The Biblical historical drama series on Prime Video, House of David, has returned with a 2nd season, intending to continue the epic tale of David’s rise from a mere shepherd to a giant-slayer to the King of Israel. The first two episodes of the season, premiering together, deal with the incidents from the Valley of Ellah, where a destructive war between the Israelites and the Philistines is still ongoing, even after David’s heroic triumph over the giant, Goliath, at the end of the previous season. So far, House of David still remains a drama to be enjoyed by those looking for a shiny refresher to their Bible history lessons, with modern visuals and an impressive production.
Spoiler Alert
What is the result of the war?
House of David season 2 episode 1 begins at the Valley of Ellah, with David triumphing over Goliath using his masterful skills with the sling, and taking hold of Goliath’s mighty sword, which was believed to be the strongest weapon in the whole universe. The sheer size and strength of the sword make up for David’s lack of experience sword fighting, and he manages to survive the attacks of the Philistines, while the battle grows more intense on other parts of the battlefield. Prince Jonathan, the eldest son of King Saul and a dedicated warrior of the Kingdom of Israel, fights valiantly, still taking charge of the soldiers and leading them into battle. He is helped by the commander-in-chief, Abner, who himself fights off a number of enemy soldiers quite efficiently. The second-in-command, Joab, remains ever-prepared to protect the prince at all costs, and fights through hordes of enemies to ensure it.
Elsewhere, David’s brothers, all soldiers in the army, fight with all their strength to protect both their brother and their kingdom. The Philistines have been trying to get hold of David, possibly to avenge the death of Goliath by killing the shepherd, and so with his underwhelming fighting abilities, David requires extra protection from his brothers, and also from Jonathan. The leader of the Tribe of Judah, David’s eldest brother, Eliab, finally makes a massive breakthrough in the war, as he kills one of the Philistine kings and immediately makes a portion of the soldiers retreat. With this fall of a leader, the scale tips to the side of the Israelites, and they do not want to let go of this chance to force the enemies back. Eliab and his men advance, while Jonathan manages to shoot an arrow into the hand of King Achish, the leader of this attack on the Kingdom of Israel, making him flee the battlefield temporarily.
Meanwhile, King Saul’s two daughters, Mychal and Mirab, who had made their way to the Valley of Ellah at the end of season 1, find themselves in trouble when the Philistine soldiers surround the king’s tent, inside which they had taken shelter. Although their father had asked them to stay put at the tent no matter what happened, Mychal quickly realizes that they will be killed by the enemies, and so she decides to flee the tent with her elder sister. They work together to distract the soldiers and run out of the tent, but are eventually cornered by two Philistines. This is when Mychal’s combat training from her childhood days comes in handy, as King Saul had taught her how to fight so that she could defend herself. While Mychal uses her skills, Mirab joins in too, using sheer courage to stab one of the soldiers to death, and ultimately the sisters make it safely back to the Israeli side of the battlefield.
Prophet Samuel arguably has the easiest job in the whole battle, or perhaps the toughest, if we are to believe that he does have an impact on the result. Being the religious leader, Samuel climbs to the top of a cliff that overlooks the battlefield and prays to God, asking for his help in defeating the Philistines and driving them away from Israeli lands. King Achish does take notice of the prophet and sends a few of his men to capture the old man so the Israelites are left with no spiritual support, but Samuel turns out to be stronger than a few mere soldiers. He manages to bring down all the soldiers that corner him and also assure a victory for his kingdom. Ultimately, the Israelites win the war, as the Philistinian army retreats, apart from their leader, King Achish, who sets out on a personal mission.
What happens to King Saul?
Despite having earlier sent David to fight Goliath on his behalf and staying inside his camp away from the battlefield initially, King Saul eventually dons his armor and sets out to play his part in the battle. Saul has not been a true leader in recent times in any sense of the term, and in fact his exiled son, Eshbaal, had already returned to the palace to sit on the throne, believing that his father and brothers will be killed by the Philistines. However, Saul now tries to reform himself, seemingly having started to regain his faith in religion, the lack of which had been clouding his judgment earlier. But King Saul had committed a sin by not following God’s orders and giving himself more importance than the divine leader, which must be punished in some way.
Therefore, as he now enters the battlefield, the king starts to repeatedly have hallucinatory visions of the leader of the Amalekites, King Agag, whom he had brought back to his kingdom in chains, only to torture and display to his people as a cruel show of power. While God, through Prophet Samuel, had ordered Saul to kill all the Amalekites and their livestock, he had intentionally kept Agag alive, along with the best cattle of the enemy, for political and financial advantages, respectively. This was the moment Saul had started veering away from God and getting drunk on political power, and so Agag had become symbolic of his hubris. Thus, now, when he returns to the battlefield, for the first time after his falling out with Samuel and God, Saul keeps imagining Agag taunting him.
In his pursuit of Agag, Saul keeps walking into the forest near the battlefield, and he then has a confrontation with the Amalekite king, although the latter is not really present. While Saul does strike his sword into someone’s body, it is soon revealed to be just a Philistine soldier, meaning that him seeing the dead King Agag was entirely hallucinatory. This hallucination confirms that Saul is still affected by dark influences like pride and greed and, therefore, is still far from the blessings of God. But as his visions fade, a different threat emerges in front of him, this time in the form of King Achish, the leader of the Philistines.
Many years ago, Saul had led a war against Gath and captured the erstwhile king of the city, Maoch. He had then brought Maoch back to his kingdom and had him executed in public. Among the crowd on that fateful day was also Maoch’s young son, Achish, who vowed to avenge his father’s death after growing up. Now the king of Gath himself, Achish first wages war on Israel, and then upon realizing that they are losing the battle, he sets out on a personal mission to find King Saul and kill him. Thus, Achish and Saul face each other inside the forest, and the former would have definitely killed the King of Israel had Jonathan and David not intervened. Ultimately, King Saul remains safe, as the giant brothers of Goliath carry Achish away from the battlefield in order to protect him from the Israelites. Saul, meanwhile, returns to Gibeah, celebrating Israel’s victory in the battle.
