After Game of Thrones, we are used to shocking deaths and brutal battles, especially in the penultimate episode of a season. The ninth episode of House of the Dragon was extremely tame compared to that. But the season finale more than made up for what we were spared.
‘The Black Queen’ was an emotional rollercoaster careening from heartwarming to fiery to heartbreaking and exactly the kind of television that will bring the audience back for the second season. Given that we’ve had Emma D’Arcy and most of the other actors who are central to the episode for a couple of weeks, the emotional distance that we’ve had from the characters because of the frequent time jumps has been bridged. So, for perhaps the first time the events that unfold actually have an emotional impact.
The final episode opens with Lucerys’ insecurities about taking over Driftmark and a heartwarming exchange with Rhaenyra, which immediately had our radars on high alert. Because if the show is spending so much time on a side character (however significant he may be), it definitely (as per Game of Thrones logic) doesn’t bode well for him.
But the show makes sure that you forget that little warning as the episode unfolds with Rhaenys arriving at Dragonstone to give Rhaenyra the double dose of bad news — Viserys is dead and Rhaenyra’s childhood friend has usurped her right and put her son on the Iron Throne. We get our answer as to why Rhaenys didn’t burn the Greens to crisp — the war was not hers to start — and while that’s sound logic, it is also inaction that will lead to a devastating civil war.
What follows is perhaps even more brutal than the first episode. The shock of the news sends Rhaenyra into premature labour and Daemon to the Painted Table. As Daemon draws up strategies for the battle to come, Rhaenyra’s groans can be heard from the inner chambers, reminding the audience of the first birth and how Aemma had compared childbirth to a battlefield.
But that’s not just it. We see in gory detail Rhaenyra give birth to a stillborn child and a mother’s all consuming grief as she prepares her child for funeral. There should have been a warning for all those people who might have had miscarriages because watching this couldn’t have been easy.
It is amidst this sorrow that Rhaenyra is crowned Queen by Daemon who puts Viserys’ crown, brought to Dragonstone by Ser Erryk who swears his loyalty to her, on her head and kneels to her. That is, till she has the guts to stand up to his bloodthirst. Then he is constantly at loggerheads with her about how to deal with Otto Hightower who lands up at Dragonstone with Alicent’s proposal (we support Daemon’s sentiments even if it is not fit to spell out in proper company), what the Blacks’ response should be, to use dragons to annihilate the opposition or try for a more peaceful outcome. Daemon’s volatility shows exactly how prudent Viserys was in not naming him heir.
One of the standout characters of this episode is Rhaenys who shows that she is logical and understands politics so much better and perhaps would have been a better queen than Viserys was king. Rhaenys and her husband lend their support, and their dragons, to the Blacks because Rhaenyra was trying to work out how to keep the peace even as she was being egged on by everyone to declare war.
One of the best things about this episode is the way actions and words hint at how the season would end, even harking back to things mentioned in the past episodes. As the Painted Table lights up (that is a magical scene) to plot for the days to come, Jacaerys offers himself and Lucerys as envoys to different Houses. Again Lucerys is reluctant, because who would listen to a 14-year-old boy? But Rhaenyra is sending him just a short flight away to Storm’s End and not as a warrior, so all should be fine.
But from the moment Lucerys reaches a rain-engulfed Storm’s End and is greeted by the sight of Vhaegar’s Godzilla-esque silhouette, you know it is not going to be fine. Borros Baratheon, who has already received a missive and a lucrative offer from the Greens, wants nothing to do with Rhaenyra’s request. Aemond One-Eyed is the messenger and his glee at having Lucerys (who took his eye out, remember?) at his mercy borders on psychopathic. He demands an eye from Lucerys but Borros wants no blood spilt and tells Lucerys to go home. Phew!
Lucerys gets on Arraxes and takes off into the storm all the while looking for any sign of Vhaegar, who seems to be nowhere near. Phew! And then we see that bone-chilling sight of the tiny Arraxes framed against the gigantic shadow of Vhaegar right above him. What follows is a thrilling chase through the storm with Aemond cackling like a madman. But it stops being fun when the dragons take it personally and when we break through the cloud to finally see what is actually happening there is one big chomp and both Lucerys and Arraxes are gone. Aemond loses control of Vhaegar and reminds us how Viserys had said that it was foolish to assume that man can control dragons.
When Daemon brings Rhaenyra the news, we see her convulsing in pain and when she turns around you can see the grief and the promise of retaliation in her eyes. The Dance of Dragons has begun and D’Arcy makes us feel like supporting all of Rhaenyra’s war crimes to come. We hope Daemon is able to sing Vermithor into submission and Rhaena can ride him and pay back Aemond for taking both her mother’s dragon and her betrothed.
Here’s hoping there is no time jump between now and the second season which is rumoured to be set for 2024.
