Season 3-Episode 02

Queen’s Landing

If this be a victory, I pray I never have another

Lord Corlys Velaryon

Major Plot Points: Rhaena flees the consequences of her own actions. Rhaenyra and Daemon finally head home. Aegon and Larys remain largely irrelevant. Aemond does some war crimes and then immediately gets stabbed. Alicent plots a coup, while her father Otto finally returns to grace us with his presence for a few seconds.

Observations from a Book Reader

1. Rhaenyra never ordered the execution of her own Queensguard, Ser Lorent Marbrand. He did die shortly after this though. But she never ordered him killed because Lorent never directly disobeyed an order like we saw him do last week. His death in the show was offscreen and we only know it happened because Rhaenyra said “Let Ser Lorent choose how he will die”. Then this guy also had the balls to lay his hands on the Queen. Worst knight of all time.
2. Since Jace died on her orders, not due to his own defiance, Rhaenyra’s anger was more internalized and led to her appearing more mad to those around her. The show is taking a different path with Rhaenyra and her grief. We see Rhaena hiding in the Vale before Rhaenyra can find out her actions (or lack thereof) in the battle, and this caution would be justified as after the death of Jace, Rhaenyra’s paranoia of other dragonriders knew no bounds and included Nettles, the dragonrider that the TV show version of Rhaena is replacing.
3. Corlys petitioned Rhaenyra for her to legitimize his 2 sons, Addam and Alyn. He then named the former his heir as in the books, Addam was the elder and the one dragonrider. Alyn did attempt to claim Sheepstealer at one point but it ended in him almost getting barbecued.
4. Time to address the biggest divergence this week.,The Fall of King’s Landing. Alicent had no part to play in this fight, she never conspired with the Gold Cloaks or other members of the city council to allow Rhaenyra entry. Instead, Rhaenyra and Daemon flew in on Syrax and Caraxes as soon as they heard Aemond left the city, while the Sea Snake escorted his entire fleet up Blackwater Bay. The Gold Cloaks turned on the Greens as soon as they saw Caraxes in the sky (see O.P.T.N. note 4 for why), and slaughtered the captains in charge of the city’s defense. This of course means Daemon never walked through the Red Keep by himself killing everyone in front of him, as they had an actual military there with them. That does not make good TV I suppose. Rhaenyra was also not the one to behead Otto (or any other prisoner). During this fight, Aegon and Larys fled the capital, but in the show they left long ago. Helaena never attempted to run, but was never put in any danger as she was completely ruined by the death of her infant son Jaehaerys and apolitical the rest of her brief life.
5. MAJOR BOOK SPOILER AHEAD THIS LINE: One thing I am extremely disappointed about in this episode: when Rhaenyra sat upon the throne for the first time she did not visibly cut her hand. In Game of Thrones, Joffrey also never cut his hand on the throne as the throne in that show looked far more blunt and innocent than its book counterpart. However House of the Dragon radically changed the appearance of the throne and made it look more how it was originally envisioned by GRRM. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to correct an old mistake and introduce the significance of a ruler cutting themselves. It was a long storied Westerosi folk tale that any who cut themselves upon the throne were being rejected by the throne. Most notably Maegor the Cruel appeared to have died from multiple cuts from the Iron Throne. Rhaenyra cutting herself quickly became a rumor among the smallfolk and ultimately led them to look at her with scorn and disrespect.
6. Rhaenyra’s uncertainty and apprehension climbing the throne is so different than her behavior in the book. After Jace’s death she was so obsessed with winning that it made her seem maniacal. She certainly would not be crying as she executed the man responsible for all the conflict in the civil war. She ordered the deaths of everyone who she felt betrayed by as soon as she walked into the Red Keep.

Other Points to Notice

1. We finally get some new additions to the opening tapestry title sequence. We see Corlys fighting Admiral Lohar, and in the next one Jace in the fetal position pincushioned with arrows.
2. Addam, Ulf, and Hugh arrive to clean up the remaining ships at the Gullet. Even though they were there from the beginning in the text, and Sheepstealer was never around. It does lead to a very humorous scene of Daemon reprimanding Ulf, who tried to hug Daemon when he saw him (seriously, rewatch this scene it’s so funny). Someone described the character of Ulf in this show as a person from contemporary times thrown into Westeros and once you see it, it’s hard to unsee how hilarious it is.
3. We briefly see a woman celebrating with Daemon and his men in the Riverlands. This woman is almost certainly Alysanne Blackwood, the woman in charge of House Blackwood and a fierce loyalist to the Blacks. Try to remember her name, as she should be important by the end of this show.
4. Luthor Largent, the man that Alicent meets with to negotiate the city guard’s surrender to the Blacks, is the head of the Gold Cloaks. In case anyone forgot, the Gold Cloaks are essentially the police of King’s Landing, and operate outside the authority of the Whitecloaks, who only care about protecting the royal family. In Season 1, Daemon was the commander of the Gold Cloaks, and was beloved by all of them for his leadership style and for being a member of the royal family who interacted with the common folk. Almost all of them remained Daemon loyalists and jumped at the chance to rejoin his side.
5. Daemon brings up “The Song of Ice and Fire” to a grieving Rhaenyra. Much as been said on this show-only prophecy, but it does provide a good reason for why Daemon now seems so committed to Rhaenyra ascending the throne. He even mentions a girl with silver hair, who of course viewers will know to be Daenerys. Even though it was Arya that ultimately killed the Night King, she never gets the chance without Dany’s dragons helping the fight.
6. After Daemon spurned the witch Alys Rivers, she has one of the most powerful men in Westeros at her mercy after Aemond was stabbed killing the Strong family. Surely she wont leverage this situation to her advantage.
7. Larys appeared to keep Otto Hightower buried so deep in the black cells that not even the other Greens (including his 2 children) knew about it. His reasoning for doing this is suspect though, and I imagine it was just him playing both sides in case the fortunes reversed.

Stray Observations:

1. Did anyone else notice that the opening title was slightly remixed? They added much more bass and stronger drums to the background. I thought it sounded great, I wish they started the show doing this.
2. The scene of Daemon, Oscar Tully, and Roddy the Ruin singing after a victory felt very reminiscent of the tone of A Knight of Seven Kingdoms.
3. Daemon and Simon Strong are the best pair in the show so far. Sad we won’t get anymore.
4. Aegon and Larys are heading to Rook’s Rest, the fortress where Aegon was injured and his dragon Sunfyre “died”.
5. The scene of Jasper attempting to rape Alicent felt pointless and cruel for really no reason. I’m sure there are other articles that go into it better than I could here though.
6. Harrenhal already looks like a charred ruin because Balerion the Black Dread once melted it during Aegon’s Conquest. Now his sister Vhagar gets to do the same.
7. Love him or hate him, Otto going out talking shit to Rhaenyra was incredible. If you want more Rhys Ifans though, he is currently starring in the incredible Apple TV show, Star City.
8. Daemon is still a bastard, but he has had some undeniable character growth, especially as a loyal believer in his Queen.
9. I’m really not looking forward to the inevitable plot line this season between Alicent and Rhaenyra. “How could you kill my poor father! You said you would take over the city and kill all my sons peacefully!!” bleh

RIP: Lord Simon Strong and sons, Master of Laws Jasper “Ironrod” Wylde, Lord Otto Hightower, Ser Lorent Marbrand