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The Black Queen (House of the Dragon)

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"The Black Queen" is the tenth and final episode of the first season of the HBO fantasy drama television series House of the Dragon. Written by Ryan Condal and directed by Greg Yaitanes, it first aired on October 23, 2022. Two days before it aired, the episode leaked online and was shared among many fans on illegal torrent websites.[1]

"The Black Queen"
House of the Dragon episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 10
Directed byGreg Yaitanes
Written byRyan Condal
Featured musicRamin Djawadi
Cinematography byPepe Avila del Pino
Editing by
Original air dateOctober 23, 2022 (2022-10-23)
Running time59 minutes
Episode chronology
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"The Green Council" 		Next →
"A Son for a Son"
List of episodes

The plot depicts Princess Rhaenys' arrival at Dragonstone from King's Landing to deliver the news of King Viserys' death. Rhaenyra is subsequently crowned Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and opposes her faction's demands for open war, instead wanting to secure alliances. Her son, Lucerys, is sent to Storm's End to gain Baratheon support for Rhaenyra's cause. At Storm's End, Lucerys meets and is harassed by his uncle Aemond; Aemond loses control of his dragon Vhagar, who kills Lucerys. Daemon informs Rhaenyra of her son's death.

The episode received critical acclaim, with praise going towards the writing, musical score, cliffhanger and set-up for the next season, the whole sequence in Storm's End, and performances of the cast, especially Emma D'Arcy and Matt Smith.

Plot

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At Dragonstone

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Rhaenyra comforts Lucerys who frets about being heir to Driftmark. Rhaenys arrives at Dragonstone to inform Rhaenyra and Daemon of Viserys' passing and Aegon's coronation. Shocked by the news, Rhaenyra goes into a difficult premature labour, giving birth to a stillborn daughter. Believing Viserys was murdered, Daemon forms an alliance of houses still loyal to him and urges Rhaenyra to declare war against the Greens. Erryk Cargyll brings Viserys' crown to Rhaenyra and Daemon proclaims her Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.

A peace delegation headed by Otto Hightower delivers Aegon's peace terms along with a memento from Alicent, offering Rhaenyra, her family and her supporters amnesty if she swears fealty to Aegon. Rhaenyra considers the offer, wishing to keep the realm united against the threat foretold by Aegon the Conqueror's dream. Daemon, who believes the dream to be nothing but superstition, adamantly refuses Aegon's offer, and briefly chokes Rhaenyra, while Rhaenys persuades her ailing husband, Lord Corlys Velaryon, to support Rhaenyra's faction.

At a war council the next day, Corlys offers his fleet to establish a shipping blockade of King's Landing with Rhaenys patrolling the area on dragonback. Rhaenyra sends out Jacaerys and Lucerys as envoys to secure the support of Houses Arryn, Stark, and Baratheon. Aware that the Blacks have more dragons but not enough dragonriders, Daemon enters a large cave to awaken a hibernating Vermithor, a dragon of the late Jahaerys I.

At Storm's End

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Lucerys travels to Storm's End on his dragon Arrax to meet with Lord Borros Baratheon. He discovers Prince Aemond is already there with his dragon Vhagar. Lucerys relays Rhaenyra's message, reminding Borros that his late father swore an oath to support her succession. Borros reveals that Aegon has already offered a political alliance by Aemond marrying one of his daughters which Rhaenyra's sons, both betrothed already, cannot offer. Borros refuses Rhaenyra's appeal and sends Lucerys away.

Lucerys refuses Aemond's demand that he sacrifice his own eye as retribution for slashing Aemond's years earlier, provoking the latter into drawing his weapon. Borros holds him back and permits Lucerys to safely depart on Arrax, but Aemond follows them. Caught in a severe storm, both dragonriders lose control of their dragons. Arrax attacks Vhagar, but the much larger she-dragon retaliates by devouring both Arrax and Lucerys against Aemond's commands.

Production

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Showrunner Ryan Condal wrote the season finale.

