Rhaenyra Targaryen (right) and Alicent Hightower in a scene from Season 2, Episode 3 of House of the Dragon (Photo: Twitter/@rhaenicentfiles, HBO)
This week’s episode begins with a showdown between two rival Tully-affiliated houses, the Blackwoods and the Brackens. These villains are like the Hatfields and McCoys of Westeros, using their loyalty to the black and green teams, respectively, to settle old scores and wage a bloody border war.
As the camera pans through the gruesome scene, we see the recently murdered Lord Samuel Blackwood with a sword to his throat; dead cows (yes, Betsy wasn’t saved); thousands of bloody corpses rotting; a rickety old windmill spinning lazily in the fetid air; a grotesque, charnel-like battlefield that shows the true horrors of war, hence the title of this week’s episode, “The Battle of the Burning Windmill.”
The camera cuts to Dragonstone and Rhaenyra, where she buries Eric and Arik (Elliot and Luke Tittenso), while Rhaenyse (Eve Best) appears with sage advice, assuring Rhaenyra that Otto Hightower had no hand in this dastardly deed.
“Hot blood has won,” Rhaenys concludes.
“Soon they won’t even remember what started the war in the first place,” Rhaenys muses.
But Rhaenyra remembers, and the reason she intervenes is because at that very moment they plotted to take her throne. Rhaenyra is a very single-minded character indeed.
Rhaenys insists that Alicent Hightower does not want war, especially “a war between dragons,” sowing the seeds for a wonderful but highly unlikely scene: a fateful conversation between Alicent and Rhaenys.
The camera cuts to King’s Landing, where Ser Christian Cole (Fabian Frankel) is still reeling from the aftereffects of his botched execution of Rhaenyra. Ser Cole’s kingguard has become much less disciplined since he was promoted to Hand of the King, and the King has filled the position with his rough drinking buddies. Cole comes downstairs to find Aegon II’s knights loitering.
Ser Kor doesn’t even wear the King’s Hand pin, preferring to present it on his chair in the Small Council. He picks up this strange, large marble and sits down to contemplate the events of the day. Tyrande Lannister (Jefferson Hall), the Master of the Coin, announces that his twin brother Jason (Jefferson Hall) is raising an army at Casterly Rock. They argue. King Aegon wants to ride dragons to war, but they convince him of the folly of such an act and finally agree to send Ser Kor to subjugate the Riverlands.
Rhaenyra reveals her plan to send Daemon’s children, the younger of his two daughters with his late wife, Rayna, to their cousin Lady Jeyne Arryn in the Vale for safety, and Rayna offers to go with them. Dragonless, Rayna speaks of dragons such as Tyrax and Stormcloud, and then, as she departs with her children, four new dragon eggs are seen.
Daemon is next seen abandoning Rhaenyra and heading for the decaying ruins of Harrenhall, the largest castle in the Riverlands and a vital key. After discharging his dragon Caraxes, Daemon sneaks into the crumbling Gothic castle alone, defeating the guards before breaking into the dining hall where he finds the pragmatic and highly competent warden, Sir Simon Strong (Simon Russell Beale). He quickly kneels without resistance and serves Daemon a not-so-tasty dinner of venison and peas. Despite Sir Strong’s attempts to convince Daemon that he is welcome, Daemon refuses to eat.
Damon is (predictably) a rude guest, demanding that Ser Strong be addressed as “Your Excellency,” and reveals his own reckless plan to seize the Iron Throne.
Here we are introduced to Alice Rivers (Gayle Rankin), an enigmatic female servant with piercing eyes and striking dark hair, who gazes upon Damon as if he were a juicy steak before telling the sleepwalking Damon that Harrenhal is where he will die.
One of the most memorable scenes occurs later at Harrenhal when Daemon is seen dreaming about a little girl by his wife Rhaenyra (fans will be delighted to see Milly Alcock return). Rhaenyra coldly sews the dead head of little Jaehaerys back onto his body. Daemon shows remorse and appears horrified, perhaps because few people want to see their crimes brutally realised. Freud would have a great time analysing why Daemon isn’t speaking to his wife and is dreaming about a little girl. Bad boy, bad boy, bad boy.
