Episode 3 is now out, and if you’ve just watched it, then this is the video for you. Throughout it, we’re gonna be breaking down the easter eggs and also going over the changes from the books. There’s lots of things that they’re clearly setting up and some major things that are just about to happen.
Olive branches are extended, Criston gets a haircut, and Mysaria finds her feet as a master of whisperers.
Larys gets it too, and he’s gonna keep her on her toes—that’s two foot puns to start off the video.
HOUSE OF THE DRAGON SEASON 2 EPISODE 3 BREAKDOWN
Now, we begin with what I ultimately see as a metaphor for how the entire conflict is heading. Here we join the Blackwoods and Brackens with their rivalry leading to a slaughter.
This opens up the chapter “The Dying of the Dragons,” subtitled “The Red Dragon and the Gold.”
The book says:
“When the Brackens gathered a strong force to strike back, Lord Samwell Blackwood surprised them on the march, taking them unawares as they camped beneath a riverside mill. In the fight that followed, the mill was put to the torch, and men fought and died for hours bathed in the red light of the flames. Ser Amos Bracken, leading the host from Stone Hedge, cut down and slew Lord Blackwood in single combat, only to perish himself when a weirwood arrow found the eye slit of his helm and drove deep into his skull. Supposedly that shaft was loosed by Lord Samwell’s sixteen-year-old sister, Alysanne, who would later be known as Black Aly, but whether this is fact or mere family legend cannot be known.”
Now, the next passage does spoil things, so I’m gonna save it until the spoiler section at the end, but we know that this was called the Battle of the Burning Mill. As we pull out and see the bodies, we see that burning windmill in the background.
Now, these two houses have had a rivalry that’s lasted thousands of years, like the houses of Screen Crush and Heavy Spoilers. Their history is so old that the families don’t even know who started it.
The answer to that is lost in time, sin against sin.
The work even builds upon this with it never giving a clear answer:
“How did all this begin, between Blackwood and Bracken? Is it written down?
“It is, my lord,” the boy said, “but some of the histories were penned by their maesters and some by ours, centuries after the events that they purport to chronicle.”
Thus, we don’t even know who started it, which is later played upon with the rivalry between the blacks and greens.
At the sept, we watch Rhaenyra and Alicent bicker over who did what first, and it gets to the point that they can’t agree on anything.
They bring up how different things could’ve been what triggered things to fall apart, and thus, starting with these two sides is the perfect way to kick things off.
Huge shoutouts to LChris24 on Reddit for compiling every mention of their history throughout every book. I’m not gonna cover that ’cause I wanna keep the breakdown less than 3 hours, but it’s believed that the Blackwoods and Brackens were descendants of the First Men. Both houses were initially kings of the Riverlands with the Blackwoods being driven out of the north by the Starks. In the end, it all came down to religion, with the houses being divided firstly over who they worshipped. The Blackwoods wanted to stay loyal to the old gods, whereas the Brackens embraced the Faith of the Seven.
Now both claimed royalty, and it’s said that they denounced the other house because of this. The Blackwood version says:
“It goes back to the Age of Heroes. The Blackwoods were kings in those days. The Brackens were petty lords, renowned for breeding horses. Rather than pay their king his just due, they used the gold their horses brought them to hire swords and cast him down.”
Whereas the Bracken version says:
“Before the Andals came to Westeros, House Bracken ruled this river. We were kings, and the Blackwoods were our vassals, but they betrayed us and usurped the crown.”
So, if you extrapolate this opening and try and show what it symbolizes, you can easily apply it to greens and blacks.
We’ve actually had run-ins with the rivalry before, with it being a part of episode 4. Starting with the search for a suitor for Rhaenyra, we saw Willem Blackwood asking for her hand in marriage. He ended up dueling with Jerrel Bracken, which led to the latter’s death.
The kid we see here is Benjicot Blackwood, who was known as Bloody Ben. The casting department absolutely nailed it here with him looking near identical to how he appears in the book.
During a meeting at the small council later in the series, we also heard about Samwell Blackwood. He’d complained that the Brackens had been annexing their land, with that setting the grounds for what comes here.
Apparently, the boundary stones have been moved so that the cows now have more land to graze on. The Brackens deny doing this, but they still claim it’s Bracken land, which is sort of the denial about all the murders between the greens and blacks. No one is taking the blame, per se, with even Daemon saying he didn’t want Jahaerys to die.
