House of the Dragon Episode 7 Review

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House of The Dragon episode 7: Driftmark, kicks off with the funeral of Laena Velaryon at her family’s ancestral of home, Driftmark.

Despite the amazing scenery of seeing six fully grown Dragons, we immediately feel the sadness in the air, as Lady Rhaenys and Lord Corlys Velaryon mourn the death of their only daughter, along with their grandchildren Rhaena and Baela, who mourn their mother.  Leana’s death especially affects her brother Leanor, who feels like he has failed everyone in his life. And this guilt prompts him to re-evaluate his life and take a major decision later in the episode.

But even with loss of a loved one, The lords and ladies of Westeros still make out time to play some dirty politics.

The first is Vaemond Velaryon, who uses his niece’s eulogy as an opportunity to call out the legitimacy Rhaenyra’s children, therefore implying that they have no claim to inherit the Driftmark or the Iron Throne.

Enter Daemon.

Never one to care about appearances, the rogue prince laughs at his own wife’s funeral to throw off attention from Rhaenyra and her kids.  

Rhaenyra and Daemon’s relationship has always been a major storyline since the start of House of the Dragon. The uncle and niece have always shared a bond and a rare understanding of each other. And after years of playing around the issue, the pair consummate their relationship.

Having three children outside her lawful marriage weakened Rhaenyra’s position in court. And with her sin being an open secret, the Princess has been searching for a way to improve her claim to throne.

With Daemon’s second wife dead, Rhaenyra proposes marrying her uncle, as this would strengthen her claim to throne and any kids she has with Daemon would have no issues inheriting the throne. 

The only obstacle to this plan is Leanor.

At first, I fell for the misdirect that Rhaenyra and Deamon killed off Leanor. After all, in the books, it’s implied that Daemon was behind the knight’s death. 

But when the show revealed that Laenor was still alive, I realized that faking his death was always the plan. With Leanor officially dead, Rhaenyra marries Daemon and unite their claims to throne. While Leanor is free of his duties as a Velaryon to be himself.

I feel sad for the Valeryons, especially Princess Rhaenys Targaryen. In just weeks, she loses both of her children (or at least she think so) to a political war she had no interest in. But with son’s death, Rhaenys has little to nothing left to lose. And if the episode 8 teasers are any indications, we will soon see a very different Rhaenys Targaryen.

A New Dragon Rider 

Claiming a Dragon is a terrifying process that would scare even the bravest Targaryens. But none of that compares to claiming Vahgar, the biggest living Dragon and second the biggest Targaryen Dragon ever.

Thanks to the bullying from his brother and nephews for not having a Dragon, Aemond leaves all his fears behind and bonds with Vahgar.

Vahgar is a magnificent Dragon, and in her first flight with Aemond, the series shows her off in all her glory. Even with the poor lighting, you could still appreciate the largeness of the Targaryen Dragon. And the fact Aemond didn’t fall off while flying the beast showed his determination.

But everything comes with a price. And for the biggest living Targaryen Dragon, Aemond loses his eye to Lucerys Velaryon, during clash with his nephews and cousins.

Aemond losing an eye officially divides Viserys’ Kingdom, and we see the first clash of the factions during the audience with the king. For me, this was the best part of the episode, as both sides waste no time going after each other.

While the children blame each other for the accident, Rhaenyra attempts to implicate Alicent with the bastard rumours, knowing her father would be enraged. And off at distance, Daemon enjoys the chaos.

I’d like to take a moment to appreciate Aegon’s character. The young Prince has been nothing but hilarious this these past episodes and he continues to be uninterested in his family’s internal feud. All Aegon wanted to do was get drunk at his aunt’s funeral, but his grandfather and mother keep giving a hard time.

But I digress.

As always, Viserys protects Rhaenyra from the Consequences of her actions. But when the king not only sides with Rhaenyra, but refuses to serve what Alicent believes is justice, the Queen loses her mind.

In a rare of moment of weakness, Alicent attacks Rhaenyra, and reveals her envy for the princess. But this just plays into Rhaenyra’s hand.

Though her an eye for an eye mentality is wrong, I also can’t help but sympathise with Alicent who has done everything asked of her and has gotten little to nothing in return. While Rhaenyra, on the other the hand, gotten away with every scandal, thanks to her father, Viserys. Part Alicent also hates that no one, not even her father, has ever shown her true love and loyalty like Viserys has for Rhaenyra.

But the truth is, it’s was Alicent’s own father Otto, who put her in her current situation. He selfishly pushed his own ambitions on his teenage daughter and poisoned her mind against her best friend to seize power for himself. And now Alicent has grown up to do exact same thing to her own children.

Verdict