The following story contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 3 of House of the Dragon.
"SOON, THEY WILL not even remember what it was that began the war in the first place.” Rhaenys’s (Eve Best) comment is prescient. What is the straw that broke the dragon’s back and sent two Targaryen factions to war? Was it Aemond losing his eye? Was it a battle between warring houses in the Riverlands? Was it Alicent getting married to Viserys in the first place? Like so many things, it’s all of these reasons; you can’t point to one specific thing as the delineator in most wars. It’s a culmination of years of bad blood, slights (big or small), vendettas, and misinterpretations.
That lack of reasoning is arriving sooner than anticipated. House of the Dragon’s third episode—written by David Hancock with Geeta Vasant Patel returning to direct—kicks off with a seemingly innocuous event: a sort of Sharks and Jets warring of clans in the Riverlands. That argument in and of itself is a micro examination of that macro trend: Was it really about the boundary stones? Or were the Brackens and the Blackwoods always looking for an excuse to get after it, and the impending war became the final logic needed to set it off?
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. Roughly a season and a half into the series, House of the Dragon is finally at its long-promised outcome. War is here.
Let’s dig into this week’s massive episode and break down the biggest takeaways. Oh, and it goes without saying, but a major SPOILER WARNING here (in addition to the one at the top of this story) if you haven’t seen this week’s episode. Like, big time. Like, we’re going to spoil a major development in the next section level.
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The War for Harrenhal and the Return of Milly Alcock
“Harrenhal is the key to the Riverlands,” it’s said. Well, after being unceremonially dismissed last week, Daemon (Matt Smith) finds himself taking the famed Riverlands castle without much of a fight. See, Harrenhal has a storied legacy—one which is touched upon in Game of Thrones—as a decidedly cursed place. Aegon the Conqueror’s, well, first conquest involved claiming Harrenhal by landing his dragon Balerion on the highest tower, and then promptly burning the whole thing. That speaks to the castle’s desolate presence as Daemon approaches, as it remains as charred and burned out as it was when Aegon landed.
As such, Harrnehal has taken on a spookier presence, allowing for all kinds of supernatural activity. You know, like the return of Milly Alcock! Seeing Alcock return as the younger version of Rhaenyra (since her time on HoTD, she's been cast in a potentially career-making role as Supergirl in James Gunn's new DC Universe) is so fitting. Cast out and cut off from her in Dragonstone, Daemon fantasizes about the version of Rhaenyra he first met. But this romanticized version of Rhaenyra comes with the knowledge and understanding of his current deeds, casting a darker edge over it all.
I’ll be curious if this cameo lands with the audience. My take is that it’s super well executed. Alcock was one of the first season’s strongest hooks, and watching her across those first five episodes was spectacular as a real star-is-born moment. It’s too early to tell if this is a recurring bit or just a one-time thing, but I love this as a way to better get into Daemon’s headspace and play up the importance of Harrnehal’s cursed nature. That’s something we heard about in Game of Thrones but didn’t have much time to actually see.
Cole (Fabien Frankel) realizes the impact of controlling Harrenhal, but takes a different approach. Knowing the castle will need a large garrison to manage it, he plans on quieting the warring factions in the Riverlands and then marching on the castle all at once. Before he leaves, however, he walks away with some sick new jewelry as the new Hand, and also gets out of being the Hand! By heading to war, he basically turns over the responsibility of managing Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) to Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and Larys (Matthew Needham), although he gets a sort-of babysitter in the form of Alicent’s brother, Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox).
After Cole and the crew are spotted by Baela (Bethany Antonia), everyone is aware of one another’s movements. The first battle of the Dance of the Dragons will likely take place in the midst of the Riverlands. What may happen when these forces crash? It’s likely, as Rhaenys states, that reason will be forgotten.
Alicent and Rhaenyra’s Meeting
The moment between Alicent and Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), which closes this week’s episode, is, in many ways, what House of the Dragon was building to thus far. Amidst the candle-lit Great Sept of Baelor (which will see a different kind of fire years down the line at the hands of Cersei), Rhaenyra stages a desperate plea to try and end the war before it starts.
What’s heartbreaking about this scene, outside of the brilliant (and series-best) acting from Cooke and D’Arcy, is how Dragon leverages their shared history. The “We watched the tourney together” line distills and clarifies that with such a depth of understanding. The tragedy of Rhaenyra and Alicent is exactly what Rhaenys speaks about at the beginning of the episode with the idea of hotter blood or young men keen to take the bit in their teeth. These two women functioned for so long as the pawns in the schemes of older men jockeying for power. It’s no surprise they can’t come to terms when it comes.
Rhaenyra gets closure about her father’s death, at the cost of understanding that he never faltered in his belief she should be Queen. It’s here that both women come to realize the entire war is predicated on a misunderstanding. As Alicent recounts Viserys’s last words and speaks about the Song of Ice and Fire, Rhaenyra instantly realizes what he was speaking about and pleads with Alicent to stop. But the wheels are in motion. What’s done is done. It’s too late. War is here. Hope is burned away like the great exterior of Harrenhal, and what’s left of Westeros after all is said and done may look a lot like that once mighty monolith, reduced to nothing but ash.
Odds & Ends
- Interesting to finally meet Ulf (Tom Bennett) in this episode after seeing him inquire about the dead ratcatcher last week. UIf fancies himself as a “Dragonseed,” aka a Targaryen bastard. Is he legit or blowing smoke?
- Okay, so, about those dragon eggs that Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) takes with her to Pentos. There’s a bit of confusion amongst book readers about whether or not those are the eggs that Daenerys receives early on in Game of Thrones. Regardless, this defines the start of the Targaryen lineage finding a way to continue on in Pentos, far away from those who wish them harm.
- The plot with the Velaryons has been building in the background over the last few weeks but comes to more of a direct head this week as Rhaenys pleads with Corlys (Steve Toussaint) to formally declare an heir for Driftmark. Ever so wise, Rhaenys can see the players on the chess board and knows this is going to get far worse before it gets better. Otherwise, this plot continues to, ahem, drift along at a bit of a slower clip than some of the other more important threads.
- I would say that it’s probably not the best idea to piss off Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), who definitely doesn’t hold onto grudges in any capacity! Especially not when he’s with someone who is very clearly a motherly surrogate for him!