The Red Dragon and the Gold

"The Red Dragon and the Gold" is the fourth episode of the second season of the fantasy drama television series House of the Dragon, a prequel to Game of Thrones. Its title refers to Meleys and Sunfyre, the dragons of Rhaenys and Aegon, respectively. The episode was written by series co-creator and showrunner Ryan Condal and directed by executive producer Alan Taylor. It first aired on HBO and Max on July 7, 2024.

In the episode, Ser Criston continues to rally Greens allies and executes Black supporters. He rides to Rook's Rest to attack the last Black stronghold on the Blackwater Bay. Meanwhile, Rhaenyra returns to Dragonstone and learns about Criston's plan. She agrees to send Rhaenys with her dragon Meleys to confront Criston and his troops. Feeling his council disrespects him, especially after discovering Aemond's secret communications with Criston, Aegon decides to fly to Rook's Rest with his dragon Sunfyre. Unbeknownst to each other, Rhaenys, Aegon, and Aemond (with Vhagar) converge on Rook's Rest, leading to a climactic battle involving the three dragons.

In the United States, "The Red Dragon and the Gold" gained a viewership of 8.1 million during its premiere night, surpassing the season premiere, with 1.2 million viewers on linear television alone. The episode received widespread acclaim from critics, with many dubbing it one of the series' best outputs. They complimented the direction and visual effects, but particularly the episode's writing for Daemon's scenes in Harrenhal, the increasing friction between Aemond and Aegon, and the Rook's Rest battle sequence, the latter of which was considered the episode's highlight. Acting performances of Eve Best, Matt Smith and Tom Glynn-Carney were a subject of praise.

The episode marks the final appearance of Eve Best (Rhaenys Targaryen).

At Harrenhal
Daemon dreams of being in the Red Keep's throne room where he decapitates a young Queen Rhaenyra for berating him, though her severed head continues accusing him of treason. Later, he follows a figure who looks like himself but is dressed as Aemond. Awake, Daemon meets Alys Rivers, a mysterious woman and a Riverlands bastard of House Strong. She claims Harrenhal is haunted because weirwood trees were cut to build it. After drinking her sleep potion, Daemon experiences missing time and hallucinates seeing his late wife, Laena Velaryon, during a council meeting.

Oscar Tully, the adolescent grandson and heir of the aged and incapacitated Lord Grover Tully of the Riverlands, arrives at Harrenhal to meet with Daemon in his grandfather's place. He hesitates making any decisions for the Riverlands while Grover still lives. An impatient Daemon suggests hastening his death, alarming Oscar. Ser Willem Blackwood, one of Rhaenyra's former suitors and a vassal of House Tully, also meets with Daemon. He pledges an army in exchange for subjugating House Bracken.

On Driftmark
Rhaenys meets Alyn, thanking him for rescuing Corlys. Corlys arrives, and Rhaenys implies that she knows Alyn is his illegitimate son. She tells Corlys he should be elevating Alyn rather than hiding him "beneath the tides" but Corlys dismisses her inquiries. They travel to Dragonstone after Baela encounters difficulty steering the Black council in Rhaenyra's absence.

At Duskendale
Ser Criston Cole captures Duskendale and beheads its master, Lord Gunthor Darklyn, who refuses to renounce his loyalty to Rhaenyra and scorns him as 'Kingmaker'. Criston orders his troops to ride to Rook's Rest, the last Black stronghold on Blackwater Bay, and attack the castle during the day as a surprise maneuver. Gwayne believes a night attack is safer and cautions a daytime assault might attract Rhaenyra's dragons from nearby Dragonstone.

In King's Landing
Archmaester Orwyle prepares an abortifacient tea for Alicent, who claims it is for someone else. She asks Orwyle if Viserys truly wished Aegon to be his heir, but Orwyle denies any knowledge. Larys arrives and notices the empty tea bottle, which Alicent says was for indigestion after feasting too much. Larys slyly remarks that she should be allowed some indulgences.

While meeting with his council regarding Criston's military advances, Aegon is irked that Daemon seized Harrenhal and scolds Larys, the castle's lord, for allowing it. Larys remarks that the castle itself is useless but he still controls its gold. Aemond asserts capturing Rook's Rest will geographically isolate the Blacks from the Seven Kingdoms, but Aegon remains steadfast on reclaiming Harrenhal. He is angered upon learning that Aemond and Criston planned the campaigns without his knowledge or authority, including pursuing Duskendale and Rook's Rest rather than Harrenhal. Aemond berates Aegon in High Valyrian, further humiliating him as Aegon can barely speak it.

