House Of The Dragon Goes Full Bachelorette In King Of The Narrow Sea

No dynasty can avoid the constant threat of being destroyed by scandals. Believe it or not, House Targaryen is no exception. You might think that their reputation for burning enemies would make them exempt or maybe that their well-documented family history of incest would make them immune, but nope! It turns out they are just as susceptible to the rumor mill. Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock) learns this the hard way when her uncle returns from his war deadset on sullying her reputation and seizing his chance at power.

After three episodes of laying the groundwork, "House of the Dragon" comes out swinging with "King of the Narrow Sea." The table is set, the characters are known quantities and at last, we can finally have some real fun in this new iteration of Westeros. The fourth episode has everything we could've hoped for and so much more: small council meetings, brothel visits, a Westerosi off-broadway performance, marriage proposals, schemes gone horribly wrong, and of course, some very sexy drama. Since scandals, schemes, and sex are the core tenants of Westeros, I can think of no better way to kickstart this new era of Targaryen rule.

From the first moment that Rhaenyra and Daemon interacted in the throne room, we should've known it would come to this; their sexual tension is unsettlingly palpable, especially in this episode. When he first returns, Rhaenyra tracks Daemon through the crowd, following his every step. Later, he gives her lots of lingering, longing glances. Ew. Most importantly is the fact that Rhaenyra immediately sees through him and knows what to ask: why did you come back? He refuses to give her a straight answer, but later on, we can put the pieces together for ourselves.

Under the shadow of night, Daemon invites his niece into the city, smuggling her out of the Red Keep in boys' clothes through a secret passageway (great security, Westeros). In the moment, it seems like Daemon is just offering her some fun to lift her spirits. In reality, he's a man on a mission. "I know that there is only one true king," he told Viserys (Paddy Considine) when they reconciled; but it wasn't a pledge of fealty. Being King of the Narrow Sea means nothing. It's just a title. Daemon still has his eyes set on the Iron Throne. He's finally abandoned the idea of being renamed heir, but his new path to the seat of power is through Rhaenyra.

The complicated bugger that he is, Daemon doesn't actually seem to go through with his plan. After showing Rhaenyra a good night in the city, they shed their disguises and head to a brothel, silvery hair revealed so they will be recognized. Presumably, he planned to publicly take her virginity so that no one would want to marry the Princess — except for him. But in the end, he backs off and abandons ship, leaving her behind after an intense makeout session. (Once again: ew.)

Maybe this is the Daemon apologist in me speaking, but it feels like the Rogue Prince was thrown off by Rhaeyra not letting him take control. He's met his match ad maybe he caught feelings (yes, for his niece) and it left him so conflicted that he decided against actually ruining her for marriage and instead left. Or maybe Daemon just has some virility issues because lets be real, this is the second time we've seen him back down from sex to go brood in a corner.

When it comes to all those nasty rumors about the Princess, Rhaenyra manages to dodge the brunt of the damage. It probably helps that they're mostly false — she sure was spotted at a brothel with Daemon, but she didn't lose her maidenhead to him. Instead, that honor went to Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), in a wonderfully steamy scene that involves slowly stripping off layers of armor. The fallout of this will be absolutely fascinating. In the moment, Rhaenyra's intentions are hard to read: does she only turn to Criston because Daemon abandoned her? Is she acting on true feelings? Or just having one fun night? And in the aftermath, how does the knight feel?

For Ser Criston, this isn't something to be taken lightly. He is a member of the Kingsguard and her sworn protector. While that doesn't come with a vow of celibacy, taking the unmarried Princess' virtue is dangerous territory. He's also the honorable type — even after they kiss, Ser Cole seems deeply conflicted. But on the other hand, this has obviously been a long time coming. There's an unspoken intimacy between these two; since her friendship with Alicent is in shambles, Rhaenyra has turned to Ser Cole. He has been her confidant and in turn, seems to dote on her (he holds onto her arm for a very long time after she bumps her head). They share a closeness that you'd never expect to see between the King and his Kindsguards knights.

• Fellas, is it weird to seduce your niece in a brothel? (Yes.)

• Viserys, the King of the Seven Kingdoms and Westeros' symbol of strength is uh, not doing so well. At what point do we start making bets on when he drops dead? In addition to his body being riddled with scabs ad poorly healed wounds, he uses his Valyrian steel sword like it's a walking stick. Yikes.

• The security in this castle sucks. Why is there a giant secret entrance in the Princess' room? She is the heir to the Iron Throne! Even worse, she's a very controversial heir! Someone could easily slip in and murder her! Seal that s*** up!

• Oh, hey, Mhysaria is still around and at Daemon's side. There's not much to say about that, except for my sincerest plea for Ryan Condal and co to free Sonoya Mizuno from this terrible accent in season 2.

• And the winner of the great marriage Olympics is... Laenor Valeryon! It takes skill to get a wife without even appearing in an episode, but Laenor happily rises to the occasion. We don't know too much about this guy but you'll probably remember him as the dragon rider that swooped in to help Daemon defeat the Crabfeeder. It's also important to remember that when Rhaenys was passed over, so was Laenor. He could've had a claim to the throne, as a relative of Jaehaerys, but lost out to Viserys' bloodline. So, what kind of man will be: the ambitious kind who wants Rhaenyra's throne for himself? Or is he happy to just be her trophy husband?

• Now that we've wrapped up Westeros' version of The Bachelorette, it's time to start a game show for the next Hand of the King! There are many potential candidates of course: naming Corlys Hand of the King would go a long way in mending that relationship. But then again, Viserys is tired of strivers. So the more likely answer is Lyonel Strong, the council member who has repeatedly pushed ambition aside to give the King some great advice. But keep this in mind: when Otto first floated the idea of naming Rhaenyra heir, Lyonel Strong was vehemently opposed.

• Really appreciated the parallel of Otto struggling to describe the brothel scene vs the gentle Lady Alicent angrily dropping the f-bomb. It really highlights the difference between these two relationships: Alicent is speaking to her childhood best friend, and that's a level of familiarity that even Otto can't manufacture with the king.

• Viserys tells Rhaenyra: "The truth does not matter, only perception." This sounds an awful lot like an old Varys parable: "Power resides where men believe it resides. It's a trick. A shadow on the wall." This is such an important lesson for Rhaenyra to learn that someone else tries to hammer it in too: Daemon points out that if she wants to rule, then she might want to consider the opinions of the smallfolk. Based on the little showcase she saw in Kings Landing, they don't currently hold her in high esteem. It might be time to change that.