House of the Dragon 1x4 Reaction: King of the Narrow Sea Splits Us on Whether Daemon Planned It All

House of the Dragon's fourth episode, King of the Narrow Sea, left us arguing about one question: was Daemon's scheme with Rhaenyra calculated from the start, or did he make it up on the spot? By the end, the summary of the show was this: "I like this better than Game of Thrones so far, surprisingly."

The pleasure house scene was a lot, but we think it served the story

The episode's sexual content was a lot, raising the question of where the line sits between art and pornography. Our answer was that there was no penetration on screen, though it was on par with old softcore material. Still, this is HBO late at night and not a show for kids, and we agreed "this is one of those few instances where it was actually serving the story."

We read Daemon's point as showing Rhaenyra she has a choice. She does not have to accept duty to a husband as the only path, because sex can be for pleasure. That was set against the queen lying back with the king, staring at the ceiling. It was bewildering that he did not notice she was not responding at all. What made it sadder is that the king is meant to be the character of heart: "If he was one of Captain Planet's dudes, he would be heart."

Calculated scheme or impulsive whim for Daemon

One view was that once Daemon was brought before the king, it was clear this had been his plan all along. We both felt uneasy the moment he arrived in King's Landing offering fealty, waiting for the other shoe to drop, a bit like Loki. If he could not become king through war, the next best thing was creating the perception that Rhaenyra was sullied and then offering to marry her.

There was a counterargument. Daemon gave her that necklace in episode one, and he has always seemed drawn to her. When he could have slept with her, he did not. That may be because, as her father said, perception is everything, so the rumour alone would do the work. But he also seemed to feel guilty. "Up to this point in the show, not saying this hasn't happened, but up to this point in the show we have never seen him hungover," which made us wonder whether he drank because he felt awful, then proposed the marriage on a whim. There was an argument that taking the Stepstones was not a calculated move but a response to the king sending soldiers, though that may not hold, given the feeling that Daemon came to King's Landing with an idea to instigate something.

Rhaenyra's lie, the king's clarity and Otto's exit

It didn't sit well that Rhaenyra lied to her best friend just as they had finally rekindled things after four years, and her confidant may end up being Ser Criston Cole. We thought it was interesting that the king knows his daughter well enough to say she is not innocent, whatever happened. We also thought the morning after drink was likely taken.

As for Otto Hightower's firing, the reaction was simple: good. It had seemed likely he would have far more time to do damage, and we are already betting the next Hand will be the lord who looks like Samwell Tarly and earlier pushed for Rhaenyra's marriage.

Was Daemon playing a long game with Rhaenyra, or did he simply act on impulse?