Alicent discovers that Aegon has had Viserys' history books removed. Aegon vents his anger to Alicent over the council excluding him from important matters. She dismisses this, saying he, lacking wisdom and knowledge, is inferior to Viserys as a king. She advises that he can best serve the realm by doing nothing and letting the experienced council wage the war. Frustrated and drunk, Aegon flies to Rook's Rest on Sunfyre.

At Dragonstone
During Rhaenyra's absence, the council concurs that a dragon should be sent to defend Rook's Rest, which is council member Lord Staunton's castle. Rhaenyra returns and reports on her meeting with Alicent. She now agrees that war with the Greens is inevitable. Jace wants to go to Rook's Rest, but Rhaenyra forbids it, insisting on flying herself. Rhaenys persuades Rhaenyra to let her go instead, arguing that her dragon Meleys is the Blacks' most capable. As Rhaenys prepares to depart, Rhaenyra passes on the prophecy of Aegon the Conqueror, the Song of Ice and Fire, to Jace.

At Rook's Rest
Criston's troops advance on the castle amidst the archers' raining arrows. Rhaenys arrives on Meleys and begins burning the Greens' troops and siege equipment with dragonfire. Criston, having laid a trap, signals Aemond, who is hidden nearby with Vhagar, to attack. Seeing Aegon approaching on Sunfyre, Aemond delays acting. As Meleys mauls Sunfyre, Aemond flies in on Vhagar who burns both dragons, harming mainly Aegon and Sunfyre, sending them plummeting to the ground.

Rhaenys then attacks Aemond and Vhagar, sending them crashing to the ground. As Rhaenys and Meleys circle the battlefield, Vhagar rises and attacks Meleys from below, fatally crushing her neck. Rhaenys plummets to her death, still strapped to Meleys.

Criston, knocked out during the battle, regains consciousness. He finds Aemond with his sword drawn near Aegon, who lies motionless next to the heavily wounded Sunfyre.

Writing and filming
"The Red Dragon and the Gold" was written by series co-creator and showrunner Ryan Condal, and directed by executive producer Alan Taylor, making it their second collaboration in the series after the season premiere "A Son for a Son". The title of the episode refers to the color of Meleys and Sunfyre, Rhaenys' and Aegon's dragons, respectively, as well as the heraldic dragons that adorn the banners of the warring Green and Black factions.

The episode marks Condal's sixth writing credit for the series, following "The Heirs of the Dragon", "The Rogue Prince", "Second of His Name", "The Black Queen", and the season premiere. It also marks Taylor's second time as director for the series and ninth for the overall franchise. He previously directed the Game of Thrones episodes "Baelor", "Fire and Blood", "The North Remembers", "The Night Lands", "The Prince of Winterfell", "Valar Morghulis", and "Beyond the Wall". In an interview with The A.V. Club, Taylor said he is not returning for the series' third season, making the episode his last directorial work in the franchise.

Principal photography for the second season began in April 2023 and wrapped in September 2023. The opening scene of Daemon dreaming about talking to young Rhaenyra in the Throne room was the first scene shot of the season, filmed in April. The battle at Rook's Rest was filmed in Bourne Wood in England in August. Condal described the battle sequence as "the biggest thing that [the series] has mounted to date in terms of the size and expense of a set piece." Taylor collaborated with storyboard artist Jane Wu to design the entire battle sequence. According to the episode's cinematographer P.J. Dillon, the dragon fight in the sky was shot using a mix of a volume and a blue screen.

In an interview with Business Insider, Eve Best (Rhaenys) revealed that her scenes during the battle sequence took two weeks to film. She also mentioned to Variety that Tom Glynn-Carney (Aegon) and Ewan Mitchell (Aemond) each spent a week to film their scenes. Discussing Rhaenys' "heroic" decision and final fate, Best said it fulfilled one of her desires for the character. As Erica Gonzales noted in Elle, Best said of Rhaenys, "She's stepping up to sacrifice herself because I think she knows absolutely damn well that this is a kamikaze mission. In this moment, I think there’s an unspoken but very important moment of acceptance and honoring. It's very samurai, actually. It's an honor between the two women, which up until now has always been very complicated."

