The civil war in Westeros is hell

I had expected to learn from “The Red Dragon and the Gold”, the fourth episode of House of the DragonI’m excited. Based on the episode title, last week’s preview, and the reader’s knowledge of what happened in Rook’s Rest, I expected thrills, adrenaline, and Loot Train Attack-level spectacle from the first major dragon battle of this series.

But an hour later, after the credits had rolled, the battle was over, and at least one main character had died, I was feeling rather despondent. Not because the episode had failed, to be clear – but because it had succeeded in portraying a different kind of war: chaotic, uncontrollable, and above all tragic for everyone involved. It’s as if Dragon tried their best to refute Francois Truffaut’s statement that there are no anti-war films.

In numerous episodes, the characters have promised that war is coming; now, after Rhaenyra’s failed peace talks with Alicent in Episode 3, it is finally and irrevocably here. Even the dethroned queen knows it, declaring, “I have only one choice: I assert my claim or I die.”

As with many game of Thrones“The Red Dragon and the Gold” is one of the series’ most spectacular fight episodes, and is devoted to characters talking in rooms before climaxing with fire and blood. The early scenes of this episode flesh out various plot points and character arcs: Daemon has a wonderfully strange conversation with Alys Rivers at Harrenhal; Jace learns the secret prophecy of A Song of Ice and Fire; Alicent drinks moon tea to prevent a possible pregnancy with Criston Cole. But ultimately, the shortest episode of the second season so far is all about the fight.

Last week, Dragon did not show the actual battle for the Burning Mill, but only the aftermath littered with corpses. This effective choice left Rook’s Rest as the scene of the Dragons first large-scale depiction of war – and a battle between dragons, at that, who had not fought each other in Westeros for over 80 years. (Vhagar versus little Arrax in the season one finale was less of a pitched battle for the former than a quick snack.)

A series of seemingly odd decisions by Criston Cole sets the stage for this clash. The Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and Hand of the King decides to march his army to Rook’s Rest – a “pathetic trophy,” Aegon scoffs – rather than the more obvious target of Harrenhal, and then attacks in broad daylight rather than waiting until the siege begins at night. “Bloody madness!” exclaims Gwayne Hightower.

But the Hand has not lost its mind; it is a trap! By attacking Rook’s Rest, the mainland castle closest to Dragonstone, Cole can lure one of the Black Dragons – and then Aemond and Vhagar, lying in wait in a nearby forest, can rise to the challenge.

The first part of this plan goes according to plan: Rhaenys dons her armor, jumps onto Meleys, and flies into battle. But to the surprise of Aemond and Criston, so does Aegon, still sulking after a lecture from his mother, who sneers at the king and says, “Just do what you’re asked: nothing.”

Before they go to war, Rhaenys and Aegon have an incredibly sweet reunion—or, looking back, bittersweet reunion after seeing what has become of the dragons and riders. Rhaenys greets Meleys and Aegon greets Sunfyre with affection, and both take a second to pet their mounts, emphasizing the bond between dragon and rider. Aegon even grins when he sees his beautiful golden steed, the only creature that can bring a smile to the king’s face since the death of his son.

But by something instead of NothingAegon destroys the Greens’ trap. Instead of a one-on-one fight between Meleys and Vhagar, it becomes an aerial battle between three. Aemond initially stays behind instead of rushing to his brother’s aid, and then, after entering the fight, orders a Subscribe to Explosion without scruples or fear for Aegon’s health. Sunfyre is hit full on by the fiery explosion, falls to the ground like a stone and tumbles into the forest below.

This betrayal, which remarkably does not occur in Fire & Bloodwhere Aegon and Aemond deliberately ally against Rhaenys—is given the proper build-up to fit the story. Aegon rushes into battle because he resents his brother for “plotting without my authority,” while Aemond suffers the king’s taunts in the brothel and the general belief that he would serve as a superior leader. (When Aemond taunts Aegon with an impressive High Valyrian vocabulary, the king can only stammer “I must… fight a… war” in response. Later, Aegon speaks to his dragon in Common, while all the other Riders use High Valyrian to give orders.)

With Sunfyre out of action, Rhaenys and Meleys turn to Aemond and Vhagar. As the two dragons approach each other, the camera captures the silhouettes of Vhagar and Meleys from below, hauntingly beautiful as they dance.

