House of the Dragon | "Regent" | Recap & Review

*SPOILERS AHEAD!

We now lie in the aftermath of the dragon battle that cost Rhaenys, her dragon Meleys and quite possibly King Aegon and Sunfyre. We see Corlys dwelling in the hall at Driftmark trying to wrap his head around the death of his wife. We then see the "victory" parade marching thru the streets of King's Landing. With the head of Meleys (cool littl easter egg that see see in GoT). You would think the natives would be celebrating, but instead are questioning if killing a dragon-whom they consider gods-will bring a bad omen to the city. Along with the dragon head, in the caravan is a coffin-shaped box, which is presumably Aegon- the status of his being alive still in question. Alicent, watching above with Aemond, knows he and Cole have something more to do with this. As we sort of mentioned last episode, this was Aemond's plan all along as he's the first to say, "Someone will need to rule in his stead."

After this big battle (for what seems like such a small capture) , we need to look at the standing of both team black and green. Honestly, even tho King Aegon is clinging to life at this time, it seems that team green as won this battle. Rhaenys- and Meleys for that matter- were some of, if not the best warriors, that team black had. On the other side, Aegon was only there becuase he got drunk and has a bad case of FOMO. Plus he didn't like that Cole and his brother were scheming without his knowing. Plus, Aemond is becoming a proven leader and dragonrider with each new episode. And let's not forget, he rides the biggest dragon in the world- Vhagar.

So is anyone else getting a little weirded out by, tired of and just frankly done with Daemon's dreams/visions? The one we encounter in this episode starts off a little...exciting, then we find out what we find out and it's just getting to be a little much. I am hoping one of these dreams will help him see/find what he's looking for to help either he or Rhaenyra win or settle this war.

Over at team green's small council, there is a vote- so to speak- on who must rule in Aegon's stead as he recovers from his injuries. Alicent obviusoly throws her name into the hat as she proclaims that she did a noble job stepping in when King Viserys was battling his illnesses. While most of the table agrees, that was a time during peace, these times- are a little less peaceful. As they go around the table, each voice looks like a bullet of betrayl just hitting her one at a time. She tunes out the rest of the discussion as she looks like she's deciding to either get up and leave or just flat out scream. The majority of the votes clearly go to Aemond.

During much of this time, Rhaenyra as figured out as much as the rest of us have- that Daemon is trying to capture the Iron Throne for himself...and if she wants to join him that's cool too. Rhaenyra also wants Corlys to be her hand, which is a very smart, and the right move as he probably has the most battle/fighting experience as anyone on the black council.

When Jacaerys returns from barganing with the Frey's at the Twins, he ans Rhaenyra calculate a plan to pursue possible dragonriders who have the same bloodline. Rhaenyra has been scouring thru the history books to see if there is some link between the un-bonded dragons and more riders out there. While they both agree that it's a "mad" idea, it's still not a bad one.

Overall, this episode gets a strong B- to a C+. Like mentioned before, the visions and reams of Daemon are getting long and drawn out- unless they are leading to some kind of answer. Rook's Rest was a nice break so to speak as we finally get to see some action and possible resolution in this war. I like the side story that the natives of King's Landing are getting wrestless with the blockade at the gullet by Corlys and his forces. Also, I'm intrigued by what type of plan Mysaria has up her sleeves in order to help Rhaenyra.