Did though, mate, bloody worse than the Lannisters with that kid.
Either way, this also highlights the feud between the lands and what it’s eventually gonna lead to. Both houses have pledged to opposite sides with their support leading into a giant battle. Bodies litter the land, and it highlights the effects of the civil war. This is then echoed in Eryyk and Arryk, who we catch being buried in the same grave. Both swore themselves to other sides, and all it leads to is death and misery.
It’s kinda like when people don’t watch Screen Crush to stay loyal to me, but guys, you can watch both channels, mate, watch them both.
What’s worse is that when the Bracken holds his sword out, we can get a good look at the end. In the next shot, when we cut to them dead, we pan up to look at the handle. This sword seems to be the same one he held out, highlighting how he was cut down with his own blade. It speaks to the nature of violence and how it often ends up hurting you as well.
I feel like that’s shared in the brothers who ended up turning against each other.
Rhaenyra even shows respect to Arryk when those around say he sullied his grave. Realising that Otto wouldn’t do it, Rhaenys correctly guesses that Aegon is being led by new blood. Now, in the aftermath of it, the book explains a lot of Rhaenyra’s arc in this episode and her reluctance to launch an attack on King’s Landing. It says:
“The bird arrived as Rhaenyra and her blacks were mourning Ser Erryk and debating the proper response to ‘Aegon the Usurper’s’ latest attack. Though shaken by this attempt on her life (or the lives of her sons), the queen was still reluctant to attack King’s Landing. Munkun (who, it must be remembered, wrote many years later) says this was because of her horror of kinslaying. Maegor the Cruel had slain his own nephew Aegon and had been cursed thereafter, until he bled his life away upon his stolen throne. Septon Eustace claims Rhaenyra had ‘a mother’s heart’ that made her reluctant to risk the lives of her remaining sons. Mushroom alone was present for these councils, however, and the fool insists that Rhaenyra was still so grief-sick over the death of her son Lucerys that she absented herself from the war council, giving over her command to the Sea Snake and his wife, Princess Rhaenys.”
Now, it’s Rhaenys who suggests that Rhaenyra goes directly to Alicent, and they reference their final meeting.
Rhaenys also discusses how the gods hate the wars between kins, typing back to that idea of being a kinslayer. It was genuinely seen as being a curse, and she’s seen first hand with Arryk and Erryk what it leads to. So, diplomacy is the way forward, and we end the scene with dirt piling onto the two twins. Now, I absolutely love the cut that we get in the next scene, which has Ser Criston looking down with us placed below him.
His actions basically led to the death of both, and the edit gives the feeling that he was behind it. Symbolically, he’s now looking down at the grave from the way it’s presented. Kubrick would be proud. However, we instead catch him alone staring at a seat.
You can also see the Hand’s collar around his neck, which is a really nice little touch in the costume department.
Cutting to the Targaryen banners rolling out, we see that these have a green background, highlighting who’s now in charge. There’s also the golden Targaryen sigil, which was altered to represent Aegon’s dragon, Sunfyre.
The book says:
“For both the blacks and the greens, blood called to blood for vengeance. And all across the realm, lords called their banners, and armies gathered and began to march.”
That pretty much sets up the tone of the episode, and it was the passage after that that went into the Burning Mill.
The book also adds in a little note about the colours that says:
“Initially both claimants to the Iron Throne flew the three-headed dragon of House Targaryen, red on black, but by the end of 129 AC, both Aegon and Rhaenyra had introduced variations to distinguish their own supporters from their foes. The king changed the color of the dragon on his banners from red to gold, to celebrate the brilliant golden scales of his dragon, Sunfyre, whilst the queen quartered the Targaryen arms with those of House Arryn and House Velaryon, in honor of her lady mother and her first husband, respectively.”
As Criston walks down the steps, we can also see the giant Faith of the Seven symbol, which was added to the keep towards the latter part of season 1. This highlights the joining of church and state, but the Kingdom isn’t what it used to be.
The knights of the Kingsguard slack and stand about and clearly don’t take it seriously. There’s a great touch that they do with the lighting where we see the back of Criston’s cloak. It appears white, whilst the others are grey, and as he descends, it changes too. This white cloak is supposed to represent purity, which is why he was so annoyed that Arryk had his dirty.
