Recap / House of the Dragon S1 E3: "Second of His Name"

"I may be the Princess of Dragonstone, but I am toothless."

— Rhaenyra

It is now two years since Prince Aegon's birth.

The war in the Stepstones is not going well. Despite the combined might of the Velaryons and Daemon Targaryen, the Triarchy's forces continue to take advantage of the area's caves and evade and sabotage Westerosi forces.

Viserys studiously avoids discussion of the Stepstones and brings the court, including his infant son Aegon, his queen Alicent, who is once again pregnant, and his reluctant daughter Rhaenyra, on a hunt in celebration of Prince Aegon's second name day. The men aim to capture a white hart that has been spotted in the woods, considering its appearance a portent in favor of baby Aegon. Meanwhile, Rhaenyra is surrounded on all sides — from noble ladies and a very forward Lord Jason Lannister — by insinuations that her father intends to marry her off and name Aegon his heir. In a fit of pique she runs off, followed by Ser Criston Cole. Viserys grows increasingly uncomfortable with the ongoing politicking and admits as much to Alicent. The next day, the men are unable to capture the white hart and present the king with a regular brown stag, which he fails to kill on the first try.

Meanwhile, Ser Criston encourages Rhaenyra. When the two set up camp, they are attacked by a boar, which they manage to kill. Come morning, the white hart appears to her, and she lets it return to the forest. She returns back to the hunting camp with the boar behind her, triumphant and defiant.

The court returns to King's Landing, where Viserys reassures Rhaenyra that he only has her well-being in mind, plans to keep her as his heir, and encourages her to make a suitably advantageous match but choose the man in question herself. Otto Hightower advises Alicent to persuade Viserys to name her son heir to the throne. She finds him in his chambers worrying about the war in the Stepstones, and convinces him to send aid.

Back at the Stepstones, the Velaryons consider their dwindling resources. Laenor suggests a Suicide Mission to draw the Triarchy's forces out but is shot down by his uncle Vaemond, who doesn't think anybody would volunteer for it. They receive word from King's Landing that Viserys is sending ships and men. Infuriated, Daemon rows to the Crabfeeder himself and pretends to surrender, only to drop the pretense and attack his men, drawing more out from the caves. The Velaryons arrive to support Daemon and their dragons and army are able to deal significant damage. Meanwhile, Daemon engages the Crabfeeder in battle. A victorious and blood-soaked Daemon drags the Crabfeeder's body back to the Velaryons.

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Tropes in this episode:

