Season 1-Episode 03

Second of His Name

“I did waver at one time. But I swear to you now, on your mother’s memory, you will not be supplanted.”

Viserys Targaryen, to Rhaenyra Targaryen

Major Plot Points: Rhaenyra goes on an awkward family car ride. Viserys takes down a stag. Daemon refuses to let his big brother win his war for him. Aegon does baby stuff.

Observations from a Book Reader:

1. The sword that Daemon wields in his battles, Dark Sister, originally belonged to Visenya Targaryen, the older sister-wife of Aegon the Conqueror.
2. The gigantic retinue that travels with the royal family is more in line with how George R.R. Martin portrayed hunts in his book series. They were giant, weekend long parties with very little actual hunting. In Season 1 of Game of Thrones, we saw King Robert’s “Hunting Party” but due to budget constraints, it was literally just Robert, his brother, and 2 other people. GRRM claims it is the scene he hates the most from all 8 seasons of the show.
3. When Viserys exits his carriage, Hobert Hightower announces to the crowd that they are there to celebrate Aegon the Second on his 2nd name day. Now, baby Aegon is not actually the second Aegon since Aegon the Conqueror. There was another one years before, but that Aegon never lived to be crowned. The convention in Westeros is to only add the number to a persons name when they are crowned King. This is a not-so-subtle way to depict how the crowd all clearly believes baby Aegon to be the future heir, a detail that does not go by Rhaenyra.
4. Larys “The Clubfoot” Strong, one of the 2 sons of Lyonel Strong we see this episode, is shown to be the only man to sit with the ladies in the royal tent. As we will see throughout this series, this is a man to whom information is everything. Lyonel’s other son, Harwin, is known as the strongest knight in Westeros at the time, and is whom Viserys assumes Lyonel will suggest to marry Rhaenyra, before he suggests Laenor Velaryon.
5. Viserys being so against Rhaenyra marrying Aegon is interesting. At this point in history, Targaryens marrying one another is so ingrained in culture that it is surprising how against Otto’s suggestion he is. I wonder if this was done because the show-runners do not trust the audience enough for them to understand why Viserys would actually contemplate it. It can be justified though that we already know Viserys has an aversion to young children being married off and that is why he is disgusted.
6. Vaemond Velaryon is outspoken in his negative feelings towards Daemon. This is a man who has seen his house be placed beneath the Targaryen’s his whole life, and his discontent does not end with just Daemon.
7. Laenor Velaryon is seen flying the dragon Seasmoke. While this was a fun reveal, it was a bit tough to actually see who was flying, and I think many people may have been confused as to how he even had a dragon since it wasn’t outright stated that it was Laenor, Corlys’ son and a half Targaryen himself (his mother being Rhaenys, the queen who never was).

Other Points to Notice

1. The mask that the Crabfeeder is wearing looks identical (albeit worse condition) to the masks worn by the Sons of the Harpy in Mereen, who constantly sabotaged Daenerys’ attempts to rule.
2. Caraxes immediately stomping on the soldier that Daemon was there to “save” was a pretty overt metaphor to who really suffers when these “Great Houses” go to war.
3. It seems that Otto Hightower is but a pawn to his older brother Hobert’s ambitions. We see him immediately be pressured by his brother to have Aegon placed upon the throne.
4. Rhaenyra is pretty against the idea of going to kill a boar in the hunt. Interesting that she of course is the only person that does kill a boar in this episode, showing that she does not hesitate to get her hands dirty when the situation arises. Similar to her uncle.
5. Jason Lannister really comes off as a prick when he casually tries to “propose” to Rhaenyra. At this point in history, while rich, the Lannisters certainly do not command the same prestige as they did under Tywin. Another reason why the offer annoyed Rhaenyra so much. It’s also hilarious his name is Jason.
6. Otto is one sly bastard. He immediately breaks up a potential blow-up between Rhaenyra and Viserys, and does it while mentioning how the sighting of a white hart stag is a “regal portent” for Prince Aegon’s nameday. This not only quiets down the argument, it also is him planting the seed to King Viserys that the gods are showing favor to Aegon (his grandson) as heir. He then doubles down on this later.
7. Lord Lyonel’s suggestion of Rhaenyra marrying Laenor is actually brilliant. It would bring the Sea-Snake (Corlys Velaryon) back into the fold, and he is also a dragon-rider. Even while drunk and angry, Viserys seems to greatly calm down after this because he knows Lyonel is the only person trying to genuinely help him, just like last episode when he gave good advice on his marriage suggestions. Something to keep an eye on.
8. Viserys failing to kill the stag in one blow could be interpreted in a number of ways. I believe it is just showing that while good natured, Viserys does not have the real stomach to rule or do what needs to be done, especially when considering that the stag was tied up and defenseless. It is a stark difference from the non hesitation we see from both Rhaenyra and Daemon this episode to kill when it is needed
9. Daemon agreeing to a suicide mission is a desperate attempt to save his own pride. He would rather die than be embarrassed by only winning against the Crabfeeder with his big bro’s help. Luckily, Daemon seemed to be allergic to arrows in this otherwise incredible sequence. It does make sense why the Crabfeeder falls for this trick, as killing Daemon would cause massive issues to the stability of the army, and Westeros as a whole.

Stray Observations:

1. Miguel Sapochnik will not be returning as co-show-runner next season. Which is a shame because he’s done great here so far, as well as directed some of the best episodes from the original Game of Thrones. He will be staying on as a consultant, and the split was completely amicable. The general theory is that he is just ready for new projects with HBO.
2. At this point, Alicent seems to be the much more willing one to try to salvage her relationship with Rhaenyra.
3. This show takes place back when instead of using an iPhone, you could just pay a minstrel to play the same song on repeat for hours.
4. The Crabfeeder appears to have late stage Greyscale all over his face. Not totally sure why this detail was added, but he looks insane so mission accomplished.
5. “That man’s pride has pride”. I wonder if Viserys intentionally said this due to the Lannister’s always being referred to as lions, who of course travel in prides. Probably not but it does kinda work.
6. Only time will tell if Viserys actually did have a prophetic dream of a son on the throne, or it was just a regular person dream.
7. If the white stag is a “regal portent”, then it sure is interesting that it appears to Rhaenyra and not to her father who was there for her brother.
8. Daemon is shown here to not be all bark and no bite. He easily dispatches the less trained soldiers of the Triarchy’s army. He also does not speak a single line this entire episode.

RIP: The brutally murdered stag, Craghas “The Crabfeeder” Drahar, and of course that one random soldier who got absolutely pancaked by Caraxes