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 06

Faceless Men

There is in any one of us, I venture, much to admire and much to be deplored.
Ser Tyland Lannister

Major Plot Points: Rhaenyra listens to the common folk and decides not to help them at all. Cole gets shot in the face by an arrow. Aemond falls under the spell of Alys Rivers. Daemon goes deep undercover on a sting. Hugh and Ulf continue to hate their new jobs. Aegon sets his sights on Essos. Alicent embarks on a super secret spy mission.

Observations from a Book Reader

While Cole did die at “The Butcher’s Ball” (named so for the fake corpses that drew him in), we were robbed of one of the best lines of the series. When Cole challenged the three leaders of the opposing army to fight him, Pate of Longleaf told him “I’ll have no songs about how brave you died, Kingmaker. There’s tens o’ thousands dead on your account” before having his men rain arrows down on him. He knew Cole wanted to go down like a hero and the arrows robbed him of that.
Daemon mentions Aegon the Conqueror and his Field of Fire. The Field of Fire was the only time during Aegon’s Conquest where all three Targaryen dragons were used in one battle. Outnumbered five to one, Aegon and his sister wives brutally annihilated the armies of House Lannister and House Gardener, and essentially wiped House Gardener, a longstanding ancient house, off the map. The Targaryen army only suffered 100 casualties compared to the other side which lost five thousand in a matter of moments.
Alys Rivers shows Aemond a clutch of dragon eggs and it is mentioned they come from Rhaena Targaryen and Dreamfyre. Rhaena Targaryen was the daughter of King Aenys Targaryen, and was married to her brother Aegon, heir to the throne. Aegon never got to take the throne as he was murdered by his Uncle Maegor right outside Harrenhal. Rhaena lived a long life after this with her dragon and it was filled with many tragedies, including being forced to marry her uncle, her third husband killing all of her friends, and the death of her daughter. She eventually spent the last twenty years of her life living as a recluse in Harrenhal, along with Dreamfyre. While it was never stated in the text that Dreamfyre laid eggs while there, it isn’t a stretch. When she eventually died most of the small folk thought of her as a witch. Dreamfyre did not take another rider until Helaena Targaryen.
I have said it many times, but Alicent was largely irrelevant for the remainder of this story. She absolutely never left on a spy mission to help trap her son for Rhaenyra. Aemond did spend the rest of his time using Harrenhal as his home base with Alys as his “queen”. No dragon eggs were mentioned, but it makes sense that with the eggs Aemond believed he could set up another generation of Targaryens with Harrenhal as his seat, defended by the strongest dragon in Westeros.
Since Daeron was never pronounced king, we never got to see much of his relationship with Ormund, and Gwayne was long dead by this point. Gwayne mentions that he is “second in line” for House Hightower, but it is unclear if this means he is behind Ormund, or if Ormund has a child in the show universe. In the book, Ormund has a son who would be his heir, and this son actually ends up marrying his step mom, Ormund’s current wife. It was a rather large controversy for the Hightowers and it would be odd if the show removed Ormund’s real son from the narrative for no discernible reason.
Corlys was never captured by the Greens and Jon Roxton (and how did he get from Tumbleton to find him so fast?). In fact, at this point he and Rhaenyra still maintained a healthy working relationship, as there was never an issue about her giving legitimacy to his two bastard sons. The show made it unclear if he died or not, but I doubt he is dead, as that would be a massive deviation from his book plotline. If he is still alive this will mark the third time the show has done a Corlys death fakeout, and the second time this very season. Seems a bit much.

