Queen's Landing (House of the Dragon)

Writing

"Queen's Landing" was written by executive producer Sara Hess, and directed by Clare Kilner.^[1] The episode marks Hess' fifth writing credit and Kilner's sixth directing credit.^[2][3] Like it's predecessor, the majority episode was written in 2023 prior to the filming of season two, as showrunner Ryan Condal originally intended for that season to run for ten episodes. Following interruptions to production due to the Writers Guild of America strike and budget cuts across Warner Bros. Pictures, the episode had to be moved to the third season.^[4]

Discussing Corlys' headspace, Steve Toussaint explained, "I think he's very defeated. Possibly, for the first time, he's realizing the overall futility of war generally, and the cost of war to everybody — so-called winners and losers. And, of course, the cost to him of this particular struggle that he has become involved in through his kinship with the Targaryen family after the promise he made to his late wife that he would support Rhaenyra." He also expressed that the scene on the beach with Addam, Alyn, and Baela depicts Corlys' beginning to understand that "your wealth is in your family and the people whose lives you affect", and that his relationship to Rhaenyra will become more "complicated" despite him believing in her claim to the throne.^[5]

Regarding the scene where Rhaenyra finally sits on the Iron Throne, Emma D'Arcy explained, "I certainly thought there was a lot of scope to kind of rob that moment of its triumph, which, for my money, feels honest in a family where the political ambition and the personal, interpersonal strife are sort of part of the same thing. I felt there was an opportunity in that scene to look at how power and the pursuit of power, the toll that that takes on identity, on the body, on one’s sense of self, so that by the time she does finally claim that seat, so long dreamt of, she's kind of rudderless in some way, and actually may be finally claiming the sort of thing that could actually cause an identity crisis."^[6]

Olivia Cooke, who plays Alicent, stated that she feels her character wasn't "really thinking that politically" when making her bargain with Rhaenyra and was more focused on protecting herself and Heleaena, and that seeing Otto dead was not something she had anticipated and that, to Alicent, it feels like a "very public display of this assertion of power" from Rhaenyra. D'Arcy agreed, explaining that, "there's an important point that the show makes about rulers of any kind being insulated from their acts of violence. And in this moment, Rhaenyra's not insulated. In fact, she's subject to the kind of viscerality and horror of violence", and that she thinks that "a threshold gets crossed" when she beheads Otto.^[7]

Filming

Harry Collett, who played Jacaerys, lauded his co-star Emma D'Arcy's performance as Rhaenyra, and expressed how challenging it was to play dead while on the receiving end of their performance, stating, "the performance was like unbelievable and was so real. And I mean, watched the episode now, like on screen, which I properly got to see it there. But even just hearing their voice, just screaming and obviously [the weight] down on my body and it was just such a real reaction. And they had to do that for like 10 hours that whole day. And each time was as strong as the other take." Speaking on Rahenyra's grief, D'Arcy explained, "I think the truth is, for Rhaenyra, it’s an insurmountable loss, and it’s a reality that is too terrible to reckon with" and that her first instinct is "utter denial". They described the scene where Rhaenyra tries to speak to Jace's corpse as the only scene they were dreading filming in the whole season due to the emotional toll, expressing that, "And whenever you shoot something like that, it does mean letting go of a really treasured cast member and friend — and added to which, imagining those things is painful. And you don’t really have an option but to commit to that, at least for the period that you’re shooting it" and praised Collett as "totally beautiful that day" for helping them get through the filming.^[8]

Director Clare Kilner explained that she wanted to keep the camera focused on Rhaenyra as much as possible during the scenes in the throne room of King's Landing, stating that, "I wanted to try and express to the audience what it feels like to be handed a sword and to chop off someone’s head like that. Sometimes you read stuff like this in a script, and it’s so extreme and out of all our experiences that you don’t think that deeply about what it might actually be like [to experience it], so I wanted to extend that moment and be in Rhaenyra’s point of view." Kilner felt that Rhaenyra was "forced to go out of her comfort zone" and that she wanted the audience to think about how someone confronts their emotions as a public figure. Kilner described the episode's closing scenes where Rhaenyra takes the throne as particularly challenging because of the logistical demands explaining that, "that was an incredibly complex scene because there were so many different angles to get to. As soon as I read it in the script, I had this image that I wanted to illustrate the violence by showing how Rhaenyra steps on Otto’s blood to go to the throne, and the reflection of her going toward it in the blood. There was so much to think about, even things I thought would be relatively easy to pull off, like the bloody footsteps showing her going up to the Iron Throne. We had to soak sponges on the bottom of Emma’s shoes, then they had to step through the blood that we had to then enhance with CGI, and all while we had to work out the angle of the blood and where the reflections fall." She expressed that additional challenges included Rhys Ifans only being available for two days of filming and her sense of having a "huge responsibility to the fans to deliver something momentous and cinematic". Kilner felt that the episode's ending focusing on Rhaenyra's vulnerability brought it full circle, as the opening scenes depicted her vulnerability following her discovery of Jace's death.^[9]