Even when he was with Alicent breaking his oaths and her back, he still made sure to take care of the cloak. We catch him sitting in the Hand of the King’s chair and focus on the symbol just before he sits down.
Clearly, he’s not the right man for the job, though, and clearly, everyone’s not taking him seriously. This is also reflected in Aegon, who we catch playing with the Catspaw dagger. This holds in it the Song of Ice and Fire, which was inscribed to be passed from the rightful heir to the rightful heir. However, that legend’s gonna be lost, and thus, Westeros won’t be prepared for the Night King. All of these aspects are highlighting what the rule is like under Aegon and how things just aren’t right.
They also bring up Lord Tully as well as Aegon’s unseen brother, Daeron. They bring up his dragon and how he’ll be ready in a couple of weeks, with this being known as Tession. At this point in time, he was working under Lord Ormund Hightower all the way out in Hightown. Placed there as a cupbearer, I do believe we’ll see him when Otto returns. We know that he’s returning home due to comments last week, and we’ll likely get to meet Daeron the Daring soon.
There’s also the Lannisters at Casterly Rock with Tyland’s brother, Jason, appearing during season 1.
Criston brings up how he wants to attack the Riverlands with Harrenhal being the key to doing that. This is something that happens in the book, with it saying:
“He proposed to strike the Riverlands from both east and west and thus force the lords of the Trident to fight on two fronts at once. Jason Lannister had assembled a formidable host in the western hills: a thousand armored knights, and seven times as many archers and men-at-arms. Let him descend from the high ground and cross the Red Fork with fire and sword, whilst Ser Criston Cole marched forth from King’s Landing, accompanied by Prince Aemond himself on Vhagar. The two armies would converge on Harrenhal to crush the ‘traitors of the Trident’ between them. And if his uncle emerged from behind the castle walls to oppose them, as he surely must, Vhagar would overcome Caraxes, and Prince Aemond would return to the city with Prince Daemon’s head.”
Now, Vhaghar in the show is gonna remain in the city with Aemond, which is a slight difference.
We see Aemond playing with a coin, which is the one he picked up off the map last week. To me, this symbolized his brush with death, as it showed both Both and Cheese had been hunting for him. Aegon is told he has to remain in the castle and not risk war, which is something we’ll talk about in that spoiler section.
Cutting to Dragonstone, we see Mysaria watching Seasmoke flying over the bay.
This is the dragon that Addam of Hull spotted last week, with it belonging to Laenor in the past. The book describes how dragons that have had riders before often crave that companionship, and Seasmoke is clearly searching for a new rider. No prizes for guessing what’s being set up, and we’ll also touch upon that more in the spoiler section. This has a lot to do with the Dragonseeds, which is a term we hear later in the episode.
In case you missed our video last week, you might be wondering what that scar is around her neck. Throughout the early parts of season 1, she always wore dresses that covered it up. However, in episode 9, you could catch it, and it likely comes from a slavery collar.
Asking for a place on Rhaenyra’s council, she’s seen first hand that the blacks can be merciful. On the other side of this, the Hightowers betrayed her with them burning one of her establishments during episode 9.
This was because she wanted to end the slave pits, which the Hightowers refused to do. As we know, one of Aegon’s bastards is there, and we know she’s had a really difficult life.
Shoutouts to @vricchini, who in our comments last week also brought up the connection that there could be to Shae. They theorized that this could be foreshadowing the end of their family with Shae eventually being strangled by Tyrion. Mysaria may be an ancestor to Shae, but let me know if you disagree.
Now inside, we see Rhaenyra meeting Rhaena, and she brings up Lady Jeyne Arryn. Rhaenyra wants to send Joffrey as a ward, and we learn that she’s pledged her loyalty for a dragon.
Like Rhaenyra, several men had tried to usurp her, but she always managed to keep her place due to how impenetrable the Vale is.