• Adaptational Badass: In the book, Laenor never engaged in any form of combat and was a bit of an Upper-Class Twit who earned his knighthood largely due to Nepotism. In the show he doesn't fight face-to-face, but he does participate in the Stepstones war by riding his dragon into battle and burning enemy soldiers. He also shows some strategic insight by coming up with the plan to use Daemon to provoke the Crabfeeder's forces into leaving their caves. This makes Lyonel's suggestion of him as a husband for Rhaenyra seem like a better idea.
• Adaptational Context Change: In the books, Daemon beat a messenger within an inch of his life after he learned Viserys had married Alicent. Here, it is changed to him doing it because Viserys offers to send aid to the war in the Stepstones and Daemon feels slighted at the thought of needing his brother to bail him out.
• Adaptation Expansion: It should be noted that there was no "White Hart" hunting incident for King Viserys's royal court in Fire & Blood. If George R. R. Martin's interviews are any indication, there's a possibility this was a thematic Recursive Adaptation of a key event in A Game of Thrones—that being Robert Baratheon's fatal Hunting "Accident" where he was seeking a White Hart only to fall in Mutual Kill with a boar (in particular, the chapter Eddard XIII). We only saw Robert leading a small party in the woods in "A Golden Crown", and we were only told the hunt had happened in "You Win or You Die", the same episode where Robert dies. It was Martin's longstanding dissatisfaction that they were never able to portray the real pomp and circumstance royal hunts were supposed to have.invoked
• All Take and No Give: Almost three years on from their falling out, Alicent is still trying to be nice to Rhaenyra and defend her to others. Rhaenyra is having none of it.
• Altar Diplomacy: Various possible matches for Rhaenyra are on the table — Jason Lannister offers himself, citing his position as Lord of Casterly Rock; Otto suggests she wed Aegon to unite Viserys' bloodlines; Lord Strong suggests Laenor Velaryon in order to mend the rift with Corlys. And according to Viserys, he's been flooded with such proposals ever since Rhaenyra came of age. Rhaenyra, in turn, lets out her frustration about her father's shortcomings in this by wedding Alicent over Laena (apart from many other possible interpretations).
• Allohistorical Allusion: At the heart of this episode's Rule of Symbolism is the White Hart, supposedly a royal symbol for most of Westeros before the dragons and Targaryens came. As it happens, this was in fact the Real Life chosen symbol of Richard II, he of The House of Plantagenet and the eponymous play by William Shakespeare (where he is made to deliver one of the iconic monologues for The Chains of Commanding^Quote "For within the hollow crown, That rounds the mortal temples of a king, Keeps Death his court" (Richard II III.2.165-167), and who suffered deposition and death for being an Inadequate Inheritor). That Viserys seeks and fails to find it (while it comes to Rhaenyra freely) casts their views of rule in a sombre light.
• Ambiguous Situation: Perhaps since we are in Low Fantasy, the omen surrounding the White Hart (and its connection to royal authority) is never given genuine mystical pedigree—save perhaps to fuel commentary on the characters involved (i.e., King Viserys and the realm failing to hunt it as they desired, and Rhaenyra letting it go despite encountering it without trying).
• Armor-Piercing Question: Alicent continues to prove herself The Social Expert and Wise Beyond Their Years when getting Viserys to send aid to the Stepstones.
  Alicent: Then I pose a simpler question: Is it better for the realm if the Crabfeeder thrives, or is vanquished?
• Armor-Piercing Response:
  • When Lyonel asks Viserys if he wants an opinion on the best match for Rhaenyra, a drunk and rather bitter Viserys assumes that Lyonel is simply going to recommend his own eldest son like nearly every other lord has done so far... and is clearly taken off-guard when Lyonel instead recommends Laenor Velaryon. He doesn't even seem to know how to receive honest, non-self-serving counsel from an advisor, let alone respond to it.
  • During their last argument about marriage, Viserys points out to Rhaenyra that he also had to marry her mother out of duty. When she casually dismisses this as old news, Viserys' response makes her noticeably quiet.
    Viserys: I loved her. She made a man of me.
  • Rhaenyra also has one towards Viserys. The whole of the episode has had Viserys preach duty and political advantage towards marriage, but Rhaenerya points out he himself chose to marry her best friend over what would've been a far more politically advantageous marriage for House Targaryen. Even Viserys sullenly admits this to be true, which furthers his decision to allow Rhaenyra to choose her own match.
    Viserys: You've been much alone these last few years, alone and angry. I will not live forever! I wish to see you contented. Happy, even.
    Rhaenyra: You think a man will do it?
    Viserys: A family.
    Rhaenyra: I had a family!
    Viserys: What would you have me do?!
