This episode is for the supporting cast. That much was made clear in the first scene, which features Roderick Dustin, Oscar Tully, and Petyr Piper, three characters who have had barely a page of dialogue thus far this season. It’s a bit of a reminder that, oh yeah, there is a war going on and there are men risking their lives out there. Rhaenyra takes a back seat as Criston Cole’s storyline (which, up until this point, has remained fairly stagnant) reaches a peak. Fabian Frankel gets the courtesy of a rousing monologue, as do Tom Glynn-Carney’s Aegon and Matthew Needham’s Larys. Those who crave action may consider episode five a dull one, but the seeds that are planted in these sixty minutes will no doubt set us up for a dramatic conclusion to the season.
This week also provides us with more scenes in Harrenhal, which has become the unwitting host to nightly get-togethers thanks to a recent bounty Queen Rhaenyra has placed on Aemond’s head. Whoever finds and brings her the one-eyed Prince gets the castle for themselves. Of course, they have to get through Alys Rivers first, who is having quite a good time scaring off all the makeshift bounty hunters. I wonder, is Alys planning on cashing in the Prince chip herself? We finally learn that the self-proclaimed witch has, in fact, made Aemond her prisoner, putting him through the same psychological rigamarole that plagued Daemon last season. We know Alys has her sights set on Harrenhal, but she does technically have control of the place at this point anyway. Plus, she looks to be enjoying her new prisoner. It wouldn’t be surprising if she continues to keep him all to herself.
Alys has Aemond in an extremely vulnerable state, one we haven’t seen him in since he was in the arms of Madam Sylvi last season. He opens up to her about Aegon, who he claims tormented him throughout their childhood. He implies that Alicent favored Aegon throughout it all, which Alys moves to deny. If last episode was all about daddy issues, this one explores the maternal side.
And Alys’s comforting seems to be working. The situation is less Misery and more Patty Hearst. Later in the episode, more hunters come knocking, and they’re a bit too aggressive, even for the thus far unassailable Alys. Aemond comes to her rescue just in time and takes on the three attackers. Perhaps the mommy card turned Aemond on, and he has a new love interest.
While we’ve located Aemond, Vhagar’s whereabouts are still unknown. Even Aemond doesn’t know where she is, though Alys presumably does (and is keeping that information close to her chest). She tells Aemond that Vhagar flew away. It’s unclear if this is true, as there have been sightings of the dragon burning a village on the outskirts of Wendish Town.
Alicent, meanwhile, has her own problems to deal with, namely the baby growing in her daughter’s stomach. She manages to secure one last favor from Grand Maester Orwyle, who delivers Westeros’s version of Plan B to their chamber. Unsurprisingly, Helaena refuses to drink it.
Helaena’s pregnancy seems to have also rekindled her ESP, which we haven’t seen much of lately. She informs Alicent that Aemond is still at Harrenhal, though Alicent insists her son has since left the castle. “I have seen him,” Helaena says. “He burns, but without fire.” All the more reason to end this pregnancy in Alicent’s eyes, lest Rhaenyra use the baby as a shield against a possible Aemond uprising. Phia Saban has been criminally underused throughout this series, but she is one of those side characters who gets her moment this week as she heartbreakingly insists on keeping this unborn child.
Unfortunately for Helaena and Alicent, Mysaria is onto them. She hears of Orwyle’s delivery and goes to visit the prisoners’ chamber to look into the situation herself. Alicent takes the blame and drinks the moon tea (which I have to imagine will have effects similar to eating Cyclospora-contaminated produce). When recovered, Alicent comes up with a new plan of action, bribing a maid to help the two women escape to no avail. Once again, there is the White Worm, who has finally realized that it is Helaena, not Alicent, who is pregnant. Alicent attempts to keep Mysaria from tattling to the Queen, offering an IOU in exchange for reticence. “If you say nothing, no harm is done,” Alicent suggests. “You earn yourself favor with the Hightowers, if a time should come when you have need of it.” It’s enough to convince Mysaria, at least for now, and she stays quiet.
That night, before bed, Helaena finds what seems to be a final solace: a hidden passage from their room. But when Alicent and Helaena enter, they find the corridor blocked, and the other door closes behind them. They are trapped, and no one knows of their whereabouts.
Meanwhile, Helaena’s family isn’t the only one that is growing. So too is Rhaenyra’s chosen one, her small council, which has just added Sabitha Frey to its ranks. Jacaerys promised Harrenhal to the Freys after they gave the Winter Wolves passage across the Twins. Seemingly an uneven trade, but no matter. Rhaenyra is not willing to honor it. As she reminds Lady Frey, Jace is dead, and his promises were buried with him. Instead, the lady will get a seat on the small council, where she gets caught up on all the gossip from Lord Manderly. If this were 2026, the Master of Coin would surely have a charting podcast on the goings-on in King’s Landing. His premiere episode would no doubt feature an update on all the chaos plaguing the city, specifically the slaughtering of Gold Cloaks. But more on that in a minute.
