House of the Dragon' Episode 7

It was the kids' time to shine in the latest episode of 'House of the Dragon' and it's clear familial conflict and drama has already taken hold of this ...

Fans complain that some scenes in the 'House of the Dragon' are too dark to watch, but HBO has defended the lighting by calling it an 'intentional creative ...

After gasp-inducing violence and an unearthly consummation, there's now a dangerous union you really don't want to mess with. This mean all-out war.

Taking place after a 10-year time jump, it saw the first blood of the inevitable Targaryen civil war spilled. That was thanks to Larys Strong, who in a mix of ...

In a House of the Dragon episode with Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and Alicent's (Olivia Cooke) coming Dance of the Dragons, and exploring how Laenor ...

[the royal children](https://www.polygon.com/23368925/house-of-the-dragon-kids-who-rhaenyra-alicent-daemon-jace-joffrey-aegon) that goes from bad to worse in — ahem — the blink of an eye. It’s enough to make [Viserys’ (Paddy Considine)](https://www.polygon.com/23328660/house-dragon-viserys-iron-throne-cut) plea for a return to the family’s status quo seem almost comically out of touch, a referee trying to stop World War II with a whistle. Again the episode chooses a ritual — the most elementally basic, the literally Biblical tradition of an eye for an eye — as the focus of its conflict. Through the ritualistic demand we get a glimpse of the real Alicent, a confused and frightened woman left in a permanent state of panic by her father’s abuse. Rhaenyra’s secret marriage to her [uncle Daemon (Matt Smith)](https://www.polygon.com/e/23144854) serves to inflate her reputation as a ruthless power player, and sir Laenor’s duel with his lover Qarl (Arty Froushan) provides cover for their bittersweet escape from the bloody power games of the royal court. The scene is lit and shot like something out of Neil Marshall’s [The Descent](https://www.polygon.com/hulu/2020/4/18/21224924/best-horror-movies-on-hulu), torchlight flickering over the faces of the young heirs to the Targaryen dynasty as their childish squabble rapidly turns bloody, fists and feet giving way to rocks and knives. While [House of the Dragon](https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516586&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hbomax.com%2Fseries%2Fhouse-of-the-dragon%3Foffer_id%3D5%26transaction_id%3D102c87c7%255B%25E2%2580%25A6%255D4ed39326beedc6012ca%26utm_source%3DVox%2BMedia%26utm_medium%3Daffiliate&referrer=polygon.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.polygon.com%2F23383650%2Fhouse-dragon-episode-7-review-laenor)’s seventh episode does a great deal to show Westeros sliding uncontrollably toward what will surely prove a calamitously bloody war, its own body count is comparatively modest by [the series](https://www.polygon.com/house-of-the-dragon)’ standards. From the somber but politically charged opening funeral scene to the darkly majestic and disturbing claiming of [the dragon Vhagar](https://www.polygon.com/e/23145224) by the young prince Aemond (Leo Ashton), “Driftmark” moves at an effortless clip. [Miguel Sapochnik](https://www.polygon.com/23331775/house-of-the-dragon-miguel-sapochnik-leaving-showrunner-alan-taylor) and writer Sara Hess pull it off with aplomb. His delight at her evident unwellness is perhaps the episode’s most sickening sight, a further deception concealed behind his somber façade and the arcane traditions of the royal court. [fake Ser Laenor’s (John Macmillan) death](https://www.polygon.com/e/23144583), is a case study in the episode’s preoccupation with social rituals as a means of concealing and revealing truth. Laena’s funeral provides her uncle with a chance to launch a veiled barb at Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) over the parentage of her sons.

But for now, Viserys limps on. Instead, it was Lady Laena's funeral which brought together all the key players of Westeros. Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and her ...

The burnt corpse was unrecognisable but Corlys mistakenly believes it to be the body of his son. - Daemon and Rhaenyra need each other if they’re going to keep power (and alive) in Westeros. Later, Ser Qarl started a sword fight with Laenor in front of witnesses and when left alone, they used placed Daemon’s victim over a fire. Rhaenyra and Laenor's marriage of convenience had become a farce. “Exhausting wasn’t it, hiding beneath the cloak of your own righteousness,” seethes a bloodied Rhaenyra. Luce retaliates and slashes Aemond in the eye. The increasingly vile Ser Criston put up little fight at the offer to cut open one of Rhaenyra’s sons – has a man ever been more bitter about being turned down? Young Leo Ashton gave a brilliant performance as the unpleasant and cocky Aemond. Aemond claiming the dragon infuriated Laena’s children Baela and Rhaena. Firstly, he was placed in charge of ‘comforting’ Laenor as he grieved for his sister. Ever since Queen Alicent put on that green dress for the Rhaenyra’s wedding to Laenor, the battle lines between the Greens and Blacks were clearly drawn. The fallout from Lady Laena’s death is more chaos and violence in Driftmark.

This episode of House of the Dragon could very well be titled 'Breaking Bad' as several characters take one heck of a turn and things heat up.

[particular episode of HoD](https://gamerant.com/house-of-the-dragon-honorable-characters/) does is to make sure that the audience who thought a person was one way was actually another. [House of the Dragon wouldn't suffer from CGI issues](https://gamerant.com/house-of-the-dragon-hbo-correct-viral-cgi-blunder/). That's one of the nice touches that this show was able to do with all the focus on the main characters. If not for half the episode being so dark that it was hard to see, this might be one of the best episodes of either show. As it is, it continues to make this HBO Max spinoff one of the best programs of the year. There was also the music that was definitely supposed to be romantic that made this one of the most One of the things this But it doesn't make up for all the rest of the scenes where it's incredibly hard to see what's going on or why the viewers should care. There is something to be said for the darkness when it comes to one particular scene and that's when Aegon decides to ride his aunt's former dragon. It also seems that there's plenty that took place that's going to impact the rest of the Daemon's wife has died, after it became clear that she wasn't going to survive childbirth and that the baby wasn't surviving either, she ordered her dragon to burn her alive. One of the interesting things this episode does, especially in the first half of the show, is to show quite a bit of the scenes in the nighttime, without much light at all.