(The only major criticism I have of this episode is the inscrutability of Rhaenys’ decision to turn back to fight Vhagar instead of fleeing from Meleys, who Fire & Blood calls “a dragon as swift as Westeros has ever seen.” Did she return to battle because of her troubled personal life, after confronting Corlys about his indiscretions and bastard children? Did she think her dragon stood a chance against Vhagar? Did she want to save the battle even when faced with slim odds? This choice is particularly puzzling because Rhaenys not takes the opportunity to attack with Meleys during Aegon’s coronation in Season 1, when she could have ended the war before it began. “You should have burned them when you had the chance,” one of Team Black’s advisors says to Baela in this episode, referring to her hunt for Criston and Gwayne. But that sentiment applies even more to Rhaenys in the dragon pit.)

The resulting dragon duel is portrayed as a tragedy for everyone on the battlefield. Early in the episode, Aemond remarks, “This war will not be won with dragons alone, but with dragons flying behind armies of men.” That’s true in the context of a long war, but in the (literal) heat of battle, it’s hard to imagine the men making all that much difference. The soldiers look like helpless little doll-sized toys compared to the fire-breathing behemoths above them. Vhagar is so massive that the shockwave knocks Criston off his horse as she falls to the ground. Then the episode uses slow motion to highlight the immense damage she casually does when she crushes two men with a single claw strike.

The soundscape adds to this sense of overwhelming violence, from the panicked screams of anonymous foot soldiers to the cries and screams of pain from the dragons. At various points in the battle, music and background noises fade out to highlight the desperate breathing of the main characters.

Smoke fills the screen. Screams fill the air. And Meley’s blood finally fills Vhagar’s belly as Aemond’s mighty mount, the oldest living dragon in the known world, claims another scalp for his collection.

This dramatic death looks shocking at the moment, but how could such an intense collision not lead to the death of at least one prominent figure? Face encased in soot, eyes rimmed red, Rhaenys looks out at the field of blood and fire she so desperately wanted to avoid – and that is almost the last thing she ever sees, for Vhagar rises to seize Meley’s neck in her jaws. The smaller dragon cannot break free, and as the light fades from her eyes, she looks back one last time at her rider – who had ridden the Red Queen for half a century, and who had come on Meley’s back to her wedding to Corlys. Then the head comes off, and the headless dragon and its human tumble to the earth below.

After Meleys and Rhaenys die, the camera cuts to Criston, who is the only living person on screen for a while; everyone else is a corpse or a pile of ashes. At one point he tries to recruit a comrade to help him find Aegon, but the armor he touches falls to the ground while the body inside crumbles to dust. Eventually Criston stumbles into view of the crater created when Sunfyre slammed into the forest, but by the end of the episode it remains to be seen whether Aegon is still alive.

From a story perspective, as with the Battle of the Burning Mill, it is unclear whether either side can claim victory at Rook’s Rest, given the untold bloodshed on both sides. The dragon is both a symbol and reason for Targaryen rule in Westeros, so every dragon death is a blow to the unified Targaryen hegemony. As Rhaenyra said in the series’ pilot episode, without the dragons, the royal family would be “just like everyone else.”

Fire & Blood describes Viserys’ reign as “the height of Targaryen power in Westeros,” with “more dragons than ever before.” Yet in the short time since Viserys’ death, that number has dwindled by at least two (Arrax and Meleys), perhaps three (Sunfyre). Vhagar and Aemond are the culprits in each death—certainly proving their own dominance, but simultaneously weakening the wider power of Aemond’s family. It’s no coincidence that earlier in the episode, Alicent drops and breaks the dragon figurine she once repaired for Viserys.

And from a storytelling perspective: Dragon would stage its first large-scale (pun intended) battle, as such a hopeless disaster story sets the tone for the rest of the series to come. This depiction is unlike any previous dragon battle in the Thrones Universe. In most of the dragon attacks in the original series, Daenerys and her children were the heroes, and audiences cheered on their rampages against the slavers in Astapor, the Lannister troops on the Gold Road, and the revenants beyond the Wall. Even when people were burned alive, these scenes were not portrayed as horror scenes; they were Triumphs.

But the Battle of Rook’s Rest brings only devastation, destruction, and death – the fulfillment of Rhaenys’ prediction that “there is no bloodier war than a war between dragons.” Except for Aemond and perhaps Vhagar, no one escapes unscathed. Even Criston, one of the architects of the successful battle plan, is knocked unconscious, injured, and forced to witness the eventual downfall of his king.

“Now I’ve barely had time to mourn one tragedy before suffering another,” Alicent laments in this episode, before one of her sons potentially kills another. This challenge could also be passed on to the viewers – because Dragon positions itself as a cinematic commentary on the horrors of war, and this war has only just begun.