Writing

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"The Black Queen" was written by showrunner and executive producer Ryan Condal, marking his fourth writing credit for the series, following "The Heirs of the Dragon", "The Rogue Prince", and "Second of His Name".[2]

Filming

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The episode was directed by Greg Yaitanes, making it his third time as director for the series after "The Rogue Prince" and "Second of His Name".[2]

Casting

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The episode stars Matt Smith, Emma D'Arcy, Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Harry Collett, Ewan Mitchell, Bethany Antonia, and Phoebe Campbell. Following the death of Prince Lucerys Velaryon, the episode marks the final appearance of Elliot Grihault.

Reception

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Ratings

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"The Black Queen" was watched by a total of 9.3 million viewers, which included linear viewers during its premiere night on October 23, 2022, both on HBO and HBO Max, making it the network's most-watched season finale since the series finale of its predecessor Game of Thrones.[3] While on HBO alone, it was watched by an estimated 1.85 million viewers during its first broadcast.[4] This rose to 2.72 million viewers after a week.[5]

Critical response

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Emma D'Arcy's performance in the episode was widely praised by critics.

The episode was met with acclaim from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 42 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "Culminating in a spectacular and tragic dance of dragons amidst a storm, 'The Black Queen' is a visually splendid capper to House of the Dragon's inaugural season."[6]

It received a rating of 5 out of 5 stars from Tom Percival of The Digital Fix,[7] 4.5 out of 5 stars from Alec Bojalad of Den of Geek, Molly Edwards of GamesRadar+ and Oliver Vandervoort of Game Rant,[8][9][10] and 4 out of 5 stars from Ed Power of The Telegraph and Hillary Kelly of Vulture.[11][12] Percival said that it was "a wonderfully compelling cliffhanger to leave the first season on" and an "excellent conclusion" to the season.[7] Edwards wrote in her verdict: "The season finale is another rock-solid episode, with dragons, disaster, and excellent performances from the cast."[9] In his review, Power stated, "with its series finale, House of the Dragon has emphatically seized the crown [...] and effortlessly taken up on the baton from Game of Thrones. As the curtain came down on its debut season, it was confirmed that it has the potential to soar as high as Thrones at its finest."[11] Reviewing for IGN, Helen O'Hara gave it an "amazing" score of 9 out of 10 and wrote in her verdict, "It's been a sometimes slow-burning first season to House of the Dragon, but the emotional impact of this finale shows that all that ground-laying has established characters to care about and invest in. It also kicks off the Dance of the Dragons in earnest with the best action scene of the season."[13] Erik Kain of Forbes called it "a tremendous and powerful season finale" and that it "surpassed every expectation".[14] Cameron Frew of Dexerto deemed it "breathtaking television" and considered the overall series "the best TV show of 2022".[15]

Critics praised the performances of its cast, particularly D'Arcy,[9][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] Grihault,[9] Mitchell,[9][18][22] and Smith,[11][15][18][20] with the former being singled out as the highlight of the episode. The New York Times's Jeremy Egner found D'Arcy's performance "brilliant",[18] TV Fanatic's Paul Dailly regarded it as "one of the most striking performances in franchise history",[19] while CBR's Lissete Lanuza Sáenz called it Emmy-worthy.[20] TVLine named D'Arcy the "Performer of the Week" for their performance in the episode, for the week of October 29, 2022. The site specifically singled out three scenes, namely Rhaenyra's giving birth scene, the discussion in the Chamber of the Painted Table, and the final scene of Rhaenyra reacting to her son's death. For the latter scene, the site wrote, "D'Arcy filled their character with an aura of vengeful resolve. That face when they turned toward the camera at the end of the episode? Like so much of D'Arcy’s showing in the season-ender: Chills."[23] Particular scenes that were singled out by critics were Rhaenyra's coronation as queen,[9][16] the whole sequence in Storm's End,[8] especially Aemond chasing after Lucerys amid a rainstorm,[9][13][16][17][18] and the final scene.[16][19] Several critics praised the change in Aemond's characterization from the source material, for which he did not intend to kill Lucerys.[8][14] Bojalad pointed out the decision as a way to humanize Aemond,[8] who was a far more violent and sadistic character in the book. Other aspects of the episode that were highlighted by critics included Yaitanes' direction,[13] Djawadi's musical score,[15] and the set-up for season two.[7][9][13][17][24]

