Warning: There are spoilers ahead for House of the Dragon episode 6!
Imagine if Game of Thrones started with someone other than Emilia Clarke as Daenerys. Technically, Tamzin Merchant did play Daenerys in the unaired version of the pilot, but we never saw her in the role. House of the Dragon gave us five episodes with Milly Alcock as Rhaenyra Targaryen and Emily Carey as Alicent Hightower. This week, Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke are the new Rhaenyra and Alicent, respectively. And we want to know what the Superhero Hype community thinks about it! This post is a place for all of you to leave your own reviews, thoughts, or anything else you want to say about House of the Dragon episode 6.
Ten years after the previous episode, Princess Rhaenyra gives birth to her third son. Almost immediately, Queen Alicent demands to see the baby. So Rhaenyra wills herself out of bed and carries the child to Alicent, with her husband, Laenor, belatedly joining her. King Viserys is very pleased to meet his new grandson, but Alicent finds what she was looking for: The child doesn’t share the platinum hair of either of his parents. She even mocks Laenor about having another child that doesn’t look like him. Without consulting Rhaenyra, Laenor names their son Joffrey, after his murdered lover.
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However, Joffrey’s real father is Rhaenyra’s current lover, Harwin Strong, a captain of the City Watch. He’s also apparently the father of her two older sons, Jacaerys/Jayce and Lucerys/Luke. While Harwin visits his family, Alicent correctly accuses Rhaenyra of not having children sired by her husband. Regardless of the visual evidence, Viserys warns her not to bring it up again.
Later, Jayce and Luke are trained in the Dragon pit alongside Viserys and Alicent’s sons, Aegon and Aemond Targaryen. Jayce, Luke, and Aegon play a cruel prank on Aemond by presenting him with a pig mocked up as a dragon of his own. In response, Aemond sneaks into the dragons’ area and nearly winds up getting burned. Alicent learns about this while spending time with her daughter, Helaena. She tells Aemond that his time will come when he gets a dragon as well. Alicent is also furious when she learns about his brother’s involvement with the prank.
Alicent’s closest ally, Cristan Cole, shares her suspicion that Rhaenyra’s kids weren’t fathered by Laenor. He also appears to have very bitter feelings about Rhaenyra, since he describes her as a spider who sucks her prey dry. Shortly thereafter, Alicent catches Aegon masturbating out the window, which is a real Joffrey move. She is angered both by his unwillingness to stand up for his brother, and also his initial indifference to whether Rhaenyra becomes queen. Alicent frames the discussion in the same way her father did: If Rhaenyra comes to power then she will likely have Aegon and Aemond killed to secure her claim to the throne.
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While training the children, Harwin is visibly angered when Cristan favors Alicent’s kids over his own. When Cristan allows Aegon to pummel Jayce, Harwin intervenes. Cristan verbally twists the knife by suggesting that Harwin’s interest in Rhaenyra’s children is parental. That earns him a beating from Harwin, but it also gets Harwin expelled from the City Watch.
Fearing a scandal, Ser Lyonel Strong attempts to resign as Hand of the King over his son’s actions. When the king refuses to accept that, Lyonel gets his permission to escort Harwin to Harrenhal, where he will take on his role as Lyonel’s heir. Before he leaves, Harwin says farewell to Rhaenyra and their sons. And Jayce finally realizes who his true father is.
An ocean away in Pentos, Daemon is married to Laena with two daughters. Regardless, the love seems to have gone out of their relationship, if there was ever any love to begin with. A foreign lord offers Daemon and Laena a generous piece of property if they will only stay with their dragons and defend the land. Daemon actually seems interested in it, but a very pregnant Laena wants to go home to Westeros. She never gets her wish. After Laena’s child is stillborn, she commands her dragon to incinerate her. And just like that, Daemon is single again.
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Back at King’s Landing Rhaenyra tries to smooth things over with Alicent by proposing that Jayce be wed to Helaena. Viserys loves the idea, but Alicent is very cool to the notion. Privately, Alicent complains to Larys Strong and openly wishes that her father was Hand of the King again. Larys takes that as an invitation to recruit prisoners from the dungeon to follow his father and brother back to Harrenhal and murder both of them in a fire. He relates the news to a horrified Alicent, and indicates that her father will likely be the Hand of the King again.
But Rhaenyra has had enough. She tells Laenor that they are leaving King’s Landing and moving to Dragonstone. She also invites Laenor to take his lover, Qarl, with them, because they need every sword they can get.
We still want to know what you think. So make sure to leave your reviews for House of the Dragon episode 6 in the comment section below!
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