How do the Philistines react?
Back in Gath, King Achish welcomes a guest at his palace—Dagonor, the son of Ashdod, one of the kings who had been slain in the recent battle against the Kingdom of Israel. It initially seems like Dagonor has come to confront Achish over the recent loss, as he menacingly mentions that the latter is lucky to still have a throne to sit on. The two men soon engage in an intense sword fight as well, with Dagonor being the aggressor, but his real intention is not to attack Achish. Instead, he wants to show the latter a new sword, forged from strong iron, that can be easily used to defeat the Israelites the next time around. With the emergence of the Iron Age, when House of David season 2 takes place, Dagonor has gotten hold of newly forged swords that can shatter the blade of Achish’s sword in mere minutes. Achish is still intent on avenging his father’s death, and so he agrees to Dagonor’s plan, which we can hope to watch more of in the episodes to come.
Is Jonathan falling in love?
As Jonathan returns to Gibeah, the wounds afflicted during the war are still fresh on his body, and his health starts deteriorating, as he seems to suffer some sort of infection. One night, a servant girl in the palace, Kazia, offers to help Jonathan by taking him to a healer living in the surrounding hills, who can surely cure the infection. Kazia states that she herself had been helped by the healer numerous times before, and so Jonathan agrees to go see the man. As he wakes up the next morning, directly at the hut of the healer, he makes acquaintance with the learned man, Hiram, and his granddaughter, Sara, who also helps as his assistant. It is Sara who figures out that Jonathan’s infection must be stemming from a piece of arrowhead still stuck inside his wound, and she offers to operate on it using her rudimentary tools.
Although Jonathan is not convinced at all, he eventually gives in after realizing that the broken arrow might lead to his death if it is not removed in time. Sara succeeds in pulling out the arrowhead out and saving Jonathan’s life, which makes him grow a soft corner for her. When Jonathan is finally about to return to the palace, accompanied by Eshbaal, he even asks Sara to go with him to be his personal healer. It is evident that he has started to develop feelings for Sara, although whether a relationship between them is possible is a different question. It was suggested that Sara’s beloved brother had possibly lost his life in a war waged by Jonathan and his family, and so she might actually have hostile feelings against them.
What happens to Samuel?
As Prophet Samuel sets out by himself once the war is over, he is approached by Saul and his men, not to present any apology or admit his mistake, but to basically rub the win in his face. Saul is ecstatic at how he has (arguably) led the Israelites to victory in the war and claims it as proof of his leadership qualities, which Samuel is not convinced by. Saul now openly states that Samuel should once again anoint him as the King of Israel, in front of everyone, but the prophet simply refuses to do so, since he has not received any such orders from God. Saul once again chooses to defy God and the prophet, and he now has Samuel imprisoned at Gibeah. Here, Abner comes to meet with Samuel secretly, seemingly to talk the prophet into accepting Saul’s demands, but he turns the tables by talking about how Abner also has a dark presence in him, which can turn him into an egoistic villain just like Saul.
The next visitor at Samuel’s cell happens to be Doeg, the Edomite servant who had betrayed the house of Saul in the previous season by killing Goliath’s mother and making the giants agree to fight alongside the Philistines against the Israelites. Doeg had found the sword of Goliath at the end of the war and sent it to Abner, seemingly as part of a new conspiracy he was hatching. When he visits Samuel’s cell, Doeg wants the prophet to agree to Saul’s terms, seemingly after being sent by Saul’s wife, Queen Ahinoam. However, Samuel uses information about Doeg’s past, particularly about his mother, to confuse him, and he then causes mental torment for the antagonist by using his divine powers. Ultimately, Samuel flees the cell and escapes captivity by leaving a befuddled Doeg in the cell. The prophet’s escape means that he will probably take action against Saul for having disrespected him, and he might bring down even further struggles on the king.
Why does Eshbaal conspire against David?
In reward for his bravery in slaying Goliath, David is made a part of the house of Saul, and he is also promised the hand of one of Saul’s daughters in marriage. David couldn’t be happier, as he realizes that his romantic relationship with Mychal will soon become official, but before any of these celebrations, he has to return home for his brother, Nethaneel’s funeral. But in the meanwhile, Eshbaal manages to convince his sister, Mirab, to pull off an unthinkable stunt. More than conspiring against David, Eshbaal seems to be interested in conspiring against Mychal and Jonathan, out of what seems to be jealousy and spite. Eshbaal and Mirab have always felt that their family has been biased towards Jonathan and Mychal, while they themselves have been sidelined because of their rebellious attitude. Therefore, Eshbaal convinces Mirab to have a word with their father and ask him for a more direct role in ruling over Israel, at least in the future. That Mirab is basically mouthing Eshbaal’s ideas to her father is evident from the fact that she uses the same phrase, about wine clouding one’s judgment, as Eshbaal did in front of her earlier.
At the very end of House of David season 2 episode 2, Eshbaal and Mirab’s plan becomes clear, as Saul announces the marriage between David and Mirab, instead of Mychal. The siblings do not want to hand over power and control of the kingdom entirely to their fellow siblings, and so they conspire to keep them in check. Perhaps Mirab knows that David will still be close with Mychal, even if they are married, and so it will not be so easy for them to establish a stronghold over the family. The consequences of this decision will become evident in the next episode, but David certainly does not seem pleased by the king’s sudden change of decision.
