Recap / House of the Dragon S2 E4: "The Red Dragon and the Gold"

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Daemon continues to be haunted by nightmares in Harrenhal. Ser Simon awakens Daemon to inform him that some Crownlands houses have raised Aegon's banner and contributed to Criston's host. In addition, Grover Tully's young heir Oscar has arrived at Harrenhal. However, he steadfastly maintains the Tullys' inaction, and a frustrated Daemon demands to meet with House Blackwood.

Rhaenys visits the Driftmark docks and confronts Corlys over his treatment of Alyn, his bastard. She tells her husband that Baela has summoned her back to Dragonstone.

Grand Maester Orwylle delivers an abortifacient to Alicent, who asks him if Viserys had truly considered Aegon a successor, but Orwylle demurs. Meanwhile, the Black council discusses Criston's growing ost; Criston subjugates House Darklyn and executes its lord. Aegon is furious that Daemon has taken Harrenhal, even as Larys assures him it is a useless holding. Aemond announces that Cole is moving to attack Rook's Rest to cut off Dragonstone by land, to Aegon's indignation. Larys visits Alicent and questions her about the succession, but Alicent says that Viserys' intentions are no longer relevant as the civil war is inevitable.

Daemon meets the enigmatic witch-woman Alys Rivers, who taunts him about his relationship with Rhaenyra. He accepts a drink from her, and suddenly finds himself haunted by visions of Laena as he blunders his way through a meeting with Willem Blackwood.

The Green Council discusses the situation — they are running out of resources, but Criston continues to amass a formidable army. A bored Aegon stomps out of the meeting and complains about his insignificance to Alicent, but his mother expresses her disappointment in his lack of growth since his coronation. She implores him to do nothing and let his more learned subordinates lead the way.

Criston announces that they are to attack Rook's Rest by daylight, despite Gwayne's reservations. Rhaenyra returns to Dragonstone, now resolute in her role as leader; Rhaenys volunteers to meet Criston's host on Meleys. As Rhaenyra tells Jace of the Song of Ice and Fire, Aegon also decides to take to the skies on Sunfyre. Meleys begin to lay waste to Criston's army, but Criston presses ahead knowing that Aemond and Vhagar are lying in wait. Criston is shocked to see Aegon and Sunfyre, who are handedly dispatched by Rhaenys and Meleys. Aemond's appearance causes Aegon and Sunfyre to be set alight; king and dragon fall to the ground. Rhaenys and Meleys battle with Aemond and Vhagar, a fight that also knocks out Criston. Vhagar manages to kill Meleys mid-air and Rhaenys falls to her death. Criston awakens and surveys the carnage. Aemond and Criston find Aegon's body by his dragon's.

Tropes in this episode include:

• Adaptational Context Change: In the book, Criston Cole is called “Kingmaker” because of his alleged role in convincing Aegon to seize the throne and because he was the one to place the crown on his head during his coronation. This episode shows that in the show’s continuity he earns the sobriquet as a consequence of how his military victories in the Crownlands are solidifying Aegon’s reign.
• Adaptational Dumbass: In the book, Aegon and Aemond plan Rook's Rest together to kill the dragon that the Blacks send to defend it. In the show, Aegon rushes in without the knowledge or approval of Aemond, but instead out of a misplaced need to prove himself.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: In the book, Rhaenys is far less gracious about her husband siring two bastard children during their marriage. Corlys has to wait until Rhaenys is dead to bring them forward.
  Book: Princess Rhaenys, his wife, had the fiery temperament of many Targaryens, Mushroom says, and would not have taken kindly to her lord husband fathering bastards on a girl half her age, and a shipwright’s daughter besides. Therefore his lordship had prudently ended his “shipyard trysts” with Mouse after Alyn’s birth, commanding her to keep her boys far from court. Only after the death of Princess Rhaenys did Lord Corlys at last feel able to bring his bastards safely forward.
  Show: Alyn's past is no fault of his. He saved his lord's life. He should be raised up and honored, not hidden beneath the tides.
• Adaptational Villainy: This episode shows Aemond being responsible for his brother being nearly killed, and implies that he did it on purpose to take control of the throne. In the books, Aemond was vicious and amoral, but his one admirable virtue was his loyalty to his brother and his house. He fully supported his brother's claim, and the two of them worked together in attacking Rhaenys and Meleys at Rook's Rest.
• Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Aegon's decision to ride Sunfyre into battle without telling anyone is the result of a lot of built-up emotional factors, but the fact that he finished a flagon of wine beforehand and was still drinking more as he mounted his dragon cannot have helped.
• Alien Blood: When Sunfyre bleeds over the battlefield at Rook's Rest, some of the Green soldiers who are underneath get burned by it, meaning his blood is either very hot or acidic.
• All According to Plan: By all appearances, Cole's plan to assault Rook's Rest in broad daylight goes awry when an enemy dragonrider (Rhaenys) turns up. However it turns out this is part of Cole's plan all along; anticipating this he has Aemond waiting in ambush. Unfortunately the king then turns up on his dragon, which isn't part of the strategy.
• All Animals Are Dogs:
  • Sunfyre is delighted to see Aegon and gives his rider a gentle bump with his snout like a dog asking for pets and attention.
