When it comes to House of the Dragon and its predecessor series, Game of Thrones, loss and death have always been the name of the game. Interestingly, this particular HBO Max series has managed to actually limit the loss to some degree. That's mainly because the realm has gone through a relatively peaceful era so people weren't constantly fighting. The people who did die in House of the Dragon, at least for the most part died in childbirth. However, that's changed a bit when it comes to the last few episodes. People are starting to drop like flies. And Rhaenyra, as it turns out, has been the victim of more than a little loss all on her own.
While the last episode of House of the Dragon focused on Alicent Hightower and her ilk making a move for the throne after Paddy Considine delivered his last lines as Viserys. That episode completely ignored just what was going on with Daemon and Rhaenyra and this episode, "The Black Queen" almost did the same thing as the story was told nearly entirely from the vantage point of the other side.
One of the things this episode did well was to waste no time in explaining what might have been a rather massive plot hole left over from Episode 9 of House of the Dragon. That would be the reason that Rhaenys Targaryen had her dragon standing in front of the usurper king nad instead of taking the step that might have ended the war in one fell swoop, she flew away.
Daemon makes it clear that he equally as flummoxed by the fact that she didn't take that step as most of the audience was after last week. While her explanation that it wasn't her war to start might still seem to ring a bit hollow, considering everyone knows that she's about to enter the war, it does make sense why she didn't take the first step. Imagine if things hadn't worked out how she could have planned and then Rhaenyra decided she didn't want to fight for the crown. Rhaenys needed to make sure a war was going to be fought before she entered it. While that approach might annoy some, it cemented that Viserys' cousin is one of the most honorable people in House of the Dragon. This particular move also does the double duty of making it very clear that this is a realm that has gone decades with peace being at the center of everything. It's not that easy to change all that in one fell swoop.
Of course, the viewers of the HBO Max series have been able to follow the precursor to Game of Thrones well enough to know what was coming. Peace at any price wasn't in the cards, and now both sides are moving towards a war. One of the most interesting ways the show illustrates the move towards conflict is showing that Rhaenyra isn't necessarily someone who wants the war. But she also believes that her "friend" has moved to cut off her legs from underneath her.
Daemon, on the other hand, is aching for war and that's not a real surprise. In fact, since the premiere episode of House of the Dragon, it's been extremely clear that the war that is about to come for the Iron Throne is what he's been aching for but he's never really had the bravery to make the move that would start it. He came close a couple of times, but he always pulled back. This time, he knows that he doesn't have to pull back. He knows that he's going to war and the man seems positively giddy. His war planning is smart, he's a good commander but the way that he speaks, even interrupting other people who are laying out their points, shows that he wants this quite a bit more than anyone else involved.
The writers have also done a good job of giving Daemon what he wants and allowing Matt Smith to stretch his wings without turning into the villain of the show. He's still not a particularly good person. He's still quite selfish as a matter of fact. But he's not a "bad" guy and by doing that, it allows the writers to have him walk a line that makes him more interesting than if he'd turned into some evil lunatic. By walking that line, he's also a character that Rhaenyra can actually lean on when things go bad and war is needed.
Of course, the big part of this episode is divided into two plot points. The first is that the queen and her side need to try and gather up as many allies as they possibly can. Like Alicent and her cronies, there is some concern about who might be true to their word and who might end jumping sides. It was certainly fun to continue hearing names like Stark and Baratheon and especially when it came to the latter, it was at least entertaining to see Robert Baratheon's long-ago relatives behaving quite a bit like he did.
The other very important aspect of the leadup to war is the show giving some background on why there weren't any more dragons around Westeros until Dany came along. The episode did a very good job of laying out all the Dragons in the HBO series and then showing in no uncertain terms why going to war with them is a bit of a gamble. It is, in fact, something that Game of Thrones really never bothered to touch on and it quite interesting. Even when the scene that really drives the point home is right there and pretty easy to see coming, it's still striking. There's also more than a little foreshadowing of what's going to come while the characters don't seem to know or have any idea what's going to go down. And when the big twist does go down it's quite the way to set the stage for Season 2.
House of the Dragon Season 1 is now available to watch on HBO and HBO Max.