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Episode Review: House of the Dragon 2x7 - "The Red Sowing"

Welcome back to the blog readers. Well, what else is there to say? All these pretender shows that have been on in House of the Dragon's absence have wound up bending the knee to this brilliant series. I honestly think this second season has been better than the first, and I am so upset that we are so near the end of the run. I do not know what I will do until this show comes back, but I guess we can talk about this seventh episode, titled "The Red Sowing," written by David Hancock, and directed by Loni Peristere. Can we continue this white-hot streak? Stick around to find out.


NOTE: I will be using spoilers for my thoughts, so DO NOT read ahead if you have not seen the episode.

 

Like I said in the intro, I love loved this series from the beginning, and this season has been better in my opinion than the first. There has been better character study and development, better "action" and more dragons doing awesome things. And this episode had me at a fucking fever pitch the whole time. I think this episode is tied with the fourth episode for my favorite of the season so far. There is so much juicy character development, so much dragon action, and so much that will lead into next season.


I want to start this review off by praising two performances in this episode, and the first one is the performance of Harry Collett as Jacaerys Targaryen. Throughout this season, Jace has been relegated to basically handler and nothing. He has decided to go against the grain, especially in the fifth episode when he decides to court the fealty of a House on his own and succeeds. In this episode, his jealousy overtakes him, and he lashes out at his mother over her decision to find Targaryen bastards to ride the dragons (something we will definitely talk about later) and how he thinks it will expose his being a bastard himself. The fiery rant that Jace gives to Rhaenyra was brilliant from Harry Collett and he gives his best performance of the series thus far. Unfortunately, we do not see him again for the rest of the episode, and it is a shame (because Collett is damn good-looking) but I do think he will have a role to play in next week's finale (fuck man).


Finally, in terms of performances, I have to praise the performance of Emma D'Arcy. You guys know I have been waxing poetic about how much I love their performance as Rhaenyra and the overall character of Rhaenyra as a whole. In this episode, D'Arcy makes you feel as if Rhaenyra has finally stepped up to the plate as the leader she has been set up to be. Just take the edge-of-your-seat opening scene where she confronts Addam of Hull based on the events of the last episode where the dragon Seasmoke chose him as his rider. Rhaenyra acted like the true queen in this scene and felt like it as she interrogated Addam over his intentions with the dragon where he immediately bent the knee to her. I did enjoy this scene, and the banter between the two dragons as they got closer and basically sized each other up in that moment. Then, you have her entire scene with the Targaryen bastards where she really sounded like a leader that truly cared about the realm and its interests. I loved the fire that D'Arcy brings to this scene, and I hope it gets them an Emmy nomination next year.


The story of this episode was equally fantastic as those two performances. I want to start my discussion with the events at Harrenhal. Over the last few episodes, Daemon has been trying to raise an army in the Riverlands to assist Rhaenyra but has gotten some voices in his head telling him that he still wants the Iron Throne and holds resentment towards Rhaenyra for his brother choosing her instead of him (a plot device that has been hinted at since the very first episode of the series). This has even resulted in visions where he is confronted by a young version of his niece-wife Rhaenyra and his fallen brother. This week, the Viserys cameo was absolutely heartbreaking with Paddy Considine showing up in the old decrepit makeup in his final appearance last season where he asks Daemon if he still wants the crown. I think he has finally accepted that he does not want the crown anymore, and we will see that on a grander scale next week in the finale.


That vision and that cameo was not the only thing that happened at Harrenhal. That army that Daemon was trying to raise up may have actually worked in his favor. Grover Tully is dead, and his grandson Oscar Tully is now the Lord Paramount of the Riverlands and is successfully able to unite the Riverlands behind Daemon and Rhaenyra after some questions over his age and experience. I think that Oscar has truly embraced his role as a leader and is very noble in sticking to the oath his "grandsire" made in standing behind Rhaenyra. He also implored Daemon to denounce what he has done in sending the Blackwoods onto the Brackens and is forced to execute Lord Blackwood. This has definitely changed his viewpoint on wanting the throne, and like I said in the previous paragraph, he is finally going to realize that he no longer wants the throne and is willing to fight for Rhaenyra.


This season, Alicent has really been going through the motions. We learned last week that Aemond, as prince regent of the realm, has dismissed her from the small council and requested for Otto Hightower to be his Hand. In this episode, it appears that she has lost all control and has lost a meaning, especially since she has known rule and leadership all her life. I think in these scenes, Olivia Cooke has all the mannerisms of a defeated Alicent perfectly. Wanting to go alone to the Kingswood and having just this moment of peace felt like this is leading to a newly found purpose for Alicent. Do I think at some point she will be reunited with her father? At some point, I do. Will Aegon die this season from being pushed too much after his fall? Maybe next season, in my opinion. By the way, I am really starting to feel bad for Aegon in this back half of the season.


Now we have to talk about that two-pronged climax. Holy shit, what a climax of this episode. I want to start off this talk by saying the C-level plot with Hugh (who was previously revealed to be a Targaryen bastard) has been so underrated. He had a staunch belief in Aegon as the king, and he eventually lost belief when his daughter got sick and he could not help her. In this episode, we learn that his daughter died and he is arguing with his wife about him going to Dragonstone. The bastard Ulf has been dealing with a similar issue where he is not taken seriously as a Targaryen bastard himself and decides amongst pressure from his friends to go to Dragonstone and make a name for himself. The bastards all go to Dragonstone and hear a rousing speech from Rhaenyra that they are facing death, but could become something bigger. I love Rhaenyra's speech and the fire she lights under these bastards to try to become something more.


She leads all the bastards to the pit and the dragonkeepers refuse any part of this conflicts, which means we should have known that something crazy would happen. So, Rhaenyra leads all of the bastards to the pit and calls Vermithor, the large dragon in the pit to serve her and choose a rider. Well unfortunately, he decides to take matters into his own hands and makes the decision to play with his food, if you will. He basically torches and eats most of the panicking bastards and it is truly uncomfortable to watch. I truly do not know what got into Vermithor and what led him into doing this. Was he upset that Rhaenyra wasn't the one riding him? What was going through his mind while he is eating these poor people? In the end, Hugh winds up standing between him and a woman, and his ferocity actually turns the dragon on and makes Vermithor interested in this guy. Ulf winds up wandering into the other dragon Silverwing's pit and accidentally steps on her eggs. She does the funniest thing ever and basically toys with the poor guy before making the decision to choose him as her rider, and then decides to take him on a bit of a joyride to King's Landing, leading Aemond to mount Vhagar and chase the dragon to Dragonstone. He eventually retreats when he sees Vermithor, Syrax, Silverwing, and Rhaenyra looking on with an angry glee to her. This climax was fucking awesome and will lead us to one electic fucking finale. I cannot wait until next week.


House of the Dragon is going full speed ahead leading into next week's finale with the might of a dragon's roar. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.

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