The House of Dragon is back with its third episode, which is, as expected, very brutal.
House of the Dragon
House of the Dragon is having a great time submerging itself. We are familiar with the players. We are familiar with the board. The show is now shifting gears and experimenting with themes. And it all culminates in a delightfully ridiculous battle scene! This was an excellent example.
The episode is bookended by Corlys Velaryon and Daemon Targaryen’s adventures in the Stepstones. The first scene is notable not so much for Daemon’s dragon Caraxes burning a bunch of guys on a beach—the special effects are a little underwhelming; dragon is expensive, y’all—but for a scene in which a soldier, bound to a post by the Crabfeeder, rejoices in Daemon’s dragon arrival and begs his prince to save him. Caraxes then steps on him.
Rhaenyra Targaryen goes through a rebellious adolescence.
The majority of the story takes place in the Kingswood outside of King’s Landing, where Viserys and his court have gathered for a hunt to celebrate his son Aegon’s second birthday. Viserys now has a son, Queen Alicent Hightower’s firstborn. After three years, the show still manages to convey that information without being obnoxious about it.
Naturally, Rhaenyra is displeased that she now has a shrieking little rival for the Iron Throne. In fact, she is dissatisfied in general. It’s bad enough that she’s going through a rebellious teen phase—Viserys remarks that if he forbids her from marrying into a certain family, she’ll do it just to spite him—but she has to do it while watching her chances for rulership slip through her fingers, or so it feels. Why else would her father try to match her up with Jason Lannister, who appears to believe she would prefer to live with him at Casterly Rock rather than travel to King’s Landing to rule alongside her as king consort?
On the one hand, Rhaenyra’s petulance is grating; who wants to hang out with someone who constantly complains? On the other hand, how would you react if your father married your best friend and then took steps to deprive you of your inheritance?
Alicent Hightower, the enigmatic
Speaking of her best friend, we learn a little more about Alicent in this chapter. She appears settled now that she has given the king a son (and is expecting another) and is still sympathetic to Rhaenyra, who clearly hasn’t forgiven her for marrying her father. Part of me wishes the show would sit down with Alicent and ask her to explain exactly what she’s thinking; how much of her behaviour is influenced by her father and how much is her own choice.
But there’s also something to be said for keeping Alicent at bay and letting her actions speak for themselves. She wishes to be both a good friend to Rhaenrya and a good daughter to her father, but she is unable to do so. Her conversation with Viserys near the end of the episode, in which she begs him to help Daemon dragon in the Stepstones, suggests a third option: thinking for herself.
Meanwhile, Rhaenyra spends the majority of the hunt alone, moping about her dwindling fortunes and bonding with Criston Cole, who follows her lest she wander the forest alone. Criston’s development has been left on the back burner, which pays off here. We believe him when he tells Rhaenyra that he owes her everything because she chose him for the Kingsguard just an episode ago. Their chemistry evolves organically.
The agonizing internal life of King Viserys Targaryen
However, King Viserys is unquestionably the star of the show. Of course, he clashes with Rhaenyra, and he does that thing where you get too heated at a party and yell too loudly, and everyone notices, and it’s awkward. That’s just one of his many hits. There’s a nice early scene where he pretends to be uninterested in Stepstones news in front of others, but eagerly asks after Daemon dragon when no one is looking. Even when they’re not onscreen together, their brotherly bond is a highlight; I can’t wait for them to share another scene.
Worried about his daughter and tired of sycophants like Otto badgering him about moving Aegon up in the line of succession (remember, Otto is Aegon’s grandfather), Viserys becomes inebriated during the festivities and wanders outside to stare into a bonfire, where his wife joins him. He delivers a passionate monologue about a vision he once had of a son he would place on the Iron Throne, how he never intended to remarry, how he named Rhaenyra heir out of guilt for murdering her mother, and how he may have been mistaken. It’s a powerful portrayal of a man being torn apart on the inside. Matt Smith and Milly Alcock have been rightly praised for their performances as Daemon and Rhaenyra, respectively, but I believe Paddy Considine deserves to be recognised as well.
Then there’s a grimly beautiful scene in which Viserys spears a hart that has been tied up by his hunters and prepared for his blade. Viserys does not want to argue with either his daughter or his brother. He doesn’t want to go to war, and he may not want to be king at all. And he doesn’t want to kill this magnificent creature, but he must, and another small part of him dies as a result.
Overall, this was a bloody brutal, moody mission accomplished episode.
