House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 2 Summary and Explanations of Rhaenyra the Cruel
On Monday 24 June, House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 2 was released on the streaming platform. This episode has scattered clues about what we will see in the episodes and seasons to come, so it may be useful to have a review, summary, or, if you prefer, a recap of what happened in this episode entitled Rhaenyra the Cruel in Italian Rhaenyra the cruel. So, get on board our dragon, and let’s burn all the possible spoilers, with the relevant explanations and references to the book from which this Game of Thrones prequel TV series is based which sees the clash between two Targaryen factions, Aegon’s Greens and (we root for them, we admit it) Rhaenyra’s Blacks. Let’s start with what happens in King’s Landing: the situation worsened after the assassination of little Jaeheris, with Alicent, Otto, Aegon, and friends now having to understand how to manage the situation.
As usual, Sir Otto Hightower dictates the rules: the Hand of the King tries to keep his nephew’s desire for revenge in check, and in the meantime pushes Alicent and Haelena to attend the funeral of the very young prince with the intent of arousing the empathy of the people. Not only that: Alicent’s father decides to publicly accuse Rhaenyra of the terrible act, hoping to ensure that support for her drops drastically. Ours, however, has not taken into account Aegon’s immature and impetuous character: the young king, without the knowledge of his right-hand man, decides to have all the rat hunters of the Capital hanged in the public square, thus ending up executing quite a few innocent people to find the culprit of the infanticide. Such a rash gesture cannot please a skilled strategist like Otto, who decides to face his grandson head-on: the latter, in response, relieves his grandfather of his role as Hand of the King, instead offering the prestigious brooch to a pleased Sir Criston Cole who, in the meantime and to Otto’s desperation, sent Sir Arryk to Dragonstone with orders to replace his twin brother Erryk and assassinate Rhaenyra.
How House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 2 Begins?
The beginning of the new episode coincides with the end of the last one: Jaehaerys has been killed, the royal guards close the stable when the oxen have escaped and Aegon vents his more than justified anger by destroying the model of Valyria that his father Viserys had commissioned to Bruno Vespa and Doc Emmett Brown (the last part of the sentence may not be true). Aegon threatens war and rain of fire, while the more insanely lucid Aemond finds the secret passage from which Blood and Cheese escaped with the head of the poor little prince, right in the room where he and Cole were planning the attack on the enemies until the interruption of Otto who sent the two to bed (the nephew with a prostitute, the leader of the White Hoods with his daughter), then finds a coin and shows it as if it had some importance, but for now the meaning escapes us and we limit ourselves to note down.
Otto Is still Opti-Mixed and Takes Advantage of Jaehaerys’ Death
True to his name, Otto Hightower is an incurable optimist. Even in the death of his great-grandson, heir to the throne, he sees the cup half full, and rejecting the guilt-inducing religious theories (these Seven are very Christian…) of his sinful daughter, he explains to Alicent that something good could come out of that terrible infanticide. He explains it better later to the small council, holding back Aegon’s fury who also takes it out on Cole (who has the nerve to say that he was in bed…). He plans to have a nice funeral for the child to show the people of the capital what kind of monster Rhaenyra is. Larys interrupts the meeting for a moment to say that the culprit has been found she is referring to Blood, which Otto entrusts to Larys’ expert tortures (in the books they last 12 days, fortunately less here). In any case, Otto takes advantage of an assist from Jasper Wylde known as Iron Rod (for reasons that according to some refer precisely to what you are thinking) and advises turning the prince’s death to your advantage instead of hiding it so as not to appear weak. And so will the messages sent to the other courts of Westeros.
Jaehaerys’ Funeral and the End of Blood?
Nobody is enthusiastic about the idea, least of all Mother Helaena and grandmother Alicent, but in the end, everyone agrees to do their part. During the court, there is also a moment of criticism of the mayors of the whole world when the cart carrying the corpse gets stuck in a hole, but fortunately, we are at least spared the scene of the sewn-up little head (by the sisters of silence already seen in GoT) which comes loose during efforts to get the wheel out of the ditch. But in reality, the scene only serves to show us that Helaena disgusts people but that instead, they think as Otto had planned. Things go decidedly less well for Sangue, who immediately confesses to having received the assignment from Daemon and to having been assassinated by a rat killer whose name he doesn’t know. Having obtained the confession, King Aegon immediately arrives and with a good blow begins to do what is expected of him, but precisely for less than the 12 days of the book Fire and Blood by George RR Martin.