Other Points to Notice

The episode title “Faceless Men” is a bit confusing since I do not think any of the famous Faceless Men assassins were present in this episode. The 2 assassination attempts we see were the men impersonating Baratheons, and then the group led by Jon Roxton to attack Corlys. Maybe the title is just a callback to the group, while referencing how many literal faceless men in war carry out death sentences. Not too sure here.
The Vulture King that the Baratheon’s inform Rhaenyra about is no major player. Basically every 50 years or so since the Conquering, a bandit from the Red Mountains south of Storm’s End (Baratheon Castle) rises up and declares himself the Vulture King, before being killed in battle later without accomplishing anything. A time honored tradition.
Mysaria clearly did not inform Rhaenyra about Alicent’ s pregnancy. This implies that she took Alicent’s words about Rhaenyra seriously in last weeks episode. So far Mysaria has been one of Rhaenyra’s most loyal friends, so it is interesting that she is now making contingency plans in case she fails. So far though I am not sure how much value Mysaria brings to Rhaenyra but it looks like something is being set up.
Rhaena is in no position to bargain, or have control, but the idea of Jane Arryn striking a Targaryen, even one in exile, seems far fetched. If Rhaena ever returns to her family’s good graces, that would be enough for Lady Arryn to be burned to death.
Alyn and Baela kissing seemed like it was lacking any real set up. While they eventually are a couple in the books, you would think the show would have them interact before they started hooking up. In case you forgot, Alyn’s father, is Baela’s grandfather, making him her half-uncle. Pretty mild incest by Targaryen standards.
If you missed it, the tapestry Helaena drew depicts Aemond (identifiable by his sapphire eye) trapped by Alys Rivers in Harrenhal. This is how Alicent was able to identify his location to Rhaenyra, since she is aware that Helaena has the gift of dragon dreams. It also is an accurate portrayal in the sense that Aemond is completely ensnared by Alys at this point and does not even realize he is trapped.
It looks like I was too early in condemning the show for not showing Rhaenyra cut herself on the throne. This act will spread unrest through the entire city as they think the throne is rejecting her. To Rhaenyra it is even worse as she remembers the wasting sickness that killed her father seemed to have originated from the cuts he suffered on the throne.

Stray Observations:

It’s ridiculous that the Targs wont let Ulf go drinking with the lads.
The Baratheons are utilizing the Tywin Lannister Civil War Strategy. Stay out of the fighting until a winner is obvious.
Daemon’s vengeance speech this episode just felt sad.
When Aegon was deciding between the plan of Larys to go to Essos, or the plan of Tyland to go to Lannisport, the director used a classic Game of Thrones shot, where the camera is behind Aegon and both men offering choices are shown on either side of his shoulders. We first saw this in season 1 of Game of Thrones when Ned made the decision to go to King’s Landing and be the Hand of the King.
Finally we get to see the Moon Door in the Eyrie. Although we only heard a scream.
Helaena does not seem like she is having a good time in captivity.
Rhaenyra does a hilariously poor job helping the common folk with their complaints.
The assassination attempt on Ormund would have worked easily if Gwayne was not there. Rhaenyra was smart to instruct her assassins to cover themselves in shit, after knowing Ormund had a weakness to bad smells from Alicent’s info.
Poor Ulf, poor Hugh.

RIP: Ser Criston Cole and his men, a few fake Baratheos, one of Ormund’s peasant spies in King’s Landing, and a bunch of Velaryon soldiers.

Season 3-Episode 05

Unbowed and Unbent

You are the Queen of Dragons. Your strength is your legitimancy
King Consort Daemon Targaryen

Major Plot Points: Rhaenyra tries to get King’s Landing under control while avoiding her son. Daeron plays board games with Ormund. Daemon plays guard. Aegon and Larys continue their adventures together. Aemond is trapped in Harrenhal. Criston Cole finally goes full nihilist.

Observations from a Book Reader

Sabitha Frey never made the journey to King’s Landing. She was promised Harrenhal, and moved into the great castle as soon as Criston Cole left it abandoned. However, once Aemond made his return, she escaped his wrath by hiding in a bathroom as he and Vhagar attacked. She then returned to The Twin, and unfortunately continued giving birth to the line that would eventually produce Walder Frey.
Alicent and Helaena did not attempt to flee King’s Landing while Rhaenyra held it. But at this point Helaena’s two remaining children had fled.
Tyland Lannister had a completely different plot line, to the point it’s almost impossible to compare the two. I made the mistake of thinking him killed in episode 1 when he was pushed overboard during the Battle of the Gullet. In Fire and Blood, he remained at King’s Landing when Rhaenyra captured it, and he was blinded, and gelded during torture in attempts to make him reveal the location of the crown’s gold. He gave up nothing and somehow survived his occupation, but did not go on to lead armies or make large moves in the remaining war.
Fun history lesson from Ormund about the Yellow Toad of Dorne, Meria Martell. Meria was arguably the only successful enemy of Aegon the Conqueror, and her method of yielding castles to the Targaryen forces before retaking them stealthily proved to be a devastating thorne in the side of Aegon and his sisters. Largely due to her efforts, the Targaryen’s could never control Dorne, and at the time of this show Dorne still declares itself independent.
Ormund never declared Daeron to be king, and certainly did not mint him his own gold. The riots and killings of gold cloaks in King’s Landing seemed to occur more naturally due to the peasants lack of money, food, and justice. Luthor Largent was not targeted to be assassinated in a strange “Last Supper” tableau, but he was killed in a peasant riot.

