House of the Dragon Episode 6 Review: A gripping dramatic plot with several tense scenes

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Preceding the events of the original series by over 200 years, The House of the Dragon is a prequel to the well-known military drama Game of Thrones. The popular book “House of Fire and Blood” served as the inspiration for both web series.

A painful delivery marks the episode’s opening. This time, Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) is giving birth to what will soon be revealed to be her third son in the birthing bed while being attended by midwives, ostensibly by her hand-wringing husband, Laenor Velaryon (John Macmillan). But before she has even reached the afterbirth, she receives a summons: Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke) wants to immediately view the infant. With the kid in her arms and Laenor fretting by her side, Rhaenyra makes her way painfully through the Red Keep because she is not about to allow him out of her sight.

We can feel every second of the ten years that have passed since the two first met as they stand face to face in the Queen’s chambers. This was a decade of distrust, backstabbing, and jockeying for power. Not even droopy King Viserys (Paddy Considine) is aware of any of that; he is simply delighted to greet his newest grandson and thrilled that one day soon, his cherished daughter will succeed him on the Iron Throne, followed by her eldest son.

House of the Dragon Episode 6 Review: A gripping dramatic plot with several tense scenes 2

Every woman treads carefully in public and lets her hair down in private. While Rhaenyra tries to explain the situation to her own merrily dismissive husband, Alicent goes to Ser Cristen Cole (Fabien Frankel), whose hatred at Rhaenyra has crystallised into a hate that even the queen finds shocking. The sequence where Alicent interrupts her son Aegon (Ty Tennant) during his, well, private time to explain to him the existential threat that his nephews pose may, nevertheless, be the most illuminating discussion in the film.

Daemon and his wife Laena, who is now being portrayed by Nanna Blondell, have made Pentos their home, along with their twin daughters. Lord Larys Strong (Matthew Needham) is the final strand in this complex web. Since we last saw him, he has worked as a counsellor for Alicent, who laments her lack of courtroom allies in private. Due to Viserys’ refusal to accept his resignation as Hand of the King after Harwin’s altercation, Lord Lyonel Strong (Gavin Spokes) had pleaded for leave to at least accompany his son to their stronghold of Harrenhal.

Lary then finds some convicted individuals and having their tongues cut out, and then dispatches the victims to kill his brother and father, Lord Lyonel. This accomplishes a number of goals at once. Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) can now return to his office at Hand. An important ally is taken away from Rhaenyra and her sons. We end with Rhaenyra departing King’s Landing for her ancestral fortress on Dragonstone, abandoning the court and its intrigues to her competitor, and Daemon once again widowed — it’s becoming a habit.

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