    Rhaenyra: If [marraige] was for advantage, you would've wed Laena Velaryon!
    (Beat)
    Viserys: That is true enough...
• Blood Is the New Black: The episode ends with Daemon covered in the Crabfeeder's blood. His white hair is so completely stained that it looks brown.
• Blood-Splattered Innocents: Rhaenyra ends up covered with the blood of the boar she and Ser Criston stabbed to death.
• Bookends: The episode starts and ends with scenes from the war in the Stepstones.
  • The opening shows a nameless soldier getting tortured by the Crabfeeder before Daemon arrives and sets the Crabfeeder's forces ablaze.
  • The ending shows Daemon getting word that his brother is finally sending aid, and in a fit of pride, pretends to surrender to the Crabfeeder before the Westerosi forces attack, including Laenor's dragon Seasmoke setting the Crabfeeder's forces ablaze.
• Both Sides Have a Point: Rhaenyra and Viserys both have legitimate reasons for their arguments about her getting married. Rhaenyra is right to be angry that her father is forcing her to marry and is understandably worried that she has been replaced as heir, but Viserys is also right that she needs to marry to strengthen her future reign and secure her line of succession.
• Bratty Teenage Daughter: Rhaenyra and Viserys are struggling in their relationship more than ever. It's implied that Rhaenyra's acting out is related to her recent status as a Lonely Rich Kid.
  • Lord Strong mentions that Jaehaerys, while a celebrated king, constantly had trouble with his children, "particularly his daughters", and quips that "it's tradition".^{From the books...} It should be noted that this particular problem only really applied to four of Jaehaerys and Alysanne's daughters: Daella, Saera, Viserra and Gael. Even then, Daella and Gael only really caused grief due to their relative naivete and suffering Death by Childbirth. Saera and Viserra, however, were genuine Alpha Bitches with Troubling Unchildlike Behaviors. It would end with scandal and exile for Saera, and death by road accident for Viserra. The eldest surviving daughter Alyssa (the mother of King Viserys I and Prince Daemon), despite being quite the Tomboy Princess in life, never really troubled anybody because she only had eyes for her brother Baelon. The predeceasing daughter Daenerys and the other surviving daughter, Septa Maegelle, were straightforward Nice Girls.
• Broken Record: Rhaenyra wants to listen to the same song on repeat. The technology level means that in order to achieve this, a minstrel must play it again and again. He's tired of it and would like to stop, but she's the princess and she says to play it again.
• The Cavalry:
  • Right as Daemon becomes surrounded by Drahar's army, Laenor arrives atop his dragon Seasmoke with his father, uncle, and the rest of the Velaryon army in tow.
  • Subverted with the royal forces. As soon as Daemon learns that Viserys' help is finally coming, he decides to take on a potential Suicide Mission to crush the pirates before they arrive.
• Commander Contrarian: Ser Vaemond Velaryon, the Sea Snake's younger brother, defies his superiors and asks the Iron Throne for help and later questions Prince Daemon's leadership.
• Conspicuous CG: Both stags and the boar.
• Cross-Referenced Titles: The episode is titled "Second of His Name" in reference to the Game of Thrones episode "First of His Name".
• Death Seeker: According to Word of God, Daemon was completely prepared to die in his charge against the Crabfeeder, hoping to go out on his own terms, rather than accept help from his brother.invoked
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: Alicent drinking wine with the other women of the court... while heavily pregnant.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: This is likely the unspoken motivation for Daemon's Shoot the Messenger and subsequent Suicide Mission to finish the War for the Stepstones. As King Viserys acknowledges:
  Viserys I: I'm sending word to Daemon. Aid is sailing to the Stepstones.
  Rhaenyra: Did he make call for help?
  Viserys I: He would sooner die. But his king does not mean to allow that.
• Drowning My Sorrows: Viserys has become heavily depressed due to falling out with Rhaenyra, Daemon, lingering guilt over Aemma's death, and an increasing concern that perhaps Aegon was his true prophesized son, and he made a mistake when he named Rhaenyra his heir. He spends much of the hunt drinking heavily to cope with this.
• Everyone Has Standards: The Targaryens may have a tradition of marrying brother and sister but betrothing a 2-year-old boy to his 17-year-old sister still seems ridiculous to Viserys.
• Fingore: It seems that sometime during the three-year Time Skip, not only did Viserys's necrotic left pinky have to be amputated, but so did the finger next to it.
• Full-Boar Action: While Rhaenyra and Ser Criston Cole are hanging out by the fire, a boar attacks them. Rhaenyra has to stab it multiple times to put it down.
