Summary of Season 2, Episode 5 of House of the Dragon: “Regent”

Nothing screams “big bad” like a sinister-looking man with an eyepatch standing alone in a dark room, smiling as lightning flashes around him. Sure, that’s a bit obvious, but the intent is clear: Aemond is the villain after the events of Rook’s Resta fact made clear by the look on Ewan Mitchell’s face as he watches the maesters tear the melted armor from his brother’s burned skin.

The blood, the sight of Aegon’s destroyed face, or the sound of bones being cracked back into place, trigger no emotions in him. There is no mica of remorse. When Aemond ripped Lucerys from his dragon and sent him flying to his death, he looked shocked. But roasting your own brother (and lifelong tyrant) is just normal everyday behavior. Judging by how quickly he gets to work when he’s named Prince Regent by the King’s Council, everything has turned out exactly as Aemond intended, except that Aegon is still alive (or almost).

Aemond’s first act, aside from taking out the “damned rat catchers” still hanging around the city, is *looks* to lock up the disgruntled commoners of King’s Landing so they can’t escape the citadel. That’ll make a difference. to change their mood, I guess, though not for the better, especially since they are starving and afraid that Team Green has drawn the wrath of the gods upon them by displaying the severed head of the “traitor dragon Meleys”. This poor baby, our best girl of all, does not deserve this humiliation.

Yes, it is so easy to insist that Aemond is the only true villain of this series. His mother wastes no time in doing so, and Alicent warns Criston Cole about what has become of her second-born son. Cole is still too shaken by the events at Rook’s Rest to pay her much attention. Although his lover berates him for refusing to name her Queen Regent, he lets it be known that he did this to the horrors he has already endured. This horror is something Aemond is only too willing to inflict in the name of Team Green. This is also far too easy; Aemond may be a monster with effortlessly beautiful hair, but he is not the aforementioned Big Bad that everyone thinks he is. Rather, all Men are.

Bring on the “not all men!” parade, because I am about to provoke it (sorry, not sorry). As the events of this episode have clearly underlined, the men of HOT always screwing everything up, for what exactly? Aemond is driven to revenge by his childhood traumas. Aegon is stupid and has a fragile ego. Cole has his sights set on Rhaenyra because she (rightly) refused to give up her sacred birthright and sell oranges after a one-night stand with him. Larys Strong only supports Alicent to catch a glimpse of her bare feet. You get the idea.

And how is Team Black doing? Daemon has vivid dream sex with his mother at Harrenhal as he finally admits what we all already know: he will betray Rhaenyra and claim the Iron Throne for himself (who would he summon in a hallucination that might lead him back to his wife’s side?) Corlys, meanwhile, is furiously mourning the loss of Rhaenys, but as Rhaena tells her grandfather, “Rhaenys was not just your wife and not a thing to be taken from you.” The men in Rhaenyra’s council are busy beating around the bush and explaining the concept of war to their queen, even though, like her, they have enjoyed a lifetime of peace and have never fought in a single battle.

Even Jace, sweet and loyal Jace, isn’t immune. He defies his mother’s orders in “Regent” and flies to the Twins to make peace with the Freys (which, by the way, triggers my Red Wedding-induced PTSD). Sure, he gets a pretty good deal from them—the passage and lots of bended knees—in exchange for a dragon bodyguard and Harrenhal, but I’ll never trust a Frey. Ever. So I guess I’ll believe it when I see it. Rhaenyra’s son redeems himself when he finds a pretty ingenious solution to the Vhagar problem: Wake Silverwing and Vermithor, who lie dormant beneath them, and find someone, anyone with the slightest trace of Targaryen blood, to ride them. It’s a solid plan, especially since Team Black can easily get their hands on a few more riderless dragons in the not-too-distant future (Seasmoke, you’re on your own here), but can they put it into action fast enough?

All in all, episode five is solid, but a bit disappointing in the in the wake of last week’s big battle scene. There are few tearful laments for Rhaenys, just a moment of reminiscing. Aemond (as always) faces no consequences for his behavior, although he is rebuked by Helaena for his greedy pursuit of the Iron Throne. No one is to blame for the deaths of Meleys and the queen who never was. Instead, strategies are made in whispers and women are repeatedly let down by their male counterparts (for lack of a better word).

But perhaps that’s the point. The world doesn’t stop turning when one soldier, or 900 soldiers speaking for Team Green, fall in battle. The sheer scale of casualties doesn’t lead to immediate ceasefires and peace talks. It just causes both sides to put themselves in ever deeper positions. And as always, the leaders who plan these battles from afar fail to recognize how the reality of war affects the people below, that is, the hungry, the sick, and those who tremble with fear of what is to come.

Add to that the excellent facial expressions of Emma D’Arcy (seriously, they can express fear with a single twitch of their lips) and the wonderfully complex performances of Olivia Cooke and Fabien Frankel, and we have another excellent example of how well House of the Dragon does character and dialogue. While we may not need a spectacular dragon fight that will keep us hooked, but with only a handful of episodes left until the finale, it wouldn’t hurt to ramp up the action a little bit.

Scatter observations:

• There may be more than one way to wage war, but I wonder what made Mysaria send Rhaenyra’s handmaiden to King’s Landing. Spread rumors, sure, but about what? To whom? For how long? Answers, damn it!
• Alicent comparing Criston to a moth wasn’t on my bingo card this week, but I love it anyway. Almost as much as I loved her having to sit and endure the same humiliation after telling her son that his sole purpose in life is to be quiet and listen to the more experienced politicians around him. How does that crow taste, Alicent?
• All poor Lady Jeane Arryn wanted was a dragon to protect her impregnable sky fortress from Team Green. Instead, she got Tyraxes and Stormcloud. Maybe they could kill the enemy with cuteness…?
• He’s committed murder and incest before, but Daemon is at his nastiest this week when he gets down with Alyssa Targaryen. We suspect that, much like Hamlet, he has some serious mother issues that he needs to deal with.
• The same goes for Aegon, albeit for different reasons. Did anyone else feel their heart broken when the poor, broken king called for his mama? Side note: I hope he comes to his senses soon, because even at his craziest moments, Aegon is undoubtedly one of the most watchable members of Team Green.
• Ser Alfred is the worst. worst.
• Sunfyre disappearing from the picture feels wrong in all sorts of ways, especially because we had so much finality with Meleys (she exploded on impact And (somehow they grabbed her head too.) We would love to see if this little dragon, like Aegon, is still hanging on by a thread.

• Surely Hugh Hammer keeps popping up for a reason, right? I suspect he’ll play an increasingly important role in the coming weeks, if only to show us the reality of life for the people under Team Green.
• Aemond is almost to evil at this point. Can’t we give him a sobering hallucination or two like his Uncle Daemon?