Other Points to Notice

The tea that Orwyle delivers to Alicent is of course Moon Tea, which we have seen used time and time again on both this show, and Game of Thrones. Made from the tansy flower, it seems to have a 100% abortion success rate in Westeros. Helaena of course does not agree to consuming it.
The “chess” game that Ormund and Daeron play together is actually a game called Cyvasse. It originated in Essos, Volantis specifically, and eventually made its way to Westeros. A few interesting points about it is that GRRM never actually bothered making rules for the game, other than the dragon was the most powerful piece, and that its supposedly more complex than chess. Interestingly enough we never saw or heard of this game in Game of Thrones, but in canon cyvasse only made its way to Westeros sometime during the events of that show, so Daeron and Ormund playing it here would technically go against the book. But that feels needlessly nitpicky.
- I mentioned in a previous entry that with Daeron and the hair dye plotline, it seems that the show is using him to cover an unused plot-line from Game of Thrones where the son of Rhaegar, Aegon Targaryen, was raised in Essos by a Targaryen Loyalist general Jon Connington. Connington planned on invading Westeros with the Golden Company and putting Aegon on the throne. He also spent many years teaching him military strategy and playing cyvasse with him. All of this parallels Ormund and Daeron, and now we even see Ormund declaring Daeron the King of Westeros, just as Jon Connington did for Aegon in the books. But the fact that we have never seen Cyvasse on either show before, until now, when it was such a major point of the Jon Connington/Aegon storyline in the books, makes me believe this is the writers being intentionally clever and giving easter eggs to book readers.
Larys seems to be planning to take Aegon to Bravos, where he will hide “in a manor befitting his station”. Aegon at this point was an unknown factor in the book, so while this could have been the plan of Larys, I instead think it is more of a callback to a different Targaryen we all know who was sent to Braavos to live in a manor while biding their time for a comeback. It is too coincidental to not intentionally be a reference to Viserys and Daenerys.
Criston Cole talks about being remembered as the greatest warrior in Westeros, about whom songs will be written. His legacy was nothing like that, and by the time of Game of Thrones he is mostly remembered as “Kingmaker” since he was the one to crown Aegon II. This of course led to the deaths of thousands and the fall of the dragons. At best some like Jaime Lannister remembered him as embodying both the “best and the worst” of the kingsguard.

Stray Observations:

Surprised Daemon ever walked into a Sept, even if it was to talk conspiratorially with Rhaenyra in High Valyrian
Both Aegon and Aemond seem to resent each other for different reasons over their childhood. I blame their father mostly.
Daemon has gone full conqueror, and begins calling Westeros the New Valyria to his gold cloak cronies.
If you didn’t already know, the episode title, Unbowed and Unbent, reflect the words of House Martell of Dorne (Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken). Several times we heard these words referenced this episode, with even Criston remarking he would die “Unbowed”

RIP: Ser Luthor Largent, and the self appointed common lord of Rook’s Rest.

NOTE: Shorter than normal this week. Best I could do!

Season 3-Episode 04

Tumbleton

We must cling to our honor, lest we become beasts ourselves
Lord Commander Criston Cole

Major Plot Points: Daemon runs into the daughter he always forgets about. Ormund teaches Daeron how to be a leader. Aegon and Larys engage in some manual labor. Rhaenyra makes decisions that will have no negative repercussions whatsoever.

Observations from a Book Reader

Briefly mentioned last week, but the Hightower host did not occupy Tumbleton until after a battle between them and the riverlands army. I think we can expect this battle next week
A few differences on Rhaenyra’s small council, Grand Maester Orwyle was placed in the black cells for the entirety of Rhaenyra’s time in the Red Keep, so she used her own Maester from Dragonstone to give her advice. She also appointed Bartimos Celtigar, not Torrhen Manderly, as her Master of Coin. Torrhen Manderly does come into the story later and helped guide the next administration, so it makes sense the showrunners would just combine the characters.
Criston Cole arrived at Harrenhal before Aemond did, but only by a day. When Aemond arrived with Vhagar the day after he was furious to find out Daemon had left. While his whereabouts on the show are unclear, Aemond and Cole fiercely argued about what to do next after arriving there. Ultimately, Cole decided to take his army south to join with Ormund, while Aemond relished the opportunity to wage war like Aegon the Conqueror, and he destroyed countless towns and people alone with Vhagar. Gwayne Hightower never left King’s Landing and died when the Gold Cloaks handed it over to Rhaenyra, so it’s impossible to know where his story is going.
Both Hugh Hammer and Ulf the White were sent to fight Ormund’s army alongside Rhaenyra’s and secure Tumbleton. The idea was that Vermithor and Silverwing would be easily able to handle Daeron on Tessarion. At this point Daeron was the biggest threat to Rhaenyra as he still was leading battles against loyal towns and cities in his brother’s name, and unlike Aemond was actually traveling with his army.
Rhaena remained in the Eyrie as a ward for the remainder of the Dance. She was completely irrelevant in that story, so now that she is on the show as a dragonrider I am sure we won’t see the end of her and Sheepstealer. Her and Daemon briefly mention that Rhaena should be watching Daemon’s two youngest children but from this dialogue it’s unclear if they are still at the Eyrie or if they did make it to Pentos.
Ormund had no outspoken hatred of the Targaryens. He was not as much of a fully fleshed character. A bit hypocritical of him to hate the Targaryens when his own family has a history of conquest and subjugation. The Hightower’s lineage is so ancient that it goes back to the days of the First Men. Before anyone else came to Westeros they were ancient kings, and Ormund seemingly wants his family back on the throne. Their name comes from the gigantic fortress castle in Oldtown that they rule from, aptly named the Hightower. His plan here seems a bit harebrained, as Daeron and Tessarion are no match for Aemond and Vhagar. Fun fact, the Arryn’s based the construction of the Eyrie after the Hightower.

