House Of The Dragon Episode 4 Recap: Is There Another Heir In There?

It's fitting that "House of the Dragon" Queen Helaena Targaryen had a fantasy of escaping to the country and raising chickens, seeing as how she's on the nest.

Episode 4 of HBO's fantasy drama doesn't come right out and say it, but it's heavily implied: Ageon's sister/wife is pregnant, meaning there's another Targaryen heir to the throne on the way. The Seven help us all when/if Rhaenyra finds out!

But that's just one of the developments in an hour that spends time with Ormund and (the real) Daeron and Rhaena, whose father is shocked to learn what she's done. Read on for the highlights of the season's fourth episode.

Ormund's 15,000 soldiers enter Tumbleton and immediately start finding themselves quarters. Three inform Hugh's wife and her brother that they'll be lodging with them, like it or not. Ormund himself moves into a stately villa, and during a leisurely soak in the bath he informs the home's noble owners that their bending the knee for Rhaenyra doesn't put them in his good graces. "We swore because she is the queen," one of them tells him, causing him to stand, naked, and stare them down. "Is she?" he asks. "Or is she a b*tch with a dragon?" He makes no haste to cover himself as he promises that his men will be on their best behavior while in town... as long as "you remain on yours."

Throughout this exchange, a brown-haired young man has been standing nearby, attending to Ormund. We learn that this is the REAL Daeron Targaryen, and that he — as well as Ormund — is anxiously awaiting Aemond's planned arrival and military backup in the form of Vhagar.

Ormund's promise doesn't hold, of course: One of his men blatantly attacks Hugh's wife, and when her brother and sister-in-law come to her aid, the other soldiers beat them. They all appear before Ormund, who has the offending soldier gelded and his arm broken as punishment.

Back in King's Landing, Rhaenyra can't figure out why Ormund took over a market town with no strategic advantages. "He dares me to rain fire down on a seat that raised my banner," she huffs, knowing that such a drastic move would lose her the support of the people and, eventually, the throne. Grand Maester Orwyle suggests having Daemon's foot soldiers march on Tumbleton, and Mysaria agrees that the move would be far less destructive than dragon fire. Rhaenyra is on board, and rewards the maester for his smart thinking by asking him to be part of her small council. Orwyle joins Mistress of Whispers Mysaria at the table just as she makes a sneaky if excellent suggestion: Rhaenyra should appoint a Master of Coin who will be a sacrificial lamb when the people realize that there's no money in King's Landing's coffers. And Rhaenyra knows just the guy: Ser Torrhen Manderly, aka the snarky guy who stopped Rhaenyra to talk about her blockade in the previous episode. (Side note: Heh.)

Rhaenyra goes to Alicent for any Ormund intel she can glean. Though Alicent says she barely knows the man, she coughs up what she does remember. He's a scholar. He collects tapestries. "When we were young, Gwayne thought him cruel, but Gwayne thought that of many," she recalls. Alicent says she's glad she sent her youngest son away, given how the older two turned out. "Perhaps sending Daeron away was my truest act of motherhood," she adds, picking at the skin on her hands — an old, anxious tic that Rhaenyra notices but doesn't comment on. "You know I would have spared him," Rhaenyra says, then turns to go, but Alicent has one more detail to offer: Ormund has a sharp sensitivity to odors.

Aegon and Larys make it to Rook's Rest, where the former king falls upon the body of his dead dragon, Sunfyre, and soon starts shouting that the beast is actually alive. This is a problem, given that the duo has attracted the attention of a nearby group of men who've been charging looky-loos for the privilege of touching the mythical creature.

The pair manage to get out of that situation, but soon wind up mixed up with a nasty local boss who tells them they can shelter with his crew, provided they work. Aegon's job? Collecting and separating mess from the latrines, to be sold to tanners and farmers.

When there's not enough food for Aegon and his fellow latrine-worker that night, he screams at Janos, the man in charge. So Janos pulls a knife and makes Aegon kiss his muck-covered boots or die. Ageon dies inside as he puckers up.

