Recap / House of the Dragon S1 E6: "The Princess and the Queen"

"A willful blindness of a father towards one child."

— Lyonel Strong

Ten years have passed since the previous episode.

In King's Landing, Rhaenyra gives birth to her third son. Alicent orders the child brought to her and Rhaenyra decides to meet this power move in person, assisted by Laenor. Viserys coos over his grandson while Alicent comments that Rhaenyra's children don't look anything like Laenor. They do, however, look like Ser Harwin Strong, now Commander of the City Watch and frequently in the princess's company. In private, Alicent seethes at the indecency to Ser Criston, who is still a knight of the Kingsguard, but Viserys will have none of those rumors.

The princes, Rhaenyra's older sons Jacaerys and Lucerys and her half-brothers Aegon and Aemond, spend time in the Dragonpit while Jacaerys bonds with his dragon. The other boys bully Aemond, who doesn't have a dragon, by bringing him a pig. Later, Alicent interrupts Aegon masturbating in his room to scold him for the prank and to remind him that he is a living, breathing challenge to Rhaenyra's succession.

Meanwhile, in Pentos, Daemon and Laena — now with two daughters, Baela and Rhaena, and a third baby on the way — complete a mercenary job with their dragons for the Prince of Pentos, who wines and dines them. The Prince offers for them to live luxurious lives in Pentos as long as they're on call for the Triarchy, who have a new alliance with Dorne. Daemon is intrigued by the offer, but Laena wishes to return to Westeros.

The young princes practice their swordsmanship under the tutelage of Ser Criston. Criston sets up a match between Aegon (roughly 13) and Jacaerys (no more than 9) that turns dirty, to the disgust of an observing Harwin. Criston insinuates that Harwin is so protective because Rhaenyra's sons are his, causing Harwin to beat him bloody in the courtyard.

The small council has also heard of the new alliance with Dorne, and discuss possible actions to take in reaction to it. As the meeting ends, Rhaenyra proposes a match between her son Jacaerys and her half-sister/Alicent's daughter Helaena, which Alicent declines. Since the political situation in the Stepstones is deteriorating, Laenor tries to leave and fight, but Rhaenyra commands him to stay by her side.

Lyonel Strong, disgusted by the rumors of his son fathering the princes, attempts to resign as Hand, but Viserys forbids it. Lyonel agrees to resume his position, but asks to take Harwin back to Harrenhal where he may watch over the family seat. Viserys accepts. Alicent complains about this lack of impartiality to Ser Larys, who then has his father and brother assassinated in a fire at Harrenhal. Rhaenyra, Laenor, and their household depart King's Landing for Dragonstone.

In Pentos, Laena has a difficult birth. The maester offers to cut her open and remove the infant in hopes of it surviving. While Daemon refuses, Laena goes to Vhagar and begs her to burn her alive; her dragon reluctantly obliges.

Back in King's Landing, Alicent hears about the death of the Hand and goes to see Larys, now the new Lord of Harrenhal. She's horrified when he implies his involvement in the deaths of his father and brother for the purpose of allowing her father to return as Hand.

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Tropes in this episode:

• Adaptational Context Change:
  • In both the book and show, there's an altercation between Criston and Harwin where Criston wins. In the book it's before the last timeskip; in the show it's now. In the book, Criston wins a physical fight and breaks Harwin's collarbone and elbow. In the show, Criston baits Harwin into beating him. He takes the punches with a grin, because Harwin — in revealing himself in full view of the king — has lost, and Criston is the real winner here.
  • The motivations for the burning of Harrenhal become explicitly different in contrast to the motivations listed upon in Fire & Blood. While most of it is implied to be about disposing of Harwin for "dishonoring" Rhaenyra (and shaming House Strong itself, if Larys was the culprit) by being the father of her children, here it is explicitly about eliminating Lord Lyonel to enable Otto Hightower's return to service as Hand, as Larys's disturbing favor to the increasingly grasping Queen Alicent. It's made explicit that Larys was the one responsible, whereas the book gives a list of suspects including him, Daemon, Corlys Velaryon, King Viserys or simply the Harrenhal curse.
• Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: It's never indicated that Alicent's son Aegon was particularly close to his nephews by Rhaenyra. Here, Aegon seems to be on friendly terms with Jacaerys, with both partaking in tormenting Aemond.
• Aerith and Bob: Rhaenyra's two elder sons have traditional Valyrian names Jacaerys and Lucerys while her youngest has the Westerosi name Joffrey. Justified as Rhaenyra had not thought of a name yet, which Laenor took advantage of to name the child after his late lover.
  Alicent: That's an unusual name for a Velaryon.
• Allohistorical Allusion: This episode portrays the assassination of Lord Lyonel Strong and his son Harwin (via the fire of Harrenhal) as a Rhetorical Request Blunder by Alicent to Larys (who did not expect the latter to take her frustrated wish to its ruthless extremes). Students of medieval English history may eerily be reminded of Anglo-Norman King Henry II's own enraged rant against his nemesis Archbishop Thomas Becket, which four knights took as a command to brutally kill him.
  Alicent: In all of King's Landing, is there no one to take my side?
  Henry II: What miserable drones and traitors have I nurtured and promoted in my household, who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a low-born cleric!
• Altar Diplomacy: Defied. Rhaenyra proposes a match between her son Jacaerys and her half-sister Helaena. Viserys is all for it, while Alicent is vehemently against the idea. As always with Westerosi nobility, Altar Diplomacy is the nice term for something which could also be called Political Hostage. Exchanging your daughter as a Political Hostage to people you does not trust in exchange for a dragon egg is not a good deal. Rhaenyra's proposed arrangement sounds, to Alicent, less like an attempt at kindhearted reconciliation and more like a desperate play to shore up her position by neutralizing the threat of her half-siblings and profiting from their legitimacy. Alicent already feels lied to by everyone around her, but now feels like Rhaenyra is trying to swindle her.
  Rhaenyra: My son Jacaerys will inherit the Iron Throne after me. I propose we betroth him to your daughter, Helaena. Ally ourselves... once and for all. Let them rule together. [...] Additionally, if Syrax brings forth another clutch of eggs, your son Aemond will have his choice of them, uh... a symbol of our goodwill.
• An Arm and a Leg: Since the Time Skip, Viserys' condition has cost him his entire left arm up to at least the elbow.
• Anger Born of Worry: Lyonel loudly chews out Harwin after his scuffle with Cole. As he points out, it is only Viserys' willful denial of the blatantly obvious keeping his son, bastard grandchildren, and Rhaenyra from any punishment.
• Armor-Piercing Question: After Harwin says goodbye to Jacaerys and Rhaenyra, Jacaerys directly asks Rhaenyra if Harwin is his father, which she awkwardly avoids answering.
• Awful Wedded Life: In the last 10 years, Viserys and Alicent's relationship has gained the day-to-day griping, nagging dimension of this trope.
• Bait-and-Switch: Aegon and Jacaerys tell Aemond that they have a dragon for him, but they bring him a pig instead.
• Big Brother Bully: Aegon enjoys tormenting his younger brother, leading Jace and Luke in mocking Aemond for being the only one without a dragon. This is characteristic enough of him that when Viserys hears the story of the Pink Dread he asks if it was Aegon's idea, and Alicent likewise knows him well enough that after Viserys's suggestion she confronts their son about it.
  Alicent: Aemond is your brother.
  Aegon: Well, he's a twat.
• Both Sides Have a Point: Rhaenyra and Alicent both make good points during their argument at the small council meeting. Rhaenyra says that after defeating the Crabfeeder in the Stepstones a decade ago the Seven Kingdoms should have put garrisons and fortifications in place, and now their laxity has allowed the Triarchy to rear its ugly head again. Alicent points out that the funds for those things need to come from somewhere and their people would suffer from increased taxes. Rhaenyra counters that the people would suffer even more from an invasion.
• Cain and Abel: Larys arranges for his father and brother to burn to death in a fire at Harrenhal.
• Cassandra Truth: Queen Alicent is convinced that the three Velaryon princes of the blood are the bastards of Ser Harwin Strong. While she's completely correct in her suspicion, the king's sheer committment to the polite fiction of their parentage and his daughter's conduct wears on her.
