10 Things You Somehow Missed In House Of The Dragon
5. The Brackens And The Blackwoods
At this point, the casual inclusion of supremely graphic violence is all part and parcel of HBO's take on George R.R. Martin's universe. As such, many viewers probably didn't even bat an eye at a gruesome sequence in House of the Dragon's fourth episode.
A quarrel between two of Rhaenyra's suitors from Houses Blackwood and Bracken soon turns deadly, with the Blackwood knight eventually decorating the floor with his love rival's guts. On the surface, the only noteworthy aspect of this showdown is the age of the victor - the Blackwood boy is so young that it comes as a surprise that he is even able to lift his sword.
In actuality, this inter-generational duel is a sly tip of the hat to one of the more venomous inter-house relationships that can be found throughout Martin's canon. Two of the Riverlands' most ancient and storied families, the Brackens and the Blackwoods despise each other to such an extent that they make Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort resemble bosom buddies.
It's a comically childish state of affairs, with both families steadfastly insisting that each tyrannically usurped the other at one point in time. Nevertheless, this pointless feud still rears its head during the War of the Five Kings, with friction between the houses proving detrimental to the morale of Robb Stark's war effort.