House Of The Dragon Episode Six Review - 8 Ups & 2 Downs

More villains is always good news in Westeros. As such, those watching The Princess and the Queen will have been rubbing their hands together in glee as several new villains began to take shape this week. Otto may have not featured this week, but the repulsive behavior viewers have come to expect from House Hightower was on full display as Alicent stepped into her father's abhorrent shoes.

Criston Cole's abrupt U-turn as a character to complete villain may have left viewers gnashing their teeth in disgust at the hypocritical knight, but it was an inspired twist that caught fans by surprise, after House of the Dragon spent time building Cole up as a principled, righteous character.

Finally, Larys Strong puts a face to the ineffable evil and malevolence he radiated in last week's episode. Viewers realize the depths of wicked depravity that the younger Strong brother is willing to sink to as he puts an appalling plot in place; sending dungeon dwellers from King's Landing to burn down Harrenhall, murdering his father and brother in the coldest of blood. Strong's complete lack of morality is hammered home by the fact that he had the killers' tongues removed beforehand, removing any potential link to himself.

A key strength of Game of Thrones was the show's innate ability to construct villains that fans absolutely loved to hate. As it stands on House of the Dragon, they have a literal catalogue of foul villains to choose from; all of them wickedly ghastly in their own unique manner.