Season 3-Episode 07

The Dragon in Winter

My father was not a dreamer, but his whole life was a dream.
Rhaenyra Targaryen

Major Plot Points: Rhaenyra tries to stop Sheepstealer. Daemon waits too long to be a good dad. Corlys enjoys dinner with Ormund. Alicent hangs out with her son and his new girlfriend. Aegon re-enters the game. Helaena dreams about chickens

Observations from a Book Reader

Almost nothing from this episode happened in the book, so this section is a bit of a struggle this week.

When Daemon approaches Jeyne Arryn about Rhaena, she mentions talk of a rider living amongst the “nettles”. As if Rhaena replacing book Nettles was not obvious enough. While Rhaenyra does order the death of Nettles in the book, it is not until after the first battle of Tumbleton due to some events that transpire there. Sheepstealer is never damaged by Seasmoke, Syrax, or Caraxes as Daemon keeps Nettles safe as long as he can. Nettles was certainly never returned to King’s Landing as Rhaena is in this episode. It was also rumored that Daemon took Nettles as a lover and this drove quite a wedge between he and Rhaenyra, just as the show (mostly Myseria) is using Rhaena to drive a wedge between the two.
Mysaria and Rhaenyra were not lovers, although Daemon continued sleeping with Mysaria throughout the events of the war, and Rhaenyra did not seem to mind. Mysaria was also much crueler and did not pretend to be an envoy of the people, usually advocating for harsh punishments against those who wronged Rhaenyra.
Surprise! Corlys is alive. In Fire and Blood he was never captured by the Hightowers, and remained in King’s Landing while his relationship with Rhaenyra continued to deteriorate until she eventually imprisoned him. The cause of this was over the dragonseeds, but I’ll save that for next week.
Sunfyre and Aegon reunited outside of Dragonstone, not by Rook’s Rest. Lord Mooton sent 50 men to kill Sunfyre after the battle, but Sunfyre burned them all. At this point Sunfyre began making his way to Dragonstone, driven by either an instinct to return to his birthplace, or because of his connection to his rider, who at this point was in hiding in a fishing village outside Dragonstone. When Sunfyre got there he killed one of the wild dragons who still roamed the area, Grey Ghost. News of this caused Aegon to go searching for Sunfyre, who he eventually found and began riding once again, building up their strength from their injuries.
Ulf turned against the Blacks based on his own desire for power. This happened in the middle of the first battle of Tumbleton (and he might still wait until then next week as well). Ulf in the books was a completely unlikeable drunken lout, so his show counterpart having real motivation to switch teams works better here. Rhaenyra refused to let him drink with the lads, and Daemon embarrassed him in front of all of King’s Landing, while Ormund offers him beer and a castle. Hard to blame the guy

Other Points to Notice

Helaena’s first vision is that of a white horse (she calls it a gray mare) on a cart that she could use to leave the city. “The Pale Mare” was a bloody virus that rampaged the area in and out of Mereen when Dany was queen there, and has often been used as a sign of incoming apocalypse in the series. She made an interesting point that flying dragons constantly altered the rider, it’s hard to argue this after seeing every Targaryen grow more war-like throughout the series.
It is unclear just how exactly Alys Rivers is able to make Aemond think she is his mother before he sleeps with and probably impregnates her. In season 2 we saw that she made Daemon hallucinate something similar with his mother but he then woke up in a council meeting whereas Aemond seems to be awake for the whole disturbing sequence. And then of course actual Alicent shows up wearing the exact same clothes. Alicent’s poison attempt was at least set up throughout the season, since she listened to Helaena talk about the poisonous aspects of nightshade constantly during their garden walks in the Red Keep.
Myseria’s endgame continues to be unknown. While it is obvious she is trying to drive apart Rhaenyra and Daemon, it might just be so that she has “full control” over Rhaenyra’s decision making once the war is over. Not much to say about the scene where she brought her old brothel friend to the Iron Throne. She definitely was feeling herself to be more powerful than she actually is.
Helaena had 3 more important dreams
- The first was that she gave birth to a son, who was immediately taken from her by the guards to be killed. The meaning of this one seems pretty obvious.
- The second was her as a full fledged dragon rider atop Dreamfyre, killing peasants that rushed the Dragonpit. This one might be less literal and just a “what if” scenario that shows how cruel Heleana would become should she begin riding her dragon again. She did not ride again in the book, but there was a riot at the Dragonpit like in her vision, so maybe she will go down a different path in the show
- The third was her living an idyllic lifestyle on a farm before an apocalyptic snowstorm took over as the sun was eclipsed. This one is the hardest to interpret, as there is no possible future where Helaena would be able to live on a quiet farm with her children. I believe it is just showing her that no matter what the future holds, if things do not change the White Walkers will destroy Westeros and bring endless winter. We know this does not happen but everyone on this show is obsessed with the prophecy.

