House of the Dragon: The Red Sowing Show Only

July 29, 2024 6:28 AM - Season 2, Episode 7

The war for the Iron Throne escalates, and Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, in a crucial gamble, is prepared to risk everything in her urgent quest for dragon riders.

“Now, I hate to Monday-morning-quarterback our girl, but Rhaenyra makes a few highly questionable choices in hosting the inaugural Dragonseed Olympics. For example, I don’t think it was wise to start with Vermithor — the fiercest dragon in Westeros — when Silverwing is also in need of a rider. And given that we know Vermithor likes to incinerate whatever displeases him, it wasn’t exactly sensible to corral all of the contestants so close together like a pile of blonde kindling.”—from Amanda Whiting’s 4-star recap for Vulture

“With Vermithor, Silverwing, and Seasmoke all now mounted, the blacks have a massive dragon advantage. Vermithor is nearly as big as Vhagar, Silverwing is formidable herself, and Seasmoke has combat experience from the battles in the Stepstones. Add those dragons to Caraxes, Syrax, Vermax, and Moondancer, and Rhaenyra has a total of seven fighting-sized winged beasts at her disposal (assuming Daemon and Caraxes would come if called).”—from Riley McAtee’s (book-heavy!) recap for The Ringer

posted by bcwinters (17 comments total)

I love that the dragons have such distinct personalities.

Vermithor: "I don't like this one; I don't like that one; too tall, too short, too old, nope, nope, not that one either; I hate all of these, they're all terrible... OK, fine, the shouty one is acceptable."

Silverwing: "Hey, random dude who blundered into my nest; I guess we're best friends now."

I also liked that Ulf immediately rode his new dragon back to his old neighbourhood (presumably to show off to his friends). This did not seem tactically wise.

This episode generally served as a helpful reminder that most of the nobility consider the lowborn to be furniture, and that Everyone Sucks Here.
posted by confluency at 8:19 AM on July 29 [5 favorites]

Introducing the entire cattle call to Vermithor at the same time seemed like certain disaster -- which it was -- but I suspect that if Rhaenyra had sent them out there one at a time, it wouldn't have taken more than a couple of fried bastards to send all of them running for the hills; maybe it only would've taken one.

I have a bad feeling Ulf may be the Jar-Jar of this show. I can already tell that I am not going to find his antics amusing. I hope Aemond will make short work of him.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 9:15 AM on July 29 [3 favorites]

This is literally what I thought of when we met the assembled Rhaenyra's Roughnecks at the end of the episode.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 9:20 AM on July 29 [2 favorites]

Yeah, great job, Ulf. Now Aemond knows Silverwing's got a dragonrider, and one dumb enough to show off to Team Green/KL without even knowing a word of Old Valyrian with which to command her? Not great, my dude!

How are we all feeling about Jace's "ewwww, the poors" speech to Rhaenyra about not feeling special anymore re: dragonriding? Because it came off spectacularly badly in my household.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 10:23 AM on July 29

Another huge wasted opportunity for a musical montage of wacky deaths by dragon. Sure, we got Vermie taking out a bunch of peeps, but it's just not the same without an '80s song playing in the background. But at least he cleaned a lot of Targaryen DNA from the Westeros gene pool.

Also: HOLY FARKING SHIRT VERMITHOR IS A BIG BOY.

How are we all feeling about Jace's "ewwww, the poors" speech

I mean, I get it and his frustration -- being called a "bastard" behind his back all his life, knowing it's a running joke, but at least he's got a dragon! And then to have his one status symbol democratized, as it were -- that's gotta be tough for a kid who has simultaneously been told all his life that he's destined for the Iron Throne.

