Special thanks to HBO for advanced screeners of ‘House of the Dragon’!
Grab your dragons everyone! The battle has begun. The Battle of the Gullet has begun and Sir Corlys (Steven Toussant) has a lot up against him including going toe-to-toe with Sharako Lohar(Abigail Thorn). It is an intense fight, with much of it dealing with the boats. Meanwhile, Rhaneyra (Emma D’Arcy) is trying to gear up for war. Rhaneyra wants the upper hand when it comes to the fight, wanting everything to proceed smoothly. Jaceaerys (Harry Collett) in an attempt to protect his mother, locks her away in the room.Â
With team green, Alicent (Olivia Cooke) is trying to convince Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) to gear up for the war as well. Aemond questions where Alicent has been since events had proceeded rapidly. This is where everything takes a turn, and Alicent kisses her son on the lips. My jaw dropped when I saw that. In the Game of Thrones world, it is not unusual to see those things happen.Â
Meanwhile, Corlys is in an ongoing battle as he has his sons along, Alyn (Abubkar Salim) and Addam (Clinton Liberty). The battle is ongoing with much of the episode centered around this event.
Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) and Jace are setting off on their dragons to assist with the battle. Both of their dragons are massive, and they do a lot of damage to the boats, burning a lot of the enemy navy. Out of nowhere, Baela’s (Bethany Antonia) dragon, Sheep Stealer, arrives and suddenly becomes confused with Rhaena’s dragon in the way.Â
During the conflict at sea, Corlys’ ship fleas with Lohar’s ship trailing. Ducking into a gorge, they have to get through jagged rocks and between two boulders. Many of his crew did not believe that he could get through, Corlys’s skills are impressive, making it through in the end as his men cheered. Sharako does the same thing, though it looked rocky for a second.
At the end of the episode, Corlys is missing having been thrown into the water. Alyn has finishes Lohar enraged by the perceived death of his father. A twist that I did not see coming. Jace, his dragon injured from an anchor that had been shot into it’s side plummets into the water. While he tries to swim to shore, he is shot with arrows at the end of the episode. Rhaneyra has now lost another son. Â
FINAL THOUGHTS:
This episode is jammed pack with an ultimate battle, and a major set up with things to come. I really loved this episode, it played catch up to many of the characters I love in this world. I can’t wait to see what will happen in the next episode. Whatever happens with Rhaneyra, I am all for whatever she does in the next episodes.
