by Miller C. Lashbrook
This week we get a tension filled episode set all at Driftmark. This episode reminds me of an amazing piece of theatre, with the characters all in the same place and aggravating each other. The directing, acting, and cinematography all marry to make for seventy minutes of edge of your seat television.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The battle lines are drawn. This episode can only happen because of the previous six, but it also is gorgeously teeing up the final three episodes to be totally bombastic. Every week I come back to this show and I am just astounded that it is still firing on all cylinders. The rest of this spoiler review, I am going to break things down by discussing my favorite moments.
The opening of this episode is beautiful in the most morbid way. I couldn’t get but hum “What the Water Gave Me” by Florence + the Machine as we watched Laena’s funeral. The world-building of having the Valeryons bury their dead in the ocean in stone coffins is so dark and beautiful. To have Daemon giggle at the funeral was such a maddening and malicious choice that I love for his character. This episode he says so little, but this is a great episode for him.
I love bouncing between the way that the parents are reacting to this family feud versus their children, building on the tensions set up last week with the kids.
In regards to the Rhaenyra and Daemon of it all, I hate that I ship it, but also these actors have so much chemistry that you can’t help for root for the couple a little bit.
The scene where Aemond claims Vaegar is haunting! The way that all this human dragon is juxtaposed by the power of this beast, just shows how all these families are just playing with fire at the end of the day.
The sequence of the fight between the kids, which is gut wrenching, that flows into the argument in the hall is so Shakespearean. I love that in spite of Veserys flexing his position as king, Alicent still pushes things to far when she is at her breaking point. She has gone too far, but her father is proud of her.
Finally, I have to talk about the happy ending for Laenor. I am so happy that after everything he has had to deal with, the show made the right choice to have him fake his death, rather than die like he does in the book so that he can go to Essos and live happily ever after.
There is so much more that I can say about this show. Honestly, someone could make a two-hour breakdown video about each of these episodes, that is how literary this show is. What a great time to be alive!
5/5 Dragon Eggs 🥚
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