Sunfyre and Aegon II, both scarred from the events of Rook’s Rest

Stray Observations:

Helaena never really had the makings of a dragon rider.
Jeyne Arryn is cuddling with her “dear companion” Jessamyn Redfort.
That better be the last time we get a Corlys death fake out.
Gwayne was down real bad for Criston, and Daeron seems to have no power whatsoever.
The Alys-Aemond-Alicent dinner scene was incredible
“I still don’t understand who this woman is”. Does anyone, Alicent?
Larys ditching Aegon to die and saying that he will make sure there are songs written about him probably wont endear Aegon to him in the future.

RIP: Ser Adrian Redfort. A large chunk of Lord Mooton’s Army

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

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

A much angrier Rhaenyra Targaryen, sitting on the Iron Throne

Stray Observations:

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.
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.
Daemon and Simon Strong are the best pair in the show so far. Sad we won’t get anymore.
Aegon and Larys are heading to Rook’s Rest, the fortress where Aegon was injured and his dragon Sunfyre “died”.
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.
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.
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.
Daemon is still a bastard, but he has had some undeniable character growth, especially as a loyal believer in his Queen.
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

Season 3-Episode 01

Salt and Sea, Fire and Blood

We have come to die for the Dragon Queen
Ser Roderick Dustin

Major Plot Points: Rhaenyra plans to take King’s Landing but finds her plans interrupted by a door knob. Alicent seduces Aemond into her schemes. Jace goes on an oceanside flight with Baela. Rhaena and Sheepstealer blow up absolutely everything. Corlys and Alyn have some much needed father-son bonding time when they encounter Sharako Lohar. Daemon meets the men of the North. Aegon and Larys immediately get captured.

Observations from a Book Reader

I brought this up last season, but Sheepstealer was claimed by a small peasant girl named Nettles, and not Rhaena Velaryon. Rhaena seems to just have fully taken the place of Nettles at this point, which may have interesting implications later on.
Aemond never declared himself King when Aegon was unable to sit the throne. Even after Aegon disappeared he was only ever referred to as Prince Regent. Show Aemond is certainly more power hungry, but even in the books Aemond was said to have stated that the crown looked better on himself than it ever did on Aegon.
The dragonseeds (the 3 new dragonriders, Ulf the White, Hugh Hammer, Addam of Hull) did not go to the God’s Eye (lake outside Harrenhal) and wait for Aemond to arrive. Their first taste of the war was actually the Battle of the Gullet that is later in this episode. They helped turn back the Triarchy fleet but were largely undisciplined and out of control in the fury of battle. Odd choice to instead sideline them this episode.
There were no incestual undertones in the relationship between Aemond and Alicent. But this relationship in general was largely unexplored and unimportant, as Alicent matters far more in the show than she did in the book story at this point. From the behind the scenes look, it seems like Aemond has always been so desperate for his mothers love (recall how little Alicent seemed to care for her children in season 1), that it created some warped Oedipus complex paired with the already warped Targaryen sense of family. Alicent also seemed to be disgusted. Aemond’s decision to attack Daemon at Harrenhal was his own idea in Fire and Blood
Time to get to the single largest change from the books in this episode. Recall that Rhaenyra and Daemon had 3 children together. Aegon (yes another Aegon), Viserys, and Joffrey. Last season, they were all sent to the Vale with Rhaena, where Joffrey would remain and the other two would be sent to safety across the sea in Pentos. This is where things diverge greatly, as the journey to Pentos was what started the Battle of the Gullet in the text. While on board the ship Gay Abandon (named after Laenor Velaryon leaving his children I’m sure) Aegon and Viserys found themselves under siege by the Triarchy fleet. Aegon who was 9 at this point, was forced to abandon his brother and fly his dragon Stormcloud back to Dragonstone. From there Rhaenyra sent Jace and the dragonseeds to assist Corlys in fighting off the Triarchy. The rest of the battle played out largely the same, with Jace and Vermax dying, and the Triarchy sacking Hightide (home of Corlys Velaryon). After the battle there was no trace of Aegon’s brother Viserys or the ship they set out on. This introduces some interesting differences in the show since as far as we have seen, Aegon, Viserys, and Joffrey are all still at the Eyrie.