She said:
“Thrice have mine own kin sought to replace me,” Lady Jeyne told Prince Jacaerys. “My cousin Ser Arnold is wont to say that women are too soft to rule. I have him in one of my sky cells, if you would like to ask him. Your Prince Daemon used his first wife most cruelly, it is true…but notwithstanding your mother’s poor taste in consorts, she remains our rightful queen, and mine own blood besides, an Arryn on her mother’s side. In this world of men, we women must band together. The Vale and its knights shall stand with her…if Her Grace will grant me one request.” When the prince asked what that might be, she answered, “Dragons. I have no fear of armies. Many and more have broken themselves against my Bloody Gate, and the Eyrie is known to be impregnable. But you have descended on us from the sky, as Queen Visenya once did during the Conquest, and I was powerless to halt you. I mislike feeling powerless. Send me dragonriders.”
So this is the request Rhaenyra is talking about, and she sends her on a mission along with dragon eggs, which the work brings up. It does spoil something down the line, so…yeah, you know it by now. End of the video. Watch until the end. Hit the thumbs up 40 times.
Now, it’s also important to note that Rhaenyra says Rhaena should write to Prince Reggio and perhaps go to Pentos to hide out further afield. Reggio appeared in episode 6 of Season 1, and he has hosted the family before. However, Rhaena is hesitant because it’s where her mother died, with that happening at the end of the episode.
Now, they also bring up the dragons Stormcloud and Tyraxes.
Stormcloud is Aegon the Third’s dragon, with the egg being placed into his cradle at his birth.
Tyraxes belongs to Joffrey, with it being a medium-sized dragon that was slightly smaller than Vermax and Arrax.
Now, from here we get what’s my favourite scene in the episode with Daemon descending on Harrenhal.
The guards there look absolutely terrified, with them even screaming as they run through the streets.
In case you don’t know, the reason that Harrenhal’s in ruins is due to an attack carried out by Aegon the Conqueror. After Harren the Black refused to bend the knee, he attacked the location and burned it with Balerion.
This is something we see in the intro, so you can understand why the guards would be terrified.
Now, Daemon going to Harrenhal is something that actually happens much earlier in the book. In the work, this kickstarted a son for a son with it being before both Luc’s death and Jace hitting up Winterfell. Daemon was actually at Harrenhal when Luc died, and he sent a raven to Rhaenyra with the message: “a son for a son.”
Personally, I like that they recorded it as it meant the pair could have more conflict on Dragonstone whereas there wasn’t any there.
Now something just seems off about the place, and it’s very mysterious and eerie. Just the way these moments are shot lets you instantly know that something is off.
Daemon comes across the Great Hall, and this is what opened Season 1, with it being where Jahareys announced the next in line. That’s what kickstarted it all, with it being a poignant reminder of how we began.
Now there is said to be a curse on Harrenhal, which the death of the Strongs in season 1 was blamed on. However, many rightly suspect that it was Larys, with him being one of the show’s big heels.
The place doesn’t put up much of a fight, though, with this also being something that happens in the book.
Though large parts of Harren’s great folly were in ruins, the castle’s towering curtain walls still made it as formidable a stronghold as any in the Riverlands…but Aegon the Dragon had proved it vulnerable from the sky. With its lord, Larys Strong, away in King’s Landing, the castle was but lightly garrisoned. Having no wish to suffer the fate of Black Harren, its elderly castellan Ser Simon Strong (uncle to the late Lord Lyonel, great-uncle to Lord Larys) was quick to strike his banners when Caraxes lighted atop Kingspyre Tower.
This is who we meet in the entry, with him giving it up faster than your ex when she went on the rebound.
Bending the knee is something Harren the Black failed to do, and it cost him his life.
HOUSE OF THE DRAGON SEASON 2 EPISODE 3 ANALYSIS
Now at this point, Alys Rivers walks in, who bewitches Daemon later in the episode. The work says about her:
Alys Rivers was at least forty years of age during the Dance of the Dragons, that much is known; Mushroom makes her even older. All agree that she looked younger than her years, but whether this was simple happenstance or achieved through her practice of the dark arts, men continue to dispute. Whatever her powers, it would seem Daemon Targaryen was immune to them, for little is heard of this supposed sorceress whilst the prince held Harrenhal.
However, in the show, we get the inner workings of it, with it giving us a cameo of Milly Alcock, who returns as a young Rhaenyra.
Now, the Strongs share food with Daemon, and we cut to the other members of the family. They all have dark curly hair, and it’s weird…weird that Jace, Luc, and Joffrey all had this hair too.
Very strong boys, though, them.