• Caught with Your Pants Down: Aegon is standing naked in the window of his room masturbating in full view of King's Landing when Alicent interrupts him to scold him over his prank on Aemond.
• Chocolate Baby: Rhaenyra Targaryen's husband Laenor Velaryon has dark skin and white hair, while her children all have light skin and brown hair, making it clear to anyone with eyes that Laenor is not their father. The Velaryon siblings' race lift to be biracial makes this even clearer than it was in the book, with Laena's Velaryon-Targaryen children providing an example of what such a union would yield: dark skin and white hair.
  Alicent: To have one child like that is a mistake. To have three is an insult — to the throne, to you, to House Velaryon and the match you battled so hard to make for her.
• Country Matters:
  • Rhaenyra mentions calling her midwife a cunt whilst giving birth.
  • Criston, still bitter ten years later, calls her a "spoiled cunt" in conversation with Alicent. The queen is slightly taken aback by the vehemence of the statement.
• Cruel and Unusual Death:
  • Laena is burnt alive by her own dragon as a preferred alternative to Death by Childbirth. Somewhat downplayed by the fact that Vhagar completely incinerates her in one direct hit, making it a very quick death.^{From the books}A dragon's fire gets hotter with age. Vhagar was already able to melt stones by the time of Aegon's Conquest, so her flame is not comparable to a normal fire.
  • Lyonel and Harwin Strong are killed in a fire at Harrenhal, implied to have been arranged by Larys, who becomes the new Lord of Harrenhal.
• Death by Childbirth: Defied. Knowing that Daemon might order her to be cut open, Laena goes out to the beach and orders Vhagar to kill her instead.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: The medievalesque social politics of Westeros are very relevant to the narrative of this episode.
  • As a highborn lady in Westeros, Rhaenyra is not supposed to nurse her own baby. Joffrey will have a wet nurse. As a result of not nursing, Rhaenyra's breasts ache and she's leaking milk. In addition, as a noble mother so soon out of childbirth she would usually be sequestered within her chambers to rest and recover. Rhaenyra doesn't. She's a Politically-Active Princess, and there's some implication that taking any time off would be giving Alicent a chance to gain a foothold. Therefore Rhaenyra must additionally endure the embarrassment of lactating in the middle of a session of the small council, where no one is particularly sympathetic.
  • The true paternity of Rhaenyra's sons dominates the drama of the episode. They are the biological sons of Rhaenyra's lover, Ser Harwin Strong. Whether or not such an arrangement was the only way to have children in a marriage where the husband is homosexual, in Westeros, siring bastards is considered deeply disreputable, especially for a highborn woman. In addition, bastards are not entitled to inherit anything from their legitimate relatives, which would make them ineligible for the throne even though their claim would be through their mother, whose identity isn't in question. Because the consequences for his beloved daughter's reputation are so dire, King Viserys deliberately looks the other way. To protect her, he dismisses, gaslights, and implicitly threatens Alicent to shut up about it, even as evidence mounts over a decade that her suspicions are correct. When Rhaenyra later proposes a match with her eldest son Jacaerys to Alicent's daughter Helaena, the Queen is outraged: all of her children are legitimate, while none of Rhaenyra's are, so the match appears less like an attempt at reconciliation and more like yet another deception/ploy/insult.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: In the book, Laena contracts generic childbed fever after giving birth to a malformed child, and tries to mount Vhagar one last time before collapsing on the steps. Here, she has Vhagar give her a Mercy Kill to avoid the same fate as Aemma Arryn.
• Driven to Suicide: Laena, refusing to be subject to a forced C-Section like the late Queen Aemma, wanders on to the beach and orders Vhagar to kill her, which the dragon reluctantly obeys after several moments of tearful pleading by Laena.
• Establishing Character Moment: We're introduced to many Targaryen kiddos this episode.
  • Aegon: Bullying his little brother Aemond. And standing naked on a window and masturbating.
  • Aemond: Being bullied about not having a dragon, and this driving him down into the bowels of the Dragonpit where he hopes to find one.
  • Helaena: Waxing encyclopedically to her mother about her pet millipede.
