House of the Dragon season 2 episode 5 recap: Behold the traitor dragon

This House of the Dragon season 2 episode 5 recap contains spoilers. After the carnage at Rook’s Rest and the fall of King Aegon, Prince Aemond makes a move for power in King's Landing. His mother understands the carnage he will unleash, but can do little to stop him, while in Harrenhal, Prince Daemon begins to imagine himself as the driving force behind the Black's bid for the Iron Throne...

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US viewers wanting to keep up with the epic fantasy series need to be signed up for either HBO or its streaming service Max . HBO can be added to traditional TV packages or live TV streaming services as a premium add-on channel, including YouTube TV. Or you can sign up for Max as a standalone streaming service (though also available as an add-on channel on some platforms).

In the UK, with the show airing on Sky Atlantic, a Sky TV subscription is necessary to watch House of the Dragon. Episodes are also going to be available to stream on-demand on Sky Go and NOW TV.

'Behold the traitor dragon Meleys...'

Lord Corlys Velaryon is a broken man after news of his wife’s courageous demise at The Battle of Rook’s Rest reaches Driftmark, although in King’s Landing his blockade is beginning to bear fruit.

King Aegon’s people are hungry, yet the Greens hope the sight of Meleys’ head will keep their spirits up. With smoke still wafting from the cart that bears it, the decapitated Black dragon is an awful and awesome sight, yet many people take it as a bad omen. “Don’t they realise we won the battle?” Ser Cristan Cole asks Ser Gwayne Hightower as they parade through the crowd, yet with nearly a thousand men lost, his companion wonders if it was a victory at all.

The people are told the dragon was slain by Aegon, but they have no idea that in a humble cart draped in rags behind the beast, lies their King’s broken body. He’s still alive, yet as the healers gather around him to remove his armour, the true extent of his injuries become clear. As his burns are treated and bones reset, Prince Aemond enters the room gazing at the brother he cast down in his pursuit of the throne.

Alicent intuitively understands what happened in the skies above Rook’s Rest, although when she seeks out Ser Cristan for confirmation he's unwilling to speak out. Much has happened since we saw Prince Aemond and Ser Cristan plotting by candlelight in the first episode of the series , yet despite being the Hand of the King, Cole knows where power lies and that only the strong can command loyalty in the game of thrones. Whether he agrees with Aemond’s approach is now irrelevant, metaphorically he’s riding a dragon and can not get off.

'There is more than one way to fight a war...'

At Dragonstone, the Blacks lament the loss of Princess Rhaenys and none more than Queen Rhaenyra, who’s lost a powerful ally on the battlefield and around the council table, where she's now a lone woman in a room full of men.

However, Lady Mysaria seems more than ready to step into the breach and there are few advisors in Westeros who understand the nature of crowds more than "The White Worm'. While Rhaenyra laments her misfortune at being born a woman, Mysaria urges her to use the weapons at her disposal before suggesting Ser Cristan made an error in dragging Meleys through King’s Landing. “Do not underestimate your subjects,” she says. “They have been forgotten for too long and to the discontented, rumours are feed.”

Trusting her counsel, Rhaenyra dispatches Elinda Massey to King’s Landing on a secret mission, yet she also sends Lady Baela to see her father, Lord Corlys, asking him to be her new Hand. “I do not wish to stand alone..” she explains.

Meanwhile, Prince Jacaerys is suspicious of Prince Daemon’s loyalties, yet spies a way to make the Blacks less reliant upon his negotiations at Harrenhal. Flying to visit the Frays, who control the crossing at the Twins, he hopes to secure the crossing of Cregan Stark’s army from the North, who are loyal to his mother.

'You should address me as My King...'

At Harrenhal, Daemon finds the Brackens unwilling to bend the knee, even under the immediate threat of dragonfire. When they call his bluff, Daemon orders Lord Blackwood to secure their loyalty by other means. Yet it hasn’t escaped our attention that the King Consort no longer asks loyalty on behalf of Rhaenyra, but himself.

That evening the vision of a woman appears in Daemon’s bed, extolling his suitability for the crown over his brother, Viserys. Yet this lover turns out to be his mother, making him a… well, you get the idea. Either way, the notion of sitting upon the Iron Throne - an idea that Daemon has never banished - is now coalescing through a prism of guilt towards Rhaenyra and vindication at narrowly missing the boat of succession on so many occasions.

At dinner that evening, Ser Simon Strong asks for money to pay for the refurbishment and arming of Harrenhal, yet he refuses to ask Rhaenyra for the cash and says he will guarantee the payment himself. “Harrenhal is my command,” he explains, pushing his own claim with greater vigour every day.