  • When Aemond commands a ready Vhagar to hold off on taking flight for now, the latter flops down her head down and sighs dejectedly like a large dog, as if to ask "Why did you make me get up if we're not going anywhere?".
• The Alleged House: Larys says that Harrenhal itself will "sap Daemon's resolve." It's a huge castle where you could theoretically house a huge military force — but in practice, not really. The castle is a mess, and fixing it up would cost more time and money than anyone has. There's also the whole "it's haunted" thing which Larys surely knows, but doesn't expressly bring up because debating whether haunted houses are real would sidetrack the meeting.
  Larys: That castle is more crippled than I am, Your Grace. It's like to drive Daemon to madness as he attempts to make use of it. It is beyond his faculties. It is also penniless, as I happily control all of its gold.
• All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Ser Gwayne and the Hightower forces seize Rook's Rest after Meleys' corpse creates a breach on one of the castle's walls.
• Always a Bigger Fish: Cole knows the blacks would send a dragon to defend Rook's Rest. He also has Vhagar, the largest living dragon, on roster. His plan revolved around Vhagar chomping whichever dragon they sent, which was always going to be smaller and weaker. It succeeds, but Aegon and Sunfyre also go down unexpectedly.
• Ambiguous Situation:
  • Aemond pretty unambiguously orders Vhagar to burn Aegon and Sunfyre. Is this an active attempt on his brother's life? Or is it more like "if you're too stupid to stay out of the way and let me win this war for you — if you're going to throw yourself into the crossfire — that's on you"?
  • When Criston finds Aemond after the battle, he's standing by his brother with his sword out, and then he sheathes it. Was he planning on finishing off his brother, or did he just have his sword out because this is a battlefield? If he was, was it in a Mercy Kill kind of way or a Inheritance Murder way?
• Anger Born of Worry: Jace's increasing belligerence and frustration turns him against Rhaenyra when she returns from her secret mission in King's Landing. While his tone and stance is very insolent for a son towards his mother (and queen, to boot), all of his worries are presented as being justified. Rhaenyra clearly recognizes this, as she seems to decide to make it up to him by finally transmitting to him the secret of "the Song of Ice and Fire" passed down to her by Viserys all the way back in "The Heirs of the Dragon".
• Batman Gambit: While Rook's Rest holds little strategic importance, it belongs to one of Rhaenyra's council members and the last remaining Black stronghold in the Crownlands. Cole's attack is ultimately a ploy to lure the Blacks into sending one of their dragons into battle to defend it, where it can be ambushed and eliminated by Aemond and Vhagar.
• Battle Trophy: In the aftermath of the dragon battle, Aemond goes to inspect Aegon's body and seizes his brother's Valyrian dagger, clearly considering him unworthy of such an heirloom.
• Behemoth Battle: For the first time since the days of Maegor the Cruel, dragon fights against dragon in official battle. The skirmish between Vhagar and Arrax was more of an instance of "bullying" that escalated way out of control, ending in tragedy.
• Better Partner Assertion: Only faintly Implied, but when Larys comes to talk to Alicent (after she skips the latest Small Council meeting), their conversation has an air of this. He endorses "indulgence" and "appetites", but... how does The Queen feel about Ser Criston being on the march? How into him is she? Is Cole even going to survive? Then Strong pivots to talking about the books on her table. Criston is many things to Alicent — stalwart, doggedly loyal, her co-parent — but there's never been much indication that he's her intellectual equal. Larys, on the other hand, definitely is.
• Big "NO!": Just as Sunfyre is being badly mauled by Meleys, Aegon is relieved to see his brother on Vhagar... then he sees Vhagar is about to breathe fire at both him and Rhaenys while he's exposed and he lets a big and desperate "NO!" out.
• Bling of War: A downplayed example. Rhaenys opts for a tiara to go with her armor as opposed to any actually protective headgear. Aegon for his part opts for his ancestor's Valyrian steel crown, armor, and sword, for all the good it does him.
• Bloody Hallucinations of Guilt: Daemon wakes up from his dream, in which he beheads young Rhaenyra, to find blood smeared on his hands. It disappears moments later.
• Cain and Abel: It is clear Aemond meant to burn Aegon when he commands Vhagar to open fire during Aegon's aerial fight with Meleys. Afterwards, he begins approaching the fallen Aegon and Sunfyre with his sword at the ready, with the implication he was about to finish the job.
• Call-Back: Aemond and Vhagar have killed another dragon and rider, but this time, they did it intentionally and in a legitimate battle. His Oh, Crap! reaction is replaced with smug satisfaction and a clear sense that he's really in control now—of the battle, of the dragon, and ultimately of the crown. Vhagar also kills both dragons the same way, by ambushing them from below.
• Call-Forward: The three hounds that Daemon sees in Harrenhal are a Call-Forward to the occupation of Harrenhal by Gregor Clegane in season 2 of Game of Thrones.
• Cannon Fodder: Cole sends the Darklyn, Rosby and Stokeworth men first during the siege of Rook's Rest. Not only are these Crownlanders smothered in arrows by the Staunton archers and crossbowmen, but also burned alive by Meleys. Meanwhile, Cole holds back the Hightower knights under the cover of trees.
• Cavalry Betrayal: At first, Aegon is relieved by the appearance of Aemond and Vhagar, believing that they would help him in his fight against Meleys. That relief soon turns to horror as Aemond orders Vhagar to breathe fire in the direction of both, sending them plummeting to the ground.