Casting
The episode stars Matt Smith, Emma D'Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Sonoya Mizuno, Matthew Needham, Tom Glynn-Carney, Ewan Mitchell, Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Jefferson Hall, Freddie Fox, Gayle Rankin, Kurt Egyiawan, Abubakar Salim, and Simon Russell Beale. Following the previous episode, Milly Alcock once again guest-starred to reprise her role as young Rhaenyra Targaryen, appearing in Daemon's dream sequence. Nanna Blondell also returned as Daemon's second wife Laena Velaryon, appearing in his vision. Blondell previously appeared in the first season episode "The Princess and the Queen".

Following the death of Princess Rhaenys Targaryen and her dragon Meleys in the battle at Rook's Rest, the episode marks Eve Best's final appearance. Additionally, it marks the first appearance of Archie Barnes as Oscar Tully, as well as first and only appearance of Steven Pacey as the Lord of Duskendale and head of House Darklyn, Gunthor Darklyn. It also features the return of Willem Blackwood, originally portrayed by Alfie Todd in "King of the Narrow Sea", now portrayed by Jack Parry-Jones as an adult.

Ratings
In the United States, "The Red Dragon and the Gold" was watched by a total of 8.1 million viewers, which included linear viewers during its premiere night on July 7, 2024, both on HBO and Max, surpassing the season premiere, which gained a viewership of 7.8 million. While on HBO alone, it was watched by an estimated 1.2 million viewers during its first broadcast. This was an increase of 6.8% from the previous episode.

Critical response
The episode was met with widespread acclaim from both critics and viewers, with some critics calling it one of the best episodes of the series and the best of the season so far. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an approval rating of 100% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 9.1/10. The episode had received a 9.7 out of 10 score on IMDb for several days after its release, making it the series' highest-rated episode on the website. As of July 16, 2024, it holds a rating of 9.6/10.

It earned a perfect 5 out of 5 stars from both Alec Bojalad of Den of Geek and Haley Whitmire White of TV Fanatic. Bojalad remarked, "Impressively, [it] makes the already-strong episode 3 even better in context." White described it as "one of the most spectacular and visually stunning displays that we've seen on television in a long time." James Hunt of Screen Rant rated it with 4.5 out of 5 stars, praising it as "a brilliant installment that evokes Game of Thrones at its most spectacular". Jonathon Wilson of Ready Steady Cut also gave it a 4.5 out of 5 stars rating, and wrote in his summary: "Episode 4 gets the Dance of Dragons underway with real style." Meanwhile, Amanda Whiting of Vulture and Benji Wilson of The Telegraph both rated it with 4 out of 5 stars.

Helen O'Hara of IGN awarded the episode a perfect 10 out of 10 score, calling it a "masterpiece". She wrote, "[The episode] starts slowly but builds up steam, finishing with a spectacular battle that ranks up there with the most thrilling moments of Game of Thrones and blows away anything so far in House of the Dragon." Katie Doll of CBR and Carly Lane of Collider both scored it 9 out of 10. Doll noted, "[The episode] changes the course of House of the Dragon Season 2 by finally moving the plot out of its stagnant place in every single scene." Kayleigh Dray of The A.V. Club graded it with an "A" and called it a "magnificent" episode. Erik Kain of Forbes described it as "yet another terrific episode in what's shaping up to be a great second season." Josh Rosenberg of Esquire viewed it as "a return to the franchise's glory days."

Critics singled out the Battle at Rook's Rest as the highlight of the episode. Alec Bojalad specifically wrote, "The resulting aerial battle above Rook's Rest in the Crownlands is as awesome and terrifying as its outcome is predictable. Two dragons perish, at least one dragonrider dies, and countless men-at-arms are either crushed under the beasts gait or vaporized by their fiery breath." James Hunt praised the sequence for blending epic scale with a strong character foundation. O'Hara dubbed it "epic fantasy at its most thrilling". Doll said that the sequence "surpasses expectations in a stomach-churning example of blockbuster television." She also considered it one of the greatest fight scenes in television history and called the episode the most beautiful work in the series so far.

Other aspects lauded by critics included the visual effects,  stunts, acting,   with particular praise for the performances of Best,  Smith,  Glynn-Carney, Mitchell, and Rankin. There was also praise towards Dillon's cinematography, Djawadi's score, Condal's writing, Taylor's direction,   with Helen O'Hara noting his skill in shifting between political machinations and outright warfare, as well as Daemon's scenes in Harrenhal,    and the increased sibling rivalry between Aemond and Aegon.