‘House of the Dragon’ Episode 7 Review: Targaryen Blood Prevails (and Spills) in One of the Show’s Most Thrilling Sequences

Editor’s Note: The following post contains spoilers for “House of the Dragon” Season 2, up to and including Episode 7.

O-T Fagbenle Explains How He Followed His 'Yuck' to Craft 'Presumed Innocent' Character

Any “Game of Thrones” fan knows the significance of a penultimate episode. From “Baelor” to “The Rains of Castamere” to “Hardhome” and more, the world of Westeros holds nothing back ahead of its finale, and “House of the Dragon” Season 2 joins that noble tradition.

Episode 7, written by David Hancock and directed by Loni Peristere, spends half of its runtime on exposition — and the other half auditioning dragon riders for Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) to win back the high ground in her family’s civil war. The hour contains some stunning score work from Ramin Djawadi and shots by cinematographer Vanja Cernjul, and an A story anchored by D’Arcy’s performance and Rhaenyra’s drive.

This episode felt very long, and it’s not because of the extended sowing sequence toward the end, but because of everything that comes before it. There has been too much talking and strategy this season for my liking; it’s not necessary to lay out Rhaenyra’s plan beat-by-beat, scene-to-scene, and additionally catch up with both Ulf (Tom Bennett) and Hugh (Kieran Bew) as they justify their reasons to go to Dragonstone and attempt what they’re about to do. It makes sense now that we skipped the actual moment of Addam (Clinton Liberty) claiming Seasmoke in Episode 6 (we basically got there) in favor of this episode’s Sowing, but this once again presumes a miscalculated investment from the average viewer in two brand-new characters otherwise disconnected from the main story. Now they’ve joined the war in a much bigger capacity and justified their screen time, but it was disproportionately high up until now.

The other thing hampering the pacing particularly in this episode is that it doesn’t switch between characters and locations quite enough. There are three back-to-back scenes with Daemon (Matt Smith) at Harrenhal, going from his conversation with Oscar Tully (Archie Barnes) to the public execution of Willem Blackwood, to another Viserys hallucination (Paddy Considine, welcome back king) for ten minutes straight. There are a smattering of scenes interspersed in King’s Landing which are either too brief or too expository (sometimes both). There’s no right or wrong way to structure a television show, but toggling between plot lines and scene styles keeps the viewer engaged in a way that the first half of this episode did not.

But things shift halfway through, to the tune of a striking new piece by Djawadi and a montage of the Targaryen bastards in King’s Landing receiving their summons to Dragonstone. Drinking buddies convince a reluctant Ulf to take his chances in the hope of gaining a new life. Hugh heeds the call without prompting, instead appealing to wife Kat (Ellora Torchia) and revealing that their daughter died of her illness in previous episodes. Both men are driven by desperation but in contrasting ways, which will likely impact their relationship to dragon riding and to the blacks as they’re thrown together on this wild new ride. Having Alyn (Abubakar Salim) be instrumental in gathering the possible riders is also a nice touch, the beginnings of Corlys (Steve Toussaint) lifting up and celebrating his heir as his late wife Rhaenys (Eve Best) recommended.

Matt Reeves Describes 'The Penguin' as 'Mythic Shakespearean' Tale

The silver-haired hopefuls arrive on Dragonstone, where the dragon keepers proclaim their opposition to the entire process (a brief but massive performance by Kieron Jecchinis as the lead dragon keeper). It’s a perfect choice of scene to do in High Valyrian as a testament to how the dragon keepers revere their ancestry and office, but it also makes it even more intimidating to the potential riders. This is what they are entering into; the ceremony, the esteem, the history — and even if they survive, they might not be cut out for it.

What follows must be one of the most expensive sequences in the history of television, at least in terms of visual effects — and boy does it pay off. There is no war, no combat, barely any blood (shoutout to the homie who got impaled on the tree, it really should not have been there), and it is singularly engaging from start to finish. There are so many variations of death by dragon; set on fire, sure, but also consumed alive while burning, stomped on and crushed to a pulp, impaled on its spikes, falling fatally after its limbs knock you over. Hugh’s character work pays off at least as far as explaining his fearlessness to the audience when he faces down Vermithor as a man who has already lost everything and doesn’t fear death.

And I’ll hand it to Episode 7 — this hour could have ended on Rhaenyra smiling at Hugh and Vermithor in the pit. It somewhat forgives the lethargic earlier pacing to add the two final scenes; Ulf “claiming” Silverwing (falling on his ass in what is probably her pee but she’s just happy to see him) and the delicious coda of Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) realizing what he’s up against. After riding his horse out to Vhagar (it’s giving shuttle to the car park?), he follows Ulf and Silverwing back to Dragonstone and he sees that the stakes have changed overnight: after losing her biggest dragon in Episode 4, she’s nearly tripled her might in the war. In a war now explicitly in the hands (wings?) of dragons, there’s only one advantage — and it’s with team black.

Whispers on the Street

• Daemon still tripping in the haunted mansion and now Alicent going camping to literally touch grass…therapy would go so far in this world…
• Oscar Tully you absolute KING. Putting Daemon in his place, flexing his power in the war, and do I detect a hint of serving Jacaerys-level face? Nothing but respect for my river lord!!
• Barely any Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) this episode, but crucially she’s out in the most charred parts of the Vale to hunt down the dragon responsible. Another claimant perhaps…
• Jace (Harry Collett) calling the “base-born” dragon riders “mongrels” when the only one so far is Addam… careful …
• Not Rhaenyra abandoning the bastards to go watch from the MEZZANINE (also did D’Arcy eye-fuck Vermithor? And it was hot??)
• A whole episode without Criston Cole?? (Fabein Frankel, as always it is not his fault.) Tempted to give it an A just for that…

Grade: B

“House of the Dragon” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.