• Character Death: Lord Gunthor Darklyn is beheaded by Ser Criston Cole. Princess Rhaenys dies after Vhagar kills Meleys, crushed by the body of the dead dragon.
• Cliffhanger: The episode ends with Aegon and/or Sunfyre severely wounded, making their deaths not improbable. The next episode preview and the behind-the-scenes production materials do not confirm either way and show a large coffin-like container that could either be a casket or a fancy Aegon-concealing stretcher.
• Collateral Damage:
  • An extremely charitable interpretation of Aemond's attack on Meleys might chalk Aegon's and Sunfyre's injuries up to this, though Aegon seems to have realized just before the firestrike that his brother did indeed intentionally hit him.
  • Any version of Aemond and Cole's plan to bait out one of Rhaenyra's dragon riders with their army will inevitably involve many of their own soldiers being killed in the process, successful or not. Cole seems to think this is a necessary sacrifice, and Aemond certainly doesn't seem to care.
  • A soldier ends up getting scalded alive by the boiling blood pouring out of Sunfyre's wounds.
  • Vhagar crushes several Green soldiers underfoot before returning to flight after she is knocked down.
• Composite Character: In the books, the heir to Riverrun is Lord Grover’s grandson Elmo Tully, who has two sons named Kermit and Oscar. This is truncated in the show, where Oscar Tully is described as Grover's grandson and the heir to Riverrun whose father died years before. In the book, Kermit is the relevant son — the heir and later lord, the one who will be involved in battles during the war. Oscar only gets mentioned in passing four times in the whole book.
• Continuity Nod: Willem Blackwood mentions the time he vied for Rhaenyra's hand in marriage. He tactfully doesn't mention the mess he made in Lord Boremund Baratheon's hall.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: As brave and reckless as Aegon is, he has no chance against Rhaenys and Meleys, who are much more experienced and competent. Even Sunfyre's famed agility in the source material matters little when his rider is inebriated and new to dragon vs. dragon combat. Meleys is also renowned for her speed, and larger than Sunfyre. They were both likely screwed even before Aemond and Vhagar show up.
• Curb-Stomp Cushion:
  • Meleys stood no real chance against Vhagar, but she did put up a much better fight than Arrax did, even managing to slash the older dragon's belly and knock her down to the ground.
  • Though outnumbered and (unknown to them) doomed from the start due to Vhagar being nearby, Rook's Rest puts up a good showing against their besiegers by riddling the first wave full of arrows and crossbow bolts. House Staunton's decision to give battle at all despite their tiny garrison size is already better than can be said for House Rosby and Stokeworth.
• David Versus Goliath:
  • Sunfyre battles Meleys, who's considerably larger than he is. While Sunfyre tries putting up a fight, even biting off one of Meleys's horns in their scuffle, the younger and less experienced dragon is horribly outclassed against the Red Queen.
  • Meleys herself ends up on the receiving end when facing up against Vhagar. The battle results in Meleys's death at Vhagar's jaws.
• A Death in the Limelight: Rhaenys gets a bit more development and screentime, because at the end of the episode, she is killed in battle.
• Defeat Equals Explosion: When Meleys' carcass crashes into the castle walls, she combusts as if the impact triggered the dead dragon's fire glands.
• Defiant to the End:
  • Lord Gunthor Darklyn refuses to bend the knee to Aegon, openly expressing his disdain for Cole, whom he insults with the epithet "Kingmaker" and spitting at him.
  • Rhaenys has the chance to flee the battle, but turns around and continues to face Vhagar instead, knowing it will likely end in her death.
• Disproportionate Retribution: It is implied that Aemond betrays and attempts to kill his brother, King Aegon, because of a drunken insult Aegon made in the previous episode.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Continuing a trend throughout the season, dragons are a Fantasy stand-in for nuclear weapons. Last episode, both sides talked about how they have to position their dragons as deterrents: neither side considers making an all-out attack with dragons on their rivals' headquarters, because both sides are keeping most of their dragons at home base (so they'd respond in kind). In this episode dragons actually are committed to a field battle for the first time by both sides, and it totally changes the rules from "conventional" warfare much as nuclear weapons would in real life. The previously hawkish Criston Cole is horrified to see the sheer scale of the destruction, and just how utterly useless conventional armies are when faced with fire-breathing dragons. The enemy dragon Meleys burns something like a quarter of his army in a matter of minutes, turns the fields into a hellscape of ash and burning men, and then Vhagar - who is on his side - literally tramples Green soldiers under her feet like they were rats. In the end, neither Cole's army nor the Staunton garrison at Rook's Rest had any significant impact on the battle's outcome, which was entirely dependent on counter-strikes between the dragons.
• The Dog Bites Back: Aemond spends the majority of this episode humiliating and outright attempting to kill Aegon, possibly still seething from the humiliation Aegon dealt him back in the brothel.
• Double Speak: A pretty cruel example. When Aegon asks Alicent what she wants him to do, she says "Do what is needed of you: nothing". This means two things. If taken literally, she is saying that Aegon doesn't need to do anything in the war effort, but that is not what she is actually saying. What she really means is "I do not need you, because you are useless". She coldly looks at him as she lets the true meaning of what she said sink in.
