The funeral of Lady Laena produces no small amount of drama as various players in the Great Game continue to plot their own respective advancements.

I’m still struggling with House of the Dragon’s time jump, mainly because whereas Emma D’arcy and Olivia Cooke are both fine actresses, neither really ‘feels’ like the characters we were introduced to. There’s an argument that people change over the course of a decade of course, but it still feels a little jarring – Rhaenyra feels a little too hollow and bitter now, and Alicent a little too vicious.

Nonetheless, this turns out to be an interesting episode on many fronts – some of it quite predictable, other parts less so. The funeral brings together the various elements of the family, with Viserys and Daemon reunited for the first time in a long time. Daemon, true to his character, is not exactly playing the conventional part of the mourning widower. It’s clear that he enjoyed mutual affection with Laena, but whether he actually loved her seems somewhat open to debate.

Laena’s death means that her dragon is somewhat bereft, and someone takes advantage of that fact to claim the beast for their own. This is one of the driving emotive elements of the episode, causing larger and larger conflict as it escalates and showing that however much the various elements of this family may proclaim their loyalty to and love for one another, what everyone is really looking to at all times is their own interests. Taking the dragon which should have been Laena’s daughter’s birthright is bad enough, but the impact ripples out from outright violence to rifts that may never be fully re-sealed. Viserys looks physically frailer all the time and it’s clear that only he still believes – if he actually does – in the legitimacy of Rhaenyra’s children and therefore their claim to the throne after her.

It’s an episode that gives us a peek behind the masks of many, none less than Princess Rhaenys and her husband, Lord Corlys. It’s always felt a little hollow the way Corlys constantly talks up the injustice of his wife’s aborted claim to the throne, and with ‘wife guys’ being the current trending social media topic, it feels somewhat appropriate that we get this examination of that dynamic. Turns out that Corlys really isn’t fooling anyone, least of all his wife. Worse, when she asks of him one simple favour which feels not in the slightest unreasonable in the circumstances, his response illustrates just how far he prizes naked political ambition above literally everything else.

Ironically, in this unfolding drama of everyone being a complete bastard on some level, it ends up being Daemon and Rhaenyra of all people who appear, if not the most kind, at least more considerate than most. An elaborate plan between the two of them to advance their own interests was far too easily signposted to me. Nevertheless, it’s nice to see further proof that beneath all the anger, ambition and capability for cruelty, there are certain more positive human elements to Daemon and his niece as well.

On the scheming front, the returned Otto (and I’m sorry but I should have liked to have seen the actual conversation between him and Viserys about his resumption of the position of Hand of the King instead of just seeing him in post) is every bit as devious as ever. For good measure the episode decides to beat any viewers who haven’t been paying attention over the head with the explicit revelation that Alicent’s scheming is being ruthlessly and relentlessly driven by her father. In fairness, there is nuance to Alicent – she seemed genuinely horrified at the murder of Lyonel and Harwin Strong at the instigation of Larys – but whether that ill end up as a weakness or not remains to be seen. Shame they haven’t given the same level of complexity to Ser Criston, who continues to be a template of every spurned man’s worst impulses.

Verdict: Honestly the first twenty minutes or so really lost me but then the episode actually started doing some interesting stuff and pulled me back in. Worth sticking with. 8/10

Greg D. Smith