If looks could kill, they wouldn't need daggers on 'House of the Dragon'

[Notes: Contains spoilers for the “Game of Thrones” universe through season 1, episode 7 of “House of the Dragon” on HBO Max. In addition, there will be no more spoilers for the show based on the “Fire & Blood” book that tells the Targaryen history.]

If looks could kill, no one would have needed swords or daggers Sunday night on HBO’s “House of the Dragon.”

And despite his seeming return to blissful ignorance later in the episode, there’s a moment toward the beginning of “Driftmark” where the ailing King Viserys finally seems to see what’s been going on all around him.

At the funeral service for Laena Velaryon at her home (which provides the episode’s title), Viserys is sitting quietly, slowly taking in the scene, and he seems to notice what is plain as day to viewers — there’s not a lot of consolation happening at this wake.

In fact, it seems to be a lot of people standing around staring daggers at one another.

Classic Westerosi hijinks ensue, and boom, just like that, Rhaenyra has a new husband and a sullen teenager is in charge of the biggest nuclear weapon in all of the Seven Kingdoms.

Last week, we discussed how there is a serious dearth of likable people in this era of Westeros. George R.R. Martin has always emphasized the gray morality of his characters, and while it made them more three-dimensional in the original “Game of Thrones” show, here it’s turning more people into villains, some unnecessarily.

After being bullied in last week’s episode, Aemond Targaryen earned his “One Eye” nickname in this episode in a nasty fight with his… step-nephews? (This family tree forks in all the wrong directions.) But not before his obsession with dragons ends with him stumbling backwards into becoming Vhagar’s new rider.

This is kind of tossing aside most of what we’ve been told about dragons in this universe — namely, that they form a strong bond with their riders and would presumably mourn them just as long as their human family — but whatever. The sight of Aemond struggling to stay aboard Vhagar and ultimately succeeding was pretty great, and it finally showed us some extended shots illustrating the true size of this massive beast.

Because of Aemond’s obsession, it’s hard to know if this was a mission he’s been sent on. It doesn’t seem like it.

More 'House of the Dragon' stories:

• Episode 6 review: Tough to find someone to root for on 'House of the Dragon'
• Episode 5 review: The kettle boils over and all the tea gets spilled on ‘House of the Dragon’
• Episode 4 review: Targaryens gonna Targaryen on this week's 'House of the Dragon'
• Episode 3 review: Everyone's on the hunt in this week's 'House of the Dragon'
• Episode 2 review: A good man makes a real bad decision on 'House of the Dragon'
• Episode 1 review: 'House of the Dragon' gets back to the backstabbing we loved in 'Thrones'
• TV Talk: HBO recaptures ‘Game of Thrones’ political dynamics in ‘House of the Dragon’

Otto Hightower doesn’t care one way or the other. Now that he’s been re-upped as Hand of the King, all he cares is that his daughter now has the biggest, most effective weapon in the world “on our side.”

Speaking of the Hightowers, Queen Alicent loses it this episode and tries to stab a child in the eye!

I thought the “family reunion” scene where that happened was great, serving multiple purposes:

1.) It was a great callback to the season-one “Game of Thrones” scene where the Starks and Lannisters are bickering over Arya Stark having gotten into a spat with Prince Joffrey Baratheon, even though the stakes are raised considerably higher here.

2.) It’s a perfect metaphor for the show. Here’s a bunch of spoiled children yelling at each other about who did what and who’s responsible and who should get what’s coming to them. If you gave everyone in that room a sword, it would be a miniature version of the whole show!

King Viserys’ command for everyone to just shut up and get along is the last straw for Alicent, who basically loses it. You know you’ve gone too far when even Ser Criston “I Beat Guys to Death at Weddings” Cole refuses your command. In fairness, she did ask him to remove a child’s eye as punishment. And let’s be clear: it’s not like Rhaenyra’s kids had a choice. Aemond was going to brain them with a rock. (I’m going to be honest, Jacaerys and Lucerys look so alike, I truly do not know which one took Aemond’s eye).

I thought this would firmly establish Alicent as our villain going forward. But the show pulls a couple of quick changes on us from the book (I know, I said I wasn’t going to bring up book spoilers, and I won’t.) to remind us that pretty much everyone here is a jerk.

While almost everyone was side-eyeing one another during Laena’s wake, Rhaenyra and her uncle Daemon were not. After a walk on the beach, they have a roll in the sand and pick up where they left off a few episodes back in the King’s Landing brothel. Once again, I’m not really sure how we’re supposed to feel about romantic music playing during a tender love scene between an uncle and his niece. It’s not really endearing me to either of these people, especially once Rhaenyra basically asks Daemon to murder her husband so they can be together — right after Laenor pledges to re-commit himself to their marriage and be a more-present husband and father.

The books, in their unreliable-narrator format, give a couple explanations for Laenor’s death, implying that maybe Daemon arranged it on his own to win Rhaenyra. But the show gives us a nice little reprieve, setting up what seemed to be Laenor’s death at the hands of his paramour Sir Qarl Correy, only to find out that they faked Laenor’s death and will run (technically row) away together into the sunrise.

And that’s very nice. But in the meantime, it casts Rhaenyra in a pretty nasty light.

Up to that point, she’s the closest we’ve gotten to a positive protagonist. Sure, she’s got some outside kids, but Laenor knew that. All she wanted was the inheritance her father promised her. Her willingness to have Laenor murdered just to get with Daemon is a decision I didn’t need to see her make. Daemon is perfectly capable of setting up something like that all on his own. In fact, I’d have preferred to see that: Daemon and Rhaenyra spend their night under the stars, Rhaenyra explains that Laenor plans to step up, and Daemon’s having none of it. That’s right up his alley.

Also, what poor sap ended up in Corlys Velaryon’s fireplace? Probably the guard that Daemon dispatched as he and Qarl were sneaking into Driftmark.

And where does this leave us? Well, at the end of the “family reunion,” we got a nice view of the two sides in this conflict, lined up and glowering at one another, the Greens and the Blacks ready to rumble.

Multiple times in “Driftmark,” King Viserys says various iterations of “We’ll speak no more of this,” which is his truly fatal flaw. There’s no sweeping things under the rug or conveniently not noticing sideways glances anymore. The king clearly knows what’s going on. He asks Aegon II who told him “these lies” about who fathered Rhaenyra’s children, and Aegon doesn’t bat an eye: “We all can see. Look at them.”

Finally, someone says it out loud. And Viserys is either too unwilling or too feeble to do anything about it, other than yell at everyone to just get along already.

Power abhors a vacuum. And there are plenty of people looking to step up and take that power now.