Daemon’s latest House of the Dragon L is the best one yet
Calamitous war seems around the corner at every step in season 2 of House of the Dragon, as the various power players gather allies (and dragons) in order to vie for the Iron Throne.
But the best scene of the season so far had nothing to do with dragons, and didn’t involve most of the major players for the Throne. Instead, a child completely embarrassed Daemon Targaryen in front of an eager audience, stealing the episode — and our hearts — in the process.
That child would be Oscar Tully (Archie Barnes), the newly anointed head of House Tully and lord paramount of the Riverlands. Oscar, who in the books is the son of Elmo, brother of Kermit, and great-grandson of Grover (yes, it really is an extended Muppets gag), has inherited his new titles after the sudden death of Lord Grover Tully, who is his grandson in the show.
We previously met young Oscar in “The Red Dragon and the Gold,” the fourth episode this season. When meeting him at Harrenhal, Daemon is dismayed to learn Lord Grover is alive but bedridden, preventing the king consort from raising the armies of House Tully and the rest of the Riverlands. Daemon tries to convince Oscar to kill his grandfather, disgusting the young heir and pushing Daemon toward a darker path; he later convinces Ser Willem Blackwood to have his house carry out barbaric acts against House Bracken to attempt to beat them into submission.
Episode 7, “The Red Sowing,” is when Daemon’s chickens come home to roost. Lord Grover Tully is now dead after a visit from Alys Rivers, and the young new Lord Tully quickly makes it clear he is no fan of Daemon, even if he intends to keep his family’s oath to Viserys (and therefore Rhaenyra).
Most impressively, Oscar holds Daemon to account in a way no other character really has so far, confronting him with the “barbarities” he committed in the queen’s name. As lord paramount of the Riverlands, the new Lord Tully is not only responsible for the well-being of his own house, but for the feuding houses of
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