• Godzilla Threshold: The Crabfeeder is accurately concerned that if he sends too many of his forces out of the caves they're hiding in, they'll be targeted with an airstrike via dragon. When Daemon charges the beaches, at first he only sends out men in ones and twos at him, which doesn't even break his stride. So with a wary eye on the sky, he starts sending small groups out at Daemon, and he carves a path through them. Crabfeeder finally goes "screw it" and sends out all of his men at Daemon. This actually manages to slow Daemon down enough that Crabfeeder's archers can target him, forcing Daemon to take cover — but just in time for (a) a dragon strike, (b) this was a distraction while the main Velaryon army landed behind Daemon.
• The Grand Hunt: The Great Hunt, in which Viserys is looking for a white deer to kill for good omen. All of his court is brought to it.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: The episode ends with Daemon dragging the Crabfeeder's disemboweled upper body out of his cave.
• Heir Club for Men: Invoked and Defied. Many lords, including Jason Lannister and Hobert Hightower, expect Viserys to name Prince Aegon as heir, but he continues to maintain that Rhaenyra is his heir, much to their consternation.
• Hope Spot: A Velaryon soldier is shown being spread out by Drahar, intent on feeding him to the crabs, when Daemon shows up with Caraxes. The soldier cries out in joy and calls out to Daemon... only for Caraxes to land right on top of him, crushing him underfoot.
• Ignored Expert:
  • Of all of King Viserys' advisors, only Lyonel Strong, the Master of Laws, seems to give him sound advice that's not motivated by personal gain. Guess whose advice Viserys has continued to ignore...
  • Tyland Lannister, the new Master of Ships, doesn't fare any better than his predecessor in trying to get Viserys to take the threat of the Triarchy seriously.
• I Just Want to Be Special: Viserys nurses an idea he might be a dreamer.
  Viserys: Many in my line have been dragon riders. Very few among us have been dreamers. What is the power of a dragon next to the power of prophecy? […] I so wanted it to be true, to be a dreamer myself. I sought that vision again, night after night… but it never came again. I poured all my thought and will into it. And my obsession killed Rhaenyra's mother.
• Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Daemon is showered in a hail of arrows during his mad charge against Drahar's army, yet he only gets hit by a handful at the end right before the rest of the Velaryon army arrives.
• Incest Yay Shipping: In-Universe. Ser Otto suggests betrothing Rhaenyra to her half-brother Aegon as a way to stop the influx of marriage proposals (actually to ensure Aegon becomes king), but Viserys laughs and dismisses it out of hand, citing their significant age gap (Rhaenyra is 17 and Aegon just turned 2).
• In Vino Veritas: Viserys spends a good portion of the Great Hunt rip-roaring drunk and lets it slip to Alicent that he worries he's made a mistake making Rhaenyra his heir. This is notable because he had a prophetic vision that his son would be on the Iron Throne and now, he has a son.
• Innocently Insensitive: Alicent offhandedly commenting that her birth was easy in front of Rhaenyra, whose mother died in a difficult birth.
• Irony:
  • Viserys and his men try to look for the white hart all day and fail to find it, yet Rhaenyra stumbles upon it entirely by accident.
  • Back when Aemma was alive, Viserys wanted nothing more than a son and pressured his wife so hard to provide him with one, which ultimately cost him Aemma's and their son's lives. After that, Viserys gave up on his dream and turned his attention to fixing his relationship with his daughter Rhaenyra, eventually naming her his heir. Just a few years later, Viserys wound up marrying Alicent who did succeed in providing him a son that he wanted all along, but it ended up making things worse since there's now a succession crisis on the horizon, and the hard work that Viserys put into reconciling with Rhaenyra went down the drain because of it.
• In Love with Your Carnage: In contrast to all the other onlookers' shock at seeing Rhaenyra arrive in camp covered in blood, Harwin Strong (the elder son of Lord Lyonel) has a huge appreciative grin.
• I Surrender, Suckers: Daemon rows all the way to the Crabfeeder's island, with no support, and without Caraxes, and makes a show of surrendering, presenting Dark Sister in supplication. However, after one of the pirates takes the sword, Daemon pulls out a dagger, and stabs him, before reclaiming the sword, and making a charge towards Drahar.
• It's Not Porn, It's Art: In the scene where Alicent and Otto have a conversation, the walls of the Red Keep behind them show art depicting orgies.
• Killed Offscreen: Daemon is seen entering a cave to fight the Crabfeeder. We are never shown their fight. Instead, the next scene shows Daemon emerging from the cave, covered in blood and carrying the top half of the Crabfeeder's corpse.
• Law of Inverse Fertility: Zig-Zagging Trope. When taken head-on, this is an Averted Trope. Alicent tried to have a kid, and successfully had a kid. Even contrasted with Aemma, the trope is still averted: both queens wanted to have a kid, and yet had different outcomes—meaning their intentions did not make a difference. However, seen through Rhaenyra's eyes, this trope is present: she would've been happy if her mother had a successful pregnancy, and she didn't. She didn't want to see Alicent have a kid, yet she did.