• Downer Ending: Whichever side you were rooting for, neither comes out of the episode very happy.
  • Blacks: Rook's Rest falls, with the final Black remnants in the Crownland falling, and Rhaenys is killed by Aemond costing the Blacks their second largest dragon.
  • Greens: While they win the battle, it comes at extreme cost with Aegon and his dragon Sunfyre being critically wounded, and hundreds of their men were killed to seize a relatively minor keep. The next episode reveals about 900 of their number were killed or wounded out of the 1500+ estimated by the Staunton captain.^note In the books they had considerably more than 1500 men, so they ultimately lost about a third of their forces. After losing so many troops, and with Sunfyre knocked out of the fight, Criston has to abandon any short-term plans to retake Harrenhal.
• Drowning My Sorrows: Aegon was always an unrepentant alcoholic, but thus far this season, he at least seems to have refrained both from drinking to excess during daytime hours, when he's supposed to be king, and from drinking alone. It's heavily implied that him finishing a flagon of wine by himself after he's completely disregarded by both his family and councilors is his coping mechanism.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Aegon demands this from the council, insisting that Cole must seize Harrenhal. Aemond humiliates him, albeit in High Valyrian. And when he complains of this to his mother, she berates him and tells him to sit quietly and do as he's told.
• Enraged by Idiocy: Aemond is pissed when he sees Aegon racing off to fight Rhaenys and Meleys, wrecking his and Criston's plan. This may be in part why he choses to delay his appearance and then to attack Aegon and Sunfyre alongside Rhaenys and Meleys.
• Family Theme Naming: Word of God confirms that Oscar Tully and his grandfather Grover, as well as his father Elmo and uncle Kermit (named in the family tree), were named after Sesame Street characters and Muppets.invoked
• Fearless Fool: Aegon (while drunk off his ass) decides to lead his army and fight in the front lines. While this is brave of him, it’s also stupid since he has zero experience with combat and/or warfare, which gives Aemond an opportunity to kill him.
• Forced Transformation: Discussed Trope. Alys Rivers — a deadpan snarking hedge witch employed as Harrenhal's de-facto maester — boasts of being an owl cursed to live in human form. Given her being her, it's not out of the question that this could be true, but she could also just be sarcastically toying with Daemon. Given that this is Harrenhal we're talking about, who knows.
  Alys: I'm no woman at all. I'm a barn owl, cursed to live in human form.
• Foregone Conclusion: Rhaenyra tells Jacaerys about Aegon's dream. However, 170 years later, it is made clear no one in Westeros truly takes the warnings about the Walkers seriously, implying it will be lost to history (though Daenerys will ironically end up helping against them even as she's never heard of the prophecy).
• Foreshadowing:
  • Daemon bluntly tells Oscar Tully to smother the ailing Lord Grover so he could inherit Riverrun and give Daemon the army he needs. Aemond would attempt the same with Aegon during the Battle of Rook's Rest. While Aegon survives, he's left in critical condition which nonetheless gives Aemond the opportunity to take command of the war as he is next-in-line to the throne.
  • Alicent dropping and breaking the dragon figurine anticipates the fates of two dragons in the events of Rook's Rest.
  • During the second Green council meeting, Aemond is notably absent despite serving as the faction's main war strategist in Cole's absence. It clues the audience that he's not in King's Landing. Similarly, Cole also chooses to besiege Rook's Rest at daytime when they'll be more vulnerable to a dragon attack.
• Giant Foot of Stomping: Vhagar flattens two soldiers beneath her foot in the chaos after driving Meleys and Rhaenys to the ground.
• Gone Horribly Right: Aemond and Criston's scheme basically works as planned. They didn't plan for Aegon or Rhaenys, but they do win — they take the castle, they defeat Rhaenyra's forces. And Criston is horrified. Even before he sees what happened to Aegon, just looking at the battlefield and the dragon carnage, he's horrified. Aemond, in contrast, reacts with Dissonant Serenity.
• Hallucinations: Daemon has yet another hallucination of young Rhaenyra. This time she's sitting on the Iron Throne in queen regalia and speaks mostly in High Valyrian to him. He ends up decapitating her, the head keeps talking to him, and he brutally wakes up.
• Hates Reading: To the dismay of his mother, who wants to look up anything that might be written down related to Aegon the Conqueror's dream, Aegon has had all the books of his father removed from his apartments, having no interest in them. Fortunately, he's only had them moved and not destroyed.
• Hero Killer: The pair Aemond + Vhagar add Rhaenys + Meleys to their death list, with Aegon + Sunfyre only barely avoiding inclusion.
• Hiding Behind the Language Barrier: Played With. When Aemond speaks to his brother in High Valyrian in the small council meeting, it seems like he's trying to have a private conversation in front of the councilors. But when Aegon tries to reply and can barely muster a sentence in the language, it becomes apparent that Aemond is not really trying to communicate with his brother — Aegon probably doesn't catch half of what Aemond says, and he knows he won't. Aemond is speaking Valyrian to publicly perform the role of the proper Targaryen prince, and back his brother into the corner to show the king as the incompetent one.