Perhaps it is this drama that is keeping Rhaenyra from greeting her new heir, Joffrey, who has just returned from the Eyrie. More likely, though, guilt is putting off Rhaenyra’s reunion with her now-eldest son. The Queen has already lost two children in this war, and Joffrey’s return places him in the eye of the storm. Maybe Rhaenyra is reluctant to see another son become vulnerable to the battle, so she’s avoiding it altogether.
The mommy troubles continue with Aegon, who has left Rook’s Rest. It seems we found the burnt King’s limit, and it’s kissing a feces-covered boot. I’m not one to side with Aegon on anything, but I can’t say I blame him for that one.
Aegon, too, has heard the rumors about a Vhagar sighting in Wendish Town. He assumes that means Aemond is in the area as well, meaning he can take revenge on his little brother, whom he blames for “everything.” Aegon shares his perspective on his childhood with Aemond. To no one’s surprise, he views the situation very differently from Aemond, placing himself in the victim role. He feels Alicent loved Aemond more, though perhaps she was just trying to make Aemond feel better about being the second son, a fate worse than any in the world of Westeros. “Every one of my miseries is of his making,” Aegon says of his brother.
To be fair, his current, largest misery—that he is burned to a crisp and his dragon is (possibly) dead—is Aemond’s fault. But otherwise, it’s hard to feel for Aegon in this moment. Yes, Aemond is indeed more naturally gifted of the brothers, better both with the sword and High Valyrian, but Aegon’s claim that Aemond had more advantages is absurd. Luckily, Larys is there to put him in his place. For once, the Clubfoot does not hold his tongue and lets Aegon have it. He reminds Aegon that the King had all the advantages in the world, and yet he still failed. Larys has some incredible lines here, telling Aegon that since the injury, “You’ve done nothing but whinge and self-flagellate with a tenacity I find astonishing.” Larys ends the speech with the biting, “I will tell you the truth. You were a terrible king. But worse than that, you are a terrible man.” Get him!
The lecture leaves Aegon speechless and neuters him enough to start listening to Larys. He agrees to return to Rook’s Rest and to follow Larys’s plan of escaping to Essos. They are overheard by Tyland Lannister (not his identical twin Jason, who was killed earlier this season in a battle with the Winter Wolves). Tyland’s appearance is bad timing for Larys. He has just, finally, convinced Aegon to leave, but now Tyland has entered as a new obstacle. He feels the passage is too dangerous, and the idea of the King vacationing in Essos while Westeros is at war does not sit well with him. More so, though, it just seems to be Tyland’s prejudices against foreigners coming through. Instead, he suggests they take Aegon to Lannisport to summon strength behind him. As they argue, the rogue soldier who tormented Aegon in the last episode reappears, as he sneaks into Aegon’s bag and produces his crown. Perhaps buoyed by that tongue-lashing from Larys earlier, Aegon acts quickly, attacking the thief and stabbing him to death before pulling out the great line, “You will call me, ‘Your Grace.’” Hm, perhaps Aegon won’t slink away from this war so quickly after all.
And then there is Daemon, who spends the episode dealing with the drama among the Gold Cloaks. They keep brutally dying, and those who remain alive are not getting paid thanks to the crown’s empty coffers. Daemon talks to the men, promising them gold and glory in the future, and returning to his fantasies of conquest, which the Gold Cloaks embrace with far more tenacity than Rhaneyra.
Ormund Hightower has set up a bit of a network within Flea Bottom, which is murdering the cloaked guards and leaving their bodies in the street. Daemon extracts this much after torturing a member of the insurgents. The man shows Daemon a coin, created by Ormund, which bears the face of “King Daeron Targaryen.” Ormund has officially hard-launched his new King. Daemon is right; they should have burned Ormund and Daeron when they had the chance because those first few Gold Cloak murders were just the beginning. Ormund reveals the depths of his cruelty with a display Daemon stumbles upon at the end of the episode, a Last Supper-like scene created with the slaughtered bodies of what seems to be the rest of the Gold Cloaks. Checkmate.
The focus on the second-tier characters is rounded out by Gwayne Hightower and Criston Cole, who continue their journey together. We learn more about Gwayne’s relationship with his cousin, Ormund, whom he clearly has no love for. And now that we’ve gotten to know Ormund a bit better, it’s not hard to see why. The anticipation of seeing these two cousins interact continues to build, but their reunion will be delayed once again because Criston, Gwayne, and their men fall into a trap set by wunderkind Oscar Tully and the rivermen. They’re forced to abandon their horses and continue their trek on foot, a situation which the long-pampered Gwayne clearly struggles with. When they come across a burned bridge (another gift from bright young Tully), the Hightower Lord suggests giving up and heading to Tumbleton, happy with the knowledge that he and Criston tried their best. Criston, though, did not grow up in a world of participation trophies and isn’t satisfied.
Episode five concludes with some more insight into Criston’s psyche as he explains to Gwayne that he has spent his life in the service of others, and he now wants the agency to choose his path. It just so happens that the path he walks is one into almost certain death. “I am the realm’s greatest warrior,” he says. “And I will die as such.” So, Criston gathers his downtrodden troops and gives them an inspiring speech, one which does not reach the ears of Gwayne. He does not share Criston’s death wish and sulks away to live another day.