  Alicent: Aegon came quickly and without fuss.
• Lonely Rich Kid: With her mother dead, Daemon out of town, herself and Alicent no longer friends, and mistrusting her father because she believes he is forever about to disinherit her, Princess Rhaenyra is conspicuously lonely. The only emotional support she has (that she's willing to accept) at this time is Ser Criston.
• The Marvelous Deer: A magnificent white hart, said to have ruled over the woods of Westeros before the arrival of dragons, has been seen in the area, which is taken as a good omen for Prince Aegon's nameday celebration. The hunt aims to capture it so that King Viserys can symbolically slay it (despite not being much of a hunter himself), but they don't manage to find it and have to settle for a regular brown stag. Meanwhile, the white hart appears to Rhaenyra, who lets it return to the forest peacefully.
• Mook Chivalry: The Crabfeeder's men attack Daemon one at a time, giving him just enough time to kill each of them before the next one arrives. The Crabfeeder at least has an excuse of only sending small groups at him, since he's worried about a dragon attack.
• Not So Invincible After All: In a way; at this point there is still no reliable way to kill a dragon, let alone one as large and powerful as Caraxes, but by simply retreating into the caves in the Stepstones, and denying the Westerosi the fight they want, Drahar is able to wear them down through attrition.
• Oblivious to His Own Description:
  Rhaenyra: [Jason Lannister]'s arrogant and self-serious.
  Viserys: Well, I thought you might have that in common.
• One-Man Army: Daemon manages to kill almost a dozen soldiers by himself while making a beeline for the Crabfeeder before being overwhelmed. A Downplayed Trope as it's clear he would have eventually been slaughtered if not for reinforcements.
• Open Mouth, Insert Foot:
  • Lord Jason Lannister succeeds in this by assuming that Viserys is planning on naming Aegon his heir soon and that his suit to Princess Rhaenyra will be welcomed for providing her with a place of great prestige as Lady of Casterly Rock despite not becoming Queen. Instead, all he does is make Viserys accuse him of allowing rebellious talk, since he's named Rhaenyra to be his heir.
  • Viserys once again screws up talking with his daughter. It goes well at first and they finally connect — only for him to damage his progress by trying to encourage her via mentioning that he married Alicent because it pleased him, seemingly oblivious to how it robbed her of her only friend. While it ruins the moment, the intended point seems to stick.
• Perfectly Arranged Marriage:
  • Viserys reminds Rhaenyra how his marriage to her mother Aemma Arryn was this, as it was made to ensure the loyalty of the mighty Vale army, but he was genuinely in love with her.
  • Rhaenyra points out that if Viserys had been motivated solely by what would bring the most political gain, he would have married Laena Velaryon rather than Alicent Hightower. He concedes the point and tells her that although she must marry in order to have a future king consort who will provide her with strength and support, he will allow Rhaenyra to do her own arranging.
• Polar Opposite Twins: Jason Lannister is a haughty Upper-Class Twit whereas Tyland is a serious man concerned with the affairs of the realm who is introduced trying to get Viserys to focus on the situation in the Stepstones while the king would rather think about celebrating Aegon's name day. Jason himself tells Rhaenyra that he thinks his brother is no fun.
• Practically Different Generations: Half-siblings Rhaenyra and Aegon are 15 years apart.
• Properly Paranoid: When Daemon approaches the Crabfeeder's camp under a flag of truce, the enemy is immediately suspicious. The Crabfeeder remains in his cave, while his archers ready their bows with Daemon in their sights. They're quickly proven right, as Daemon begins cutting his way through their men, soon to be joined by the rest of his army and a dragon.
• Rebellious Princess:
  Criston: Many in the realm would gladly trade positions with you, Princess.
  Rhaenyra: Only because none of them has ever held my position.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: One way to interpret the two animal killings in the episode (see Rule of Symbolism below). Viserys can barely rouse himself to kill the deer even without all his court to help him, while Rhaenyra kills the boar by frantically stabbing it again and again, screaming and crying all the while. He is tired and heartsick and has too little passion: the blue oni. She is young and angry and has too much: the red oni.
• Reverse Psychology: Discussed Trope.
  • Viserys remarks that if he had forbidden Rhaenyra to marry Jason Lannister instead of encouraging it, she would have eloped with him.
    Viserys: The girl is a heedless contrarian. If I instead forbade her to wed a Lannister, she would've run off with Lord Jason out of spite.