Elsewhere, Criston, Gwayne, and the rest of their men arrive at Harrenhal. Alys informs them that Aemond isn't there, that everyone connected to the castle is dead, and that Rhaenyra is queen. "Our task is simple: Keep the river scum from reaching King's Landing," Cole later tells Gwayne, who's not feeling the same fervor, given that the game appears to be lost. But Criston suddenly gets his noble calling back and says they're doing it, anyway.

Back in King's Landing, the next item on Rhaenyra's fact-finding mission is asking Orwyle about the relationship between the Hightowers and the Faith of the Seven. He says the two are deeply tied — "The Seven are as intrinsic to the Hightower fabric as, well, dragons are to House Targaryen" — but the Faith is too proud to allow the family to influence its actions. She's still irked that the High Septon won't anoint her, but Orwyle wonders if the formality even matters.

Daemon goes to The Vale for the gold Rhaenyra bid him get from Lady Arryn; he secures it. But Caraxes won't do as Daemon says on the flight home, bringing him instead to a cave nearby. Yep, it's where Rhaena and Sheepstealer have been hiding out, and the girl is much worse for wear, post-Gullet. "Rhaenyra believes this dragon and his rider are the reason Jace is dead," Daemon says, stunned. "I wanted only to help," she replies, confirming his worst fear.

She states that she won't abandon Sheepstealer, because he's part of her and a legitimizing factor for her as a Targaryen. She also won't return to King's Landing, because how could she be in Rhaenyra's presence, after everything that's happened? She wants, instead, to live out her days in the cave while everyone thinks she's dead. "I have asked you nothing, Father, in all my life. I ask this one thing," she pleads, then takes her leave of him. After Sheepstealer flies away, Daemon sees a shepherd on the rocks below and Has An Idea.

Next thing we know, he's marching into Rhaenyra's Small Council meeting and plopping a severed head onto the table. "I bring justice. I bring vengeance. I also bring gold," he announces. He tells them that the head belongs to the person who rode Sheepstealer during the Battle of the Gullet. Rhaenyra quickly has the room cleared until only she and Daemon remain. "Who is he? And how did he come to claim a wild dragon?" she wonders, kicking off the list of about 300 follow-ups she (rightly) has. He's all, "No worries, the dragon fled, nothing more to see here!" and then sweeps away her desire to look in the eye the person who killed Jacaerys. Defeated, she tells him that the money he brought back must go to the small folk, and not the City Watch, like he wants. As he sulks afterward, he blames Mysaria for the queen's current directive. "Whose head is that?" the Mistress of Whisperers quips in return.

Ormund is blending up his aromatherapy ball when he receives a raven from Gwayne at Harrenhal; the message sends him into a fury that ends with his whacking at the table with his sword. Once he pulls himself together, Ormund calmly updates Daeron, who stands nearby. "It seems your brother, Aemond, will not be joining us after all," Ormund says, adding that they'll have to change their plan.

Ulf petitions Rhaenyra for various small favors so he can seem a hero to those at the tavern he frequents. But it backfires when she essentially puts him under house arrest. He retorts that he's seen "Queen of Bastards" graffiti out in the city; after he leaves, she orders that any seditious markings on the city walls be destroyed immediately. As evening falls, Rhaenyra has King's Landing turned inside out, looking for those who'd speak up against her.

At the end of the hour, the Black queen visits Alicent's quarters to say that Otto's body has been sent to Oldtown. Also, she gives the Green queen her father's ring. After Rhaenyra leaves, Helaena draws near to her mother. And with the younger woman in her nightgown, Alicent sees something she'd previously missed: Her daughter is pregnant.

Meanwhile, as Hugh and his dragon keep watch over Tumbleton, Ormund finds Daeron snuggling with his dragon. He's got news: "Now, you must be king," Ormund tells the teen, bringing Hugh's brother-in-law before Daeron and ordering him to kill the man for striking a Hightower soldier. "I have risked much and more to raise you up," Ormund says, handing him the sword as the kid blanches. But he does as told, sticking the bound-and-kneeling man with the pointy end. Then Tessarion roasts the body. Ormund looks pleased. "And now, we begin," he proclaims.

Now it's your turn. What did you think of the episode? Hit the comments, and let us know!