Season 2-Episode 05

Regent

I am blood and fire. Driftmark must pass to salt and sea

Baela Targaryen

Major Plot Points: Rhaenyra and Jace write down new ideas during a brainstorming session. Alicent realizes that dis-empowering women makes it harder for her to gain power as a woman. Aemond finds himself with a fun new job. Daemon continues to hallucinate and make bad choices.

Observations from a Book Reader

1. There was no mention of the head of Meleys being paraded through King’s Landing. It does seem like something Cole would do though. Aegon was brought back to the city in secret while grievously wounded so the small folk would not think he was as hurt as he was. One major difference, the show strongly alludes to Sunfyre being dead (Cole mentions he was ‘long in the dying’). Sunfyre did not die at Rook’s Rest, he was just too injured to fly and remained there recovering for several months.
2. Jace was the one to ask Corlys to become the Hand of the Queen, not Baela. Jace constantly took initiative in the book, he was the one to convince the Starks, Freys, and various other houses to join the Blacks, and the idea of finding the “dragonseeds” was all him as well (as opposed to it being him and Rhaenyra this episode). The show seems to portray him as more of a reckless teenager that wants to prove himself.
3. Aemond did not wait for the council to give him the regency while Aegon was injured. He picked up the crown and said “it looks better on me than it ever did on him” and immediately began running the show. Another change is that the show made it sound like Aemond was the natural choice since he was next in the line of succession. In the book, Aegon’s second son Maelor was the heir at this point, but for whatever reason he does not exist in the HBO adaptation
4. The subplot of Daemon trying to take the crown for himself never happened. It could have been a motivation of his, but at this point all we heard was that he had taken Harrenhal and rallied the riverlands in support. While Daemon in the show looks to have gained the Brackens to his cause, his methods of doing so may have cost him the rest of the riverland houses.
5. Mysaria was still in King’s Landing at this point, so this spy (Elinda) she sends from Dragonstone is an entirely new development. Very interested to see what chaos she will conduct in the city. She goes directly to the ex handmaiden that Aegon raped last season.
6. The 2 dragons that Jace mentions as being able to stand against Vhagar, are Vermithor and Silverwing. They were the dragons used by Rhaenyra’s great grandparents Jaehaerys and Alysanne and are the oldest and strongest dragons alive besides Vhagar. Worth throwing random peasants at in the hopes one has enough Targaryen blood to ride them. Vermithor was the dragon we saw Daemon speak to in the caves near the end of last season.

Other Points to Notice

1. Rhaenyra rightfully complains about the lack of respect her council gives her about military decisions. Being raised by a King who only presided over an age of peace, she is struggling to flip the switch into running an actual war. Interestingly she parallels her half brother Aegon when she says “What would you have me do?” to her council, as Aegon said it to Alicent last episode before flying off.
2. This episode is the first time we have seen The Eyrie on the screen since the later seasons of Game of Thrones. The Eyrie is the giant mountain stronghold where the Arryns rule as Lords of the Vale. During the time of House of the Dragon, Jeyne Arryn is the leader, during the time of Game of Thrones it was Lysa Arryn and then Littlefinger. Gaining the help of the Vale is pivotal to Rhaenyra’s cause as they have a large standing army that could help her secure her claim.
3. The insane scene of Daemon dreaming of having sex with his mother was most likely another trick conducted on him by Alys Rivers. His mother, Alyssa Targaryen, died when he was only 2 years old, so perhaps Alys is playing on his deep insecurity of never knowing his own mother’s love, while also continuing to grow the lifelong belief he holds that he should have been king over his brother Viserys.
4. We once again see Hugh Hammer and his sad family struggling in King’s Landing. While he exists to give a face to the peasant struggle in the war, he will also serve a more unexpected role in the future. If he can ever leave the closed gates of the city that is.
5. Similar to the Arryns, this episode also shows us our old friends the Freys. Sabitha and Forrest. Since the Freys own The Twins, the only functional bridge from the north into the riverlands, this small house is always one of the most important in any war. While a short scene, it does well showing that the Freys used to be more respectable and far less duplicitous than they became under the near 100 year rule of Walder Frey during the time of Game of Thrones.
6. Jace tells his mother to maybe not follow in the example of her ancestor Visenya. Visenya was the more violent of Aegon the Conqueror’s sister wives, and generally took care of diplomatic situations with violence. Rhaenyra seems to look up to her. Another note, the sword she used, Dark Sister, is currently wielded by Daemon.

Stray Observations:

1. Kinda disappointing that we have not had any new additions to the opening credits tapestry since the rat catcher execution was added.
2. Someone really needs to adopt Cheese’s dog.
3. Really expected Daemon to have Caraxes burn all the Bracken men to death when they didn’t join him
4. Although it seems like characters glance at her, we don’t really have any confirmation that anyone but Daemon can see Alys Rivers.
5. Hey, Simon Strong must have read my blog last week, because he properly called Daemon King Consort.
6. Nothing stops peasants from spreading fear and lies, like locking them in the city they want to escape.
7. Alicent always mentions what Aemond “is”. Sure he has a bad track record but she has never really tried to talk to him to see if he actually is this unrepentant sociopath she fears.
8. Very little time was spent with Daemon at Harrenhall in the book, so I hope this plotline has a fun conclusion. Did we really need a scene of him cutting wood?
9. Whenever someone insists they would never betray you, they certainly would never betray you.
10. The river lords know that the murder of the women and children was under Daemon’s approval since they saw a flag with a red dragon on black, instead of Aegon’s gold dragon on green flag.
11. If Alicent ever gave Aegon support as a child like she does for him at his bedside here, maybe he would have grown to be a better, but less hilarious, king.
12. Helaena and her psychic abilities see right through Aemond as he stares at the throne.

RIP: Some unnamed Bracken women and children