House of the Dragon takes sibling rivalry to a new, fucked-up level

There are few things more terrible than a boy king. At their worst, they are little tyrants, all impulses and lusts, like Joffrey in Game of ThronesAt best they are merely figureheads, puppets thrown around by people more cunning than he, who know how to use power effectively and who care little for the public interest. House of the DragonKing Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) falls somewhere in between the two: self-aware enough to want to be seen as a good and noble king, but also, importantly, extreme teenager. He wants to feel like he has power, but all he feels is other people using it.

This hasn’t stopped Aegon from reveling in the trappings of the crown. He loves to gather his mates around the Iron Throne to talk shit, to walk into a bar and pay everyone’s tab, and to give cushy Kingsguard jobs to mates who’d probably rather run than catch a bum for him. In last week’s episode, “The Burning Mill,” we see the kind of king Aegon would rather be, if he didn’t have any responsibilities, partying in a brothel and making a cruel spectacle of his brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell).

However, in “A Dance of Dragons,” Aegon realizes he is being distracted. Completed. Military moves are made without his input, and Aemond knows the score better than he does. During a small council meeting, Aemond turns the tables and makes Aegon feel small, displaying his cunning and control of High Valyrian in a scene that leaves his royal brother stammering helplessly while the other council members look away in discomfort.

So far in House of the Dragon‘s second season, the inevitable war is treated with the gravity of a looming tragedy, the wheels of fate turning to crush each character’s desires and ambitions beneath its unbiased machinery. But this is a show about people in current — vast, unmitigated power, the kind that grinds innocent lives to the ground to preserve itself and advance its position. And this is what power looks like at its worst: bickering siblings and scheming counselors, sentencing hundreds of people to death so they can win their blood feud. (Though they take up considerably less screen time, Rhaenyra’s contingent is just as prone to bickering and petty power grabs, while her small council is barely effective and Daemon takes over the miserable command of the sodden Harrenhold.)

“A Dance of Dragons” climaxes in the battle at Rook’s Rest, as Ser Criston Cole’s forces march on the stronghold and Rhaenys and her dragon help defend it. Rhaenys’ fight is one of the few moments of grace and dignity found in this wretched undertaking, and sadly it is her last. Between the surprise arrival of Aegon and his dragon and the ambush carefully planned by Aemond on Vhagar, Rhaenys is overwhelmed, and one of House of the DragonThe woman’s most principled character meets her end.

But so it seems with Aegon’s short reign. The struggle ends with the king’s fate uncertain, as Aemond stopped Vhagar from having his inexperienced brother torn to pieces by Rhaenys before committing the murder. For the Greens, this Pyrrhic victory is symbolic of their internal struggle: Aegon gained the crown with the help of a conspiracy of visionary men, and now that conspiracy has been snuffed out. There is no tomorrow in Aegon’s court, only today, with power given to men like Criston Cole who understand only conflict. Now a boy-king rises to replace another—but this one is all desire, and clever enough to satisfy it. Westeros will suffer for it.