Rhaenys and Rhaenyra Immediately “snatch” Daemon, Who Leaves in a Lie!
At Dragonstone/Dragonstone, Rhaenyra is informed about Jaehaerys’ death, the funeral, and the fact that the whole world blames her, who rightly tells the allusive Ser Broome that he would never have done such a thing having suffered it personally, and certainly not to poor Helaena and the innocent child. But first Rhaenys and then also Rhaenyra understand from Daemon’s slapping face that he is the instigator of the infanticide. And so the niece’s wife takes her uncle’s husband aside and explains to him clearly that it’s not that dear old Viserys was afraid that his brother would overshadow him, but if he chose his daughter as heir it’s because he didn’t trust him, as she doesn’t trust him now. He gets offended when she doesn’t believe his “I told him Aemond and that’s it, they were wrong to choose an alternative” (in the last episode there was a cut on the specific question of Blood and Cheese) and leaves with his dragon: then we will discover from a chat in bed between Rhaenys and Corlys that his destination is Harrenhal, which he wants to conquer alone. Baela instead sees her father leaving and goes to Rhaenyra who summoned her and tells her to go with her dragon Moon Dancer to guard King’s Landing without getting too close.
Ser Criston Cole Vents His Guilt on Poor Arryk!
While Aegon and Helaena pass each other on the stairs and ignore each other (by choice of his, in reality), the sense of guilt leads Criston and Alicent to a new promise to stay away from each other, but this time too – spoiler – it won’t last. Ser Cole, however, goes to vent his guilt for having missed Jaehaerys’ murders due to his enviable sexual activity by going to look for a fight in the tavern like a character from Trainspotting. And there he finds poor Arryk, sees his dirty cloak, and uses it as a pretext for dressing down… er head and to morally force him to go to Dragonstone to pose as his (good) twin Erryk and kill Rhaenyra and thus bring triumph to the party he chose to defend. Arryk, who perhaps knows that Cole isn’t exactly “pure” either, finally accepts the thankless task.
Scene Between Minor Characters 1: Jaecerys and Baela!
Now begins a sequence of scenes that distinguishes this episode, with apparently minor or even insignificant characters saying things that will surely come in handy later. The first are the cousins-boyfriends-stepbrothers Jaecerys and Baela, who find themselves talking about fathers. Jake has no difficulty talking about either the greediness of his official father Laenor (who knows where he is now with Qarl) or his biological father Harwin Strong and how strong he was.
Minor Character Scene 2: Aemond in the Brothel Confesses His Repentance
Aemond, on the other hand, is the expedient for the inevitable scene from the Flea Fund brothel in the Westeros series. The prince is again at the prostitute he was with the night before, while his nephew was being killed, and confesses to her that he is sorry for having killed his cousin Lucerys. But in fact, we had already understood that it was more Vaghar’s fault.
Scene Between Minor Characters 3: Hugh, His Wife Kat and His Sick Daughter!
And we return to see Hugh, the blacksmith who we saw asking Aegon for payments in advance. Hugh returns home where there is his sick daughter and his wife Kat, who has little faith in the promises of the “magnanimous” Aegon, who do not fill the increasingly emptier pot. Meanwhile, we begin to notice that Hugh has long blond hair.
Minor Character Scene 4: Addam and Alyn and “Corlys Owes Us”
The brothers Addam and Alyn do not have blonde hair but black skin like Corlys, they meet again at the port of Driftmark, where the younger Addam imagines a promising career for Alyn, who in the last episode we saw receiving Corlys’ thanks. Alyn defends himself, but his little brother reminds him that Corlys “owes it to you, he owes it to us”, and we are increasingly convinced that this skin resemblance to the Sea Serpent is not a coincidence.
Scene Between Minor Characters 5: Corlys and Rhaenys Cuddle!
As anticipated, Corlys and his wife Rhaenys find themselves in bed discussing how crazy Daemon is, who now wants to go and conquer Harrenhal alone with his dragon.
Rhaenyra and Mysaria Meet Again and Recognize Each Other!
At Dragonstone Rhaenyra summons Mysaria to ask for explanations about her complicity with Daemon in the murder of the little prince and before that in the accession to the throne of the usurper Aegon. The two women find themselves talking about their mutual lover, and the queen finally remembers having met Mysaria when Daemon had sworn that he wanted to marry her after having made her pregnant. Mysaria just wants to be set free as her husband promised her, and when she tells the story of how she built her web of confidences thanks to hard work and how everything was burned by Otto (here she’s wrong, it was Larys), Rhaenyra gets Conquered.
