History Recap / HouseOfTheDragonS1E7Driftmark

* BloodOath: Daemon and Rhaenyra's wedding is a Valyrian style ceremony that involves PalmBloodletting and then clasping hands.

* AdaptationalContextChange: Aemond's "fair exchange" line is substantially reframed. The book took the line at face value; the show gives it pathos. In the book, the line goes: "Prince Aemond said later that he lost an eye and gained a dragon that day, and counted it a fair exchange." The implication is that he literally thought it was WorthIt. It's different in the show. Alicent is demanding that Viserys care about their maimed son; Viserys has made it very clear that he doesn't and won't. This is a lost cause and perusing it further will not end well for them. So to get Alicent to stop, to diffuse the situation, and to appear strong in front of the people who would wish him ill, Aemond says, "Do not mourn me, Mother. It was a fair exchange. I may have lost an eye, but I gained a dragon."

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: During the eye-for-an-eye showdown, Aemond passes the hot potato of bastardy allegations to Aegon. The obvious next move here is for Aegon to pass it on to Alicent -- but he doesn't. He diffuses the allegation insofar as it can be; he confronts his father; he fulfills Alicent's teaching that "in the world we must defend our own." Under pressure, Aegon rises to the occasion and exhibits more bravery, composure, and loyalty than we've yet seen from him.

** InvertedTrope. Elder brother Aegon is rude and dismissive about Helaena, while her younger brother Aemond is protective of her.

* ColdBloodedTorture: ImpliedTrope. In the books, the phrase "questioned sharply" is used exclusively as a euphemism to refer to torture.

* FireWaterJuxtaposition: DiscussedTrope by Rhaenyra. Her family is [[ElementalMotifs innately aligned with fire]], but the Velaryons' element is water, and she ponders the meaning of both.

* LawOfInverseFertility: It's discussed how Rhaenyra and Laenor tried to conceive children together, but to no avail. It doesn't sound like they tried that much, though, and conceiving a child can sometimes take a while, so that makes it look like a JustifiedTrope.

* MachiavelliWasWrong: DiscussedTrope by Rhaenyra and Daemon.

* RulingCouple: InvokedTrope. Rhaenyra proposes to Daemon not only because she's crazy about him but also because she wants to rule together.

* UltimateJobSecurity: Aemond, Jace, and Luke are ''all'' able to sneak away without any adults' knowledge. Viserys asks the Kingsguard, "Who had the watch?" but the question is never directly answered. While there are 7 knights, the only ones we know of during the episode are Harrold and Criston, making them the only real options from a RuleOfPerception standpoint. We explicitly hear Criston be assigned to guard ''Alicent'' for the night, so it can't be him. So it appears either Harrold was on guard and he let his guard down when he thought the boys were asleep, or he made some sort of scheduling oversight as Commander and didn't post anyone on guard. While Viserys is momentarily angry, there are no consequences for any of the Kingsguard. In RealLife, child caretakers easily lose their jobs over considerably milder injuries happening under their watch. {{Justified|trope}} since Viserys has a track record for not taking appropriately strong action in response to... almost anything, really. In this case he clearly wanted to brush the whole incident under the rug as quickly as possible, and casting for a new Kingsguard has been shown to be a high-profile event. Viserys's lack of action in response to his son's maiming could also be considered PlayedForDrama.

* ArtImitatesArt: The artistic style of the horse toy Lucerys is seen playing with after the funeral of Laena looks {{UsefulNotes/Etruscans}}.

** Alicent asks Criston to cut out Lucerys's eye. There's a tense moment when both the audience and the other characters aren't sure how he'll respond. Then he refuses, invoking his role as protector as the reason. Does he mean he WouldntHurtAChild because that's attacking rather than protecting? Or does he mean he ''is'' protecting Alicent -- in this context, protecting her from her own impulsive rage because publicly asking for something like this can't end well for?

* ArtImitatesArt: The artistic style of the horse toy Lucerys is seen playing with after the funeral of Laena looks Etruscan (pre-[[UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic Roman]] civilization).

* ColdBloodedTorture: ImpliedTrope. In the books, the phrase "questioned sharply" is a euphemism used exclusively to refer to torture.

* {{Elopement}}: DownplayedTrope, but Rhaenyra and Daemon have a small wedding with only their children and the officiant in attendance. Viserys certainly does not know this is happening.

* {{Flynning}}: Invoked by Laenor and Qarl. Qarl slashes to the left, but hacks into a chair right after punching Laenor on the right, then repeatedly hits Laenor's sword despite him barely moving it. It's BadBadActing. These details let the audience see they are putting on a show rather than actually trying to hurt each other -- something the witnessing pageboy is too freaked out to realize.

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: {{Downplayed|Trope}} to the level of bulling amongst children, but last week Aemond was the one being mocked for having no dragon. This week he's the one mocking Rhaena for having no dragon.

* {{Irony}}: The young Aemond would speak of Aegon and Helaena's marriage as "keeping their Valyrian bloodline pure"--conveniently forgetting that by being descendants of a Hightower, they are not, strictly speaking, purely-Valyrian at all.

** While Aemond is quite cruel to Rhaena after claiming Vhagar, he's not wrong that he has just as much a right to try to claim her as anyone. Dragons have never been treated as an inheritance and whom they'll accept as their rider is often a crapshoot. (And given Vhagar's rider prior to Laena was Aemond's own grandfather Baelon, arguing inheritance would get messy.)

