HOUSE OF THE DRAGON 2×06 “Smallfolk” is the sixth episode of the second season. After the previous episode received a lot of backlash for the sudden downturn in drama, there’s a lot of controversy about this one as well. However, it’s actually a fairly even split between those people who find this to be a fantastic episode with lots of character development and those people who find it to be a terrible one that continues the trend of “nothing happening.” I am actually of the former category and give this episode high marks.
Basically, there has been a lot of wheel spinning for season two of House of the Dragon. I mentioned how much of a mistake it was to skip to the Dance of the Dragons over most of the political maneuvering that got wrapped up in Season One. HBO executives assumed that the big epic battles were what people wanted to see but the thing is that so much of what makes those battles meaningful is the character development of the parties involved. Basically, the reason the Red Wedding and Ned Starks execution are important is because we know everyone involved.
This episode benefits from the fact that it wraps up a lot tof the wheel spinning and character development that seemed to be going nowhere. I think it’s setting up an epic battle for King’s Landing in the finale and has moved all of the pieces on the board. While this is an episode where seemingly “nothing” happens, it’s actually something where I believe a great deal happens in terms of both characters as well as political developments.
Rhaenyra is trying to get herself more dragon riders by looking to the Targaryen lineages of legitimate heirs. Steffon Darklyn of her Kingsguard tries to claim Seasmoke but it ends in his horrific burning. This is probably more realistic than a bunch of nobles lining up to claim dragons, only to be burned one after the other but still feels like a downgrade from the book. Rhaenyra has been made far meeker and more circumspect than the one of the books. I feel like they’ve hurt the character if they wanted her to be the next Daenerys because part of what made the Stormborn Queen so awesome was her willingness to get her hands dirty as a woman ruler.
Daemon finally seems to start taking lessons from his hallucinations in Harrenhal and has visions of King Viserys. Sadly, none of these scenes have new lines from Paddy Considine. Still, Daemon starts to realize that being empathic isn’t weakness. We also get Alys Rivers promising to provide Daemon “help” in getting the Riverlands back under control. There’s a cute scene with his dragon Caraxes, who clearly wants to go play with his master but just watches him slowly losing his mind like a dog in the background.
Aegon Targaryen remains incapacitated in his bed with Aemond silently wishing him to die. Unfortunately, while Aemond possesses great skill as a leader, he also has only “on” mode and immediately alienates Larys Strong. This results in Larys deciding to privately approach the now-maimed and crippled Aegon in hopes of once more finding a way to power. Alicent also finds herself dismissed from the Small Council as Aemond takes a petty revenge on the woman that he believes treated him as irrelevant for his entire life. Now Alicent’s disempowering is complete but that just makes her more dangerous (I think).
One element I liked in the episode is Rhaenyra pulls a page out of the Tyrell’s handbook and after starving the people of King’s Landing with her blockade (something I wonder at the specifics of since they still have routes through the Crownlands), she proceeds to send a bunch of food in to turn the mob against the Hightowers. This is a strange choice given that it’s the exact opposite really in Fire and Blood but we’ll see how things go in upcoming seasons. It is a powerful scene to almost see Lady Alicent and Helaena almost ripped to shreds, though.
Which brings me to two controversial points about the episode that I am okay with and not at all happy with. The first of these is the sign that they’re replacing F&B’s Nettles with Rhaena (Daemon’s daughter). Given Nettles represents a young woman of possibly common born stock who tames a dragon through animal husbandry versus magic, a controversial position to begin with, this is a huge blow to the narrative subversiveness of her arc. Bluntly, I think it’s the worst change to the story they’ve made so far. Rhaena’s actress deserves more to do in the story, yes, or she can be cut but this isn’t a tale for a noblewoman.
The next controversial element is that Rhaenyra and Mysaria kiss after a moment of shared intimacty. I have no problem with this scene really as Martin loves highlighting that history may not have recorded LGBTA relationships very often (or they were excised later on) but they certainly existed. It also puts an interesting spin on their later interactions from F&B. There’s also a question about whether it is a sincere relationship moment between two lonely people or the latter attempting to get her hooks into Rhaenyra. My only objection is that the scene comes after a horrific revelation by Mysaria that should in no way lead to romance anymore than Tyrion’s story about his wife.
Overall, impressive episode.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.