My Father's New Queen review

The setup

The king has married a woman the same age as his son, and her first act as queen is making the prince bow and kiss her hand while the court laughs. She holds his gaze the whole time. That night, with the king passed out drunk, she reassigns her nightly oiling from the maids to him. His hands shake. She is well aware whose bride she is, she says, then reveals a snake insignia belonging to the house his father has fought for a decade, and dares him to report her or keep going.

Episode 2

A toast to the queen opens episode 2, along with his confession that he kept quiet, which she reframes as treason already committed. She lists her roles (his father's wife, his stepmother, a Vale by blood) and tells him to choose. Then the real plot arrives: her brother's army is close, and she plans to unbar the northern gate and let the castle fall. Riders appear ahead of schedule, and she demands his answer, with a promise attached.

Who's who

• The queen: the king's new wife and a Vale by birth, patient, ruthless and always a move ahead
• The prince: humiliated in public, tempted in private, and now holding a secret that could hang him
• The king: mostly offstage, passed out on wine while his kingdom is quietly sold out

Verdict: 7.0 out of 10

A palace thriller squeezed into two short episodes, and it wastes almost nothing. The public humiliation gives the prince a motive, the oiling scene gives the queen her leverage, and the siege twist turns flirtation into a loyalty test with a body count. She is the standout: every line she speaks is a trap. Where this goes next is genuinely unclear, and that uncertainty is exactly why the rest is tempting.

Episode guide