This episode was much slower than the series premiere, but that's honestly a good thing. It's good that they're giving the series time to breathe so that the characters can get some development. I was engaged the whole way through.
Corlys and Rhaenys are given much more to do this episode. I liked them last episode, but I love them even more now. We learn much more about Corlys and how he has his own agenda. We also get a great interaction between Rhaenys and Rhaenyra, where Rhaenys gives her the hard truth about how she'll never be queen.
Daemon has much less screen time this episode, but all his scenes are great. The scene in Dragonstone was so intense, I was genuinely worried that he was going to harm Otto and his men! Fortunately tho, Rhaenyra saves the day and stops Daemon from hurting anyone. Also, they somehow made me care about Daemon's future wife from just one scene.
Viserys also had some amazing scenes, especially the one with lyonel, where he tries to convince him to marry Corlys' daughter, and the one with Rhaenyra, where they finally have a heart to heart for the first time in 6 months. But by far the best part of the episode was the last 10 minutes. I was shocked when Viserys chose Alicent Hightower. The fact that this scene was shocking but you could also see it from a mile away makes it brilliant. Then Corlys decided to team up with Daemon. I did not expect that either! So many shocking moments in just one episode.
Overall, this was fantastic, even better than the premiere. I'm giving it an 8/10.