The sixth episode of House of the Dragon opens with the reappearance of Lord Jason Lannister, who briefly wooed Rhaenyra back in season 1. He’s also the twin of Tyland, the Master of Coin (both are played by Jefferson Hall). Lions in tow, Jason and his forces arrive at the Golden Tooth, the seat of House Lefford.

But Jason refuses to move his forces any further without the protection of Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and Vhagar. When the Prince Regent gets this message in King’s Landing, he bellows, “I am the Prince Regent, not a dog to be called to heel!” 

Alicent (Olivia Cooke) tries for diplomacy, but Aemond rolls right over her. He’s power-mad. In another knuckleheaded move, he wants to break the blockade of the gullet by allying with the Triarchy. His Small Council warns him that the Free Cities are mercenaries who cannot be trusted and it’s too dangerous to allow pirates into the waters of King’s Landing. Alicent reminds him that his father Viserys knew not to trust the Triarchy, but if Aemond ever heeded his mother’s words, he no longer puts any stock in her wisdom. And he shows it by permanently dismissing her from the council.  

Rolling from one bad idea to the next, Aemond decides it’s time for Ser Criston (Fabien Frankel) to head off to Harrenhal. Despite Criston’s admission that the Battle of Rook’s Rest much reduced his forces and they do not have the manpower to overtake a fearsome warrior such as Daemon (Matt Smith), Aemond believes the time is right to strike. He will join the battle… when he’s ready. “My uncle is a challenge I welcome,” he says haughtily. 

Aemond has lost sight of the danger lurking within the walls of King’s Landing. His people are starving, bread is scarce, and all that can be had is fish. With some help from Mysaria’s hired whisperers, Ulf the White (Tom Bennett) and other townsfolk hear about grand banquets at the Red Keep and see carts full of sheep roll past to feed their mighty dragons. Ulf mentions that his supposed half-brother Viserys loved a feast, but never while his people were starving. 

While warned during another Small Council meeting that “the enemy within is more insidious,” Aemond believes it’s just another reason to break the blockade. Aegon didn’t do much right, but he at least tried to become popular with his subjects. Aemond cannot even pretend to care. 

When Rhaenyra secretly delivers food to the smallfolk with ships bearing her banner, all hell breaks loose in the streets of King’s Landing. Alicent and Helaena are caught in the bloody riot. They flee the Great Sept to the shouts of “Long live Queen Rhaenyra!” and “She thinks of us even now!” The smallfolk set upon them with rotten fish and brutally attack the Kingsguard. Both queens escape by the skin of their teeth.  

Aemond not only makes enemies of his people, but those on his council. With the current Hand of the King on the way to Harrenhal, Larys (Matthew Needham) makes a play for the position only to be brutally shot down by Aemond. He takes another shot at Larys by demanding Otto Hightower’s return as Hand, since “My grandsire may be overcautious, but his devotion to his family has never been in doubt.”

The Prince Regent’s plans might be interrupted, though, since King Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) is proving stronger than he looks. Though he’s been permanently crippled, he’s regained consciousness. When visited by his brother, he claims he remembers nothing — but his fear makes it obvious that’s not true. A pissed-off Larys visits Aegon’s bedside to warn him that his life is in danger as long as Aemond rules. Just as Larys has been underestimated because of his club foot, Aegon will be, too — but that fact can be used to the King’s advantage. Aegon hears these words and pleads, “Help me.”

Viserys pays Daemon a ghostly visit

Daemon is back in the Throne Room for another vision. This time, it’s his brother Viserys (a most welcome Paddy Considine) who has returned to haunt him about the Heir for a Day incident. As his older brother reads him the riot act for referring to his dead son as such, a disbelieving Daemon mutters to himself, “You can’t possibly still be angry about this.”

But as Viserys’ rage turns to sobs, Daemon’s cold heart is pierced and tears come to his eyes. He tries to escape, but the doors are locked. He pleads until they finally open and he finds himself face-to-face with Sir Simon Strong (Sir Simon Russell Beale). Pulling his blade on the shocked Simon, he accuses him of being “a friend by day and a foe by night” until Simon shushes him like a squalling babe.

Daemon decides he’s finally had enough of this blasted place, but as he heads to Caraxes, he runs into Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) in the Weirwood, who upbraids him for his tendency to run at the first sign of trouble. He’s finally broken down enough to ask for her help in taming the Riverlords. She’s stunned that the mighty Daemon Targaryen has fallen so low, but counsels him that Riverlords do nothing without the guidance of House Tully. With the ailing Grover Tully at its head, the rest of the lords are floundering in the mud like a fish without water. Calling an owl to her, she advises him to do nothing for now, for “in three days time, the winds will shift.”

