House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 5 Recap: The Tide Is Changing

Welcome back as we cover this week’s episode of House of the Dragon (“HOTD”), ‘Regent’, and my is there plenty to get our teeth into this week! So, sit back and relax as we join the characters in picking up the pieces after the devastating loss of last week and making plans for a bleak future.

WARNING: Spoilers and heavy themes discussed below.

House of the Dragon: Dire Consequences

We follow Corlys (Steve Toussaint), grief-stricken, as he walks through his ‘Hall of Nine’ in High Tide castle. To him, it has never felt so empty. A single tear speaks a thousand words, and we are left unsure about his loyalty to Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy); the death of Rhaenys (Eve Best) has exposed a chasm between them. 

HOTD: Back to King’s Landing

In King’s Landing, Ser Criston (Fabien Frankel) tries and fails to present the events of last week’s battle as a victory. His decision to parade the severed head of ‘the traitor dragon, Meleys’ can only be described as a PR disaster; far from celebratory or relieved, the mood of the crowd is decidedly downcast and fearful, even disgusted. This blatant destruction of the mythology and divinity surrounding the dragons is perfectly encapsulated in an exchange between Hugh (Kieran Bew) and a young lad beside him in the crowd: ‘I thought the dragons was gods’; ‘it’s just meat.’

In a truly horrific scene, we witness Maester Orwyle (Kurt Egyiawan) work to save King Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), who appears a hair’s breadth from death. Only now, it seems, does Alicent (Olivia Cooke) feel care and remorse towards her eldest son, likely hastened by the fear and suspicion with which she now regards Aemond (Ewan Mitchell). As she confronts Criston about Aemond’s role in the battle at Rook’s Rest, she receives only vague and obscure answers from Criston, who seemingly works to protect his ally and abettor. Sunfyre’s fate remains unclear, but he is presumed dead.

HOTD: Back to Dragonstone

On Dragonstone, Rhaenyra faces dissension in her council, voiced by Sir Alfred (Jamie Kenna). Doubting her capability as a war leader on account of her sex, his words provoke Rhaenyra into restlessly declaring once more that she desires to ride Syrax into battle against Vhagar.

Likewise, Jacaerys (“Jace” played by Harry Collett), in a touching scene with Baela (Bethany Antonia), resents being kept out of harm’s way. It seems these characters are desperate to act, but circumstances don’t always allow them to have the agency they strive to possess. 

House of the Dragon: Storm Clouds

Moving on, Daemon (Matt Smith) and Caraxes threaten the intransigent Brackens, who appear impressively unperturbed by the threat of dragon fire.

Elsewhere, in the Eyrie, we meet Lady Jeyne Arryn (Amanda Collin), who seems understandably dissatisfied with Rhaenyra’s offer of two hatchling dragons, Tyraxes and Stormcloud, as a defence against Vhagar. In a moment of mutual understanding that may hint at a future warmth between their two characters, Lady Jeyne and Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) bond over their dislike of feeling powerless. One wonders what we might now expect from Rhaena, isolated in the Eyrie and without a dragon of her own, in a war, and indeed a world, which seems to demand dragons as the instruments of female agency?

Continuing this theme of feminine bellicosity, Rhaenyra confides in Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) about her frustration at a lack of a martial education from her father. In an unprecedented move to weaponize public opinion, Mysaria suggests she utilise the fear and disillusionment of the smallfolk. With the potential to draw from an untapped goldmine of support and power, it is hoped that the crowds of King’s Landing and the realm are given a more consistent role and motivation than they were afforded in Game of Thrones’ final two seasons. 

HOTD: Shocking Twists For Everyone

In what was undoubtedly the most shocking moment of the episode, we find Daemon dreaming of engaging in carnal relations with his own mother, the deceased Princess Alyssa Targaryen (Emeline Lambert), the fearless first rider of the dragon Meleys. Indeed, earlier in the episode, Baela recounts how Meleys spurned Daemon in favour of Rhaenys.

Alyssa affirms her son’s darkest impulses and refers to him as her ‘favourite son’. We can infer that Daemon feels the absence of a mother figure in his life most keenly and will seek her ghost out in any way he can, including attempting to claim her dragon. Suffice it to say, this added depth to his character motivation is a welcome addition.

Back with the Greens, Aemond is voted as regent against the wishes of Alicent. Even Larys (Matthew Needham) and Criston, her erstwhile allies, refuse to support her elevation. In a brilliant shot that conveys the decline and desperation of Alicent’s position, we watch as she grows increasingly tearful and, perhaps, fearful, watching hopelessly as power and stability slip from her grasp. 

HOTD: Team Black’s Agenda

Ignoring his mother’s wishes, Jace flies Vermax to the Twins to treat with House Frey, with whom he negotiates passage and an armed force in exchange for House Frey taking Harrenhal.

Building on the theme of popular involvement in the war, Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin), the mysterious acquaintance of Daemon, scolds him for subjugating the people of the Riverlands through death and hardship. Daemon confirms his plans to act independently of Rhaenyra in a harbinger of the conflicts to come. One intriguing detail to take away from this interaction is Alys’ keen observation that ‘it’s a pity, don’t you think, that you never knew your mother’, which may hint at her hand in Daemon’s troubling visions.

Meanwhile, Baela comforts Corlys in a scene that displays Bethany’s impressive acting skill and Baela’s characterisation as a source of stability and strength for the Blacks. As she herself puts it, ‘I am blood and fire’. In so doing, she seemingly successfully persuades Corlys to accept the position of Rhaenyra’s Hand of the Queen. Who knows, perhaps the chasm, as mentioned earlier between them, can be healed after all, as Baela works to secure her family in their hour of need. 

In a scene that perfectly demonstrates the cracks in Daemon’s position, the River Lords stand up to him and refuse to bow before his tyrannical regimen in Harrenhal. The threat of dragons means nothing to them in the face of blatant violence and brutality as a terror tactic; is this the beginning of the end for the Targaryen’s hold on authority and the respect of their subjects?

HOTD: Another King’s Landing Infiltration

Deciding to heed the advice of Mysaria, Rhaenyra sends her servant Elinda to King’s Landing, though not even I, a book reader, can say to what end.

She proceeds to talk with Jace, newly returned from the Twins, and they both chafe against the limitations that their royal pedigree and the succession place on their prospective action. In an especially exciting development for book and TV fans alike, they hatch a plan to enlist those with more distant descent from House Targaryen and its cadet branches, colloquially known as ‘dragonseeds’, to their cause.

As Jace surmises, they do not want for dragons. Indeed, Vermithor and Silverwing are each far older and larger than Meleys or Caraxes and could certainly take on Vhagar with every chance of success. This plan may be unprecedented, but it will add a fascinating new dimension to this conflict, which has so far only granted the power afforded by dragons to the royal family.

House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 5

And so, as both sides begin to take action according to the whims of their most powerful and persuasive members, we can only hope for a resolution one way or the other in the form of absolute victory, and we will no doubt be left echoing Helaena’s (Phia Saban) question to Aemond; ‘was it worth the price?’

Episode six airs on Sunday, 21^st July, in the US and in the early hours of Monday, 22^nd July, for UK audiences.