Alys Rivers understands his intentions and reads his thoughts with unerring accuracy, yet she may well be a force of levity for him, reciting the crimes against the innocent that have transpired in his new lands. “I’m sure your tactics are approved by the Queen” she says pointedly, finally drawing out the truth of his intentions to take the throne for himself. “It’s a pity you never knew your mother,” she calls as he departs, knowing exactly where his weak spot is. However, with the Blackwoods finally forcing the Brackens to submit to him, Daemon cares little.

'It must be Aemond...'

We remember The Eyrie well from the first season of Game of Thrones , yet it’s many years until Tyrion will be locked in that spectacular skycell. In the present, Lady Rhaena entreats with Jeyne Arryn, who demanded a dragon from Queen Rhaenyra in return for her loyalty. She has been sent two, although both are still “wet from the egg” and would be less than a mouthful for Vhagar.

Fans of the original series will also be familiar with the Freys — the villainous Walder Frey in particular — and as this story continues to spread from King’s Landing, we see another familiar place. The Freys of House of the Dragon are only slightly more charismatic than their sneering ancestor and when Jacaerys arrives to secure passage for Cregan Stark's army, they have demands of their own. However, with negotiations symbolically taking place over an overturned door, the young Velaryon is left in no doubt as to the importance of the Twins. The Freys want Harrenhal, yet for that Rhaenyra will want “bent knees”, says Jacaerys.

In King’s Landing, the prognosis is not good for King Aegon, meaning a regent is needed to rule in his stead. Desperate to avoid the all-out carnage Aemond will unleash, Alicent puts herself forward for the role, but it’s clear she’s fighting an uphill battle and there’s only one credible candidate in the eyes of the Council.

Seeing Ser Cristan throw his weight behind Aemond wounds her deepest of all, but in truth he had no option but to endorse the man who actually wields power, or find himself in the unhinged prince’s firing line. However, with Alicent increasingly isolated, she remains an even more unpredictable force within the capital.

“You know what he is and what he has become,” Alicent tells Ser Cristan later on, yet after the horrors of Rook’s Rest he says a dragonrider is needed to lead the battle against Rhaenyra. It’s a trope seen on both sides of the divide and in this case, an example of dog-whistle sexism. After all, Aegon was a dragonrider and one of the most incapable generals we’ve ever seen.

'Was it worth the price?'

News that Queen Rhaenyra wishes Lord Corlys to be her Hand arrives at Driftmark, yet he's still struggling to overcome the loss of his wife. In a fine scene, Lady Baela reminds him that Rhaenys was not simply his vassal, but a Targaryen princess who chose the manner of her death and met it with honour. Her words certainly hit their mark, because he asks her to become his heir. “I am blood and fire,” she responds. “Driftmark must pass to salt and sea.”

Meanwhile, Rhaenyra sends Ser Alfred Broome to Harrenhal to find out whether Daemon means to raise a host for her or for himself. Yet at Harrenhal, Daemon is learning the problems of ruling, when the Riverlords arrive in the middle of the night with complaints about the war crimes Lord Blackwood carried out upon his orders. As with the murder of Jaehaerys, it’s not a good look for the impulsive Targaryen and rumours about him are now rife in the Riverlands. “Dragon or no, we shall not raise our banners for a tyrant,” says one bold woman.

At King’s Landing, Helaena confronts Aemond over what he did to her brother and husband, Aegon, as the list of people who have read between the lines to deduce the truth about Rook’s Rest continues to grow.

Yet while Aemond believes he has struck a fatal blow to the Blacks by killing their largest dragon, it’s revealed they have two more beasts who can “stand against Vhagar” lying unclaimed deep within their dragon pit. If only they can find someone with a trace of Targaryen blood to ride them. Step forward Ulf the White, the man we saw boasting in the taverns of King’s Landing earlier in the series!

House of the Dragon season 2 continues on HBO on Sunday, July 21 in the US and on Sky Atlantic and NOW on Monday, July 22 in the UK. Each new episode will air at the same time weekly. You may already have HBO as part of your cable plan but if not, several live TV streaming services offer it as add-on packages. Sling TV , DirecTV and YouTube TV offer it, if you pay a little more each month.

If you don't need to watch House of the Dragon season 2 live, then you can catch it on demand using the streaming service Max , which costs $9.99 per month for its basic tier or $16.99 per month for its ad-free one.

Each episode of the new season of House of the Dragon will hit Max after it airs on HBO. The first season of the show is also all on Max for you to watch.