House of the Dragon Episode 4 – now on HBO Max and Disney+ Hotstar – is all about how quickly fortunes can change. In the middle of Episode 2, Prince Damon Targaryen (Matt Smith) has made an enemy of his brother, King Viserys (Paddy Considine), for stealing dragon eggs and styling himself Lord of Dragonstone. Damon further angers him in episode 3 by starting a battle at Stepstone and dragging the Crown into it. Nevertheless, at the beginning of Episode 4, thanks to a victory he achieved, Damon is back in the good qualities of the King. Publicly, at least. BUT—By the end of House of the Dragon Episode 4, Viserys despises and exiles his brother, thanks to his part in a royal scandal, that has led to Viserys’ heir and daughter, Princess Rainera Targaryen (Millie Alcock). has swallowed.
Speaking of a potential future queen, by the time House of the Dragon Episode 4 wraps, Rainera ends up in a huge swamp. Everything seemed fine between father and daughter when we last saw them together. In the intervening time — Aegon II has turned three, we’re told, which suggests that almost a year has passed — Viserys organizes a tour of potential suitors for Rainera. This is how House of the Dragon Episode 4 opens, in which men (and boys) of all ages make a verbal PowerPoint presentation about why they are best suited to be her husband. But Rainera swiped left on all of them, and shortened the tour to two months ago. Rainera’s best friend Queen Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey) tells her that Viserys is “disappointed” that she has returned without a chosen one.
“It is rare for a woman to choose between two suitors, let alone score two,” notes Alicent, the heir to the Iron Throne. “They only want my name and my Valyrian blood for their offspring,” objects Rainera, to which Alicent replies on House of the Dragon episode 4: “I think it’s rather romantic.” The Targaryen teenager answers almost immediately, without thinking: “How romantic is it to be imprisoned in a castle and cast out child after child?” Rainera unintentionally summarizes Alicent’s situation neatly, and when she senses the unexpected jab, she squeezes her hand and comforts her best friend.
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Emily Carey as Queen Alice Hightower, Millie Alcock as Renera Targaryen in House of the Dragon Episode 4
Photo Credit: Ollie Upton / HBO
But it’s also clear that while Alicent is happy with her position, Rainyra cares more about adventure. She always has been. So later that night in House of the Dragon episode 4, when Rainera finds a note in her chambers and a bag full of ordinary people’s clothes, she jumps at the chance. Leaning through a secret entrance to her bedroom, Rainera finds Damon waiting for her, who later introduces her to the nightlife of King’s Landing. First, they see a drama — Game of Thrones has done it very well, so I’m glad to see that the prequel spin-off continues in that vein — that Rainera doesn’t kindly take. Largely because they’re making fun of his female credentials (a girl heir?! Will she be weak?), while noting that Baby Aegon II has the winner’s name and gender. How does this matter for anything?
The next part of the Flea Bottom Tour is a lot more risky. For Damon though, it’s just another Tuesday. The Targaryen prince takes his niece to a pleasure stronghold in episode 4 of House of the Dragon, giving Rainera an array of sexual gratifications she has never seen before. Damon then takes off his headgear—the same thing that aids in his disguise, hiding his unmistakable white Targaryen locks—as they walk in. It’s like he wants everyone to know that she was here.
And then, everyone watching, Damon plays a trick on his niece. “Marriage is a duty,” he tells Rainera, as House of the Dragon Episode 4 Queen Alicente quietly takes her husband, who wakes her up in the middle of the night on a booty call, “but that doesn’t stop us. By doing what we want.” As he undresses her, Damon turns her around and pushes her against the wall, but when she turns to face him and repeatedly tries to kiss her, he runs away. Obviously, the evil prince has become very used to paying for sex, and doesn’t like it when someone else controls him.
