Death to the Rat Catchers: Breaking Down House of Dragon S2 E2

                                                  

After the shocking and horrible beheading of Prince Jaehaerys, we see a much less composed King’s Landing. We are starting to see that although everyone is battling it out for the Iron Throne in House of The Dragon, Noone is level headed or quite fit to sit in it. Everyone in this show is either stricken with love and sexual inhibitions, or stupid and reckless to not escalate tough political situations that can lead to war. Although quite young, Jacaerys Velaryon seems to be the most level headed of everyone involved. Having an allegiance with the Starks and the North, and earning respect from Cregan Stark for personally and respectfully asking for his aid in battle, could we see the young Jacaerys step up when his uncle is inevitably killed? 

Episode 2 Recap 

The episode begins with absolute chaos. Caused by the murder of Prince Jaehaerys, panic, grief, and outrage has spread from the privacy of the Red Keep onto the streets of King's Landing. King Aegon immediately blames Rhaenyra for this, and demands revenge on Dragonstone immediately. However, Otto Hightower sees this as an advantage. He thinks that by having a public funeral for the infant Prince, that they can paint their opponent as “Rhaenyra the Cruel” and take away any remaining support she might have inside the city walls. But Aegon doesn’t want to play the patient game, and he grows annoyed and angry with his grandfather's council. So Aegon takes things into his own hand. Feeling struck with guilt, Alicent feels like she’s caused this to happen, betraying Rhaenyra, and taking Sir Critson away from his guard allowing for assassins to sneak into the Red Keep. The relationship between Criston and Alicent begins to have some tension as neither trusts one another not to reveal their affair in hopes of redemption. They capture “Blood” at the gates, who tells them him and a rat catcher were doing the bidding of Daemon before being bludgeoned to death by the King. Aegon II has all the Ratcatchers in the city publicly hanged, which causes people to mourn their innocent loved ones. Outraged, Otto confronts Aegon II who denounces his grandfather as the Hand to the King, and removes his badge. He reveals that Sir Criston has convinced Arryk Cargyll to pretend to be his identical twin brother Erryk and take over guard of Rhaenyra and murder her. Otto tells Aegon II he’s made a huge mistake. Arryk gets into Dragonstone, and while attempting to kill Rhaenyra is stopped by his brother Erryk. A bloody and brutal battle begins with Rhaenyra stuck in the corner to watch what unfolds. Both brothers end up dying in battle, shocking Rhaenyra and the rest of Dragonstone. It’s revealed that Arryk was discovered by Myisara after being granted her freedom, and she ran back to the castle to notify the guards of the assassination attempt. Meanwhile, Aegon II makes Sir Criston his new Hand to the King. 

The BreakDown

Well shit got personal. After Daemon and Rhaenyra had an argument about Daemon’s mistake of killing the young Prince, Rhaenyra now is a victim of an assassination. I think this could be the tip of the iceberg, as any respect Alicent and Rhaenyra have for each other is now likely gone. Rhaenyra is sure to blame Alicent or Aegon II, making the next attempt at revenge likely to be less stealthy and secretive. Instead, it’s likely that Daemon realizes how close he was to losing his niece-lover-queen, and goes all “medieval bounty hunter” on someone. The man is unhinged, and nobody is safe when he’s in a foul mood. Look for another message to be sent, but this time, it will be out in the open with the sender letting it be known they’re the one who did it.