[REVIEW] Don’t Watch This House of the Dragon Episode if Your Parents Are Around

Episode 4 opens with Rhaenyra abruptly ending her tour to choose a suitor. None of the lords who are asking for her hand in marriage impressed her. And she knows that they only want her because of her family name.

Daemon is also back at Kings Landing and has reconciled with King Viserys. Things seemed back to normal. But we all know that’s not how the Game of Thrones franchise works.

Soon we see Daemon taking Rhaenyra on a tour through the nightlife of Kings Landing. It ends with a steamy kissing session in the brothel. However, Daemon leaves abruptly.

Rhaenyra then returns to her chambers and loses her maidenhood to Ser Criston Cole, her Kingsguard who took a vow to never marry. Meanwhile, Alicent is busy seeing to King Viserys’ ‘needs’, clearly not enjoying herself. A stark contrast with what Rhaenyra is experiencing.

One of Otto Hightower’s spies reported to King Viserys about Rhaenyra’s activities. This leads to a heated argument between father and daughter about the duties and expectations of a woman in Westeros, which we think is an interesting theme of this week’s episode.

Alicent, the queen, no matter how glamorous her title may seem, is just someone who is tasked to bring an heir to the throne. Rhaenyra also is forced to marry to create alliances between houses as she aptly puts it “How romantic it must be to get imprisoned in a castle and squeeze out heirs…”.

We also see more double standards between men and women in Westeros. If men in high positions fool around, it’s okay. But once a lady does so, it’s dishonourable and she has lost her ‘purpose’.

Another interesting theme is how Rhaenyra ‘coerced’ Ser Criston to sleep with her. Even though he was unwilling, she kept at it. And he probably gave in because who is he to deny the requests of the princess? If the genders were flipped, some would call this power play and rape.

And this is why we love House of the Dragon so much. It puts up a mirror and makes us confront issues of society that we usually won’t. We can’t wait to see what’s in-store in Episode 5.

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Catch House of The Dragon on Astro, with new episode every Monday on demand or watch it on the same day at 10.00pm on HBO CH411. Open to all Astro Movie Pack customers.