** Both factions claim a formidable ally for their side: Aemond claims Vhagar for the Greens and Rhaenyra claims Daemon for the Blacks. Both Daemon and Vhagar were once Laena's. Both Daemon and Vhagar are some''one'', not some''thing'', and thus cannot be ''stolen''--they're taken with their own consent. Still, there's a bit of a tactless, RobbingTheDead aspect to taking a dead woman's husband and dragon ''on the very night of her funeral''. It would've been polite for both Rhaenyra and Aemond to wait a bit longer. As for the difference half of the {{foil}}, Aemond is just a kid and he never even met Laena, and Vhagar is a dragon who is not beholden to human social customs, so for them it's a faux pas. Conversely, Rhaenyra and Daemon are blatantly disrespecting Laena's memory because Rhaenyra is an adult who actually knew her cousin, and Daemon is a human who knows how being OnTheRebound at your wife's funeral is inappropriate.

-->'''Viserys:''' And let it be known: ''anyone'' whose tongue dares to question the birth of Princess Rhaenyra's sons should have it removed.

* UltimateJobSecurity: Aside from a bollocking by Viserys, Aemond losing an eye has zero personal consequences for the Kingsguard on duty. In RealLife, child caretakers easily lose their jobs over considerably milder injuries happening under their watch. Possibly {{justified|trope}} since Viserys clearly wanted to brush the whole incident under the rug as quickly as possible, whereas casting for a new Kingsguard has been shown to be a high-profile event. And Viserys ''does'' have a track record for not taking appropriately strong action in response to... almost anything, really.

** Both factions claim a formidable ally for their side: Aemond claims Vhagar for the Greens and Rhaenyra claims Daemon for the Blacks. Both Daemon and Vhagar were once Laena's. Both Daemon and Vhagar are some''one'', not some''thing'', and thus cannot be ''stolen''--they're taken with their own consent. Still, there's a bit of a tactless, RobbingTheDead aspect to taking a dead woman's husband and dragon ''on the very night of her funeral''. It would've been polite for both Rhaenyra and Aemond to wait a bit longer.

** Daemon and Rhaenyra getting together tactlessly soon after Laena's is consistent, but the show dials up it even further. In the book they get together within 6 months. In the show Daemon has sex with another woman ''at his wife's funeral''.

* AdaptationalContextChange: Aemond's "fair exchange" line is substantially reframed. The book took the line at face value; the show gives it pathos. In the book, the line goes: "Prince Aemond said later that he lost an eye and gained a dragon that day, and counted it a fair exchange." The implication is that he literally thought it was WorthIt. It's different in the show. Alicent is demanding that Viserys care about their maimed son; Viserys has made it very clear that he doesn't and won't. This is a lost cause and perusing it father will not end well for them. So to get Alicent to stop, to diffuse the situation, and to appear strong in front of the people who would wish him ill, Aemond says, "Do not mourn me, Mother. It was a fair exchange. I may have lost an eye, but I gained a dragon."
* AdaptationalJerkass:

** Alicent asks Criston to cut out Lucerys's eye. There's a tense moment when both the audience and the other characters aren't sure how he'll respond. Then he refuses. Why? Because he WouldntHurtAChild? Because publicly asking for something like that can't end well for Alicent, and his duty to protect her means -- in this context -- protecting her from her own impulsive rage?

* ArtisticLicenceBiology: Unless he has an incredibly high pain tolerance, Aemond takes getting his eye slashed out surprisingly well. It's a MajorInjuryUnderreaction. Even getting a scratch on the eye is incredibly painful, so much so that people often become delirious or pass out, and Aemond's was basically ''sliced open''. Aemond is also ''wide awake'' as the physician sews up his wound, which in reality would induce profuse sweating, uncontrollable shaking, and screaming, before eventually making him pass out again. The lack of this--the fact that Aemond himself seems to be taking the loss pretty well--makes Alicent's outrage look more unreasonable.

* ReactionShot: The framing of Daemon and Rhaenyra's wedding is romantic -- shot lovingly, with a beautiful musical score. Then about halfway through there's a shot of their kids. All four of them look angry and/or miserable. Jace, Baela, and Rhaena are glaring at their parents. Little Luke is staring at the ground and getting a side-hug from the maester.

* ShootTheDog: The feud between Rhaenyra and Alicent's children reaches a boiling point, and so to quell the crisis, Viserys decrees that anyone who questions the legitimacy of Rhaenyra's sons [[TongueTrauma will have their tongues removed]]. While this may quickly dispel the spread of the rumors, the problem is at this point, ''everyone'' at court including Viserys himself knows the rumors are true. This not only predictably worsens the relationship between his two families, but also makes his ParentalFavoritism towards Rhaenyra obvious and arguably tyrannical.

* AdaptationalContextChange: In the book, the line is: "Prince Aemond said later that he lost an eye and gained a dragon that day, and counted it a fair exchange." The implication is that he literally thought it was WorthIt, and/or that he later tried to frame himself as badass and stoic in the retelling. In the show, it's different and laden with pathos. In rapid succession, Aemond has become disabled for life and had it publicly and unambiguously demonstrated that his father doesn't care about him. It's a really tense situation. If Alicent doesn't back down, she may gets hurt on Aemond behalf, in pursuit of something Viserys has made it clear is a lost cause. So Aemond says, "Do not mourn me, Mother. It was a fair exchange. I may have lost an eye, but I gained a dragon." He doesn't necessarily mean it, but he's trying to diffuse the situation and placate his mother.