Being the largest castle in the realm, Daemon wants to put it into repair and use it as a way to heighten the blacks’ forces. They yet again bring up Grover Tully, aka the lord of Riverrun. He’s an old man at this point, with them bringing up how his bannermen just kinda do what they want. The work tells us because of his age that he was stuck in his ways and that he refused to give any loyalty to the greens.
Though he wasn’t given focus during the end of the first episode in season 1, we do know that he swore himself to Rhaenyra.
Edmund Tully would appear in the main series, and I imagine his character’s gonna pop up at some point.
We end the scene by Daemon saying he wants to march on King’s Landing and cut to the Red Keep to see Criston’s new haircut.
The lad’s got the time to do everything other than his job, and we meet Alicent’s brother, Ser Gwayne Hightower. The guy’s got a bit of a bee in his bonnet because he replaced his dad as Hand of the King. Don’t tell him what you’ve been up to with his sister, mate. Sheeebow.
Anyway, Gwayne is only mentioned briefly in the book, with his entire appearance taking place over one paragraph. Here, they’ve given the character far more to do, with him accompanying Criston on his journey.
Now Criston also asks Alicent for his favor before he heads out. This actually builds off the first season, and at the tourney in episode 1, Alicent gave her favor to Daemon to annoy her dad.
This happened roughly at the 30-minute mark, and the script told us that it rubbed Rhae the wrong way.
The script says that Alicent was blushing and that Rhaenyra doesn’t like this, and she then frowns and shifts in her seat. This didn’t happen in the episode, but it does give some insight.
Now Criston then took the favor of Rhaenyra next, with the script outlining how Alicent felt. It said her hopes were dashed and that she looked at Rhaenyra with envy. This clearly shows she had a crush on Criston, with it basically explaining everything about the character. This is why she was so heartbroken when she suspected the pair of sleeping together and why she went to him after the wedding.
She clearly felt like her friend took her man and basically wants everything she has. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the house is green, and being green with envy is also a thing.
The tourney is also one of the first things Rhaenyra brings up at the end, with her discussing the bloodshed that came forth from it.
So this favor carries a lot of meaning, and we then watch as they ride out. Can’t show it ’cause of YouTube monetization, but we see Cheese being picked at by a raven, but I really hope that…really hope that dog’s okay.
Cutting to Dragonstone, we hear that Rhaenyra basically goes with the idea that the dragons are a nuclear deterrent.
27:19 “If dragons begin fighting dragons, we bring our own destruction.”
She says that fear is their greatest weapon, and it sort of speaks to the Cold War mentality that became prevalent after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Countries know they could quite easily annihilate each other, but there’s always the fear that the other could do the same. Thus, no one wants to hit that point because it has the potential to wipe out the Targaryens.
The council wants Rhaenyra to go into hiding, and they’ll conduct the war, but she lambasts them for doing this. Rhaenys brings up how she wears Jahaerys’ crown, with him ushering in an age of peace that lasted longer than any king before. This really helps to explain her actions and why Rhaenyra would rather try and debate things than go to war.
Now, we then cut to Corlys’ ship, which…kinda rate how every episode they’re fixing it up a bit more.
This was badly damaged, with Corlys almost losing his life until he was saved by Alyn off-screen.
Rhaenys talks about the succession, and she wants Rhaena to be named the heir to Driftmark. Corlys says he wants Joffrey, with the pair touching upon this in season 1. The pair clearly know the strong boys aren’t related, but he said that history does not remember blood; it remembers names. This was such an important quote that it was actually used at the end of the trailer for the first season.
Corlys is clearly more interested in legacy than he is about family, and he looks to the legends rather than what’s in front of him. They’re gonna be doing some really interesting stuff with him and his heirs and how important the notions of names are. I even have some mates who only have had daughters, and they legit get annoyed that their name will be changed if or when they marry someone. It’s a weird thing to get so held up against, and back in medieval times, it was even worse. King Henry VIII was desperate for a son because women were viewed as being unable to rule. Them losing their names as well also caused issues too, and yeah, it’s a really interesting way to discuss whether this stuff actually matters.
Now, from here, we see four eggs being sent with Rhaena. I do wonder if three of these will end up with Daenerys due to the way things are left off, which we’ll discuss more in the spoiler section. However, there were three eggs shown in the trailer as well, and I believe that these will make their way to Daenerys. They’ll then be presented at her wedding to Khal Drogo, which will kickstart the series and the rest of the arc for the Targaryens.
