy in the kingdom. It can be confusing however since their family name “Velaryon” is so similar to “Valyrian”, the race of people from Valyria of which they and the Targaryens are a part of.
5. Balerion, mentioned by Laena, was of course the otherworldly gigantic dragon ridden by Aegon the conqueror. Viserys was indeed the final rider of the beast. Vhagar was the dragon of Aegon’s sister, Visenya, and was nearly as large and powerful as Balerion. Viserys does mention that Vhagar is still very much alive somewhere in the Narrow Sea which would make Vhagar one of the most powerful and ancient creatures still alive in the known world. Chekov’s dragon????
6. Generally, only the direct line of succession would have an egg placed in their cradle. Daemon making up a story about being married, and taking the egg, was basically just him acting out and ignoring the fact he is no longer heir. Mysaria is the woman Daemon was sleeping with in Episode 1, and even though Daemon used her as a pawn here, he does deeply care for her.
7. Daemon would sooner die than ever lay a hand upon Rhaenyra. He is an arrogant prick, but this is one of 2 examples this episode we see where we can gain insight into the fact that he does truly care for Rhaenyra and Viserys. The other being when he lashes out at Corlys for talking badly of his brother.
8. Lyonel Strong, the man that Viserys had his heart to heart with, is the Master of Laws. He is also the Lord of Harrenhall, which is a very important castle at this point in history. He has 2 sons, one of which, Harwin, is known as the strongest man in Westeros.
9. Corlys and Daemon are both 2 men of action. This alliance, while not outright treasonous yet, will cause major ripples in the political landscape of the country. The Crabfeeder is screwed.

Other Points to Notice

1. Daemon staying in Dragonstone is extremely symbolic, as the seat of “Prince” of Dragonstone has always been given to the person next in line for the throne. By all rights, it should be a title given to Rhaenyra, and she says as much when confronting Daemon.
2. Otto seems reluctant to acknowledge Rhaenyra in any way, he clearly did not want to let her pick Ser Criston Cole as the newest member of the Kingsguard.
3. Viserys asking Alicent not to mention their talks to his daughter does tell us that deep down he knows she would be weirded out by the situation.
4. Impossible to not feel like the friendship between Rhaenyra and Alicent could develop to being more than friends. I’d say after the events of this episode, that is out of the question now. Their relationship as children was not explored in the books, but like other details added so far, this one makes sense and adds some great potential for conflict down the line.
5. Otto Hightower is a brilliant manipulator. He knows he cannot outright tell Viserys to reject the marriage proposal to Laena Velaryon, but he then phrases his objection as a simple “I do not envy you”. Knowing of course that Viserys rarely voluntarily takes the path of discomfort.
6. Otto calling his daughter “The most comely girl in court” is very weird, and he then berates her for picking her fingernails, which we see her do when she is anxious. This comes off as highly insensitive, especially since Otto is basically forcing her to throw herself upon Viserys.
7. Rhaenyra ironically is the one who seemed to push Viserys over the edge to marrying Alicent. If she knew his intentions, I doubt she would have been as understanding in their conversation.

Stray Observations:

1. Very conflicted on the new opening theme. The graphic is showing the Targaryen family tree, but it’s not as easy to follow as the Westeros map. The music being the same makes sense because its iconic, but man I was hoping for a new theme song that could compete with the old one. Small complaints.
2. This episode was kinda the “Introduction to Corlys Velaryon” crash course. His importance to the plot moving forward cannot be understated.
3. I don’t think I like Otto Hightower. His brand of politics is particularly sleazy because it’s hidden under the guise of good natured advice, but I don’t think this man has any good nature deep down whatsoever.
4. Once again I am pointing out how much better this show is than Game of Thrones was at giving knights full liveries and sigils. All the kingsguard candidates had bright and vivid colors on that let you know exactly where they were from. Little details like that are what is making this show great for me so far.
5. The maggot treatment for the necrotic finger of Viserys, is hilariously still one of the most effective treatments in modern medicine for infections of that type.
6. Rhaenys did a great job of getting under Rhaenyra’s skin. Was it to motivate her to take more power for herself before time slips her by? Or was it the bitter ramblings of a jealous ex-heir who saw too much of herself in her niece?
7. Caraxes would have destroyed Otto and his men in maybe 15 seconds. Ridiculously powerful dragon.
8. Viserys really could not stay mad at Rhaenyra for long. At a certain point he has to give her more agency, she is clearly apt to it.
9. How do you get an audience to be OK with a grown man marrying a 15 year old? Simple, make the other option a 12 year old who looks like she is 9.

RIP: All of those poor fishermen and fisherwomen who got eaten by the seemingly unstoppable crab infestation of Westeros.