IGN included the episode in its "Best TV Episodes of 2022" list.[25]

References

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  1. ^ Rice, Lynette (October 21, 2022). "'House Of The Dragon' Finale Leaks Online". Deadline. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Mellor, Louisa (October 17, 2022). "House of the Dragon Finale Trailer: The Black Queen Responds". Den of Geek. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
  3. ^ Hailu, Selome (October 24, 2022). "'House of the Dragon' Episode 10 Sees 9.3 Million Viewers, Biggest HBO Season Finale Since 'Game of Thrones'". Variety. Archived from the original on October 27, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  4. ^ Salem, Mitch (October 25, 2022). "ShowBuzzDaily's Sunday 10.23.2022 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals Updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  5. ^ Marc Berman (October 24, 2022). "Sunday Ratings: Easy Football-Fueled Victory for NBC". Programming Insider. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  6. ^ "The Black Queen". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Percival, Tom (October 23, 2022). "House of the Dragon episode 10 recap: the Dance of Dragons begins". The Digital Fix. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d Bojalad, Alec (October 24, 2022). "House of the Dragon Episode 10 Review: The Black Queen". Den of Geek. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Edwards, Molly (October 24, 2022). "House of the Dragon episode 10 review: "Serves up heartbreak after heartbreak"". GamesRadar+. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  10. ^ Vandervoort, Oliver (October 24, 2022). "House of the Dragon Season Finale Review". Game Rant. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  11. ^ a b c Power, Ed (October 24, 2022). "House of the Dragon, finale review: a gory triumph – bar one unacceptably sadistic scene". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  12. ^ Kelly, Hillary (October 24, 2022). "House of the Dragon Season-Finale Recap: Blood of the Dragon". Vulture. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  13. ^ a b c d O'Hara, Helen (October 24, 2022). "House of the Dragon - Season 1 Finale Review". IGN. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  14. ^ a b Kain, Erik (October 24, 2022). "'House Of The Dragon' Season 1 Finale Recap And Review: 'The Black Queen'". Forbes. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  15. ^ a b c d Frew, Cameron (October 24, 2022). "House of the Dragon Episode 10 review: The Dance of the Dragons is here". Dexerto. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  16. ^ a b c d Palat, Lakshana N (October 24, 2022). "House of the Dragon Episode 10 review: The Ned Stark death-like turning point that you've been waiting for". The Indian Express. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  17. ^ a b c Scherer, Jenna (October 24, 2022). "House Of The Dragon unloads a tragic, heavy-handed season finale". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  18. ^ a b c d e Egner, Jeremy (October 23, 2022). "'House of the Dragon' Season 1 Finale Recap: The Angriest Dragon". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  19. ^ a b c Dailly, Paul (October 23, 2022). "House of the Dragon Season 1 Episode 10 Review: The Black Queen". TV Fanatic. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  20. ^ a b c Sáenz, Lissete Lanuza (October 24, 2022). "REVIEW: House of the Dragon Season 1 Finale's Writing Lets Down Great Performances". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  21. ^ Nguyen, Jessie (October 28, 2022). "'House of the Dragon': 10 Scenes that Prove Emma D'Arcy is Perfect As Adult Rhaenyra Targaryen". Collider. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  22. ^ Knight, Lewis (October 24, 2022). "House of the Dragon finale changes Aemond Targaryen in the best way". Radio Times. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  23. ^ "The TVLine Performer of the Week: Emma D'Arcy". TVLine. October 29, 2022. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  24. ^ Hilton, Nick (October 24, 2022). "Dragon it out! The biggest talking points from House of the Dragon episode 10". The Independent. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  25. ^ "The Best TV Episode of 2022: Nominees". IGN. December 7, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
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