  • Jacaerys: Because he's the eldest of Rhaenyra's sons, he'd old enough to realize he probably is a bastard (even if he's still a Targaryen through his mother), leading to his Bastard Angst that drives him to overcompensate by trying really hard to be a model prince.
  • Lucerys: Younger than Jace, innocently unaware he's a bastard.
  • Baela: Daemon's tougher older daughter, she already has her own dragon that hatched from a cradle egg and she's clearly her father's favorite, with him taking time to give her High Valyrian lessons.
  • Rhaena: Daemon's younger daughter, has a whole scene with Laena explaining her angst that she worries her father ignores her because she doesn't have a dragon yet.
• Everyone Has Standards: Alicent gives Ser Cristen an offended look when he calls Rhaenyra a "cunt." Even he seems to realize that's a bit far.
  Criston: The Princess Rhaenyra is brazen and relentless. A spider who stings and sucks her prey dry. A spoiled cunt.
  Alicent: [Disapproving Look]
  Criston: [Beat] That was beneath me, Your Grace. I apologize.
• Foreshadowing:
  • When Harwin leaves, he says to baby Joffrey, "I'll be a stranger when we meet again." In the Faith of the Seven, the Stranger is a name for The Grim Reaper, foreshadowing his death.
  • Laena professes to her husband that she wants to "die a dragonrider's death" one day. At the end of the episode, she commits suicide by dragonfire immolation instead of waiting for inevitable, prolonged Death by Childbirth fever, in a time without powerful antibiotics.
  • During Alicent and Larys's dinner date, Larys goes ahead and starts eating without her and Alicent takes off her shoes. This initially reads as them having a familiar relationship where they feel free to be less formal with each other. Three episodes later we learn that actually they have a begrudging Sex for Services setup where Larys passes Alicent information in exchange for being allowed to jerk off to the sight of her bare feet.
• Friend to Bugs: Helaena is first seen holding a live millipede and also has a collection of bugs preserved in a box, including several beetles, a butterfly or moth, and even a scorpion. While her mother is clearly not very interested in this topic, she makes an effort to listen politely while her daughter goes on about the features of her pet millipede.
• Funny Background Event: When Daemon and Laena are sitting on the roof talking, Daemon momentarily spills his wine.
• Gaslighting: Viserys and Rhaenyra have spent a decade insisting that Rhaenyra's children are Laenor's, even as this is obviously untrue. This leaves Alicent asking if she's going crazy. It's Downplayed, or perhaps Discussed. Viserys isn't intending to make Alicent question her sanity; she's just collateral damage. Alicent isn't actually actually questioning her sanity, as she's too self-assured for that; when she mentions going crazy it's just rhetorical. But the possibility of it is on her mind and gets mentioned.
  Alicent: Have I lost my sanity, Ser Criston? Do my senses lead me astray? Or is everyone else asleep, dreaming the same woolly dream?
• Happily Married: In contrast to Viserys's decade-long decline with Alicent, and Rhaenyra's tense-plus-scandalous open marriage, Daemon and Laena's marriage in Pentos is, publicly at least, pretty successful—with two beautiful daughters, not to mention the friendship of Pentoshi magnates for their skill as Dragon Riders. But subverted as we come to see the fault lines in their relationship. Laena desires to return to Driftmark. Daemon says he's happy in Pentos, but is clearly haunted by a restlessness and melancholy.
  Laena: You laud the virtues of Pentos, but you have no interest in it. If you did, you would venture into the city, but instead, you spend your time here, in the library, reading accounts of the same dead dragonlords whose legacy you claim has no hold on you. [...] Life has, I know, disappointed you. Perhaps, I too, am not the wife you would've wished for yourself.
• Has a Type: Rhaenyra has replaced Ser Criston with the not-too-dissimilar Harwin, a different tall brunet guard guy. He's also Commander of the City Watch—a job that used to be Daemon's.
• Hollywood Genetics: Genetics in this world have always been a little… unlike those in our world. Kids typically take strongly after only one parent, and occasionally are a blend of both. Phenotypes are strongly associated with family lines.