• History Repeats: Alicent drinks moon tea to hide the possible consequences of her affair with Ser Criston. Rhaenyra does the same in season one, after her own carnal tryst with Cole. And in both cases, Larys Strong is loitering around, knowing exactly what has happened.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: During their charge, Aegon commands Sunfyre to open fire on Meleys. However, the flames end up obscuring Meleys from Aegon's line of vision, allowing the Red Queen to ambush Sunfyre and draw first blood. It all goes downhill for Aegon from there.
• Hope Spot: Rhaenys and Meleys manage to temporarily down Aemond and Vhagar in the battle at Rook's Rest and it appears that they might escape the battle with only minimal injuries. Then Vhagar lunges out from behind the keep as they pass overhead and catches Meleys' neck in her jaws, leading to both dragon and rider falling to their deaths onto the keep itself and the rout of the defenders.
• I Have This Friend: Alicent requests moon tea pretending it's for some other girl. Grand Maester Orwyle plays along, warning her of side-effects and asking to monitor "the girl".
• Inadequate Inheritor: Alicent calls out Aegon's reckless decisions, saying that he is not even "half the king" Viserys was, and that merely having a crown does not give you wisdom. Just to hammer home, he barges in the Battle of Rook's Rest wearing Aegon the Conqueror's own crown and Valyrian steel armor astride Sunfyre (an arguably more beautiful dragon than even Balerion)—and Epic Fail doesn't even begin to describe how it goes for him, throwing his own army's attack plans into disarray, and ending up Hoist by His Own Petard in more ways than one.
• Inheritance Murder: Once again, the "rogue princes" of the Blacks and Greens are in fine form with this.
  • Daemon suggests that young Oscar Tully use a pillow to euthanize his grandfather Lord Grover, so Oscar can become Lord Paramount of the Riverlands.
  • During Aegon and Sunfyre's aerial dogfight with Rhaenys and Meleys, the cinematography all but suggests this is what Aemond was gunning for when he subjected his brother the King to a Friendly Fire of dracarys with Vhagar.
• Internal Reveal: Rhaenyra tells Jacaerys about how Viserys believed their inheritance is in line with the closely-guarded Song of Ice and Fire, which has been known to the audience since the first season.
• Klingon Promotion: Aemond attempts this on his own older brother and king, partly due to how unsuited to the crown he feels Aegon is, and partly due to his own lust for power and petty vengeance.
• Know When to Fold Them: Once Lord Darklyn is executed by Criston Cole, the remaining Darklyn men-at-arms bend the knee and join the Greens' side. Given that there a number of bodies in Darklyn heraldry nearby, any men who would've refused already made up their mind.
• Leeroy Jenkins: Aegon recklessly flies into battle himself, against the advice of his Small Council and Alicent. This nearly costs him the lives of both himself and his dragon Sunfyre when they get caught and very severely injured, in both a fight against the much more experienced Meleys and Rhaenys and in the literal crossfire between Meleys and Vhagar.
• Let No Crisis Go to Waste: King Aegon II turning up at Rook's Rest puts Criston and Aemond's plans to whack (what with Aegon not exactly known for valor or combat). Nevertheless, Criston went ahead and spun his presence there as Aegon doing a Dynamic Entry, living up to being a Frontline General together with his subjects (when he's anything but).
  Criston: Stalwart men of House Targaryen, your king has joined you! Hold to your courage! Hold to your wits! For the Seven have blessed and shielded this host with divine purpose! For the one true king, Aegon! ADVANCE!
• Licked by the Dog: Despite his many flaws, Aegon's dragon Sunfyre seems to adore him and vice versa. The dragon bumps him with his snout and Aegon has a rare moment of looking genuinely happy as he fondly strokes its hide.
• Liquid Courage: Aegon is seen downing a flask of wine before riding off into battle. Of course, going into a possible dragonfight while being inebriated isn't the wisest decision, which Aegon finds out the hard way when faced up against the sober and way more experienced Rhaenys.
• Locked Out of the Loop:
  • Ser Criston Cole and Aemond together devise a scheme to lure one of Rhaenyra's dragons to Rook's Rest so that Aemond can then take out the opposing Dragon Rider with Vhagar. Aegon isn't informed about any of this because, as he comes to find out, his entire Council considers him a joke. When he does intervene in the battle of his own accord, he nearly scuttles the entire plan.
  • Similarly, Cole decides to keep Ser Gwayne Hightower in the dark about the plan as well until they actually spring the trap, presumably to ensure that Gwayne will rally the Cannon Fodder that Cole means to sacrifice in the first stage.
• Made of Iron: Despite being thrashed around by Meleys, taking a blast from Vhagar, and plummeting hundreds of feet, Sunfyre manages to survive, albeit in critical condition. What's even more impressive is that given the way it curls itself around Aegon's unconscious body, it's implied that the dragon bore the brunt of the impact to protect its rider.
• Mercy Kill: Implied Subverted Trope. When Criston arrives at the spot where Aegon fell, he sees Aemond standing over Aegon's body with his sword out. When he sees Criston, he sheaths his blade.
• Mirror Character: Both Daemon and Aemond have been established as such, but this time it goes further as it shows both men willing to kill someone in power to further their goals: Daemon suggests smothering a dying Grover Tully with a pillow to Oscar Tully, and Aemond draws his sword when reaching the site of Sunfyre's crash preparing to Mercy Kill Aegon and sheathes it back when Criston comes in. The fact that Daemon literally sees himself in his hallucination of Aemond reinforces this.