Scene Between Minor Characters 6: Addam Spots the Dragon Seasmoke!
One more scene of “sowing” (you will understand this when the time comes). Addam is there on the beach sifting through shellfish and is suddenly overshadowed by the shadow of the dragon Seasmoke (or Burning Sea), still free after apparent death and fleeing to Pentos of Laenor. The why and how of this meeting will be understood later in the season (or at least we hope so).
Scene Between Minor Characters 7: Who is the One Who Sees the Hanging Rat Killers (including Formaggio)
The darkest character who is allowed to show off in this episode is one Ulf. He walks and comes across the hanging corpses of all the rat killers. Including Cheese, who instead escaped capture in the book, while here he is even cried by the poor dog he kicked. We won’t spoil anything for you, but this Ulf will also return to the scene later.
Otto is Furious: He Scolds Aegon, Who Dismisses Him as First (and now there’s Cole)
Otto lost his optimism when he saw this unworthy spectacle, not only from a moral point of view (killing dozens of innocent people for one culprit) but also strategically, given that in one fell swoop he burned all the “advantage” accumulated among the people with the funeral of the little prince. Grandpa Otto uses strong words, and that idiot Criston even dares to reply. Otto’s face is amazing when his nephew tells him that Cole also sent Arryk to pretend to be Erryk to kill Rhaenyra… In short, having lost his calm, the grandfather does not miss the opportunity to regret Viserys and tell his grandson that if he is now on the throne, it is certainly not due to his father’s will, but Aegon responds to his grandfather’s sneer with an even crueler sneer as he dismisses him as First Knight to replace him with Criston.
Rhaenyra Frees Mysaria, Immediately Makes Herself Useful!
So Rhaenyra, who seemed interested in poor Mysaria’s “professional” scars, finally decides to free her, to put her on a ship headed across the sea. Mysaria immediately makes herself useful while going to the port, because she notices that someone similar to Erryk, who she has just seen inside the castle, has just passed through the “arrivals terminal”, and therefore understands that it is the pro-green twin Arryk. She stops and goes back to warn everyone.
The Fratricidal Clash Between Erryk and Arryk!
And finally, we arrive at the moment we have wanted to share with you for two years: the fratricidal clash between the twins Arryk-Green and Errik-Nero. The twin sent by Cole to kill Rhaenyra enters the castle undisturbed, with the guards mistaking him for his brother, who he also sees inside the corridors. Soon he reaches Rhaenyra’s room and there he prepares to carry out the gesture that he too would have liked to avoid killing the Black Queen. While we notice that Arryk must have stopped by the dry cleaners before going to Dragonstone because his cloak is now clean, Erryk arrives immediately, alerted by Mysaria: the duel begins between the two brothers who love each other most (not in the Targaryen sense) of this world. Rhaenyra sends her lady-in-waiting Elinda Massey (who we will see again for a long time, and the verb is not accidental) to seek help from Ser Lorent Marbrand, but rightly they can do nothing but witness the clash which reminds us of the famous meme of the various identical spidermen. Luckily in the end Erryk prevails, who after having stabbed his beloved brother to death decides to commit suicide with his own sword so as not to live in a world without the other part of himself. In the book, she went about the same way.
The Ending of the Second Episode of HOTD Season 2: Otto Leaves
In the last scene of the episode, Otto packs his bags and tells his latest misadventures to his daughter, who still tries to defend her lover from the accusations of imbecility of her father (who wants to remain unaware of his daughter’s sexual performance). In any case, Otto wants to return to Oldtown so as not to see the havoc that will follow and hopes to make Alicent’s third son, Daeron, who rules over the Hightower, see reason. Alicent tells him instead to go to Highgarden first to convince the Tyrrells to switch over to their side, while she talks sense into Aegon. “In the end, we will prevail over the youth and bring peace if we remain united,” Otto says. “I have sinned, Father” replies Alicent, who perhaps is not clear on the difference between parent and priest. “I don’t want to hear what you did” Otto closes. Alicent passes in front of a crying Aegon, doesn’t even stop, and goes to give Criston a couple of slaps, before falling again into the temptation of lust with which this second episode of HotD Season 2 ends.
