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“House of the Dragon”: the time jump of 10 years and the change of cast do not hinder the sixth episode


Warning: spoiler comment on episode 6 of “House of the Dragon”.

Milly Alcock and Emily Carey. Hi Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke. Like it or not, the house of the dragonor House of the Dragon, goes back in time, swapping who plays Rhaenyra Targaryen (Alcock outside, D’Arcy inside) and Alicent Hightower (with Cooke instead of Carey). episode 6, The princess and the queenpremiered last night at HBO And HBO Max.

WARNING: SPOILER FOR EPISODE 6 OF THE HOUSE OF THE DRAGON. ONLY CONTINUE IF YOU ARE UPDATED WITH THE SERIES.

Milly Alcock and Emily Carey will surely miss: the two have taken care of complex characters, with complicated relationships, including each other. It’s true that the acceleration of this season’s storytelling, with ellipses suppressing years of history, has left the viewer eager to see more. For example, what happened shortly after the announcement of Alicent’s marriage to King Viserys (Paddy Considine), Rhaenyra’s father?

Here it is even more drastic, given that the jump is ten years. And that marriage turned burial for Rhaenyra and Laenor (Theo Nate) is left with many unanswered questions. How did Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) get away with that “party” after killing the groom’s lover? Nobody was supposed to stop the murder? Where did Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) go after almost making out with his niece on the dance floor at his engagement?

Anyway, the fact is that Criston Cole is alive and well, having been saved from suicide by Queen Alicent. And now he has become something of an advisor to her, except when he uses a sexist and unrepeatable expression to refer to Rhaenyra, taking on an air of disapproval from Alicent. Aim for her, who is proving to be a good citizen of the worst kind.

Predictably, the tension between the queen and the princess reached an absurd level. The opening sequence features Rhaenyra, now Emma D’Arcy, in labor. It’s a tense moment, directly reminiscent of her mother’s death as she was trying to give Viserys a male heir. But everything is fine at birth. Alicent, however, asks the princess to introduce her son soon after her birth. Supported by Laenor (John Mcmillan), she walks around the palace, baby on her lap, to satisfy the whim of the queen, who pretends to be worried, as if her order hadn’t come from her. The series shows the nuances of female aggression very well.

But why on earth does Rhaenyra, once so haughty, not react to the queen’s hostility? As always in A Casa do Dragão, not everything is very clear, which generates speculations, debates, conversations, like any good drama. Rhaenyra has grown up and knows her position is fragile. She not only can she be challenged as heir to the Iron Throne, but so are her children, who are not Laenor’s, but Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr), just the one who saved the princess from her terror at its her own marriage. Alicent knows. The whole court knows. Only Viserys doesn’t want to believe it.

Alicent isn’t even the naive girl she was. She has grown up with her father’s teachings in her head and she is fighting for her children to be the heirs. She raises her nose at what she considers the princess’s dishonor and indecency. But, as always, there is a mixture of pain at being betrayed and envy for Rhaenyra, who eventually got rid of the junk boys (Criston, Daemon) and found a man of her own.

But for a while. Why Alicent has allied with the worst: Criston Cole – is there anything more dangerous than a man with a wounded pride? – and Larys Strong (Matthew Needham), whose motives are rather unclear. Larys, a physically disabled person, is the son of the Hand of the King, Lyonel (Gavin Spokes), and brother of Harwin, two seemingly honorable men. Larys has already talked about the problems of being the second child and in this episode he says that children are a weakness, and love is the downfall. For now, he also looks like a man with wounded pride.

What she supposedly does in the Queen’s name is scary, even for Alicent, who isn’t yet a Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey in Game of Thrones), but she’s on the way.

And the Demon, huh? Well, Daemon went there and, after killing his wife, married Laena Velaryon (Nanna Blondell), the sister of Laenor, the husband of Rhaenyra. So it’s all in the family, isn’t it?

What a beautiful scene of Laena riding the greatest of living dragons, Vhagar. And she makes the next scene even stronger, where she orders Vhagar to kill her, when, in labor, he realizes she won’t survive. It is another tragic result of a pregnant woman the house of the dragon, but Daemon’s position is very different from that of his brother Viserys when he is given the same choice: a caesarean section without anesthesia, which will kill the mother, or the death of her and the baby. The difference could be that of temperament. But it could also be the location: Viserys needs an heir. Demon, no.

The scene also dispels the myth for those who have only seen game of Thrones that the Targaryens are all fire resistant. Daenerys was. Another myth debunked: the Targaryens are all dragon riders. There is a whole dispute between who has a dragon and who does not, whether it is between Aegon and Aemond, the sons of Alicent and Viserys, or between Rhaena and Baela, daughters of Daemon and Laena. And Viserys has spoken many times about how there are Targaryens who also dream of the future.

The ten-year time jump was a risk the house of the dragon. Other shows also change their cast, such as The Crown, but rarely mid-season, especially the first, when the viewer is still getting to know the characters and getting attached to the actors. But Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke showed enough strength in their first episode. True, the many gaps left by the jump may be a little too big for some viewers. But, again, the series usually takes advantage of this to generate virtual buzz. And, with its many happenings, the fact is that The Princess and the Queen is another great episode of House of the Dragon.

Strong point: How the series realistically deals with motherhood, whether it’s Alicent’s irritation at her crying babies or, here, with Rhaenyra losing milk in the middle of a board meeting.

Weak point: Daemon’s CGI riding Caraxes. The money all went to Laena and Vhagar.

Weakness: Laena and Harwin appear very little. It is true that in the few scenes you can tell who I am, but it would be nice to have a little more of both.

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Source: Terra

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