• Missing Time: When Daemon downs the concoction that Alys prepared to help him sleep at nighttime, the scene immediately cuts to Daemon downing a drink while sitting at the great table in the middle of the day, the intervening hours a complete mystery.
• My Blood Runs Hot: The wounded dragons spill boiling hot blood over the battlefield, producing injuries almost as serious as the dragonfire itself.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Harrenhal has Call Forwards to the future lords of the castle:
    • Daemon sees a black goat in Harrenhal. Vargo "the goat" Hoat will occupy Harrenhal in A Storm of Swords (although the character was cut from the series Game of Thrones and replaced with the Canon Foreigner Locke).
    • There are three dogs (either wolfhounds or deerhounds). The sigil of House Clegane is three dogs and Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane will hold Harrenhal in A Storm of Swords after seizing it from the Vargo Hoat (and earlier in the timeline of Game of Thrones, after Tywin Lannister leaves him in charge).
  • Rhaenys crashing into Rook's Rest astride Meleys mirrors the fate of her namesake, the sister-wife of Aegon the Conqueror, who perishes with her dragon Meraxes when they fall onto the Hellholt during the First Dornish War.
  • Rhaenyra's scene with Jacaerys speaking of the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy is presaged with a dragon skull (with visibly damaged eye socket bones) kept in a crypt similar to Balerion's in the Red Keep—all but suggesting this is Meraxes (who died because of a scorpion bolt to the eye), and is thus Foreshadowing for this younger Rhaenys's Death in the Limelight.
  • Lord Darklyn's condemnation that Cole is unfit for the white cloak has even more weight than normal, as source material fans deep in their minor house trivia know that House Darklyn has produced a notable number of Kingsguard members in its history. This can be seen by the seven white shields on their heraldry, though at least one of those shields is there too early for the Dance.
• Neck Snap: Vhagar ultimately kills Meleys by biting her neck powerfully enough to break it.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!: Rhaenyra's trip to King's Landing without her council's knowledge ends up hindering the Black's cause. Without their Queen, the Black council is left floundering over what to do as Cole's army begins sweeping up the Crownlands houses that pledged fealty to Rhaenyra. By the time she returns, only Rook's Rest remains.
• Not Enough to Bury: The soldiers trampled by Vhagar are reduced to puddles of gore splashing onto the muddy battlefield.
• Not-So-Omniscient Council of Bickering: The Black council degenerates to this in Rhaenyra's absence—with the rest of the council members showing flat-out disrespect to the Targaryen heirs (Jacaerys and Baela) as well as questioning Rhaenys's de facto attempt at steering it (especially since, as Alfred Broome points out, she isn't even named Rhaenyra's Hand of the Queen). It takes Corlys Velaryon strolling in and giving them a verbal thrashing to stand down, and Rhaenyra's return for them to fall in line.
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Previously in this conflict, dragons have killed each other and bannermen have skirmished, but this marks the first time that human armies have clashed while dragon vs. dragon combat is joined, and it's far uglier than everyone expected. Cole in particular seems shaken that none of his martial experience seems to matter much when fire breathing monsters are burning and trampling his troops, without caring if the victims are on the same side.
• Obi-Wan Moment: The official podcast and Eve Best frame Rhaenys volunteering herself for the Rook's Rest mission as this. Since this battle needed to be joined by the Blacks anyway, Rhaenys thinks out of all the current available dragonriders (Rhaenyra on Syrax, Jacaerys on Vermax, Baela on Moondancer and herself on Meleys), she and the Red Queen are the most expendable. Besides, after demonstrating that Rhaenyra ultimately shares her values despite their lifelong personality clashes, Rhaenys believes risking this (in what ultimately turned out to be a Suicide Mission) is the best lesson and help she can do for the woman who might just finally become the first ruling queen of the Realm.
  Eve Best: She's deeply reluctant to side with Rhaenyra on the personal level because, first of all, there's never been the conversation in which Rhaenyra has said, "Oh, by the way, your son is still alive." And I think that— you know, that has—So that's sitting between them, always, as the unspoken white elephant between them. And so I think on a personal level, she does not trust this person at all. And I don't think she likes her very much. However, that being said, in the context of their conversation in season one, which is so significant... First of all, I think she sees a lot of herself and her own... her own story being reenacted in Rhaenyra's journey. And the feeling that is strongest is, "Not again on my watch shall this story be repeated." And that is what is most important, above all. Putting aside personal differences, resentments, past histories, confusions, mistakes, and dislikes. All of that aside, the bigger picture is, "Not again will a woman, and clearly the best candidate for the job of ruling, be ignored, and sidelined, and passed over."
• Off with His Head!:
  • Cole beheads Lord Gunthor for his refusal to side with the Greens.
  • In his most recent hallucination involving young Rhaenyra, Daemon beheads her. The head keeps talking to him even when severed from her body.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Gwayne Hightower manages to rally the Green forces, despite both Aegon II and Criston Cole falling in battle and exploits the breach created by Meleys falling onto the battlements of Rook's Rest.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • When Criston sees Aegon arriving at the battle on Sunfyre, nearly derailing the trap that he and Aemond were preparing to spring on Rhaenys and Meleys.
  • When Rhaenys sees Vhagar and realizes she has walked into a trap.
  • Lord Staunton also has this look when he sees Vhagar.
