House of the Dragon episode 3 has just been released and has been a great episode. It has the perfect blend of action and family squabbles within the Targaryens. We finally get to see the dragons unleashing hell and Daemon heading into war as a one-man army. The episode was a cinematographic marvel and had moments that beautifully expressed the characters’ emotions without words. Here are a few highlights.
Celebrating Aegon’s second name day
King Viserys finally had his first new born son with Queen Alicent Hightower in House of the Dragon and named him after Aegon the Conqueror. To celebrate Aegon’s second birthday, the Royal family accompanied by guests aplenty went for a hunt in the Kingswood. Meanwhile, Alicent is pregnant with a second child. This occasion naturally makes Princess Rhaenyra feel neglected and overlooked. The entire realm celebrates Aegon and expects him to be the heir to the Iron Throne. This causes a host of problems between the King and the Princess.
Princess Rhaenyra turns of age
Rhaenyra has already turned of age in House of the Dragon and as expected the King has been receiving constant letters asking her hand in marriage. The King finafor lly chose Jason Lannister as the match for his daughter. However, naturally the Princess turns this offer down and sees it as just a way to sell her out. Lord Lyonel Strong suggests Laenor Velaryon, son of Lord Corlys Velaryon as the match for Rhaenyra in order to unite the two houses and strengthen the Kingdom. This moment foreshadows the marriage of Laenor Velaryon and Rhaenyra Targaryen as was in the books.
Battle of the Stepstones
The episode of House of the Dragon opens with the battle of the Stepstones. It shows Daemon Targaryen aboard his dragon Caraxes burning down the army of the Triarchy as they run and hide within caves. However, as it turns out, Prince Daemon and Lord Corlys are losing the battle and are in need of help from the Crown. To win the war even without the King’s help, Daemon Targaryen walked straight into the lion’s den and baited out the Triarchy warriors by waving the white flag of surrender. He fought them valiantly despite being shot with flying arrows from above. As he was cornered by hoards of men, Laenor Velrayon rode in on a dragon and burned the armies alive. We also get to see Lord Corlys and his brother in arms, fighting.
Princess Rhaenyra to remain as heir
Rhaenyra’s position has been an uncertain one in House of the Dragon. She isolated herself as she lost her friend Alicent, stopped talking to her dear Uncle Daemon and lost trust on her father. The episode sees her struggling with the new dynamics and bottling up a lot of rage that she finally unleashes on the wild boar in the woods. However, King Viserys comforts Rhaenyra and reassures her that he does not mean to replace her and that she will remain his heir. He also gives her complete freedom over who she chooses to wed.
The episode of House of the Dragon ended on that note. It also saw the death of Craghas Drahar whose dead mutilated torso was dragged by Daemon out to the sea to be fed to his very crabs. However, the character of Craghas Drahar felt extremely under used and barely scratched the surface. We only saw a few glimpses of him throughout the episode and all the anticipation seemed worthless. Nonetheless, with Aegon’s birth things in the Red Keep are bound to get more sinister and tense.
