House of the Dragon Ep 4 review: Warning — Spoilers ahead. The fourth episode of the Game of Thrones prequel dropped on Monday (IST) and it explored the steamy chemistry between Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) and Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock). While the chemistry was brewing from episode 1, it wasn’t until the game of the Iron Throne came into the picture that the relationship was explored. As though that wasn’t scandalous enough, House of the Dragon also brought a twist we’d been waiting to see: the fate of the Hand of King, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans).
The new House of the Dragon episode begins with Rhaenyra tackling numerous wedding proposals. She is on tour, hunting for her perfect match arranged by her father, King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine). However, she cuts short the journey because she doesn’t think she will find a suitable match outside King’s Landing. On her way back, she learns that her beloved uncle Daemon has returned after defeating the Crabfeeder. While he is crowned the King of the Narrow Sea, he forgoes the title. We will come back to that in a bit.
Surrendering to Viserys, Daemon seems to have undergone a makeover. He bows to the King and has a more mature approach to life, something that Rhaenyra notices. After a party in the Prince’s honour ends, Daemon and Rhaenyra catch up on the lost four years when the former tries to convince the Princess that marriage is beyond just political bonds. An example is her best friend turned stepmother Alicent (Emily Carey).
The discussion doesn’t change Rheanyra’s mind. So, Daemon decides to give her a taste of the real world. Transforming her into a bell boy that would go unnoticed in the crowd, Daemon shows Rheanyra all that happens in the hour of the owl and beyond the great walls of the castle. Under the garb, Rheanyra learns that the world craves food and sex. She also finds out that the people in the kingdom disapprove of her as the Iron Throne’s heir. Brushing off their opinions, Rheanyra takes off in the dark alleys only to be found by Daemon again.
He then takes her into one of his pleasure houses and things get steamy. Bringing back the conversation of marriage, Daemon explains to Rheanyra that marriage is not only the union of two powerful kingdoms but also about pleasures for both men and women. The intimate conversation leads to a kiss and eventually, Rheanyra is ready to surrender herself to Daemon physically. However, he abandons her at the pleasure house half naked, and vanishes.
While Rheanyra sneaked out of the castle with Daemon, she doesn’t hide her way back in. However, her sudden return as a bell boy alarms Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel). When he decides to take action, Rheanyra stops him and lures him into her chambers with her flimsy tricks. One thing leads to another and Rheanyra kisses Criston. He reciprocates and soon, another intimate scene plays out. Little does Rheanyra know that the morning waits a lot of trouble for her.
A spy from the White Worm informs Otto Hightower about her visit to the pleasure house with Daemon. Hightower informs the King about her whereabouts and it leads to chaos. The King bring down Daemon into the court and forbids him from being in King’s Landing. While his anger towards ‘defiling’ Rheanyra led to the decision, it was further cemented when Daemon proposed to wed her in order to restore power in the Targaryen house.
Following this, he meets with Rheanyra and orders her to wed Laenor Velaryon, son of Lord Corlys Velaryon and Princess Rhaenys Targaryen. If that wasn’t enough, the King also severs ties with Hightower, removing him from the position of Hand after realising that he planted his daughter Alicent in order to have his grandchild rule the throne.
The scandalous show comes to an end with the Princess presented with a ‘brewed tea’ that will get rid of any ‘unwanted consequences’. The scene hinted at abortion, leaving Rheanyra in shock.
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House of the Dragon ep 4 Review:
The new episode picks up the pace yet again with politics, sex, and incest at the heart of it. Matt Smith is emerging as one of the best actors of the series so far, presenting different shades in just four episodes. He underplays himself in the new episode but his chemistry with Milly Allock doesn’t shy away from the camera. Their scenes together help Milly stand out as well.
Emily Carey is finally given space to push her limits as Alicent. She holds the screen much stronger than Paddy Considine as King Viserys I Targaryen in the few scenes she shares. However, Paddy shines in the courtroom scenes.
The cinematography, especially in the pleasure house scene, shows that House of the Dragon has undergone a makeover post the MeToo movement. Scenes featuring intimacy are far more about the chemistry between the actors than just projected naked people in the room. The new episode seems to open a number of twists waiting to happen and we cannot wait to see the consequences of the King’s actions in the coming episode.
House of the Dragon streams on Disney+ Hotstar in India.