As much as Daemon would like to leave, he stays put only to be visited by Viserys once again as he weeps over the body of his dead wife and one true love, Aemma. Moved by the depth of his brother’s anguish, Daemon embraces him and says, “You needed me. I’m here now.”

That emotional breakthrough is greeted by a tactical one when Sir Simon informs him that despite the “ministrations” of Harrenhal’s healer Alys Rivers, Lord Grover Tully has passed. Rhaenyra loyalist Lord Oscar Tully is now lord paramount of the Riverlands. Daemon, relieved, breaks down in tears. Now that he has real forces in the Riverlands, does this mean he might patch things up with his wife? 

Rhaena discovers evidence of dragonfire in the Vale

As Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) hikes with a homesick Prince Joffrey (Oscar Eskinazi) in the Vale, they stumble over what looks like the scorched remains of a sheep and evidence of an enormous dragon (Sheepstealer sighting!!!) 

After Lady Jeyne tells her that Prince Reggio of Pentos has agreed to shelter Rhaenyra’s youngest sons, Rhaena asks why she was misled about the presence of a dragon in the Vale. Lady Jeyne admits there have been rumors of a wild one since the war started, but brushes Rhaena off with good wishes for her trip across the Narrow Sea. 

Rhaena, however, has other ideas. This is the biggest hint yet that her character might be taking over the plotline of the dragonseed Nettles in Fire & Blood. 

The Dragonseed Project gets off to a fiery start

While it looks like Rhaena will become a dragonrider at last, no one at Dragonstone is yet aware of this twist of fate. As her grandsire Corlys (Steve Toussaint) settles in as the Hand of the Queen, Rhaenyra brings Queensguard Ser Steffon Darklyn (Anthony Flanagan) before the council. It turns out that Ser Steffon’s great-grandmother’s great-grandmother was a Targaryen princess. Might be enough Targaryen blood to make him a dragonrider? She warns him, “To claim a dragon, you must also be prepared to die,” but Ser Steffon is honored to be chosen, for he considers the dragon close to gods. 

Inside the Dragonmont, Rhaenyra and Jace watch as Ser Steffon and the dragonkeepers try to lure out a dragon for him to mount. After much chanting, Seasmoke appears and seems to bend its neck for Ser Steffon. But just when Steffon thinks he’s done it, Seasmoke rears back and bathes him in dragonfire.

Rhaenyra is shaken. When her council member Lord Bartimos Celtigar (Nicholas Jones) reminds her that her folly has cost them one Queensguard and one dragon, since Seasmoke has now disappeared, she loses her temper and smacks him. “It is my fault, I think, that you have forgotten to fear me,” she snarls. 

As Seasmoke ranges over Driftmark’s nearby beaches, Corlys’s bastard, Addam of Hull (Clinton Liberty), starts running for his life when the dragon gives chase. He hides under some nearby trees, but the dragon finds him. Yet instead of roasting him like Ser Steffon, Seasmoke stares at Addam and Addam stares back, a bond seeming to form.   

On Dragonstone, news of Rhaenyra’s slap leaves the castle abuzz. Though Jace sympathizes with his mother’s plight as a woman ruler, he still thinks they need Daemon and his dragon. That’s the wrong thing to say. Rhaenyra considers her husband a lost cause. She’s tired of people thinking she needs Daemon to rule. 

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Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), however, does not think that. As her plan to sow discontent in King’s Landing continues to work, Mysaria confesses her past to Rhaenyra. Her father sexually abused her, impregnated her, and then left her for dead. But she survived by not trusting anyone — until now. “You, I think, are steadfast. Because of that, I will serve you,” she tells Rhaenyra, who repays this loyalty with a hug that soon turns into a makeout session — until they are interrupted with news that Seasmoke has been seen bearing a rider. 

With a fear that the dragon has been claimed by one of the Greens, Rhaenyra mounts Syrax and flies off into the sky as Jace shouts after her. 

Notes from the Archmaester

• From Alicent’s discussion with her brother, we get the most information we’ve had about her third son, Daeron. It sounds like he’s the only one of her children who turned out well. Considering she had no hand in raising him, Alicent takes it as a gut punch. 
• The Battle of Rook’s Rest has been added to the tapestry in the credits. 
• Ser Steffon’s ancestor, Aeriana Targaryen, seems to have been made up for the show, since she hasn’t appeared yet in the Targaryen family tree. 
• In Fire & Blood, both Alyn (Abubakar Salim) and Addam are silver-haired, not just Alyn.   
• Seasmoke’s original rider was Ser Laenor Velaryon. Since Laenor is still alive, it does sort of scramble established dragonlore that Seasmoke will accept a new rider. That’s only supposed to happen when a dragonrider dies.