I think we’re all reeling from the whiplash House of the Dragon episode seven gave us last week, but that’s meant in a good way. Alliances were formed, new enemies made clear, and there was a wedding with no spilled blood! That’s a win-win in the Game of Thrones universe. This week’s House of the Dragon, “The Lord of the Tides,” is about the tension between characters as a significant loss means a power vacuum has been created.
Episode eight opens with Princess Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) finding out her husband, Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), aka the “Sea Snake,” has fallen ill. Things get tense with his brother Ser Vaemond Velaryon (Wil Johnson), who thinks she needs to act and, connecting back to the opening episode, claim her right as the queen and leader of all Targaryens. This brings to the forefront of this episode the theme of women never being allowed to rule, but maybe sidestepping them makes things far worse.
You won’t need to wait long for Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) to show up as he opens the episode digging up dragon eggs. It appears the word is getting around or looked at another way, there’s blood in the water, and people will likely strike soon. The show has firmly established its many players in the game of thrones, be it power couples, charlatans, or rogue queens. Now it’s time to see how things play out with them all, pretending things are just fine a few years later.
Things are crumbling and preparing for quite a conflict, given the confrontations of the previous episodes. King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) is far worse off in this episode and practically a corpse. The makeup department has done a fantastic job on Viserys, who is quite skinny, with blemishes you’ll cringe at and some disturbing teeth.
There’s trouble in the waters.
Photograph by Ollie Upton / HBO
Time has given many of these characters an edge, save for Viserys dying internally. For instance, Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) is more of a ruler and queen than ever. That’s probably because the Hand of the King Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) is her father and has been preparing her for the role. She encounters a challenging situation where her son does something awful, and unsurprisingly she takes her son’s side and does whatever it takes to protect him even though he was in the wrong.
Aegon Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) is the latest character to get a brand new actor playing him. He continues to be a weakling symbol of how Alicent’s children are not worthy of being leaders, yet her undying care for them will not allow anyone else to take the throne. His brother Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) also gets an upgrade with an older actor, and Mitchell is frightening from the start. He and Aegon are true Targaryen as they look the part of warriors who ride dragons, even if Aegon is a bit of a wimp.
If you thought the celebration in episode five was tense — the one where someone’s face became hamburger meat — things get deliciously far tenser two-thirds through episode eight. As the various characters get together to decide who shall take over as ruler, Viserys defies his failing body and shows up to decide who will be king. Turns out he wants his daughter and brother to take over, but can his decree be held, or will something change at the last minute to bring Alicent back into power?
Ewan Mitchell is already great in this role.
Photograph by Ollie Upton / HBO
A relatively calm episode, to be sure, but after thing gets violent, there’s quite a gory moment involving a chopped in half head. This head embodies the tension and unsettling nature of the entire episode as characters meddle, plot, and plan for their next move. It may seem like everyone is barely keeping the peace, but one can surmise blood will flow soon enough.
Considine’s role as the king has been an incredible one and should net him an Emmy nomination, at the least. In this final episode, he shows his battered and beaten body hasn’t taken away his passion and love of family. His transformation from a hopeful young-ish father to a rotting corpse has been incredible.
The side-eyeing observers of this episode sit with Otto Hightower and Daemon, who not so coincidentally may have the most power at this table. Daemon is like a snake giving off facial expressions that could mean frustration, disgust, anger, or happiness. He holds it all in, knowing he’s close to being at the height of power.
“The Lord of the Tides” shows some of the best drama on TV is what’s going on in the characters’ heads. House of the Dragon is one of them. They may act and say things to provoke or to broker peace, but in between those scenes are actual mechanization for war and peace. The deep psychological exploration is sometimes riveting in this somewhat slow but essential episode in the series. The fact that it lacks action only enhances the nearly unbearable anticipation for conflict surely to arise in the final two episodes.
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