House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 3 Review

July 1, 2024

I spend a lot of time in these reviews calling for more action in this immensely talky show, but it doesn’t even need to show a proper battle to give the impression that the stakes are high, that there is a dynamic and a consequence to this endless intrigue. Thankfully, that becomes clear in episode 3 of season 2. On an idyllic day in the countryside, beside a lumber mill on a gently meandering river, we cut from two groups of teenagers posing to the aftermath of a devastating battle. Hundreds lie dead, the mill smokes, and the stream is fouled with corpses and soot. There are corpses as far as the eye can see.

This is the Battle of the Burning Mill between the “Green” Brackens and the “Black” Blackwoods. It’s a grand opening salvo in the Targaryen Civil War (aka the Dance of the Dragons), and since none of our main cast members are involved in it, it makes sense to skip the details and just remind ourselves that these debates in the council chambers we’ve been following are not academic. It’s also worth noting that this season’s new embroidered credits have been updated so that the tapestry now shows the funeral of young Prince Jaeherys and the ensuing execution of the Pied Pipers. Why does it appear in this episode and not in “Rhaenyra the Cruel“? I don’t know, but it’s something to look out for every week now.

Our main story begins on Dragonstone, as Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), Jacaerys (Harry Collett), and Rhaenys (Eve Best) meet at the tomb of the Cargyll twins. Rhaenys advises Rhaenyra to ask Alicent for peace, and clearly analyzes the comforting lies both sides tell each other. Rhaenys has really been given a lot more to do this season, and she’s doing a great job. We also learn that Mysaria actually tried to warn Rhaenyra of the danger of Ser Arryk’s (Luke Tittensor) attack last week, and Rhaenyra now rewards her with a place in her court. Mysaria also has a strange fascination with the circling, weeping dragon Seasmoke, and hints that he’s lonely. Again, the show hasn’t really made it clear whether the dragons are mostly beasts or intelligent beings; no one in the House of the Dragon seems interested in discussing their relationship with their steeds/weapons of mass destruction.

Rhaenyra sends her younger children away: Joffrey Velaryon and his young dragon to Lady Jeyne in the Vale, and the twins Aegon and Viserys with Lady Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) to Pentos. Rhaenyra sends Rhaena away with four dragon eggs that look red, gold, blue, and black (or perhaps dragon green). Since they are going to Pentos, one has to wonder if they will one day be inherited by Daenerys, but that seems like the wrong mix of colors.

Rhaenyra’s council also wants to send her away, urging her to act and move. (I sympathize.) But with the worst of her grief over and Rhaenys now advising her more intensively, she has no choice but to simply remain inactive: she actively seeks a way out. So she calls Mysaria in and asks how she can meet with Alicent in secret.

It turns out that Daemon (Matt Smith) has flown Caraxes to the ancient, cursed fortress of Harrenhal, widely considered the key to the coming conflict. He is greeted by its castellan, Ser Simon Strong (Simon Russell Beale), but the place is deeply haunted – and almost too dark to analyze, in the tradition of Game of Thrones. He soon has visions of the young Rhaenyra (a welcome return for Milly Alcock, who was great in the role) holding Jaehaerys’ tiny corpse. Is it the product of his own guilty conscience or the work of the mysterious and witchy-looking Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin)? She tells him, “You will die in this place,” which isn’t exactly the coziest opening line. It’s also interesting that Daemon insists on being addressed like a king, as “Your Grace,” rather than “my prince” like the prince consort he is. He still hasn’t come to terms with being ruled by Rhaenyra.

In King’s Landing, Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) must tolerate King Aegon’s (Tom Glynn-Carney) appointment of his sycophants to the Kingsguard and defends himself in the face of the loss of Ser Arryk, insisting that their forces must secure Harrenhal, that Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) protect the capital, and that Aegon stay home. Aemond essentially baits his brother into a fight by agreeing that it’s not a good idea for him to leave; the younger brother’s jealousy of the king is later fueled to the limit by a humiliating encounter in a brothel.

Cole rides out with a new haircut à la Mark Antony, and Alicent’s newly arrived brother Ser Gwayne (Freddie Fox) is immediately hostile toward the man who took over his father’s job. In his absence, Aegon appoints Larys (Matthew Neehdam) as Master of the Whisperers, a job perfectly suited to his creepiness level. (Note that Larys is lurking in that brothel, too.) The king heads to a seedy bar for a drink, where we see the nameless newcomer introduced in Episode 2, now called Ulf (Tom Bennett). It turns out he’s a party guy who claims to suck Targaryen blood—but he quickly backs down on his claims when the king arrives. Again, it’s nice to see non-nobles on this show every now and then, and a reminder that you don’t need a castle to have a stake in the world.

There are a few laughs in this episode, but for the most part it is a deadly serious endeavor.

Cole and Gwayne are briefly pursued by Baela on her dragon Moondancer, and she reports to Rhaenyra that they are on their way to Rosby, the seat of her ally. Lord Staunton sets out to fortify it, but Rhaenyra has another mission in mind. She sneaks into King’s Landing with her Kingsguard, Ser Steffon Darklyn (Anthony Flanagan), to visit the Great Sept of Baelor and speak secretly with Alicent. She wants peace, but Alicent insists that she must bend the knee, that she cannot resist the Greens, and that this was Viserys’ will changed in his final moments (which she seems to honestly believe). When she questions her, Rhaenyra (correctly) realizes that Alicent has heard Viserys’ cherished prophecy, the Song of Ice and Fire that led the first Aegon Targaryen to conquer Westeros. The fact that Alicent doesn’t know this convinces Rhaenyra that Viserys never changed his mind and that she is the rightful heir. She shatters Alicent’s own carefully cultivated belief that Viserys meant Her son Aegon, but Alicent doubles anyway. She leaves and Rhaenyra finally raises her chin resolutely. It is At. Enough of the excitement about overreactions and peace offers. Time for the fight.

There are a few laughs in this episode (Daemon’s “It’s a big chair made of swords” is well-timed, and Rhaenyra’s “Oh, I started badly” even makes Alicent smile) and a surprising amount of naked men, but for the most part this is a deadly serious endeavor—the emphasis is on “deadly,” given that beginning. Rhaenyra has finally given up hope of averting this war, and Alicent is all in. The result is a truly thrilling episode of season two that finally makes clear just how deadly the stakes of this family feud are.