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Matt Smith as Damon Targaryen in House of the Dragon Episode 4
Photo Credit: Ollie Upton / HBO
When Rainya returns to her chambers, she is still in a playful mood. She teases her bodyguard, Ser Kristen Cole (Fabian Frankel), by snatching her helmet, before kissing her as he tries to get it back. The Kingsguard takes an oath of chastity, so Kristen is naturally conflicted. Before giving in to Rainyara’s very explicit wishes, he pauses to reflect on what he’s doing. One of the most tender moments in Game of Thrones’ history as a franchise. This is however a very rare bar to consider most sexual activity that is believed to be either violent, unnecessary, or both. It’s only been minutes in House of the Dragon Episode 4 that the Queen is essentially forced to have sex.
In the morning though, Rainyara doesn’t have time to sink into the afterglow. Detectives from the Hand of the King, Ser Otto Hightower (Rice Ifans), wake him up during the night and tell him what the princess was doing. And Otto’s first action in the morning is to break into the king’s chambers and spew what he has been told. Engaging in “indecent behavior of a young woman”, Otto tries to keep it respectful on House of the Dragon Episode 4, while still clearly punching Rainera. But Viserys doesn’t react well – he thinks it’s a conspiracy on Otto’s part. Nevertheless, Otto gets what he wants, because curiosity begins the moment he leaves.
A hungry Damon is dragged into the Great Hall—his star has quickly fallen, given where he was at the beginning of House of the Dragon Episode 4—where Viserys launches him. The king is even more enraged at how easily the prince accepts his actions, and then galls to propose that he take Renera as his wife if no other lord will. Viserys is not interested in his wishes. After all, it’s not the princess he wants, but the Iron Throne. Plus, Damon already has a wife he’s been ignoring, Viserys explains, and asks her to go to Vale with a little shred of respect and admiration. What a rollercoaster for Damon – he’s gone from outcast to accepted to being thrown out.
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Paddy Considine as King Viserys Targaryen in House of the Dragon Episode 4, Millie Alcock as Rainera Targaryen
Photo Credit: Ollie Upton / HBO
First, Alicent confronts Renera who denies that Damon even touched her. Although she is unhappy that her best friend is accusing her of things she “heard”, the Targaryen heir admits that she was joking with Damon about Flea Bottom. In House of the Dragon episode 4, Alicent eventually tells Rainera, “It was foolish to put yourself in a position where even your virtue might come into question.” This would be upsetting to anyone, but it is even more so when it is spoken by a woman and one of her closest companions. Alicent is clearly not one to challenge internal malpractices. No one would bat an eye if Damon were seen in the Hideout Hide – he’s done it a thousand times, in fact – but we can’t keep Renera a secret about such corners.
Rainera gives the same double standard to her father. After being summoned to her cells in House of the Dragon Episode 4, she says, “If I were a man, I could father a dozen bastards and no one in your court would blink an eye.” Viserys notes that he is right, but “you were born a woman.” King is effectively saying that the universe encountered his evil hand – and now he must live with it. Rainera’s late night escape has also blown away the goodwill he has earned. Viserys has decided that she will marry Laenor Velaryon – the son of Princess Rainis “The Queen Who Never Was” and Lord Corliss “Sea Snake” Velaryon, as Viserys’ advisor told her on episode 3 – which she notes. It has become his to solve his “political headache”.
In return, Rainera gives an ultimatum to her father. Otto must go, she says, because he is too devoted to his own personal interests: to put his grandson Aegon II on the throne. And just like that, a main cast House of the Dragon member is out, it seems, as if a blind Otto has been removed from his position as the King of the Hand.
And though I’m sure there will be more to this royal scandal, House of the Dragon Episode 4 puts a note on it at the end, as “special tea” is served to Rainera. The king brewed it, to make sure there were no “unexpected consequences”, Meister tells Renera. He is trying to avoid saying that tea acts as a morning pill. This is also useful for the princess – she may not have had sex with Damon, but she took her bodyguard to bed.
House of the Dragon Episode 4 is now streaming in India on Disney+ Hotstar and HBO Max wherever available. New episodes release every Monday at 6:30 AM IST / Sundays at 9 PM ET.