  • Discussed by Viserys, who basically claims that the kids could be Rhaenyra and Laenor's because recessive genes. Alicent says that's not a thing. Given that this series has no precedent for recessive traits, she may be right.
    Viserys: I had a black mare once. Black like a raven. One day, she escaped her pasture and the neighboring stallion sired a foal on her. The stallion was as silver as the moon on a winter's night and the foal, when it was born, chestnut. Just the most unremarkable brown horse you ever saw. Nature is a thing of mysterious works.
    Alicent: How do you know? The silver stallion. How do you know it was him? Did you witness the act itself?
  • Daemon and Laena's daughters Baela and Rhaena are only a quarter black and in our world would likely not look exactly like their biracial mother. Maybe one of them, but probably not both. In Westeros genetics, however, taking fully after one parent and not at all the other is very common. And narratively, they serve as an example of what Targaryen-Velaryon kids ought to look like (white hair + brown skin) and provide a contrast to what Rhaenyra's sons look like (brown hair + white skin).
  • Alicent's kids and Rhaenyra's kids both have one brunet Westerosi parent and one white-blond Valyrian parent. That they look completely different is a testimony to the idea that which traits are dominant is very nebulous and inconsistent in this story.
• Honor Before Reason: Lyonel Strong tries to do the honorable thing by resigning as Hand when it becomes clear he can no longer ignore the relationship between his son and the princess. Viserys refuses to accept his resignation.
• Hormone-Addled Teenager: Aegon, now about 13, is shown to be at the height of puberty, masturbating in front of open windows and ogling servant women.
• Hypocrite:
  • Downplayed when Alicent complains that her husband's inner circle — namely his Hand, Lyonel Strong — are not impartial. Viserys and Lyonel are bending over backwards to protect their children and grandchildren. Anyone not doing that and just meeting the baseline of being honest would defacto be on Alicent's side. An impartial Hand would seriously benefit her. But Alicent brings up Otto Hightower as hypothetical impartial Hand, which — as Larys is quick to point out — he's not. In a context where everyone else has their exceptionally biased dads protecting them, Alicent wanting the same advantage for herself is not hypocritical, but calling it impartiality is intellectually dishonest.
  • Rhaenyra is dismissive of Laenor after he names Joffrey, specifically referring to the baby as her child. But when (true) rumors start spreading, suddenly Laenor is their true father and he's selfish for wanting to go fight in the latest Stepstones conflict.
    Rhaenyra: They are our sons! Yours and mine. And their true father will not abandon them now to go carousing through the Narrow Sea, waggling his sword and winking at his sailors.
• I Just Want to Be Special: Both Aemond and Rhaena are feeling like second-best to their respective siblings because the dragon eggs in their cradles didn't hatch.
• Implausible Deniability: It's obvious to anyone with eyes that Rhaenyra's sons were not fathered by her husband Laenor. Yet no one at court can openly address it. It's made possible by a pinch of Refuge in Audacity in Rhaenyra's refusal to acknowledge it or be ashamed, and a great deal of Screw the Rules, I Have Connections! because she knows her father will protect her and her kids as far as he can.
• Innocently Insensitive: Laenor is supportive but slightly awkward about trying to converse with Rhaenyra after Joffrey's birth, he even tries to relate to her birthing pains with his battle injuries.
  Laenor: Was it terribly painful?
  Rhaenyra: [gives a Death Glare]
• Irony: When Rhaenyra was still on the marriage market, Lyonel Strong impressed Viserys by being the only advisor who didn't propose a union that would directly benefit himself e.g. with one of his own sons. A decade later Rhaenyra is having an affair with his heir Harwin.
• I Want My Mommy!: As Alicent watches Viserys and Lyonel being flagrantly biased and bending over backwards to protect their children, what she really wants is her own father to be there to do the same for her.
• Karma Houdini:
  • Criston beat a man to death in front of dozens of witnesses but appears to have suffered no repercussions, presumably due to Alicent's patronage.
  • Daemon's murder of his first wife appears to have resulted in no lasting issues, although he doesn't appear to have inherited Runestone.^{In the books...}His claim was thrown out with extreme prejudice by Lady Arryn, who not only denied him Rhea's lands and titles but commanded him to keep out of the Vale.