  • Aegon when he realizes that Aemond will unleash dragonfire on Rhaenys... and on him too.
• Opportunistic Bastard: Aemond didn't intend for Aegon to enter the fray at Rook's Rest, and his initial reaction is annoyance, but he swiftly sees and seizes the opportunity this presents.
• The Pawns Go First: Criston Cole's main force from King's Landing consists of Hightower forces that were already in the city, which he supplements by press-ganging the Rosbys, Stokeworths, and Darklyns to add their levies to his army as he advances, tripling its size. During the assault on Rook's Rest, he sends out these vassal armies in the first wave while holding his core Hightower force in reserve. Once the dragon Meleys arrives he even orders a second wave to go out led by the Darklyn men: the other two vassals joined without a fight, but the Darklyns only joined after he defeated them, so they get used up first. Cole knew full well that he was really using the vassal levies as bait to lure an enemy dragon into a trap.
• Pet the Dog: On the eve of battle, both Aegon and Rhaenys share a wholesome moment with their dragons, Meleys and Sunfyre. Aemond also pets Vhagar as they lie in wait in the woodlands.
• Point of No Return: Following the previous episode, once Alicent comes to term that Viserys never wanted Aegon to be his successor, she also claims that at this point whatever Viserys wanted is irrelevant; the realm is diving headfirst into a war and there's nothing that can be done now to stop it.
  Alicent: Rhaenyra's supporters will believe what they wish. And so will Aegon's. The war will be fought, many will die, and the victor will eventually ascend the throne. The significance of Viserys's intentions died with him.
  Larys: Yes, it did.
• Post-Support Regret: Implied at least with Alicent. Realizing that she did misunderstand Viserys' last words, coupled with Aegon's immaturity and incompetence as a king makes Alicent wonder if pushing for Aegon to take the throne was a mistake. Though she concludes that such train of thought is irrelevant in the face of impending war.
• Psychological Projection: Daemon nonchalantly suggests Inheritance Murder to Oscar Tully. Y'know, it's like his Divorce Requires Death. Sometimes you just gotta kill someone because they're inconvenient. Oscar is taken aback that anyone would even suggest such a thing.
• Puppet King: Alicent makes it clear to Aegon that he's expected to be nothing more than a figurehead and let the small council rule in his stead, until he gains more experience at the job and learns how to be a king like his father. Aegon has Defied Trope notions and heads off to battle.
• Pyrrhic Victory: The Greens manage to kill Meleys and Rhaenys and seize Rook's Rest but at the cost of hundreds of Crownlands men and the incapacitation of Aegon and Sunfyre. This costly victory is symbolized by the Hightower standard-bearer being burned to ash and his upright body crumbling the moment that Cole attempts to talk to him afterwards. Cole's original plan was to force the Crownlander vassals to bend the knee and add their levies to his own so that he would then have a force big enough to assault Daemon at Harrenhal — but most of those vassal levies were ultimately used up as bait for Meleys (see "The Pawns Go First"). While his core Hightower forces were preserved there aren't enough to consider mounting a direct assault on Harrenhal after the losses they took.
• Raised by Grandparents: Oscar Tully explains that his grandfather Grover raised him after his father's untimely death.
  Oscar: I love my grandsire, like a father. My own lord father died suddenly, himself a young man. Lord Grover raised me in his stead.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Corlys delivers a short but harsh one on the black council, particularly on Ser Alfred Broome, for their bickering and their attitude towards Jacaerys, Baela and Rhaenys.
  • When Aegon demands to know why he was not informed of Aemond and Criston's strategizing, Aemond calls his brother out in Valyrian (a language Aegon can barely string together a sentence in) for his Skewed Priorities and general inadequacy.
  • Alicent gives one of her own to Aegon, when he asks why no one is listening to him, stating that he has no idea what he's doing as king, that he only became king because his council's machinations. To that end, the best thing for him to do would be to just sit down, shut up, and let others take the lead. This is enough for Aegon to finally snap.
• Reestablishing Character Moment: Willem Blackwood still has a slight crush on Rhaenyra. The remarkable thing about this (which he couldn't have known) is that he is still singing her praises in front of her current husband, King-Consort Daemon, who's having a massive psychological meltdown about his relationship with her.
  Willem: I once vied for Queen Rhaenyra's hand, before she wed Ser Laenor. I always liked her spirit. She had the true blood of the dragon.
• Rousing Speech: Criston Cole, despite being vexed by Aegon's presence, gives a good improvised speech to his men as Meleys and Sunfyre enter the battle.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something:
  • King Aegon, Prince Aemond, and Princess Rhaenys personally get involved, and face each other in the first major battle of the war. Criston, despite not anticipating Aegon's arrival, notably gets his men hyped up by the sight of their king flying in to fight by their side.
  • Queen Rhaenyra continues to be criticized by her own supporters for her apparent inaction and inability to take charge, leaving her council to do all the work for her — which she rebukes, as she has been busily exhausting any and all possibilities of ending the war for the sake of peace before she commits to war and more bloodshed. As she explains to her War Hawk son Prince Jacaerys, this is because the ruler can't take the crown just because they feel it's theirs, they must be the one who acts with the interests of the Realm in mind, which war rarely is.
