Wait, Is This the Best ‘House of The Dragon’ Season 2 Episode Yet?

‘Rook’s Rest’ has been dethroned. There’s a new best episode of House of The Dragon season 2 contender, and frankly, I like its odds.

House of The Dragon season 2 episode 7, “The Red Sowing” is easily one of the most screenshot-worthy episodes, with spectacular moments, lots of dragons, and scenes that left characters and audiences gagged.

Spoilers ahead!

In the latest and penultimate episode of HOTD season 2, after learning about Addam of Hull (Clinton Liberty) claiming Seasmoke, Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) sends word to King’s Landing to recruit lowborn dragonseed to come claim the remaining dragons. The Sowing, though a bloody and fiery affair, yields success. Daemon’s (Matt Smith) Harrenhal arc gets a worthy update with the arrival of a new Lord of Riverrun, but the way Oscar Tully (Archie Barnes) gags the king consort, Daemon might’ve been happier in his hauntings.

In King’s Landing, Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) is being pushed to recuperate faster by Lord Larys (Matthew Needham), while Alicent (Olivia Cooke) takes a solitary camping trip in the woods after being banished from the King’s Council by her son, the Prince Regent Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell). Towards the end, as the dragon Silverwing flies over King’s Landing, Aemond charges after her on horseback, then on Vhagar, but turns back a little before Dragonstone, because the sight that awaits him is not his half-sister, but Rhaenyra the Dragon Queen, flanked by three dragons with riders.

But if we were to narrow it down to what makes this episode so epic, here would be our top picks!

The Sowing of the Seeds

This has been a long time coming, and so far, every single dragon-claiming scene has done something unique and shown us a different facet of dragon personalities. Vermithor’s claiming wasn’t just a visually dynamic sequence, amidst fire and rock, with Rhaenyra standing on a higher level as a highborn queen and Hugh Hammer (Kieran Bew) on the ground level as a lowborn, but also poetic in some ways to have Hugh claim this particular dragon. And then, there was Ulf (Tom Bennett) and Silverwing, the dragon creepily emerging from the shadows, and booping a scared Ulf (playfully), and then bowing to him!

Queen Rhaenyra and the dragons

The episode both began and ended with two fantastic images of Rhaenyra as the Dragon Queen. In the start, she is standing on a beach in Spicetown, her dragon Syrax backing her up as she faces Addam and Seasmoke. It looks like the beginning of a duel until Addam bends the knee to her. 

The episode ends with her standing on Dragonstone, flanked by her own dragon Syrax, and Vermithor, Seasmoke, and Silverwing, along with their new riders. The show of strength makes for a spectacular moment akin to Daenerys with her three dragons. And it shows Aemond Targaryen that Vhagar is no longer the only formidable dragon in the game.

But a personal favorite is the scene where Rhaenyra leads the dragonseed to Vermithor, and the way he slowly emerges, and calms down under her command, letting her pet him. The slight smile on Rhaenyra’s face makes her look even more majestic, as if she knows this is one thing that she was born to, her destiny, what makes her better than everyone else, almost a God. It’s powerful and intimidating!

Daemon Targaryen gagged by a very “green” Oscar Tully 

The new Lord of Riverrun, Oscar Tully, tells Daemon that he is rather green in matters of war. But then he goes and sasses the king consort like that? That’s not a rookie move; in fact, his gumption reminded fans of Lady Lyanna Mormont, and a couple of other famous Tullys like Catelyn, Robb, and Sansa Stark from Game of Thrones.

Daemon tried to warn him when Oscar called him “prince” and not “king.” But even when Oscar called Daemon “loathsome,” and asked him to denounce the crimes of Willem Blackwood so that justice might be served, Dameon had no option but to concede. The army was too important. 

But what made this scene all that were the performances—Archie Barnes matching up to Matt Smith, and Sir Simon Russell Beale’s expressions every time Tully made a bold move!

Jacaerys having ‘the talk’ with his mother

Other than jibes and insults, the fact that Jacaerys Velaryon (Harry Collett) is the bastard son of Ser Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr) has never been addressed by the core family itself. So it was interesting to see that the change from the books in Jace’s character has paid off well. In the books, it is Jacaerys’ idea to send forth for dragonseeds in King’s Landing, but in the series, he seems unhappy that even a lowborn bastard could stake the same claim to the Iron Throne as he could if they got the one thing that he has—a dragon

This is the first time that we see how being a bastard has affected the prince and heir all his life. It is ironic that he is displeased by his mother’s idea, when Rhaenyra’s reasoning for allowing the sowing was to raise an army of bastards that would vindicate every time her own sons were shamed for their parentage.

It’s a great scene with Jace directly addressing his mother’s relationship with Ser Harwin, and the shock on Rhaenyra’s face is palpable.

Aemond and Vhagar’s about-turn!

So all this time Vhagar could always turn back and be controlled to not attack another dragon? You don’t say! Aemond turning Vhagar around like a scaredy cat after spotting Rhaenyra and her dragons’ show of strength is like a soothing salve for Lucerys’ (Elliot Grihault) and Rhaenys’ (Eve Best) deaths.

And it signals that it is time for the actual war, not just closed-door council meetings and back-alley espionage. I love the note on which this episode ended, the way Aemond is at a council meeting when he hears a dragon, and he runs out chasing after it on horseback and then Vhagar. It’s symbolic of what is about to happen soon, the very real threat that without Vhagar and Aemond, King’s Landing is practically defenseless in the sky.  

Bonus: No Criston Cole!

We love Fabian Frankel and it’s a testament to his performance that we hate this character so much. But an entire episode without Ser Criston Cole foul-mouting Rhaenyra? Oh, happy day!