Season 3-Episode 03

Rhaenyra Triumphant

He knew there is such a thing as too much power. The dream of Old Valyria ended in the Doom.

Lord Velaryon

Major Plot Points: Rhaenyra does her best Queen impersonation and hosts a nice dinner for the nobles. Daemon dreams of being a god. Ormund does a classic Daeron Targaryen switcheroo. Corlys tries to convince Rhaenyra to acknowledge his bastards now that they’re useful

Observations from a Book Reader

1. Daemon never flies to the Hightower host asking for the delivery of Daeron. At this point in the story, Daeron is involved in several battles in the Riverlands, and for his heroism earned the name “Daeron the Daring” and was knighted. This of course means there never was a Daeron fake out with Rhaenyra and a boy with hair dyed blonde. Interestingly enough, a cut plotline from Game of Thrones involved the alleged son of Rhaegar Targaryen (named Aegon of course) living in Essos with his hair dyed to conceal its silver color, biding his time to claim the throne. Unfortunately if you read this blog, you probably already had the Daeron identity swap spoiled when I immediately said that Ormund’s squire was almost definitely Daeron. My bad
2. Rhaenyra did in fact bring her Master of Coin, Lord Celtigar, and her own Maester. Maester Orwyle (the man in the show already in King’s Landing, was thrown in the black cells.
3. Joffrey Velaryon (the last son that Rhaenyra had with Harwin Strong, but was claimed to be the son of Laenor Velaryon) was indeed summoned back to King’s Landing. However he was older and rode his dragon Tyraxes in defense of Gulltown. She also summoned her son Aegon to return to King’s Landing, as her youngest son Viserys was presumed dead after the Battle of the Gullet when his transport ship was attacked.
4. Rhaenyra had no issue with naming Alyn and Addam as Velaryons. It only seemed fair. Rhaenyra was depicted as far more confident in her claim, and at this point would not care if her raising his bastards caused others to look disfavorably again on her childrens alleged bastard status.
5. There was no rat feast for the nobles. Although it would have been tame compared to what Rhaenyra actually did. Upon taking the throne, she had inquisitors patrol the city looking for any leads or info for those who may have helped Aegon escape the capital. All of the “conspirators” were beheaded and had their heads mounted on the spikes of the gates surrounding King’s Landing.
6. Daemon mentions that Dorne could be conquered by him and Rhaenyra. It is easy to forget that by this point, the Targaryen dynasty still had not captured Dorne, which was basically the entire southern part of the continent. Although Aegon the Conqueror and all subsequent rulers claimed Dorne as part of their Seven Kingdoms, in actuality it was completely independent. The people of Dorne fought intense guerilla warfare against the dragons and were never brought to heel, and even killed Aegon’s sister-wife Rhaenys and her dragon Meraxes.

Other Points to Notice

1. The director made it a point to always frame the camera in a position that shows what Rhaenyra can see in this episode. There were more over the shoulder shots from behind her than the show normally does, and there were zero over the shoulder shots of any other character.
2. If you don’t remember, Aegon hanged all the rat-catchers in the capital after one rat-catcher (named Cheese obviously) was responsible for the murder of Aegon’s son Jaehaerys.
3. There is a long history of the Faith of the Seven and the Targaryen’s being antagonistic with one another. Aegon the Conqueror’s second son, Maegor the Cruel, was especially vicious with them when he stole the throne. This led to the creation of the Faith Militant, and Maegor’s outright slaughter of them. Their main issue at the time was the constant incest committed by the Targaryens, and they refused to bless their rule. Eventually after Maegor’s death, Jaehaerys Targaryen made peace with the faith and the Faith Militant were disbanded. However we all remember when they returned under the High Sparrow after Cersei caused religious unrest.
4. Some might remember that the crown Rhaenyra wears, is the same her father wore, which was originally commissioned for King Jaehaerys. This crown has only been worn by rulers known for peaceful times and strong rule, while the crown Aegon wears was worn by Aegon the Conqueror, and Maegor the Cruel, both known for outright strength.
5. We once again hear that the corpse of Sunfyre has been found, and is decaying. I am still not convinced he’s really dead, as that would be a deviation from the books that would have untold ripple effects. Something to keep an eye on.
6. Hugh Hammer, when asking for payment for his services, mentioned his wife had moved to Tumbleton to live with her sister. We met his wife in season two. We also hear later in the episode that the Hightower army has captured Tumbleton and are holding the people there hostages. Surely this is not relevant.
7. It is unclear if the dragon keeper that brought news of Tumbleton’s fall to Rhaenyra was someone under her employ, or if they just act independently and only are loyal to the care of the dragons. There is very little written of them in the books. I think in this case it could be assumed that since Daemon left Tessarion with the Hightowers, he also left several dragon keepers to corral him and keep him out of the way.

Stray Observations:

1. I do not understand how Daemon fell for the Daeron swap. Was he just totally fine leaving his dragon, Tessarion, with Ormund and the Hightowers? You’d think he would have Daeron fly to King’s Landing on him, which would immediately end the ruse.
2. This marks one of the very few cold opens used in Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon. It worked well here, since after the title we only followed the POV of Rhaenyra, which is the closest show viewers have ever gotten to experiencing GRRM’s writing style, as all chapters in his series are just one POV at a time.
3. When Helaena asked Rhaenyra if killing her grandfather helped make her feel better, it genuinely seemed like she was curious. As if she was looking for a nice solution to help herself feel better.
4. The music really just amped the anxiety up this entire episode.
5. We get a handful of throne room scenes in both series that show petitioners asking for help. We even saw Ned Stark listen in the first season of GoT. Rhaenyra’s experience here is more reminiscent of when Daenerys had to listen to farmers complain about her dragons killing their sheep in Meereen.
6. Ulf remains the best character. Really went for it with trying to claim the Targaryen name.
7. Corlys has been the only powerful ally to always be on Rhaenyra’s side. Isolating him here seems beyond ridiculous.
8. Daemon mentions Rhaenyra has 6 dragons at her disposal. These would be her dragon Syrax, Daemon’s Caraxes, Ulf’s Silverwing, Hugh’s Vermithor, Addam’s Seasmoke, and Baela’s Moondancer. I guess this means they are cutting her son Joffrey’s dragon Tyraxes, and her son Aegon’s dragon Stormcloud. We also never hear about Helaena’s dragon Dreamfyre. I don’t know why I wrote all of this, I can’t imagine most people care enough to have them all listed like this but enjoy I guess.

RIP: A lot of rats. I actually don’t think anyone died this episode? Bummer