The Rogue Prince (TV)

"The Rogue Prince"
House of the Dragon
Season 1  —  Episode 2
Original air date	August 28, 2022
Running time	54 minutes
Credits
Directed by	Greg Yaitanes
Written by	Ryan Condal
Episode chronology
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List of episodes

"The Rogue Prince" is the second episode of the HBO medieval fantasy television series House of the Dragon. The runtime is 54 minutes. It is written by co-creator Ryan Condal, and directed by Greg Yaitanes. Music was composed by Ramin Djawadi.

The title of the episode derives from The Rogue Prince, or, A King's Brother, a stand-alone novelette released in an anthology in 2014. The title of the novelette itself refers to Prince Daemon Targaryen.

Official synopsis

Rhaenyra oversteps at the Small Council. Viserys is urged to secure the succession through marriage. Daemon announces his intentions.

Plot

See also: Differences between Fire & Blood and House of the Dragon

The episode takes place six months after the death of Queen Aemma Arryn. The old Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Ryam Redwyne has passed during the night, and Ser Harrold Westerling has been promoted in his place. With the help of the Hand of the King, Ser Otto Hightower, Ser Harrold has invited to court a selection of knights he judges competent to take Ser Ryam's slot in the Kingsguard.

After several Westerosi ships are attacked by the Triarchy led by Craghas Crabfeeder, Lord Corlys Velaryon puts more pressure on King Viserys I Targaryen to intervene in the Stepstones. Viserys announces he has sent envoys to Pentos and Volantis to seek an alliance and that the Triarchy issue will be resolved in due time. Corlys is not impressed by the king's decision, however. Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen proposes to send the dragonriders after the Crabfeeder which Corlys approves of. Viserys disregards his daughter's counsel, however, and sends her away to choose a new Kingsguard among Harrold's selection. Rhaenyra chooses Ser Criston Cole as he is the only one who has real combat experience from his year fighting off Dornish incursions.

Viserys has enjoyed the company of Lady Alicent Hightower lately as the two talk about their shared interests in books and histories. Viserys confides in Alicent about the state of his relationship with Rhaenyra that has worsened since her mother's death. He asks her advice on how to mend it. In the Great Sept, Alicent reassures and helps Rhaenyra in her grieving process over her mother. While the two are praying, Alicent advices Rhaenyra to go speak with her father. However, she does not disclose her private moments with the king to her friend. At dinner that night, Rhaenyra and Viserys try to reconnect but with little effect.

Viserys grants an audience to Lord Corlys and his wife, Princess Rhaenys Targaryen. The couple propose that the king weds their twelve-year-old daughter, Lady Laena Velaryon, to reconcile Houses Targaryen and Velaryon after the rift caused by the result of the Great Council. While being treated by Grand Maester Mellos for a wound on his finger, Viserys asks Otto to speak his mind on the matter of a second marriage. Otto and Mellos gently dissuade the king from the Velaryon's proposition but Viserys meets with Laena later nonetheless. Their meeting is awkward and Viserys finds her too young for him. Rhaenyra and Rhaenys have a chat on the question of succession as they see Viserys and Laena walking around the royal gardens.

The small council meets in an emergency session as one of the dragonkeepers reports that Prince Daemon Targaryen has stolen a dragon egg during the night. He left a missive explaining he will marry his pregnant paramour, Mysaria, and that the egg is intended for their unborn child. Ser Otto assembles a party to go to Dragonstone, where Daemon has been living for the past months with Mysaria and some of his gold cloaks, to retrieve the egg. When Daemon and Otto meet at the entrance of Dragonstone, tension grows between the two men. During their face off, Mysaria learns about the content of Daemon's missive which turns out to be a lie constructed by Daemon to get the attention of his brother. Mysaria is angry at Daemon for putting her at risk with this deception. Rhaenyra shows up on Syrax and gets the egg back from Daemon.

On her return to King's Landing, Rhaenyra has a chat with her father in which she informs him she understands and accepts his duty to remarry. Viserys announces to the small council his intention to marry the fifteen-year-old Alicent. Lord Corlys is furious at the king's decision and storms out of the room. Rhaenyra, who was under the impression her father would marry Laena, is completely shocked at the news and also leaves. Lord Corlys later invites Prince Daemon to his castle on Driftmark and convinces him to go to war against the Crabfeeder.

Cast

Starring

• Paddy Considine as King Viserys I Targaryen
• Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen
• Rhys Ifans as Ser Otto Hightower
• Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon
• Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Targaryen
• Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria
• Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole
• Milly Alcock as Young Rhaenyra Targaryen
• Emily Carey as Young Alicent Hightower
• Graham McTavish as Ser Harrold Westerling

Guest

• Gavin Spokes as Lyonel Strong
• David Horovitch as Grand Maester Mellos
• Bill Paterson as Lyman Beesbury
• Anthony Flanagan as Steffon Darklyn
• Nova Foueillis-Mosé as young Laena Velaryon
• Andrew Bicknell as Dragonkeeper
• Daniel Scott-Smith as Craghas Drahar

Reception

The second episode of House of the Dragon obtained 10.2 million viewers in its premiere airing in the US on HBO and HBO Max, a 2% viewership increase compare to the first episode.

The episode leaked online a day ahead of its scheduled airing.

Behind the Scenes

Several scenes were filmed for this episode but did not make the final cut:

• Ser Criston Cole's investiture to the Kingsguard
• Rhaenyra confronting Alicent after Viserys announced his intention to marry her
• Rhaenyra helping Alicent dress for her wedding

External links

• "The Rogue Prince" at HBO
• "The Rogue Prince" at the Game of Thrones & House of the Dragon Wiki
• "The Rogue Prince" at the Internet Movie Database
• "The Rogue Prince" on Wikipedia