Aegon and Stormcloud escaping the attack on their ship

Other Points to Notice

The man who captures Aegon and Larys is a member of House Staunton. They are not of much consequence, but their home is Rook’s Rest, the same stronghold we saw attacked by the Greens last season. It was during this battle that Rhaenys was killed by Aemond, and Aegon was nearly burnt to death.
Daemon’s army was fighting in the westerlands when they ran into the Stark soldiers. At one point you see a soldier chopping off the head of an actual lion. Casterly Rock used to be home to many lion’s and the Lannister’s clearly thought they were the masters of them. By the time of GoT only captive lions remain in the area and are not really relevant to anything going on.
The Stark’s purposely sent “Greybeards” to aid Rhaenyra. It is a longstanding tradition in the North that before winter arrived, the old and infirm would leave the safety of their keeps and “fend for themselves” in the frozen snows. When Roderick Dustin (actual nickname is Roddy the Ruin) says that they have come to die for the dragon queen, he is being literal. Winter’s are so harsh in the north the old sacrifice themselves so the food and shelter can go to the younger generation. This is what makes these old men such great fighters, they don’t care if they die.
I have a feeling that to non book readers, the scene in which we meet Ormund Hightower would be the most confusing, as it contains several large players who have only been mentioned by name thus far. They are all extremely important to the rest of the show so try to take note here and I’ll address the new characters in order of their appearance.
- Tessarion– The scene begins with us seeing a medium sized blue dragon but no rider. This dragon is Tessarion the dragon of Daeron Targaryen. Daeron is the youngest son of Alicent and Viserys, younger brother to Aegon and Aemond. While he HAS been mentioned before on the show, it was very brief and his only actual appearance was in the closing montage of last season when we caught a brief glimpse of him flying across the sky (check my S2E08 recap for more info).
- Ormund Hightower– The lord of Oldtown, one of the single most powerful men in Westeros. His Uncle is the old hand of the King, Otto Hightower, which makes Queen Alicent and Gwayn Hightower his cousins. He commands a host of over 1000 fully armed knights
- “Bold” Jon Roxton- Ormunds second in command, and an extremely deadly warrior. He is one of the few lords to own a Valyrian steel sword aptly named Orphan-Maker.
- Daeron Targaryen????- Ormund’s squire, who has little to say in this scene, is almost certainly our first real look at Daeron Targaryen. We know that Daeron is the squire of Ormund, and we see the dragon in the camp, so this young red-head must be Daeron. Daeron did have the distinct hair and eyes of the Targaryens in the books, but maybe the show is trying to set up a surprise for non book readers. Sorry for spoiling if that’s the case but what are you doing reading a book accurate blog if you care that much about the tv show being your source for canon. Come on guys.
I can forgive a lot in the show breaking from the books, but having a sworn member of the Queensguard ignore the direct order of his sovereign was almost my breaking point. That would defeat the entire purpose of the Queensguard if other members of the royal family could supercede the command of the queen/king.

Stray Observations:

When Larys and Aegon’s identities were revealed to House Staunton, it seemed a bit much that the man in charge would go to kill them when the game of hostages is always how business is done in Westeros, especially when your hostage is as valuable as Aegon and Larys would be.
Rhaenyra’s belief in Alicent is borderline insane. Not that she trusts Alicent, but that she trusts in her competence to control her own children to the extent needed for her plan to work.
Gwayn and Cole discussing punishing a soldier really shows us that Cole is continuing his weird nihilist attitude this season
Come on Alyn, Corlys is trying to be your dad now because you’re a great asset on his ship. Time to forgive 30 years of absence.
Sharako Lohar has to be one of my top 3 least favorite HBO GoT universe characters. Bad acting, and just a cartoon like quality to her that makes no sense in a show like this.
Did you catch the weird glimpse of a person in some druid garb before Alys Rivers appeared to the rest of the dragonseeds? At least she admitted to them that she is a witch, after season 2 there was little doubt. Something strange is going on in the area around Harrenhal.
The navigation scene was awesome and filmed brilliantly, as well as the ship to ship combat. No notes.
Alyn really just called Corlys “father” in front of all of those soldiers smh.

RIP: Lord Jason Lannister, Ser Tyland Lannister, Sharako Lohar, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon