House of the Dragon 1x7 Reaction: We Called It Our Favorite Episode Yet, Even Though It Wrecked Us Emotionally

We came out of House of the Dragon episode 7 calling it our favorite of the season so far, even though it left us emotionally drained. As we put it, "I thought this was a very very well-done episode," and by the end, "I'm emotionally still not okay after all of that." For anyone following the Targaryen civil war building toward the Dance of the Dragons, this episode is the one where the factions finally, visibly split, and we felt every bit of that tension in real time.

The episode opens somber with Laena's funeral, and we noticed all the loaded glances between characters building dread before things explode. That explosion comes when Aemond claims Vhagar and the other boys confront him, escalating into a brawl that costs Aemond an eye. We compared it to "watching kids have a brawl in a playground that you know is about to go very very badly and you're just like where's an adult in this situation."

Why We Think Vhagar Bonded With Aemond Instead Of A Targaryen Daughter

We wondered aloud why the dragon bound to Alicent's son rather than one of the Targaryen daughters, since by rights Vhagar should have gone to the next daughter in line. Our conclusion was simple: "to the victor goes the spoils. He got there first." We also noted the scene reveals exactly what kind of person Aemond is, someone "not afraid to grab whatever he wants," and flagged him, not Aegon, as the brother to watch going forward because he's smart and sly.

Rhaenyra's Fake Death Plan For Laenor Won Us Back After We Were Ready To Hate Her

When it looked like Rhaenyra might have Laenor killed to balance the scales after Aemond lost his eye, we admitted, "the show tricked me cuz I was ready to hate on Rhaenyra... I was hardcore." Once it became clear the death was staged so Laenor could escape across the narrow sea and live freely, we felt real relief, saying we were still able to respect Rhaenyra because the alternative would have made us stop rooting for anyone in the story.

Alicent's Transformation Shocked Us Most

We spent real time on how far Alicent has fallen from the person we first met, noting she "used to be a really good person, and she was just soft and sweet," before hardening onto her current path. We were especially struck that she cut Rhaenyra with a knife, defied Viserys openly, and faced zero consequence. We read that moment as Viserys revealing exactly where his loyalties sit, choosing his daughter over Alicent's family, and called the domino effect of consequences across the season the thing we appreciate most compared to the original Game of Thrones.

Do you think Alicent should have faced real punishment for attacking Rhaenyra, or does being queen put her above consequence?