The camera cuts to King’s Landing, where Ser Call and Alicent Hightower give a cold farewell as Ser Call heads off to battle. Ser Call is joined by a new ally, Alicent’s brother, Ser Gwaine Hightower (Freddie Fox), who returns to the show for the first time since the joust in Season 1, Episode 1. Fox needs to talk to his agent.
Meanwhile, there’s turmoil in Rhaenyra’s camp at the Painted Table, where there seems to be a lot of pale-skinned white people whom Lord Corliss calls “Dragonstone Ditherers.” They suggest that if the war is too much for Rhaenyra to bear, they should move her somewhere safe and take charge, to distract her. “Treason?” Rhaenyra asks bashfully. They quickly shut up; they don’t want to end up as a side dish on barbecued pork.
So much of the episode seems to revolve around men’s disregard for women as equals, from Alicent and Ser Cole with the Hand in a small council meeting where they dismiss her idea, to Corliss abruptly ending a conversation between them, separated by an expertly staged beam in the shipyards, to dismiss her idea of making Rayna the heir to Driftmark and mock her concern for his safety.
This theme is carried over as Daemon abandons Rhaenyra to lead his own war in the Riverlands and pursue his own ambitions – women don’t seem to be very respected in Westeros.
As always, you can expect the obligatory brothel scene (the real reason to watch every week), and this week’s scene is more titillating than ever, with full-frontal nudity and a sex scene in decadent Rome that even Spartacus: Blood and Sand couldn’t pull off. Watch it twice and you’ll see what I’m alluding to.
The one-eyed prince Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) reaches his psychopathic peak when he rises completely naked at the urging of his brother and lord Aemond, and nonchalantly rejects the idea of his favorite prostitute training his young squire, saying “all prostitutes are the same.” He then strolls out, completely naked and emotionless. Expect blood, young squire. You’ve been warned. I’ll never forget that.
One intriguing storyline emerges: Seasmoke flies around Dragonstone, screaming in both distress and excitement. Misaria (Sonoya Mizuno) suggests the dragon is lonely, perhaps hinting that a new rider is on the way. Who could it be?
Speaking of dragons, Sir Cole experiences the horrifying shock of man vs dragon combat when Béla (Bethany Antonia) spots them in Moondancer and swoops down in ferocious pursuit of the dragon. Christon and Gwaine flee and hide in the forest. Though they’re dressed in armor and looking like they just made chocolate, Christon earns Gwaine’s respect.
From a story perspective, the biggest moment of the episode came towards the end with a conversation between former friends-turned-rivals-turned-allies Rhaenyra and Alicent Hightower. Who would have thought they’d end up on screen together again?
Security at the Red Keep seems horribly tight. With Mysalia’s help, Rhaenyra disguises herself as a nun and manages to get in and have an unexpected conversation with Alicent. Remember in Game of Thrones when Tyrion re-enters to see his brother centuries later? This is just like that. Terrible security. Really terrible. I hope the local security company notices.
Interestingly, no one thinks it’s strange when Alicent and the nun have their hissing, antagonistic conversation at an altar full of candles. Rhaenyra still wants to avoid war. “Men want blood,” she tells Alicent. “I know you have no desire for it.” The two exchange passionate apologies and yadiya-yas.
They then discuss how the late and absent-minded King Viserys, who had declared his daughter Rhaenyra his successor, suddenly changed his mind and told Queen Alicent that Aegon must be the one to unite the kingdoms, referencing the prophecy of “The Prince Who Was Promised.”
Rhaenyra sees the reality on her face, but still clings to a glimmer of hope, dismissing it as “just a story often told in the Song of Ice and Fire about Aegon the Conqueror.” She explains, insists, “That’s wrong! A terrible war is about to break out, and thousands of lives could be saved!” But Alicent says it’s too late, Kor is on the march, and her father is no longer at court. She does her best (devil’s laugh). Her fate is sealed.
As the episode ends this way, more bloodshed is likely, shattering any dreams of repentance, reconciliation or reconciliation. Enough already! Let the dragons fight. I can’t wait.
