House of the Dragon: Episode Seven
Are you caught up?
There is so much to talk about in this episode. For an episode that begins quietly with very little explicit conflict, lots of understated tension, it sure does become one of the most intense episodes of the whole show.
One of the things I love about House of the Dragon is that, for the most part, the whole show is just a Bottle Episode. Yes, there are times the story fans out to distant places and so on, but almost all of the show involves the entire primary cast stuck in the same place together.
It's so sad to see Alicent become her father. I initially thought it was a mistake to spend so much time with them young, but seeing Alicent grow from a sweet, caring girl to a cold, distant mother and wife has been heartbreaking. She goes through the motions--somewhat--but her heart is never in it. Rhaenyra got to choose her children; Alicent had them foisted on her and was clearly struggling with them (compare Rhaenyra holding a quiet baby Joffrey to Alicent unhappily trying to soothe a crying Aegon).
There are many layers to the civil war, but--at least so far as the books are concerned--the actual point-of-no-return has yet to be reached, and is probably the season finale, I'd think. I do like how many points there are where things could've been settled, where the whole thing could have been averted if only someone would grab the lifeline.