One does hatch, which we’ll talk about in just a bit, but it definitely felt like it was teasing that with the focus.
Saying goodbye to Joffrey and Viserys and Aegon…yeah, it gets confusing, mate…the kids are sent out of harm’s way. Something similar, of course, happened in the Second World War, with my grandma actually being sent into the country to live away from the city. She lived with a family that looked after her while the war went on, and it’s basically the same sort of thing here.
Now, with Helaena, we get…get a turn I wasn’t expecting.
She’s taking the death of Jaeherys pretty well, whereas the book said she fell into despair. Helaena didn’t recover from it and spent the rest of her life miserable.
The book says she refused to bathe and eat, which isn’t something they do in the show. However, Aegon does carry on the drinking that it’s said he did, with him seeming half-cut throughout most of the episode.
The guy just needs to take off the armour and slip into a nice t-shirt and maybe even pick up our Team Greens one at the merch store below. If you’re a fan of the blacks, we’ve got one there as well, along with our Dragons, Drama, and Destiny ones.
On top of that, mate, just launched a brand new alien chestburster one, so treat yourself for the summer by picking some up. Shabow.
Now, they did change things up for Blood and Cheese with Helaena’s son Maelor being there too. In the work, she was given the choice of which son was going to die, with her choosing to save Jahaerys. This is why they killed him, with it being a brutal twist that meant Maelor may have grown up knowing his mother picked him to die.
Now, we have done a big video talking about how Helaena is a dreamer, which is shared in her family. They predicted the fall of Old Valyria, and Aegon’s dream warned of the coming of the Night King.
Thus, Helaena may have spent so long in prophecy that she’s already processed her son’s death. We end the scene with her forgiving Alicent, and hey…caused a lot of shit.
Personally, I believe it might be down to Criston also meant to be guarding the family, but he was off doing one of them.
Cutting to Aegon suiting up, we see him wearing the Conqueror’s armor.
He’s clearly trying to evoke his namesake, and we see more of this at 38:53. As he goes to look in the mirror, we can catch the Conqueror’s crown on top of a table. We also have a squire standing off to the left, with him holding Aegon the Conqueror’s sword, Blackfyre.
Larys arrives and spins some lies about what people think in order to keep Aegon safe at the keep. He says that Alicent and Aemond will rule if he leaves, with this ultimately playing upon his paranoia that he may be ousted too.
Larys is then appointed Master of Whisperers, which is a position that Viserys had no use for. However, in these times of treachery, it makes sense to have one. This appointment is never mentioned in the book, but we do know that he became Aegon’s during the war.
Now that night, we join a character we met last week. When the ratcatchers were hanged, we saw things from his perspective as he came across them. Turns out this is Ulf White, who originally in the work lived out on Dragonstone. However, being in King’s Landing allows him to showcase the perspective of the smallfolk.
This location is actually called the Cock Inn, with it being a little pun.
Claiming to be a Targaryen bastard, he says that he’s descended from Baelon the Brave.
Baelon is someone we’ve heard about before, with him being Hand of the King for a very short stint. After being appointed, he complained of a stitch and then passed away from what was known as a burst belly. These days we call it appendicitis, but foul play was suspected on the part of Otto. So you can see why he’s not exactly loyal to the Hightowers, and he gives a shoutout to the rightful heir to the Iron Throne…Prince Jace…aahhhh, Aegon’s right behind me, innit.
We’re slowly seeing these dragon seeds falling into place, with several characters in the episodes becoming a part of them.
Taking his boys out to have a night of fun, we catch Aemond having a tender moment with the lady of the night from last week. Introduced in season 1 episode 9, he’s been with her since day one, and it’s clear he has strong feelings for her. She’s not really mentioned in the source material, so I do wonder if they’re setting her up as a future way to control him.
Either way, he pretends he’s not interested in her and struts out swinging his dick like when Marvel drops a trailer on the same day as DC.
Back with Rhaenyra, we get a poignant moment that mirrors the scene from last week. There, she watched her children playing on the mat, whereas now she sits looking at the spot and holding her toys. I think at the core of this series is the theme of parenthood, which is seen throughout every character. Whether it’s the heirs, those that get killed, or even the dragon seed bastards, they’re all kinda tied together on this gigantic family tree.
Pulling out Alicent’s note, the idea of parentage is further enforced as when you pause the frame, you can see the word “Mother” on the fourth line.
These two are mothers that are gonna lose their children if they’re not careful, and Rhaenyra makes a last-ditch attempt to sort things out.
Now, across with Criston, we see him going to Ser Gwayne, with Baela then chasing them on her dragon Moondancer. Really great scene as they race across the land and have to hide out in the trees with the dragon overhead.
Moondancer is slightly bigger than how it’s described in the book, with it stating it was no larger than a warhorse. This is why it’s been used primarily for scouting. However, it’s still something that none of the knights are a match for, and Gwayne hopes he doesn’t run into them again.
Back with the council, we hear the mention of Rooks Rest, with this being a pivotal location in the Dance of the Dragons. Everything’s gonna go down there, with it being a major battleground in the war.
Now, back at Harrenhal, we see as Daemon’s mind is infected by Alys. It was so good seeing Milly back, and she was a shining character in the first one. She really plays upon Daemon’s self-doubt and the fact that Rhaenyra’s the one who tidies up his mistakes. In the visions, she’s sewing Jahaerys’ head back on, and it symbolizes her trying to put the pieces back together.
Also, I kinda feel like this is also to highlight how similar she is to Helaena. Both are mothers whose children were murdered, with this being a son for a son. They’re both on opposite sides of the war, with Helaena also being shown as sewing in her season introduction. That was thought to foreshadow the sewing of Jahaerys’ head, and now we’re symbolically seeing that come back together.
Also, I love how just before the vision starts, you can see feet under the crack in the door before he starts to push.
Visited by Alys, she tells him he’s going to die in this place, which we’ll talk more about in that spoiler section.
Either way, when discussing Alys, the work says:
“Who was this woman? A serving wench who dabbled in potions and spells, says Munkun. A woods witch, claims Septon Eustace. A malign enchantress who bathed in the blood of virgins to preserve her youth, Mushroom would have us believe. Her name suggests bastard birth…but we know little of her father, and less of her mother. Munkun and Eustace tell us she was sired by Lord Lyonel Strong in his callow youth, making her a natural half-sister to his sons Harwin (Breakbones) and Larys (the Clubfoot). But Mushroom insists that she was much older, that she was wet nurse to both boys, perhaps even to their father a generation earlier.”
Now, it’s the next paragraph where we get into the occult side, with them bringing it across for the show:
“Though her own children had all been stillborn, the milk that flowed so abundantly from the breasts of Alys Rivers had nourished countless babes born of other women at Harrenhal. Was she in truth a witch who lay with demons, bringing forth dead children as payment for the knowledge they gave her? Was she a simpleminded slattern, as Eustace believes? A wanton who used her poisons and potions to bind men to her, body and soul?”
Here, she acts as a prophetic warning about what’s going to happen if he stays on this path, and you can see the fear wash across his face.
Now, Daemon is on this path because of his actions in which Mysaria helped her to sneak into King’s Landing to hire Blood and Cheese.
Rhaenyra wants the same passage now, but instead, she’s going as a diplomat.
It’s basically like…basically like when you have an argument with someone on the internet, and then you talk to them in real life, and you’re like…I actually like you, Ryan. It’s a perfect mirror to what happened in the episode opening and tonally brings it full circle.
Now, Alicent and Rhaenyra never met like this in the work, but I appreciated the change-up. Just nice seeing two characters brought back together, even if the plan seems impossible.
Travelling to the sept, we see the same steps where the attempt was to snatch Aegon before the coronation.
Inside, the pair finally come face to face, with Rhaenyra even having a blade in case Alicent tries to scream out. Rhaenyra says that the tourney showed the pair that while men have violence and brutality in them, women don’t. Thus, they can talk it out, but we see how well that goes, mate.
Now, what I think comes from it is that Rhaenyra begins to doubt herself, for a bit anyway, and this due to Alicent bringing up what she takes as Aegon’s prophecy. As we know though, Viserys thought he was saying it to Rhaenyra. Instead, Alicent took Aegon as being her son and you can see why all these names get confusing.
HOUSE OF THE DRAGON SEASON 2 EPISODE 3 ENDING EXPLAINED
When we get into Rhaenyra’s kid being called Aegon III, it’s gonna be a nightmare, mate.
Either way, Alicent swears on the memory of her mother, with this being a way she connected with Viserys. When she went to him, they had both lost someone, and Rhaenyra knows she wouldn’t say this lightly.
Rhaenyra says it was a mistake that Alicent heard of Aegon’s prophecy, but Alicent says there’s been no mistake. I do wonder though if these words are gonna sit with her and she’s gonna begin to question the meeting.
All the people are marching for war, and it’s too late to stop things. It’s a brutal and big way to close out the episode and what another bloody banger. I think this season has been really solid so far with three big entries.
I do wonder if Rhaenyra is gonna have to escape King’s Landing and if we’ll get a tense run before we head to Rook’s Rest.
Where we go from here, well that takes us into the spoiler section—spoilers time, spoiler time, spoiler time.
Now, the first is something I’m not necessarily sure will happen in the series, but in case it does, I thought I’d save it for now. It talks about the aftermath of the Battle of the Burning Mill and discusses the outcome with the houses.
“Many other grievous losses were suffered by both sides in what became known as the Battle of the Burning Mill…and when the Brackens finally broke and fled back unto their own lands under the command of Ser Amos’s bastard half-brother, Ser Raylon Rivers, it was only to find that Stone Hedge had been taken in their absence. Led by Prince Daemon on Caraxes, a strong host made up of Darrys, Rootes, Pipers, and Freys had captured the castle by storm in the absence of so much of House Bracken’s strength. Lord Humfrey Bracken and his remaining children had been made captive, along with his third wife and baseborn paramour. Rather than see them come to harm, Ser Raylon yielded. With House Bracken thus broken and defeated, the last of King Aegon’s supporters in the riverlands lost heart and lay down their own swords as well.”
Now, the main reason I brought that up was because it has Daemon coming out of Harrenhal, which kinda spoils he leaves there. He is desperate to fight Ser Criston and Aegon, and we also are likely gonna see Aegon going to war next week.
The Battle of Rook’s Rest is a major conflict which sees Rhaenys flying out to the location. Unfortunately, she’s ambushed by Vhaghar and Sunfyre, with this leading to a massive battle between the three.
Now in terms of Rhaena and Lady Jeyne, we do hear what happens to one of the eggs.
It says:
“Even more grave were the tidings from the Vale, where Lady Jeyne Arryn had assembled fifteen hundred knights and eight thousand men-at-arms, and sent envoys to the Braavosi to arrange for ships to bring them down upon King’s Landing. With them would come a dragon. Lady Rhaena of House Targaryen, brave Baela’s twin, had brought a dragon’s egg with her to the Vale…an egg that had proved fertile, bringing forth a pale pink hatchling with black horns and crest. Rhaena named her Morning.”
So I think the other three will be left for Dany, which is why I came to that conclusion.
Now, there’s still other dragons about, which is where the dragon seeds come into it. Characters like Ulf, Addam, Alyn of Hull, and Hugh Hammer. They all end up being drafted into war due to having the quote-unquote blood of the dragon. Being descended from Targaryens is why they’re brought into it, as it’s believed they can add dragons as their forces.
Seasmoke is brought into this, and yeah, nice way to set the pieces up.
Now, as for Daemon and the prophetic tale that he’s going to die there…that actually is something I think will happen. Now, it has to be said that Daemon’s body was never found, but the historians were convinced that he died.
Daemon arrived at Harrenhal during the war, where he waited for Aemond. Every night he slashed at the heart tree, which is the one that we see in the scene. Waiting 14 days, Aemond eventually arrived, and the pair battled above the Gods Eye, which we also see in the location.
At this point, Alys was actually Aemond’s paramour, so you can see why they brought her into the series.
During the fight, Daemon leapt from Caraxes and stabbed his sword Dark Sister into Aemond’s remaining eye.
The dragons toppled into it as well, with Caraxes crawling to the shore before his death. Vhaghar and Aemond were also discovered, but like I said, Daemon wasn’t found there.
However, Alys’ prophecy here at least foreshadows the battle.
There have also been these prophecies before in the show with Rhaenyra’s death being foreshadowed too.
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