The Princess and the Queen (House of the Dragon)

"The Princess and the Queen"
House of the Dragon episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 6
Directed by	Miguel Sapochnik
Written by	Sara Hess
Featured music	Ramin Djawadi
Cinematography by	Fabian Wagner
Editing by	Tim Porter
Original air date	September 25, 2022 (2022-09-25)
Running time	68 minutes

"The Princess and the Queen" is the sixth episode of the first season of the HBO fantasy drama television series House of the Dragon. The episode is named after George R. R. Martin's eponymous 2013 novella. Written by Sara Hess and directed by Miguel Sapochnik, it first aired on September 25, 2022.

The episode features a 10-year time jump after the previous episode and depicts the birth of Rhaenyra and Laenor's third son Joffrey; Daemon, Laena, and their daughters Baela and Rhaena's visit to Pentos; and the consequences of allegation surrounding Rhaenyra and Laenor's sons as bastards.

It received mostly positive reviews, with praise going towards the opening scene, Laena's death scene, the climactic sequence at Harrenhal, and the performances of Olivia Cooke, Emma D'Arcy, and Nanna Blondell, though some criticized the pacing, particularly for causing emotional scenes to fall short.

Plot

Ten years after marrying Ser Laenor Velaryon, Princess Rhaenyra gives birth to a third child. Queen Alicent immediately summons them to see the infant. A weakened Rhaenyra brings the newborn herself, assisted by Laenor, who names him Joffrey. Alicent notes the child, like brothers Jacaerys and Lucerys, bears no resemblance to Laenor. Alicent privately insists that Rhaenyra's children are bastards, an allegation King Viserys repeatedly ignores.

Alicent's eldest son Aegon, aided by Jacaerys and Lucerys, pranks his younger brother, Aemond, the only Targaryen heir to have no dragon of his own. Alicent scolds Aegon for misbehaving and stresses family unity, saying he will one day fight Rhaenyra for the throne.

Ser Criston, now a senior Kingsguard and Alicent's confidant, trains the young princes in swordsmanship and forces them to fight one another. He taunts City Watch commander Ser Harwin "Breakbones" Strong over his protecting Jacaerys like he was his own child, provoking Harwin into attacking him. Lord Lyonel Strong, the Hand of the King, chastises his son for such behavior, stressing it substantiates rumours about Rhaenyra's infidelity with Harwin and damages the children's legitimacy. Amidst the political turmoil, Rhaenyra prevents Leanor from accepting a military commission in the renewed war with the Triarchy. To ease family tensions, Rhaenyra proposes that Jacaerys marry Helaena, Alicent's daughter. Viserys approves, but Alicent is furious that her own husband will not defend her.

The rumours cause Lord Strong to offer his resignation, which Viserys rejects; instead, he permits the Hand to escort his disgraced son back to the family estate at Harrenhal. After Harwin bids an emotional farewell to Rhaenyra and her children, Jacaerys asks if Harwin is his biological father; Rhaenyra replies that it matters only that Jacaerys is a Targaryen (It is strongly implied that Harwin is in fact, Rhaenyra's children's biological father). Reading the political winds, Rhaenyra moves her household to Dragonstone and permits her husband's lover, Ser Qarl Correy, to enter into her service.

Alicent mentions to Harwin's brother, Larys Strong, that she wishes her father, Ser Otto, was still the king's Hand. Larys recruits three condemned criminals, has their tongues removed, disguises them as servants of House Strong, and tasks them to set a fire at Harrenhal, killing his father and brother. He states to a horrified Alicent that he expects her to reward him for this act, showing neither guilt nor regret over his actions.

Meanwhile, Prince Daemon and his wife, Laena Velaryon, visit the island of Pentos with their daughters Baela and Rhaena. Prince Reggio Haratis offers them a portion of his lands in exchange for military assistance in fending off the Triarchy. Daemon contemplates the offer, but Leana criticizes him for choosing an easy life over what she believes is his rightful place at Driftmark. The pregnant Laena suffers prolonged labor and is unable to deliver; she commands her dragon Vhagar to incinerate her so she may die a dragonrider's death.