  • Alicent and Criston perceive Rhaenyra as one. She's flagrantly cheating on her husband and inserting her bastards into the line of succession, and this is overlooked thanks to Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!.
• Kick the Dog: Alicent insists on inspecting Rhaenyra's newborn immediately, which leads to Rhaenyra schlepping herself up to the queen's chambers under the eyes of the whole court right after giving birth. Though only the baby was explicitly asked for, it's heavily implied these petty power plays have been going on for years and both women knew the summons would compel Rhaenyra to get up. To make matters worse, Alicent has had enough experience with childbirth herself to know exactly how taxing her request is.
• Kinslaying Is a Special Kind of Evil: Alicent is horrified to learn that Larys killed his father and brother for her benefit. It does benefit her—it takes out two people who supported Rhaenyra over her and leaves the position of Hand open for someone more pro-Alicent (such as Otto). But if Larys is willing to turn against his own family so utterly, he would almost certainly be willing to turn against Alicent too. This proves him a Wild Card. Larys may be her ally, but not a trustworthy or safe one.
• Last-Minute Baby Naming: After Rhaenyra gives birth to "his" son, Laenor quickly announces that the baby's name is Joffrey (after his dead boyfriend), not having consulted Rhaenyra beforehand.^{In the books...}Laenor had also wanted to name their first son Joffrey, but his father Corlys vetoed it and he was instead named Jacaerys, a traditional Velaryon name.
  Alicent: Does the babe have a name yet?
  Rhaenyra: We haven't spoken—
  Laenor: Joffrey. He'll be called Joffrey.
• Last-Second Word Swap: Twice people hover around the edge of calling Rhaenyra's sons "bastards".
  • While voicing her objections regarding Rhaenyra's proposal to Viserys, Alicent just barely stops herself from calling Rhaenyra's sons "bastards." Her choice of replacement words is a call-back to Viserys' story about his mare having a "unremarkable brown" foal sired by a neighboring stallion, so the implication is there.
    Alicent: She is desperate. She feels the earth washing away beneath her feet and now she expects us to ignore her transgressions and for me to marry my only daughter to one of her... plain-featured sons.
  • When Lyonel Strong is having a fight with his son Harwin, he likewise just barely holds back from calling them bastards.
    Lyonel: Today you publicly assaulted a Knight of the Kingsguard in the defense of your... [breaks off]
• The Law of Conservation of Detail: We see Criston ignore Jace and Luke for all of 40 seconds in order to spar with Aegon and Aemond. Realistically, there's nothing wrong with this. If a teacher is ever to give a student individual attention, this requires ignoring the rest of the class for a minute. So long as all the students get turns, this is fine. Before we can see whether Criston will give Jace and Luke a turn, Harwin objects — implying that 40-second snippet is part of a larger pattern.
  Harwin: It seems the younger boys could do better with a bit of your attention, Ser Criston.
  Criston: You question my method of instruction, Ser?
  Harwin: I merely suggest that method be applied to all your pupils.
• Marriage of Convenience: This episode explores what Rhaenyra and Laenor's marriage actually means. While they don't have sex with each other, and do have sex with other men, their relationship is surprisingly marriage-like in other ways. Their lives are intertwined and Rhaenyra really does depends on him. When Laenor suggests leaving the family for a few months, Rhaenyra responds as you'd expect a wife to—he can't do that, because she needs him, the kids need him.
• Meaningful Echo: In 1.04, when Rhaenyra was accused of screwing around with Daemon, she called it a "vile accusation." Now she refers to the rumors about her sons paternity as "vile, disgusting insinuations." Vile seems to be Rhaenyra's go-to word for rumors that are inconvenient but true.
• The Missus and the Ex: Criston was the one who turned down the offer to be Rhaenyra's paramour, yet the dynamic now is more what you'd expect if Rhaenyra had dumped him. Criston still clearly has a lot of feelings about it even 10 years later. It doesn't help that he has to live in the same castle as Harwin who is more or less openly siring children on Rhaenyra and not being punished for doing so, while Criston feared he would be put to death for a single tryst with the princess.
