House of the Dragon is not rooting for its kids

“Driftmark,” this week’s episode of House of the DragonThe episode titled “The Four-way Brawl Between Children” featured the greatest battle of the series so far. The episode begins with what appears to be a rerun of the training-ground fight from earlier episodes. But it quickly turns sinister as it continues until one poor little boy is blinded. A sweet little boy then defends his little brother using a knife. This is why the whole royal court are trapped in an R-rated speedrun episode of the NBC series SlapThe majority of the episode is spent in one room with the characters trying to work out the best way to solve the problem.

Part of what makes this fight so shocking is that we’ve just met these kids, so when Aemond and Aegon Targaryen confront Jacaerys and Lucerys Velayron in a tunnel, we’re not entirely sure how things are going to play out — and House of the Dragon isn’t a show where pleasant things happen. It goes horribly far. Aemond grabs a rock and appears intent on killing Jacaerys. Lucerys jumps in to defend Jacaerys with a knife. Aemond is blinded in one eye.

The fallout from this comprises the majority of “Driftmark,” as King Viserys must mediate the resulting conflict between Queen Alicent, Princess Rhaenyra, and all other offended parties. The dispute quickly stops being about the children and clearly becomes about the growing rift between Alicent and Rhaenyra, to the point that Alicent, wanting an eye for an eye, threatens to cut Lucerys’ out herself.

Photo: Ollie Upton/HBO

In some ways, “Driftmark” closely echoes “The Kingsroad,” the second episode of Game of Thrones. In it, the young heroine Arya Stark makes a new friend, Mycah, a baker’s son, who is subsequently bullied by the petulant and cruel Prince Joffrey. Arya resists Joffrey and knocks her to the ground. Nymeria, her pet direwolf bites Joffrey’s arm. The end result is a scene quite like the one in “Driftmark,” where the royal family and other involved parties attempt to resolve the dispute between the children in a way that will also remind the adults of their place.

The premise may be similar but the following is significantly different. This further illustrates how House of the DragonThis is a new type of TV show, unlike its predecessor. “The Kingsroad” ultimately resolves with Arya’s father, Ned Stark, being forced to make restitution by killing his daughter’s direwolf. It’s a gutting conclusion to a conflict that was effectively Game of ThronesIn miniature, good people get eaten as long as they defer to an unfair system that rewards self-preservation and is indifferent towards honor. Yet despite its constant grimness, Game of ThronesThere was an optimistic streak about the situation, believing some of the children would overcome the terrors and change the world.

Children in House of the DragonThey don’t have such a rosy outlook. These are the fucked kids. Aegon and Aemond are cruel, and while Rhaenyra is the show’s protagonist and her children seem like sweet boys that won’t grow up to be bratty little hellions, there is no room for the optimism of the previous series. As far as anyone in that room is concerned, the throne is now empty, and sides must be taken for whatever comes next — and they are not above using children or murder to get it. Things are not going to go well when they all get to King’s Landing, and even if little Jacaerys and Lucerys make it through with their goodness intact, it’s their lot to be at the center of a power struggle with no real good outcome, where no one has anything but selfish interests in mind.

By the end of “Driftmark,” Viserys is unable to reach a judgment that makes anyone happy, hoping everyone just makes peace. He only makes the rift worse and ensures that both his children and their children are doomed for war.