'House of the Dragon' Season 2 Episode 5 Preview: Hand of the King's return may not be as triumphant as he thinks
Contains spoilers for 'House of the Dragon'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'House of the Dragon' Season 2 Episode 4 aired on HBO on July 7, 2024. The episode featured the magnificently picturized large-scale Battle at Rook's Rest that ended with a much-needed victory for the Greens.
In the early part of the series, the Greens received setbacks in the form of Prince Jaehaerys's death and the failure of the assassination attempt on Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy). Both the setbacks can be arguably attributed to the failure of Criston Cole (Fabian Frankel) who was in desperate need of redemption.
Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) backed Cole and made him the Hand of the King and Cole repaid his faith with a genius move at Battle at Rook's Rest. In Episode 5, Cole returns to King's Landing victorious with the death of Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) and Meleys.
What happened in 'House of the Dragon' Episode 4?
Criston Cole played a brilliant move along with Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchel) to catch the Blacks unawares as he attacked Rook's Rest instead of Harrenhall and that prompted action from Rhaenys who came there to fight against the Greens representing Rhaenyra and the Blacks.
What she did not know however was that Aemond was waiting with Vhagar to take down Meleys. The King was also caught by surprise in this situation and he was unhappy about Criston and Aemond not involving him in the plan. He took his dragon down to Rook's Rest and suffered the wrath of Meleys and even Aemond and Vhagar.
While his fate is uncertain at the moment, if 'Fire and Blood' is to be followed, the King will suffer major injuries due to the fall and will have broken bones and other injuries that will keep him out of the Throne for a while
Criston Cole's triumphant return to King's Landing
Despite the injury to Aegon, Criston Cole has found his redemption after a couple of losses. He has dealt a huge blow to the Blacks as Rook's Rest falling to Greens means that the battle now becomes all about dragons and they can hardly challenge Vhagar. Cole has a great working relationship with Aemond who will be the Prince Regent in the season
Cole will however have to answer for the King's condition, though, he tried his best to save the King in battle and if anyone has to answer it is Aemond. Cole also has a personal matter to deal with as we saw Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) who has been physically involved with Cole, dealing with a pregnancy in Episode 4 and trying to abort a child.
In 'Fire and Blood', the next course of action for Criston Cole will be to try and take Harrenhall where Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) firmly sits.
How to stream 'House of the Dragon' Season 2?
'House of the Dragon' Season 2 premiered on HBO Max on Sunday, June 16, 2024, with new episodes dropping every Sunday. To watch the series, you will need a Max Subscription.
The streaming platform typically offers three packages that you can choose from depending on your budget.
The low-cost plan that supports advertising costs $9.99 per month or $99.99 annually. The second package, which does not support advertising, costs $15.99 per month or $149.99 annually.
Meanwhile, the third package, titled Ultimate Ad-Free, costs $19.99 per month or $199.99 annually.
'House of the Dragon' Season 2 trailer