• Negated Moment of Awesome: At the small council meeting, Rhaenyra makes a small speech of appeasement, proposing a marriage between her firstborn and Alicent's daughter and offering another dragon egg for Aemond. The grand gesture is cut short by her starting to lactate through her dress.
• Non-Answer:
  Jace: Is Harwin Strong my father? Am I a bastard?
  Rhaenyra: You are a Targaryen. That's all that matters.
• Odd Name, Normal Nickname: Rhaenyra's sons are named Jacaerys and Lucerys—Valyrian names classic of the Velaryon family. However, they're known by the nicknames Jace and Luke. That they're known by more simple, straightforward, Westerosi-sounding names (and names likely to be familiar to the real-world audience) rather than Velaryon ones parallels their ostensibly-Valyrian-but-really-Westerosi paternity.
• The Oner: The scene of Rhaenyra leaving the birthing chamber to walk up to Alicent's quarters was done in a single shot. And before that there's the scene of her giving birth to the baby.
• Papa Wolf: Ser Harwin Strong intervenes in the Curb-Stomp Battle sparring match between Aegon and Jacaerys. Ser Criston makes a jape at Harwin's unusual affection for the boy, correctly accusing him of carrying on an affair with Rhaenyra. It's a Berserk Button for Harwin and he starts beating the shit out of Criston.
  Criston: Your interest in the princeling's training is quite unusual, Commander. Most men would only have that kind of devotion toward a cousin... or a brother... or a son.
• Parental Favoritism: Rhaena tells Laena that she fears she is The Unfavorite to Daemon compared to her sister Baela, whose dragon egg hatched and whom we see him reading Valyrian to.
• Patricide: Larys arranges for his father and brother to burn to death in a fire at Harrenhal.
• Pet the Dog: When she decides to move her family to Dragonstone, Rhaenyra allows Laenor to take his paramour with him. While she states that this is because of her need of allies, Ser Correy is merely an average knight, so she clearly was just doing her husband a favour.
• Plot Parallel: Aemond and Rhaena are both struggling with being Targaryen kiddos with no dragon, alongside siblings that do.
• Properly Paranoid: Alicent is an example of how personally exhausting even well-founded suspicion can be. Alicent is completely correct in her suspicions that the three Velaryon children are bastards, but her struggle to get anyone to openly acknowledge it is wearing her down and colors all her actions in the episode.
• Reestablishing Character Moment: The episode begins after a 10-year Time Skip, and the leads have Time-Shifted Actors.
  • Rhaenyra: After initially knowing her as a teenager who was very afraid of childbirth, we're reintroduced to Rhaenyra in the midst of giving birth to her third son. She's a mother now, and contrary to her adolescent fears, she seems content with it and adores her sons.
  • Alicent: In stark contrast to the Shrinking Violet of her adolescence, Alicent Grew a Spine and now is not afraid to make demands (such as making Rhaenyra come to her right after giving birth) or speak her mind (in veiled jabs at baby Joff's appearance).
• Rhetorical Request Blunder: During her dinner with Larys, Alicent frustratedly wishes that her father were there to assist her. She is later horrified when she learns that Larys had his own father killed so that her father could be re-appointed as Hand. Invoked or Zigzagging in that Larys is a smart guy who knew Alicent was not remotely suggesting he have anyone killed. When Alicent finds out what Larys did, he's not remotely surprised that she's shocked — he knew she would be. He has the Plausible Deniability to say he did it at her request, but they both know that interpreting it that way is quite a stretch.
  Larys: The Queen makes a wish. What servant of the realm would not strive to fulfill it?
• Sadistic Choice:
  • When Laena's childbirth runs into complications, Daemon is offered the same choice his brother was once forced to make 15 years ago. He doesn't get a chance to make that choice, as Laena orders Vhagar to burn her alive instead. Although he does give a small shake of the head to the maester before noticing Laena has left.
  • Larys Strong goes to the dungeons to find criminals, offering them the choice between hanging for their crimes or having their tongues cut out so they can serve as his agents.
• Screaming Birth: Laena screams when trying to give birth to the child she conceived with Daemon.
• Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Rhaenyra, fed up with the whispers and rumors about the parentage of her children, leaves King's Landing for her seat at Dragonstone.
• Selective Obliviousness: Viserys is well aware that Rhaenyra's marriage to Laenor has only produced bastards who could not ascend the Iron Throne if their true paternity were known, but would prefer to turn a blind eye. He loves his daughter too much to acknowledge this Open Secret and does not have the heart to disinherit or execute his own blood. This infuriates Alicent, who has been faithful in her own marriage to Viserys throughout the years.
• Ship Tease:
  • Criston is now Alicent's closest friend. For all that he accuses Harwin of being dad-like with Rhaenyra's kids, he's being a Parental Substitute to Alicent's kids.
    Alicent: We need to hew to that… and to each other.
  • Alicent and Larys have apparently been having regular dinner dates for years.
• Sports Dad: Criston is a Parental Substitute to Alicent's boys and Harwin is ostensibly the same to Rhaenyra's. The men egg the boys into a fight that's really an expression of The Missus and the Ex situation between them.
• That Came Out Wrong: When Rhaenyra suggests wedding Jacaerys to Helaena to unite the family, Viserys likes the idea, saying, "Join hands and be stronger for it." What Viserys does not hear in his words—but what Alicent certainly does—is stronger as in more Strong. Specifically 50% Strong in the case of Jacaerys and 25% Strong for the children of the proposed union. That's certainly Stronger.
• Time-Shifted Actor: A whole slew of them:
  • Milly Alcock has been replaced with Emma D'Arcy as Rhaenyra.
  • Emily Carey has been replaced with Olivia Cooke as Alicent.
  • Theo Nate has been replaced with John Macmillan as Laenor.
  • Savannah Steyn has been replaced with Nanna Blondell as Laena.
• Time Skip: It has been ten years since Rhaenyra's wedding, and tensions between her and Alicent are coming to a boil.
• Took a Level in Jerkass:
  • The years since his break with Rhaenyra have soured Criston Cole, turning him into a petty man who openly calls Rhaenyra a spoiled cunt to Alicent and who is willing to take his anger with her out on her children.
  • Even if we are given enough grounding for it through the last minutes of Emily Carey's Queen Alicent last episode, Olivia Cooke's portrayal shows us just how exactly the years have turned Queen Alicent bitter and domineering, screaming in Aegon's face to get on the Hightower ambition even as he doesn't want to.
• Tongue Trauma: Larys recruits some prisoners on death row and offers them mercy... if they'll have their tongues torn out and assassinate his father and brother. We see one prisoner held down and yelling as the blade cuts off his tongue and the wound is cauterized with a hot poker, before Larys motions his men to do the same to the next prisoner. Presumably this is so that they can't reveal anything if captured (what with literacy being uncommon among smallfolk).
• Tragic Keepsake: Viserys is still carrying his first wife Aemma's ring with him and tearfully kisses it in a somber moment.
• Troll: Ser Criston effortlessly baits Ser Harwin into punching him out in an encounter where he was already acting fatherly to the Velaryon princes. In doing so, Ser Harwin inadvertently marked himself to all the onlookers — including his own father and the king — as Rhaenyra's lover.
• Turning Into Your Parent:
  • Last episode it was Otto desperately trying to convey to Alicent that there is no "just not challenging Rhaenyra's claim", that Aegon existing as Viserys's firstborn son is inherently a challenge to Rhaenyra's claim. Now it's Alicent that has become her father, desperately trying to convey this to Aegon.
  • In her youth, Rhaenyra was livid about her father using her marriage as a way to "solve his political headache." She's now offering to use Jace's marriage as a political pawn without so much as telling him first.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Alicent is surprisingly unfazed by the sight of her son masturbating naked while standing in an open window (implying it isn't the first time he's done this or the first time she has caught him doing it).
• Villainous Crossdresser: Laenor's new boyfriend has been fighting in the Stepstones and regaled him with stories about the new Corsairs who stepped in to fill the power vaccuum left by the late Crabfeeder. One is a massive Tyroshi who dyes his beard purple and wears women's frocks. Apparently, the entire Triarchy navy is made up of eccentric weirdos.

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