Production

Writing

"The Princess and the Queen" was written by executive producer Sara Hess, marking her first time in the Game of Thrones franchise.

The title of the episode is named after George R. R. Martin's eponymous 2013 novella.

Filming

The episode was directed by showrunner and executive producer Miguel Sapochnik, making it his second directorial credit for the series, following the pilot episode "The Heirs of the Dragon", and eighth for the overall franchise.

La Calahorra, a municipality in eastern Granada, Spain, served as the location for the scenes in Pentos.

Casting

Olivia Cooke and Emma D'Arcy made their first appearances as the adult versions of Alicent Hightower and Rhaenyra Targaryen. Both performances in the episode garnered critical acclaim.

The episode stars Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D'Arcy, Fabien Frankel, Graham McTavish, Matthew Needham, and Jefferson Hall. Rhys Ifans is credited but does not appear.

It marks the first appearance of D'Arcy as adult Rhaenyra Targaryen, Cooke as adult Alicent Hightower, and John Macmillan as adult Laenor Velaryon, succeeding Milly Alcock, Emily Carey and Theo Nate who portrayed the young version of the three characters, respectively, following a plot jump of 10 years after the previous episode. D'Arcy was previously credited in the pilot episode as the narrator of the opening scene, therefore, this episode marks their first on-screen appearance. Cooke's casting was announced on December 11, 2020, alongside Smith and D'Arcy.

Also introduced in the episode were Ty Tennant, Leo Ashton and Evie Allen as the young versions of Viserys and Alicent's children Aegon, Aemond and Helaena, respectively; Leo Hart and Harvey Sadler as the young versions of Rhaenyra and Laenor's first two sons Jacaerys and Lucerys, respectively; as well as Shani Smethurst and Eva Ossei-Gerning as the young versions of Daemon and Laena's daughters Baela and Rhaena. Additionally, it also marks the first and only appearance of Nanna Blondell as adult Laena Velaryon, succeeding Savannah Steyn who portrayed the teenage Laena in the previous episode; and the final appearance of Gavin Spokes as Lord Lyonel Strong and Ryan Corr as Ser Harwin Strong.

Reception

Ratings

An estimated 1.86 million viewers watched "The Princess and the Queen" during its first broadcast on HBO. A total of 2.48 million viewers watched the episode across its four broadcasts on HBO during the premiere night. Its viewership on all platforms in the US meanwhile was 3% more than the previous episode.

Critical response

The episode received mostly positive reviews. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an approval rating of 86% based on 103 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The site's critical consensus said, "While the longest time-skip yet diminishes some of this installment's most shocking moments, the commanding introductions of Emma D'Arcy and Olivia Cooke make clear that 'The Princess and the Queen' will remain compulsively watchable combatants."

Writing for Den of Geek, Alec Bojalad gave it a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars and deemed it "by far the most entertaining and enriching dispatch from House of the Dragon yet." He highlighted the opening scene, calling it "the best thing the show has done yet" and praising the performances of D'Arcy, Cooke and Mcmillan. Reviewing for IGN, Helen O'Hara gave it a "great" score of 8 out of 10 and wrote in her verdict: "Plotting, mutilation, murder, and dragons: it doesn't get much more Game Of Thrones than this. It's also a dramatically compelling episode, with lots of spiky moments to reassure us that Rhaenyra and Alicent are in good hands. If a few moments still feel shaky in the writing, there's no doubt that the cast are doing their utmost." Molly Edwards of GamesRadar+ rated the episode with 3 out of 5 stars and summarized her review by saying, "The new Rhaenyra and Alicent are strong additions to the cast, but the episode flies through major events so quickly that emotional weight is lost." She then praised the visuals and Blondell's performance as Laena, calling it "powerful", but criticized the episode's pacing.

External links

• "The Princess and the Queen" Archived September 26, 2022, at the Wayback Machine at HBO
• "The Princess and the Queen" at IMDb