House of the Dragon season 2 episode 5 release time, teaser, and what to expect

Last week's episode of House of the Dragon season 2 seriously shocked viewers as we got to see the highly-anticipated Battle at Rook's Rest go down. After Criston decides to reroute his army, Rhaenyra is finally ready to take action. Unfortunately, this ends in fatalities for not only a major character but her dragon, too, in the biggest battle we've seen on the Game of Thrones prequel yet.

It's not surprising that episode 4, "The Red Dragon and the Gold," is now the highest-rated episode of House of the Dragon and the most-watched of the season, bringing in 8.1 million viewers across HBO and Max on Sunday night. Given that it's a huge episode for the show, what's next in episode 5? I don't think it'll be as eventful, but the fallout of the battle is sure to be important.

Season 2 episode 5 release date and time

The fifth episode of season 2 will be released on Sunday, July 14, airing on HBO at 9:00 p.m. ET. If you're streaming the new episode, it will be added to HBO's streaming service Max at the same time. According to HBO's schedule, this week's episode will air multiple times after its premiere at 9:00 p.m. ET, so if you're unable to catch the first showing, you have no excuse to miss it tonight! Episode 5 will also air at 10:07 p.m. ET, 11:14 p.m. ET, 12:20 a.m. ET, and 1:25 a.m. ET leading into Monday morning.

And if you're streaming the new episode, you can watch (and rewatch) it at any time after it's released on the Max website and app at 9:00 p.m. ET.

Season 2 episode 4 recap

Of course, the biggest part of last week's episode of House of the Dragon is the Battle at Rook's Rest, but that's not the only thing that happens. The episode opens up with Daemon at Harrenhal, seeing another vision or nightmare of a young Rhaenyra. He continues to be haunted by people from his past, specifically women he's wronged. He's certainly struggling; not just with his visions but with the Riverlands in general. He's trying to form an army to take King's Landing, but it's proving more difficult than he likely anticipated.

Criston's army is on the move, and after taking Duskendale, he decides to go to Rook's Rest instead of Harrenhal. It's an easy target for the greens and, though Aegon is against it, Aemond and Criston make the decision behind his back. The power dynamic between Aegon and Aemond continues to shift after the brothel scene from episode 3, and Aemond is determined to prove his worth.

Alicent and Aegon have an engaging conversation in episode 4 when he confides in her that his council doesn't take him seriously. She gives him blunt — yet needed — advice when telling him he shouldn't do anything and instead let those around him make the decisions. Aegon doesn't have experience leading the realm, and his mother is seemingly fearful he will make dumb decisions. Well, that's exactly what happens when Aegon drunkenly flies out on Sunfyre to meet Criston's army at Rook's Rest. As you'd expect, it doesn't go well for him.

After Rhaenyra returns from King's Landing to Dragonstone, Rhaenys volunteers to fly to Rook's Rest on Meleys to stop Criston's army. From here, we get an epic battle scene that leaves Rhaenys and Meleys dead, Aegon and Sunfyre seriously injured, and Aemond and Vhagar tired yet unscathed. The episode ends with Aegon's fate up in the air, though Fire & Blood readers know what happens.

What to expect from House of the Dragon season 2 next

Of course, I won't reveal any major spoilers from Fire & Blood here, though I think we can all gather that episode 5 will cover the fallout of the Battle at Rook's Rest. If you had to name a victor of the battle, it would be the greens, though I would hardly call it that. Yes, they take out a dragon from the blacks, which is huge, but the battle also results in a near-death experience for not only their king but one of their dragons, too. It's a mess all around.

But the greens apparently don't see it that way. As we see in the preview teaser for episode 5, Aegon's council proudly parades around Meleys' head through King's Landing to show the smallfolk what they've done; though they declare Aegon killed the dragon, not Aemond. That's comical. Aegon is brought to the castle but it's not confirmed whether he's dead or alive. Daemon continues to work on gathering an army while Rhaenyra decides what steps to take next now that Rhaneys has been killed by the greens.

Whether Aegon is dead or just seriously injured, someone needs to rule in his place. Aemond is certainly an option, one that most of the council will likely side with, though Alicent might assume it's her role. In the preview, there's tension between Alicent and Criston, while Rhaenyra confides in Mysaria, who tells the Queen: "There is more than one way to fight a war." Now that Rhaenys and Meleys are gone, the blacks are going to inevitably need more dragons to continue the war. That's when the dragonseeds come in, though I don't believe that'll happen in episode 5.

In Fire & Blood, the dragonseeds storyline is introduced after the Battle at Rook's Rest — I won't explain what that is to avoid spoilers — followed by the Battle of the Gullet. We don't anticipate the Battle of the Gullet taking place until House of the Dragon season 3, though we could always be wrong.

Whatever does happen in the back half of season 2, I'm sure it'll be epic. There are now four episodes remaining and I can't wait to see where the HBO adaptation takes the story next!

Don't miss the fifth episode of House of the Dragon season 2 tonight on HBO and Max.