Casting

The episode stars Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen, Emma D'Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Steve Toussaint as Corlys Velaryon, Fabien Frankel as Criston Cole, Matthew Needham as Larys Strong, Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria, Tom Glynn-Carney as Aegon II Targaryen, Ewan Mitchell as Aemond Targaryen, Harry Collett as Jacaerys Velaryon, Bethany Antonia as Baela Targaryen, Phia Saban as Helaena Targaryen, Phoebe Campbell as Rhaena Targaryen, Kurt Egyiawan as Orwyle, Freddie Fox as Gwayne Hightower, Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers, Abubakar Salim as Alyn of Hull, Clinton Liberty as Addam of Hull, Kieran Bew as Hugh Hammer, Tom Bennett as Ulf White, Ellora Torchia as Kat, Tommy Flanagan as Roderick Dustin, and Simon Russell Beale as Simon Strong.

Despite his character's death in the previous episode, Collett remains listed in the opening credits of this episode, as his character Jacaerys appears as a corpse, marking this episode as his final appearance. Following the death of Simon Strong, Beale also makes his final appearance in this episode. Rhys Ifans appears as Otto Hightower but is uncredited, and the episode marks his final appearance following Otto's execution. Recurring cast member Paul Kennedy also makes his final appearance following Jasper Wylde's death. Tommy Flanagan joins the main cast in this episode, after co-starring in the previous episode, and co-star Tom Cullen as Luthor Largent makes his first appearance.

Critical response

Helen O'Hara of IGN gave the episode a score of 9 out of 10 and wrote, "it’s not as spectacular or as action-packed as the season opener, but moments of real drama and strategic progress still make this feel like essential viewing." She also praised the depiction of the House Velaryon and the forward momentum of the plot.^[11]

Josh Rosenberg of Esquire was similarly enthusiastic, expressing that the episode "feels like the point where this season really begins." He praised the depiction of Alys Rivers in the episode writing, "I commend showrunner Ryan Condal for writing Rivers as a better character than George R. R. Martin ever did". To summarise, he wrote, "last week, I said that the season 3 premiere felt more like the season 2 finale. That still stands, because this episode is so clearly where our characters’ emotional journeys begin for this penultimate season. Rhaenyra, finally on the throne, will experience her first taste of real power. Her toxic friendship with Alicent will be tested once again thanks to even more dead family members, and this reversal of power will lead to even more characters questioning their wants and loyalties."^[12]

Daniel Roman of Winter is Coming praised the scenes on Dragonstone and handling of the aftermath of Jace's death, calling them "beautifully tragic" and highlighting the "haunting cinematography and score". He lauded Emma D'Arcy's performance, writing, "D'Arcy delivers an astounding performance in this scene, grieving over Jace's body and aptly portraying the push-and-pull between Rhaenyra's agony at losing her son and fury at him for defying her — and inadvertently wounding her in a way from which she'll never fully recover." He also praised the performances of Phoebe Campbell and Amanda Collin as Rhaena and Jeyne Arryn during the scenes at the Vale, noting, "it's the only brief scene we get with these characters in episode 2, but it's a good one." He was critical of Alys Rivers' role in the episode, feeling that her thinking that Daemon could grant her Harrenhal was "delusional in a way that lessens her", but enjoyed the brief scenes with Larys and Aegon, describing Tom Glynn-Carney as "giving a career-best performance as Aegon, now in his tortured, exiled king phase where very movement is agony and every interaction humbling" and a hope that the show will focus more on them in future episodes, and praised the performances of Steve Toussaint and Abubakar Salim during the scene where Corlys legitimizes Alyn, calling it a "touching payoff". Roman lauded the Harrenhal scenes, noting "Mitchell perfectly captured both Aemond's physicality and his quiet villainy", and enjoyed the introduction of Ser Largent, praising Tom Cullen's "real charisma", but was highly critical of the attempted rape of Alicent, writing, "I cannot emphasize it enough: I loathe this choice of House of the Dragon, which cannot seem to figure out what to do with Alicent unless it's heaping yet more humiliations on her for totally arbitrary reasons". He enjoyed the "awe-inspiring" scenes of Rhaenyra and Daemon taking King's Landing, the "tense" throne room scenes, and the twist that Otto was being kept in the Red Keep all along, but questioned the choice to have Rhaenyra behead him and not one of her subjects.^[13]

In a more mixed review, Alec Bojalad was critical of some of the script's dialogue. He did praise D'Arcy's performance however, writing, "the religious awe that D’Arcy imbues upon Rhaenyra’s first ascendance onto the throne is affecting enough to retroactively make the whole journey worth it" and later states, "there are several examples of sheer acting talent making up for questionable script decisions through this episode. One comes from an earlier D’Arcy scene in which a heartbroken Rhaenyra chastises Jace’s body as though he were still alive. The queen balling her fists and waving them over her dead son as if he wants to strike him but can’t bring herself to make the connection, is truly brilliant." He lauded Aemond's attack on Harrenhal, expressing that "just about every element works in perfect concert".^[14]