• Rule of Symbolism:
  • The body of the standard bearer turns to ash after Criston touches him, signifying both the cost of his "victory" and all of Criston's notions of how warfare works crumbling before his eyes now that dragons are involved.
  • Later, Aemond takes the Valyrian steel dagger after the heavily injured Sunfyre falls into the forest, signifying now he's in command.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Meleys shows up, the Crownlander men-at-arms abandon the siege equipment and try to flee. Ser Gwayne also proposes to leave, but Cole orders the siege to continue. Much of the Greens' forces also run the hell away to avoid being stepped on or trampled when the fight between Melys and Vhagar reaches the ground.
• Shell-Shock Silence: When Criston wakes up on the battlefield, nothing is heard bar some men's muffled shoutings, until he recovers his senses.
• Shout-Out: As explained in the behind the scenes video, the Battle at Rook's Rest was filmed in Bourne Wood, England — where Ridley Scott's Gladiator filmed its opening battle scene. Accordingly, several shots of Criston Cole's army emerging from the treeline through the smoke of battle are direct homages to shots from that movie (coincidentally or not, the trailer for the sequel came out the day after the episode first aired).
• Spanner in the Works: Aemond and Criston did not expect Aegon to personally show up on the battlefield with Sunfyre, but to his credit, Criston manages to roll with it with a Rousing Speech to the men about standing alongside their king in battle.
• Spiteful Spit: Gunthor spits at Criston's feet, indicating his refusal to bend the knee to Aegon.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Rhaenys takes a closer look at Alyn and commends his handsomeness, remarking that his mother must've been really beautiful. The follow-up dialogue with Corlys makes it clear what she actually noticed was the young man‘s striking resemblance to her husband, not helped by the two men standing side-by-side.
• Suicide Attack: Rhaenys has the chance to flee the battle on her faster dragon, having momentarily disengaged, but she chooses to turn around and command Meleys to attack Vhagar. It's the last thing they do in their lives before plummeting to their deaths.
• Sure, Let's Go with That: Criston uses Aegon the Elder's unexpected arrival to the battle as part of a rousing speech to rally the troops routed by dragonfire, claiming that the king himself is fighting with them.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: Mother and son seem to come to this conclusion in this episode:
  • After realizing her misunderstanding of Viserys' last words, Alicent has become completely disillusioned with her side being right, and admits to Larys that what the King wanted in the end doesn't matter, and that war is simply inevitable. She is aware that her actions will cause the deaths of thousands, and has chosen to accept this with bitter indifference.
  • Whatever his hangups may have been about his murder of Lucerys Velaryon, Aemond Targaryen has clearly begun to lean into his reputation as kinslayer: not only being responsible for the death of Princess Rhaenys in combat, but starting up with a dose of high treason by harming his own brother, King Aegon II, with dragonfire.
• Time-Shifted Actor: Little Willem Blackwood from episode 1.04 is a grown man, now being played by Jack Parry-Jones.
• Title Drop: For the entire franchise!
  Rhaenyra: Aegon the Conqueror's dream...He called it 'The Song of Ice and Fire'.
• Ungrateful Bastard: In the first episode, Aegon went out of his way to defend Aemond and make it clear that as his brother he had a place on Aegon’s council despite complaints from the other members. For his troubles, he was humiliated by Aemond during a council meeting and Aemond hitting him with Friendly Fire during battle.
• Unspoken Plan Guarantee: The real reason Criston cannot let Gwayne in on his and Aemond's secret plan is that it would make it less satisfying for the audience to watch said plan unfold.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Alicent calling out Aegon's recklessness after two full episodes of Aegon acting like a drunk, War Hawk lunatic was likely the final straw that broke the camel's back, compelling him to ride out into battle and nearly derail Cole and Aemond's plan, and ultimately resulted in him being critically wounded, and proving Alicent right about his inability to be a thoughtful and reasonable king.
• Uriah Gambit: Aemond intentionally dithers when Sunfyre enters the fray.
• Vague Age: In the behind-the-scenes feature, Ryan Condal invokedstates that Alys may be hundreds of years old.
• Villainous BSoD: Criston is heavily shocked after seeing for the first time the cost of his "trap" and falls to his knees after seeing the injured Aegon.
• Villainous Valor: Say what you will about King Aegon's flaws, when the time comes he fearlessly faces Rhaenys in battle.
• War Is Hell: A given considering the setting, but the battle shows how the presence of giant, fire-breathing monsters can make an already bad thing even worse.
• Xanatos Speed Chess: Aemond lays a plan with Cole to lure out a dragonrider from Dragonstone with his attack on Rook's Rest, which will let his side seize the castle regardless of whether or not the Blacks take the bait. When Aegon unexpectedly shows up and blindsides Aemond, he recalculates and lets his brother engage Rhaenys first, taking advantage of the fact that he will benefit no matter how that fight goes, as he's the first in line to the throne (i.e., either he appears to "save" his brother from death and gains even more prestige, he can let Aegon die and slay Rhaenys and Meleys himself afterwards to get his revenge on his brother, or he can kill them both to achieve the same result and blame Rhaenys and Meleys for the act.).
• You No Take Candle: Aegon's High Valyrian is very bumpy compared to the fluency Aemond flexes on him with his "The Reason You Suck" Speech, which mirrors the brothers' disparity in education and connection to their heritage.
  Aegon: I can have to... make a... war?