“Fire in the Sky:” BreakingDown House of The Dragon Season 2 Episode 4

 Written By: Danny Albers 

The true intention of Aemond was revealed on Sunday when he burned his brother figuratively and literally. The insulting action that King Aegon took against his little brother Aemond in the brothel wasn’t going to go unanswered. Even though it’s revealed that Aemond and Ser Criston Cole were plotting war strategy behind Aegon’s back, it was only Aemond who wanted to see the foolish and immature king deceased. Before we get into too much, let’s recap what happened in this episode. 

Rhaenyra has angered her council for being absent. They get even more upset when they find out that she seeked counsel from Queen Alicent. When she finds out that Cole is situated out by Rook’s Rest, she agrees to take her dragon Syrax out to battle. Princess Rhaenys and her dragon Meleys go instead. Her dragon, nicknamed the “The Red Queen” has been in many battles. King Aegon becomes more bothered by the fact that nobody takes his command seriously. This only gets worse when he finds out Aemond and Ser Criston Cole are plotting their own war strategy without his approval. Aegon wants Harenhal because Daemon is there, but Aemond and Cole want to take Rook’s Rest. Aemond reveals the attack on Rook’s Rest is already taking place, and there is nothing that Aegon could do. Aemond switches to Valyrian so nobody can understand. He belittles his brother and says that he’s playing king. Aegon’s broken response to his brother means he’s not very fluent in Valyrian and probably missed a lot of what his brother said. When Aegon takes his frustrations to his mother, to which his mother harshley replies 

What could he possibly have to say that they should listen to, his mother replies derisively. “Do you think wearing the crown suddenly imbues you with wisdom?”

Cole and Aemond created a trap for The Blacks opposing dragon. Aemond and Vhagar are waiting in the woods for the attacking opposing dragon. Unknown to them, King Aegon takes Sunfyre out to aid The Green’s in war. Cole is obviously rattled by this surprise, and he panically tells the troops to focus their intention on protecting the king. 

After dropping fire on the Green’s troops, Rhaenys sees the King and Sunfyre and looks happy he’s made such a foolish mistake. She strikes a blow to the King and his dragon. They engage in a fair fight, when out of nowhere, Vhagar appears with Aemond who tells Vhagar to ignite both dragons. He only hits his brother and Sunfyre, killing them both. Understanding her fate, and knowing alone she can’t defeat Vhagar, she attacks with a crushing blow and looks to escape. But Vhagar recovers, and snaps the neck of Meleys. As Meleys dies, so does her rider who had an unbreakable bond with her dragon. The show ends as Aemond and Cole look on to a deceased Aegon, as Cole seems devastated about this loss. 

I had so many emotions while watching this episode. I was heartbroken to see Rhaenys die, but stoked to see Aegon perish as his antics and whining was getting annoying. But the Game of Thrones and House of The Dragon know how to make a hated character. Never have I wanted justice to strike someone more than Aemond, even though in a lot of ways he’s a victim in this story. Traumatized from losing his eye, and fueled by a mix of revenge and political desire, Aemond is a lot of people's anti-hero in this series. But his use of Vhagar is deplorable. And it doesn’t help that both the people who felt his wrath were likable characters who truly didn’t do anything wrong to him. His problems are with Rhaenyra, but everyone who’s in the way of his big ass dragon is going to feel the burn. The retaliation from The Black’s who’ve yet to really show any sign of venom in the war, besides Daemon’s moronic ploy to hire a rat catcher to kill Aemond, is inevitable. If this episode was a sign of anything, it was that this is not just a war between kin, but a war between dragons.