House of the Dragons Season 2 Episode 4 spoilers: Rook's Rest epic battle review

Episode 4 of the House of the Dragon was released on Sunday, July 7 and witnessed a confrontation between Rhaenys, Aemond and Aegon. The midseason finale confirmed the start of the first real war of the show. The Rook’s Rest battle was just the beginning of what is about to become a bloodfest with dragons in upcoming episodes. The battle between The Greens and The Blacks in episode 4 mirrored the scale of battles in Games of Thrones. It also sets the stage for the future conflicts between, characters, clans and dragons.

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Dance of Dragons begins for real

The claims of the epic battle in House of the Dragon just come true with the latest episode in the series. The previous episodes of this season failed to deliver the epic battle until episode 4. The episode justified the title Dance of the Dragons with a brutal blood dance at the Rook’s Rest.

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The battle sequence featured in the last 10-15 minutes is absolute cinema with the VFX team’s effort and the fight choreography. Some of the highlights of the visual brilliance included Meley tearing open Sunfyre, Vhagar stomping over soldiers and Vhagar’s jaws around Meley’s neck. It was not a senseless battle as each approached the battle with some substance such as the Aegon’s drunk flight into the battle to prove himself, Aemond set to kill the former, and Rhaenys’ sacrifice as she accepted her fate.

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The foreboding and character work in episode 4

The excellence of the episode was not limited to the last quarter of minutes as the build-up to the battle was as enticing. The characters of the show were more visible in this episode as they set the groundwork for the battle. For instance, the showdown with Aegon at the Small Council meeting and Rhaenyra has piqued audience interest. Also, Matt Smith has begun to show his full potential and Tom Glyn Carney’s Aegon continues to be the character holding the show together.

Deviating from the book by George R. R. Martin, upon which the show is based, episode 4 featured Aemond’s intentions to kill his sibling Aegon certainly made the story more interesting.

Fans react to House of the Dragon Season 2 episode 4

Fans of the web series House of the Dragon were quick to express their thoughts about the epic battle in the latest episode. Here is what fans wrote about the episode and the battle on the microblogging site, X. A user of X wrote, “That was arguably the best 20 minutes of television I have seen since the Battle of the Bastards thank you @StreamOnMax @HouseofDragon that was fantastic. #HOTD S2E4 is easily the best of the season/show thus far.”

A second user wrote, “Woah woah woah, things really starting to heat up in #HOTD S2E4.” A third user chimed in, “This episode had me jumping out of my chair. Unbelievable seeing the dragons fighting each other. Brilliant job to all special effects and actors. Absolutely stellar.”

A user wrote, “Best episode in the entire series, well done,” while another wrote, “This season kind of slow like first but this episode... Best out of the entire series by a long shot. Clears the red wedding.”