Other Points to Notice

We hear a few references to Orros Baratheon and his lack of an army. He was the lord that picked Aemond over Luke in the season 1 finale, right before Vhagar killed Lucerys and his dragon Arrax. Currently Borros is using the war as an excuse to attack the Dornish settlements to the south of his land, which seemed like a better use of his time than fighting dragons.
When Aegon finally found the “corpse” of Sunfyre, his comment that he was still alive seemed prophetic. Later in the episode we see the carcass of Meleys (Rhaenys’ dragon) on the walls of Rook’s Rest. If you look closely you can see that Meleys seems to be actually decomposing while Sunfyre to me looks more whole. I of course could just be coping here, since I refuse to believe Sunfyre is dead.
The end game of Larys remains cloudy. Aegon is not one for taking orders and without Sunfyre, he is completely useless. He mentioned Sharp Point as a destination but there cant be much he could achieve there either.
Orwyle brings it up, but the Hightower’s and the Church are intrinsically linked. The Hightowers’ are from Oldtown, and Oldtown is home to the Starry Sept which for hundreds of years has been the seat of power for the Faith of the Seven. Oldtown is also home to the Citadel, which is where Maesters become Maesters. By the time of Game of Thrones, the seat of the faith is actually in King’s Landing at the Great Sept of Baelor, but that building has yet to be constructed at this time. Cersei also blows it up with wildfyre in season 6 so maybe by the end of that series, the faith moves back to Oldtown.
Heleana being pregnant is surprising, as she was already done having her children in the book by this time. In the show she has had 2 children, Jaehaerys (deceased) and Jaehaera. But in the book she had a second son, Maelor. Perhaps she is going to have Maelor now and the writers will try to quickly shoehorn his book plotline into the remaining 12 episodes.

Nettles (the girl replaced by Rhaena in *House of the Dragon*) and Sheepstealer

Stray Observations:

I still can’t tell if Daeron actually has reddish brown hair, or his silver Targaryen hair is dyed. I guess it doesn’t really matter in the end.
Alyn now gets to be on the Small Council and still can’t get a real last name. Tough break.
Kinda funny to see Rhaenyra playing with the same model toys of Old Valyria that her father wasted all of his time with.
Did anyone actually believe that Ormund was a good guy just for punishing his rapist soldier?
Rhaenyra calling Orwyle bloodthirsty was a highlight for me.
From Jon Roxton and Daeron’s reaction to Ormund’s temper tantrum, it is very clear he reacts this way a lot.
Ulf was either being a complete dumbass, or a complete badass, when he mentioned the graffiti to Rhaenyra that disparaged her.
What will happen when Sheepstealer reappears with a rider in the future? Will Daemon insist it is someone new that has claimed the dragon?
Taxing the peasants and having your soldiers attack them in the streets is a great way to earn loyalty.

RIP: Hugh Hammer’s Brother in Law, random shepherd in the Vale.

NOTE: My recap for Episode 5 will be delayed one week or so. Sorry.

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

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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

Ormund Hightower and his army. For this scene, the show actually used real actors to give the army a realistic look, with no CGI used.

Other Points to Notice

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:

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.
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.
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.
The music really just amped the anxiety up this entire episode.
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.
Ulf remains the best character. Really went for it with trying to claim the Targaryen name.
Corlys has been the only powerful ally to always be on Rhaenyra’s side. Isolating him here seems beyond ridiculous.
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

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