Episode 3 of this House of the Dragon season is the one where the greens finally show they have been playing a smarter game than anyone would have though, even making me suspect Alison was play out by Aemond small council, like ok if at some point we start loosing we will still make Kings Landing a living hell for the Targaryen, the episode kicks off where Daemon shows up with Caraxes, Silverwing, and Vermithor to face down Ormund Hightower and his army of fifteen thousand men. You would think Ormund puts up a fight considering he is holding a Valyrian steel sword named Vigilance, but he just bends the knee and surrenders on the spot, handing over a boy with bleached blond hair claiming to be Daeron Targaryen. Daemon takes the win, telling Ormund to turn his army around and march them home, back down the Roseroad to Oldtown but the greens really took him for a fool, I can only imagine his face when Rhaenyra lit his ass on fire so now not only he got to solve that specific screw up but also there is Rhaena and Sheepstealer waiting for him on the Vale. Matt Smith plays Daemon with so much arrogance on that scene that I had to admit made me a bit mad about it, it starting to feel like the Reds are not the good guys either, got to love the scene too because there is real tension and Ormund is way too calm about handing over the prince, which tells you the greens are running some kind of long game. For a breaf moment there was fake Daeron sit on Tessarion makes me question how did that happen, Dragons dont let a stranger sit on them unless their rider is on sight, that made it easier to fool Daemon too since none of the blacks have actually seen the real kid in years. The pacing feels a little off with how fast the surrender happens, but it works as a setup to get Daemon to lower his guard and it all plays out in broad daylight, showing off the scale of both armies and how small Tessarion looks next to the older dragons. This trickery sets the tone for the episode, a chess match where dragon muscle means nothing if you get outsmarted.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11198330/
- Platform: PRIME VIDEO
Rottentomatoes Rating
After that surrender we watch Rhaenyra actually try to rule Kings Landing and how she deals with the hoarding merchants is easily the best part of this episode but puts her in such a tight situation and probably withouth even notice, I think it would be easier for her to show off muscle rather than just try to make justice, in the end its the same thing but by showing her dragon muscle people would know she means business and not a fake fragile version of justice, I bet soon this same "lords" going to put a price on her head. She calls a bunch of rich minor nobles into a grand banquet room, puts on a polite face, then serves them cooked rats on platters. Emma Darcy acts the hell out of this scene, projecting cold authority while pointing out these merchants sat on food during the blockade while common people starved. Dan Fogler as Torrhen Manderly sitting there with a sneaky smirk while everyone else looks ready to vomit really set this guy a smart guy who likes chess and dont see life in two colors only, he even told Rhaenyra well play. The rats have been running all over the Red Keep eating the candles, so using them to punish the greedy elite is a dope, poetic move too. Its hilarious how the show comes up with the "ups Im bleeding" , her period starts right before court, leaving her gripping through cramps while she hears petitioners, vulnerable and determined at the same time. The rich openly disrespecting the starving population pushes her into full on socialist queen mode, taking their hoarded grain while they stare down at rat meat. When I saw the banquet I knew something was off because they all been complaining about been tight on gold and food, the moment they serve the food was the key moment when everything went south, I thought she was going to directly call them rats because some of them might work with the greens, this scene was soo good even though was short too, because they show her trying to be merciful while still handing out harsh punishment to people who earned it, but I still think Daemon was right, rule with iron fist, dont try to be just in front of this people because you going to look weak.
The political stuff is great but there are sections that drag, mainly whenever Rhaenyra spaces out to a ringing bell sound while hallucinating her dead son Jace, this happen several times, I think is that Targaryen madness starting to show off. That audio trick to signal she is stressed gets repetitive fast, especially when she wanders the old bedroom of Viserys unable to sleep. Then there is this scene with Rhaenyra and Daemon talking in High Valyrian where Daemon wants to conquer the world, rambling about flying to Yi Ti and a mythical City of Winged Men, giving her a speech about being gods with six dragons, when they do not even have money for food, at this point they need to be in good side of other noble houses but lets be real, its been too long since Aegon was seen as the true king and Rhaenyra the one trying to conquer Kings Landing so the narrative has change quite a bit and people tend to forget really fast. It was expected that at some point there was an episode that would slow things down and the cast still sold it, especially once Rhaenyra shuts down Daemon by bringing up Viserys and his warnings about unchecked power, pointing at the Doom of Valyria as proof, Viserys was a good king and he rule during times of peace but its totally different and nobody knows what he would do in Rhaenyra's shoes by right now. Then High Septon Balman flat out refuses to recognize Rhaenyra publicly since nobody has shown the body of Aegon to prove he is dead, standing under the statue of Viserys and smugly telling her dragons are unnatural magic born out of darkness. I get they want to show the faith pushing back, but her taking that insult without tossing him in a dungeon feels off for a queen at war, like they are throwing every obstacle at her at once and slowing the momentum but I think in the back this is just making the fire bigger and bigger.
You can really feel this episode building on tension from last season, especially in how Corlys Velaryon has changed from backing Rhaenyra without question. Seems like most critical moments of the episode happen during dinner, there is this very very uncomfortable dinner where Corlys asks the queen to legitimize his bastards Alyn and Addam as Velaryons, naming Alyn as his heir so the Driftmark line survives. Corlys once accepted Lucerys as his heir just to keep the peace but now that he has lost his wife, his castle and most of his fleet, he wants real recognition for his own blood. Rhaenyra does not answer him at dinner and it was so weird that it all finish into a kind of flashback, almost like she just skipt time, her decision only becomes clear later, during the knighting of the dragonseeds, when Addam gets styled only as Addam of Hull instead of a Velaryon because she is worried it will remind everyone her son Joffrey is a bastard too but honestly who cares if she got six dragons and sits the throne, I think thats a problem for latter and not for now and should have name Alyn and Addam both Valeryon's. She tells Corlys afterward that she cannot legitimize the brothers right now and Steve Toussaint is phenomenal here, losing his temper and screaming right in her face, calling her own children bastards in front of the castle staff. It is a hell of a contrast to the loyal sea snake we knew, showing how isolating that throne really is. She is also dealing with the fallout from Tyland Lannister splitting up the crown gold and sending it off for safekeeping, leaving the treasury so thin there is barely enough to last a week or two, makes it clear the greens where not helping the small foke at all, this is what eventually force her into rigid calls that keep alienating the people who put her on the throne. Watching this play out feels like slowly but surely everyone hating the reds, like two people who need each other tearing their alliance apart over pride, proving fighting your friends can be harder than fighting your enemies.
The end is so damn satisfying when Rhaenyra decides to show mercy by sending captive Daeron to the wall to join the Night Watch, and when Alicent asks for one final look at the boy, Rhaenyra allows it before he ships out. The second Alicent looks at this terrified kid with bleached hair, she knows instantly it is a fake and the illusion of that river victory falls apart, it was the look on her eyes and Rhaenyra reads it right away but I like her stance as she calls it "she doesnt recognize him" almost like waiting for Alicent to tell the truth. Right after that bomb drops, a surviving dragon keeper shows up at the gates with news that Ormund Hightower has marched on Tumbleton and taken the market town hostage, using regular civilians as human shields so Rhaenyra cannot just send her dragons in to burn the army down. You can see pure rage in Emma Darcy eyes watching guards toss the green Hightower banners into a bonfire, flames reflecting in her face, building up that Targaryen madness as her peaceful transition goes to hell, I bet she is going to start wearing that sword more often soon. I am giving this one an 8/10 because even with a few slow moments, the political maneuvering and betrayals here are just damn awesome, how the greens have outsmart them, playing mind games even between themself predicting the weak links. She has no money, the faith hates her, her closest allies are furious and the enemy just outsmarted her entire dragon advantage in one move. There has to be fire and blood on next episode, either someone head or some sort of armies clashing.
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