The beginning of the end is here, and the Targaryen Civil War has begun. In this week’s House of the Dragon, “The Lord of the Tides,” the meandering and constant setup is finally brought to a close. The majority of “The Lord of the Tides” is bloated setup with two great scenes slipped in. Much of it is necessary; however, a lot of it could have been cut without the narrative suffering. After eight episodes of a season that covers the Targaryen Civil War, there is finally a Targaryen Civil War. Setup is not intrinsically a bad thing, yet there is such a thing as too much, and House of the Dragon has strayed dangerously close to that line.

Perhaps half the season as setup and half as the Targaryen Civil War would have more concisely told the narrative with far fewer pacing issues. Additionally, this small ratio change would highly benefit the end of this series. For a season that is supposedly about the Targaryen Civil War, there will only be two episodes depicting those events.

**Spoilers**

“The Lord of the Tides” centers around the succession of the Driftmark Throne when the Sea Snake is wounded. Alicent and the Greens attempt to leverage this situation to de-legitimize Rhaenyra’s children, who would be the legal heirs to the Driftmark Throne if they weren’t bastards. With Otto, Alicent’s father, as the Hand standing in for the decrepit king, the discrediting of the bastards is assured. Only the arrival of the nearly hobbled King Viserys, backing his daughter and her sons, keeps the boys from being de-legitimized. The Sea Snake’s brother cannot stand for this; the unspoken truth must be spoken for his claim to hold. When this truth is told, the king declares it treason, the price of which is his tongue. Daemon reacts instantly, cleaving the brother’s head from his body, leaving his tongue still attached to the corpse.

Tensions are still high at the last supper of the king as he attempts to resolve the conflicts of his family in his final hours. Viserys implores Rhaenyra and Alicent, inciting them to make a temporary peace. This peace is cut short when Viserys’s final words are misinterpreted by Alicent to mean that he wants Aegon to take the throne instead of Rhaenyra. The king’s final act is not peace, as he’d hoped, and his final act all but guarantees that a war for the throne over his legacy will follow.

After his phenomenal introduction in last week’s “Driftmark,” Aemond quickly became a fan favorite. Right after fans fell in love with him, an actor swap was risky. However, the new Aemond also nails his performance, delivering an intimidating bad boy, perfectly evolving from the younger actor. Even his first lines asking if his nephew is going to train drips with talent and complexity. The only problem with Aemond comes more from the casting of the new Aegon, his older brother, who appears far younger than this Aemond. An odd choice, but acceptable considering the good performances from both.

This episode is long and far too drawn out, yet two scenes, in particular, stand head and shoulders above the rest. Both of these exceptional scenes center around King Viserys, who, once again, steals the show. Paddy Considine delivers one of his best performances of the season in his final outing in the role. Despite his decrepit makeup and CGI being a tad overdramatic, Paddy still manages to sell his performance beautifully. If only from this episode and episode 3, Paddy should be a shoo-in for all potential industry awards and accolades.

One of the coolest moments of the episode comes simply from Viserys walking into the Great Hall, slowly hobbling past his manipulative family, fighting through immense agony to be there for them on his last day. The pain and anguish but also the strength and resiliency of his character are evident to all, impressing everyone. Even with the last of his energy, he is unable to make it to the throne, so his loving brother, who was always there for him despite their disagreements, takes his arm and helps him the rest of the way, gently resting the crown upon his head. This short scene has virtually no dialogue but beautifully portrays both characters’ emotions and their relationship with each other in so many small and beautiful ways, primarily due to the talent of both actors involved.

The other standout scene of “The Lord of the Tides” is the last supper of House Targaryen before the death of the king and the beginning of the civil war. The many toasts and the king’s pleading speech are all delivered competently to phenomenally. Even the young actors involved in this scene give stellar reactionary performances. As usual, Matt Smith again has virtually no lines but still delivers one of the best performances in the scene. However, all the actors at the supper pale in comparison to Paddy Considine and his speech. His character is one of the few near wholly righteous ones in the entire franchise. All he wants is for his family to get along, but he’s not strong enough to keep them together. Two decades of frustration at his inability to keep the peace pour out in this moment as he begs them to set aside their differences for his sake, if for no one else’s.

Besides the aforementioned setup and meandering issues, the primary problems with “The Lord of the Tides” reside in its constant need to remind the audience of the disastrous Song of Ice and Fire. Following the horrific ending to Game of Thrones, few fans want to be reminded of how this story ends, as it may ultimately sour whatever positivity can be derived from House of the Dragon. All roads, even House of the Dragon, lead to season 8, and that’s something most audience members wish to forget.

“The Lord of the Tides” reaches great heights of quality with the performances of several actors yet falls short due to the endless setup which has exemplified this series. As a result, this episode is extremely meh, neither bad nor truly good; simply middle of the road.