As Rhaenyra continues to be presented with potential suitors, Daemon returns to Kings Landing a hero, but how long can the new found accord between the Targaryen king and his wayward brother last?

Thus far, House of the Dragon has fairly much skirted around the morally dubious sexual elements of the Song of Ice and Fire universe. It was odd when we saw Viserys seriously considering marrying his very young relative, and it was equally uncomfortable seeing him go on to marry his daughter’s best friend. But here – and there’s no real way to sugar coat this – things get a lot more grubby. Incest isn’t a new theme for this setting, but it’s still not pleasant to watch.

Rhaenyra, having come of age and being stubbornly still single, is now on a tour of sorts, having suitors from across the realm brought before her, from old men to very young boys and everything in between. Needless to say she remains unimpressed by any of them, determined as she still is to remain single. The episode does, as it progresses, decide to fully address the source of this conviction, and it goes beyond a wilful teenager wanting to rebel against her societal obligations for the hell of it and into a genuine fear and revulsion of the nature of those obligations and what they may mean for her health and wellbeing.

Back at Kings Landing, Daemon returns victorious from his adventures in the Step Stones, having defeated the Triarchy. His apparent subservience to Viserys and their reconciliation never feel particularly solid though, and as ever with the younger of the brothers, you sense trouble in the offing from his every expression. When that trouble comes is when the episode starts to get uncomfortable.

Rhaenyra is at least no minor in this show, but the age difference between her and Daemon and the fact he’s her uncle can’t help but make what’s already a fundamentally distasteful concept feel even worse. Their chemistry has been plain from episode 1 but here the show takes all of that several steps further, and in ways that are problematic to say the very least. What Rhaenyra then goes on to do is similarly unsurprising but adds layers to those problematic elements. Fortunately, the show isn’t especially interested in lingering on the gory details, preferring instead to focus on the repercussions of Rhaenyra’s actions.

Yup, it’s another round of Why Women Must Behave Differently than the Men as the show hits us over the head with stuff that’s fully implied by the context – that the young princess must tread more carefully in her sexual escapades than any man, because her virtue is inherently of value and the loss thereof will make her impossible to marry off. What elevates the material slightly is the intrigue which accompanies all this, as the Hightowers find themselves almost on opposite sides of the argument. Otto, as the King’s Hand, feels compelled to inform his king of what his spies have observed (and I’m quite certain he has no selfish motives attached to this!) where Alicent is determined to see the best in her friend/stepdaughter and believes in the latter’s string denials of the accusations raised against her.

Daemon, for his part, is less concerned with preservation of his reputation or that of his niece, and the fiery confrontation which ensues between him and Viserys, as well as the exchanges between the King and his Hand remind us that Viserys may well be perceived as weak and malleable but in fact has strong principles of his own and a politically shrewd mind indeed.

All told, though it has its deeply distasteful elements and some unnecessary exposition, it’s a decent episode full of more intrigue and promising lots more political machinations to come. Here’s hoping that it can get out of its own way enough as it goes forward to fully realise that potential.

Verdict: An episode that won’t be for everyone and does remind of some of the worse tropes of its forbear, but good enough to keep me interested. 8/10

Greg D. Smith