A decade later, the rift between Rhaenyra and Alicent has not healed. As the princess welcomes her third child into the world, eyebrows are raised at its appearance. Ser Criston’s bitterness knows no bounds. Daemon finds family life difficult.

So this week House of the Dragon does its biggest fast forward to date, taking things forward a whole ten years and leaving me feeling, if I’m honest, a little discombobulated. It feels odd to me that the showrunners have taken the decision to switch actors only on the Queen, the Princess and the Princess’ husband, while everyone else remains the same albeit in one case with significant ageing makeup. A small thing, maybe, but I had got used to Milly Alcock and Emily Carey as Rhaenyra and Alicent respectively, and as good as Olivia Cooke is as the latter, Emma D’Arcy just feels like a much different Rhaenyra which adds to the disconnect.

Of course, a large part of that difference may be explained by Rhaenyra’s having had to live with the bitterness and suspicion of her former friend-turned-stepmother. As the episode opens and Rhaenyra gives birth to what we swiftly learn will be her third child, Alicent immediately sends word that the child must be presented to her, and Rhaenyra’s stubbornness means she gets right up off the birthing bed and makes her painful way to the Queen’s chambers in person to do so. Alicent can’t help but comment on the dark features of the supposed Targaryen/Velaryon child, setting a theme which runs through the episode.

Yes, we knew that Ser Laenor was gay and that his and Rhaenyra’s marriage was a political arrangement with a mutual understanding they would each pursue their own private desires, but it feels naïve to the point of dense for Rhaenyra to be not only indulging herself sexually with another man but having his children as well, especially when he is a dark-featured man and she’s married to  a Velaryon male. This adds to the jarring impression of the whole thing because the Rhaenyra we last saw, ten years ago, was a smart political operator. At any rate, it isn’t just the Queen who is fairly openly voicing suspicions about the parentage of Rhaenyra’s brood, and that only adds to the misery of the young princess as she finds herself increasingly friendless in the city.

Adding to the troubles is Ser Criston, now a loyal servant to the queen and all-round bastard harbouring particular animus towards his former lover and not even trying to hide his distaste for her children. An incident in the training yards while he tutors both Alicent and Rhaenyra’s boys leads to serious violence and a further weakening of Rhaenyra’s position.

It’s also apparent that Aegon is another addition to the list of young boys standing to inherit great power in Westeros who are also awful people, even by the low standards of the realm. Cruel both to his cousins and his younger brother, Aegon has little interest in anything other than his own ego and desires, and is also a coward, happy to let others take the blame for his misadventures. The character strongly reminds of Joffrey from Game of Thrones, though whether he will stay that way remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, over in Essos, Daemon and Laena and their daughters visit with the prince of Pentos, who makes them an offer which Daemon finds more tempting than does his wife. It’s clear that Daemon is somewhat at a loss in the wake of his niece’s wedding and his semi-exile from Kings Landing, and also that he doesn’t really know what to do about it or how to be a husband and a father. When the heavily pregnant Laena suffers serious complications during childbirth, Daemon’s reactions aren’t quite what you might expect. It’s not clear whether he genuinely loves Laena, but certainly it would appear he’s far more fond of her than he ever was his first wife.

Back at Kings Landing, Alicent finds herself increasingly reliant on the counsel and information brought her by Larys Strong, having taken her father’s words of warning to heart. She may well come to regret her choice in allies though, as rash decisions are made on her behalf which will grant her a measure of what she wants but leave her inextricably bound to people with ruthless ambition and few scruples.

Verdict: It’s tricky because the change of actors also heralds significant change in the personalities of two leading characters, not all of it good, but this is still mostly strong. 7/10

Greg D. Smith