That said, he came off looking like a stuck-up brat, as did all the other chumps who complained about it, including the dragon-tenders. (Mmmm... dragon-tenders in honey mustard sauce!) I am sure that somewhere in the history of Westeros up to this point, there have been bastards who have been promoted to the aristocracy because of noble parentage. Just make a proclamation and you're done! And ultimately, I don't think a couple of low-born Targaryen bastards getting dragons is going to lead to some mass peasant revolt when the smallfolk realize that they too could be just as good as the nobility; it's more the nobility concerned about maintaining their social status.
posted by Saxon Kane at 1:53 PM on July 29 [2 favorites]

Jace is certainly turning out to be a bit of a prick but I still just want to watch Harry Collett mewing in a rain bonnet.
posted by bcwinters at 4:01 PM on July 29

I think Ulf's scene over Kings Landing was poorly done. My sense was he flew there to lure Aemond out and back to Dragonstone, where Rhaenyra could show off their dragon advantage, still hoping to end the war without more bloodshed.

Now, there's still questionable moves there by Rhaenyra... giving away the secret of your dragon advantage rather than ambushing Aemond, thinking the Greens are ever going to give up that easily.

Also, can we get a big round of applause for Lady Lyanna Mormont Lord Oscar Tully for outmaneuvering Doctor Whoemon Targaryen?
posted by kokaku at 5:37 PM on July 29 [4 favorites]

Ulf stole a Waymo and it drove him to Dubrovnik.
posted by hototogisu at 10:58 PM on July 29

that's gotta be tough for a kid who has simultaneously been told all his life that he's destined for the Iron Throne.

I also took it to mean that he fears that fighting off challenges to his claim got exponentially harder. Not only are nobles calling him bastard to delegitimize him, but commoners with dragons can also stake their claim against his.
posted by ishmael at 9:27 AM on July 30

Agreed that he's a stuck-up brat tho.
posted by ishmael at 9:30 AM on July 30

I'll admit I've watched too many episodes of Dogfights, but Rhaenyra should have set a real trap for Aemond. At least have the other three airborne FFS.
posted by whuppy at 10:33 AM on July 30

Sorry if this should be clear to me: Does Corlys know Addam and Allan are his? The A's seem like decent blokes, what disadvantage could there be to him, now that Rhaenys is dead, to not legitimizing them--other than it being a bit awkward, perhaps?
posted by maxwelton at 11:27 AM on July 30

Sorry if this should be clear to me: Does Corlys know Addam and Allan are his?

Isn't that what that last conversation w Rhaenys was about? The one where she says that he should recognize them?
posted by ishmael at 2:17 PM on July 30 [3 favorites]

Yeah, I think if Rhaenys knew, then Corlys definitely knows.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 4:15 PM on July 30 [1 favorite]

It seems pretty clear that Corlys knows, and hasn't legitimised or even openly acknowledged them because of the social stigma (his weak sauce "well done" to Addam, who is desperate for his recognition and approval, was hard to watch). From what we have seen so far (even without book spoilers), attitudes vary somewhat across Westeros -- Corlys may feel particularly constrained by his station, as well as the same illegitimate elephant in the room that has made Jacaerys so defensive.
posted by confluency at 9:05 AM on July 31

Lord Oscar Tully!! what a badass. he went toe-to-toe with Whoemon (lol) and did NOT flinch. a spectacular performance, and lotsa fun to watch a stripling call a grown-ass dragon rider out.
posted by supermedusa at 10:13 AM on July 31 [3 favorites]

I think Ulf's scene over Kings Landing was poorly done. My sense was he flew there to lure Aemond out and back to Dragonstone, where Rhaenyra could show off their dragon advantage, still hoping to end the war without more bloodshed.

Now, there's still questionable moves there by Rhaenyra... giving away the secret of your dragon advantage rather than ambushing Aemond, thinking the Greens are ever going to give up that easily.

I think this was exactly her plan, as evidenced by her initial belief that the mere fact of the new dragon riders would force King's Landing to surrender. She thought that showing off the dragons with new riders would be sufficient to end the war. She was proven wrong.
posted by hepta at 8:08 AM on August 12