  • Alicent later suggests using this as in Invoked Trope.
    Alicent: I do believe that Rhaenyra will marry, Your Grace. But she must believe it is her choice to do so.
• Rule of Symbolism:
  • Invoked in-universe. As the king's retinue is going on a hunt, they manage to track a large white stag, a creature associated with kingship and power, and since this is taking place on Aegon's name day, it's considered a good omen for him. However, this only serves to trouble Viserys, who puts great personal stock in omens and dreams, to wonder if he had made the wrong decision in naming Rhaenyra his heir. In the end it's rendered rather moot, as the stag evades capture, and they settle for a regular brown one, which brings Viserys some degree of relief. Ironically, Rhaenyra comes across the white stag herself later on and lets it go free.
  • The brown stag is being held in place by several men while Viserys is called to the scene and pierces the heart of the helpless creature. He fails to make a clean kill the first time and is applauded after finally dealing a fatal blow despite the stag being defenseless and not having hunted it down himself. The contrast between this and the quiet moment of acknowledgement between Rhaenyra and the real white hart suggests that she is made of the stuff of a "true" ruler compared to her father.
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Otto insists that the realm would be plunged into civil war if Rhaenyra became the ruling Queen because men would not accept her, even as he himself leads the plots against her.
• Ship Tease: Ser Cole and Rhaenyra spend a day and evening together, bonding over their various troubles, before saving each other from a wild boar.
• Shoot the Messenger: Daemon is livid when he receives a message from Viserys about reinforcements coming and starts beating the shit out of the messenger until people pry them apart.
• Straight for the Commander: Daemon keeps wishing to do this, but the Crabfeeder is too smart to fall for it… though once Daemon separates from his dragon, pulls an I Surrender, Suckers, and start carving a path towards him, he finally commits most of his men to a counterattack against Daemon instead of hiding on the caves… which allows Laenor's plan to work, as he uses Seasmoke to destroy the Crabfeeder's forces, allowing Daemon to catch up to the Crabfeeder as well.
• Time-Shifted Actor: Laenor has become the first character to undergo this. When we last saw him at the tourney with his family in episode 1, he was played by Matthew Carver. 3 years later, he's played by Theo Nate.
• Time Skip: It's been at least 2 years and 9 months (Aegon wasn't even conceived last episode) but less than 3 full years (Rhaenyra has only celebrated 2 birthdays in this time).
• The Voiceless: Save for the opening scene, Daemon doesn't speak at all this episode. Instead, it's his Body Language and actions that speak for him.
• War Crime Subverts Heroism: As proposed by Laenor, Daemon makes his way into the Crabfeeder's camp under the guise of surrendering, only to personally take out as much of them as he can. Lured out of their caves, the remaining Triarchy forces promptly get curb-stomped by the arriving Velaryon reinforcements. Even though this winning plan gets carried out by the most morally ambiguous fighter of the Velaryon side, and the enemy soldiers wisely have their bows drawn on him, the Triarchy still technically gets defeated through a war crime.
• We Used to Be Friends: Invoked. Alicent attempts to make a couple overtures to Rhaenyra, but Rhaenyra, feeling disheartened and betrayed, is unreceptive.
• Wham Shot:
  • Rhaenyra, after having a troubled night with the boar (as well as voicing her anxieties to Criston over her succession), surveys a calm landscape come sunrise. Then, out of nowhere, illuminated by the sunrays, appears the White Hart—the symbol of royalty the entire hunting party has been seeking to slay to honor Prince Aegon's birthday—presenting itself to her freely.
  • As Daemon is surrounded by the Triarchy's soldiers and clearly about to be overwhelmed and hacked to pieces, a sudden burst of fire incinerates part of the army. A dragon swoops down out of the sky — but it's not Caraxes, or even Syrax, but Seasmoke, ridden by Laenor Velaryon, who is half Targaryen through his mother.
• Wing Shield: When the Crabfeeder's archers shoot flaming arrows at Daemon as he shows up riding Caraxes, the arrows don't do anything to Caraxes, but some archers aim directly at Daemon, which prompts Caraxes to protect him with his wings.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: As Rhaenyra continues to mope about how her being Princess of Dragonstone and heir has not won her any meaningful power, Criston points out that it was through her that he was elevated to the Kingsguard (the highest honor any of his family name had ever received).
  Criston: One day, not so long ago, you held enough power to write my name into the White Book. When your father named me to his Kingsguard it was the highest honor any Cole has ever known. All that I have, I owe to you. Now I'd hardly call that toothless, Princess.

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