Summary
Quite a violent ending that hardcore fans will absolutely love. Matt Smith’s Daemon may not be in the episode for long, but he is quite obviously the best thing about this particular episode, while the tension between Rhaenyra, Viserys, and Alicent also adds to the level of drama.
This recap of the HBO series House of the Dragon season 1, episode 3, “Second of His Name,” contains spoilers.
Fans are loving House of the Dragon, and so am I. Whilst I still yearn for some of the characters from Game of Thrones, the show is great nonetheless. And with a little more time, I’m sure some of the characters will prove to be as iconic as those from the original.
House of the Dragon season 1, episode 3 recap
There’s a bit of a time jump (3 years to be exact), and Viserys has since had a son with Alicent, with another child on its way. But there’s an attack elsewhere, and the happy celebrations turn slightly sour. Rhaenyra keeps herself absent from the celebrations. When Alicent, now the Queen, tracks Rhaenyra down, it’s obvious that the former best friends are not that anymore. That tension has also grown into Rhaenyra’s relationship with her father, Viserys. Lord Jason Lannister, one of two twins, introduces himself to Rhaenyra.
Now that Rhaenyra is of age, her father insists that she must marry. When she declares her desire not to marry, he screams at her in front of a room of people. Rhaenyra soon rides off on her horse in anger. Shortly afterward, Criston follows her and jokingly offers to kill her father for her. Meanwhile, Viserys remains firm that he will stand by declaring Rhaenyra as the heir. With every conversation that he has, Alicent keeps her eye on him.
Refusing to return home, Rhaenyra and Criston remain in the woods. She wonders if the realm will accept her as their Queen. Upon hearing a dark and mysterious noise, Criston goes to investigate. Suddenly a wild creature attacks them both, although they soon put it down, with Rhaenyra going a little mad and over the top. (But as they say, every time a Targaryen is born, the gods toss the coin in the air, and the world holds its breath to see how it will land). Viserys sobs to Alicent as he regrets his relationship with Rhaenyra since her mother’s death.
Alicent, who continues to act as the perfect Queen and wife, gets told that her son, Aegon, must be King. And that she must try and sway Viserys towards that truth. But do those words stay with her? It seems so, as when she next meets Viserys, she asks to discuss something. After reading a letter sent to Viserys, she questions why he is sending aid that has been requested. But Viserys sums it up by claiming that by pleasing one, he angers another. Rhaenyra and Viserys lock heads when they’re together again over his attempts to marry her off into Casterly Rock. Viserys continues to claim that he has no plans to replace Rhaenyra as heir, but he claims that she must marry to strengthen her claim. But he does allow Rhaenyra to find her own match.
The ending
Daemon continues to work with Corlys, and soon word is brought from Viserys. He doesn’t react nicely to the news and begins to attack the men around him. Finally, a voiceover from Viserys alerts us that Viserys has decided to send help to Daemon and that he prays to the gods for his safe return. After briefly sailing on his boat, he goes to a land full of dead people, gains the attention of the people residing there, places a white flag down, and waits for their reaction. Daemon then stabs one of the men and goes on a rampage, killing several others in the process. As he begins to get hit with several arrows, Daemon soon finds himself surrounded. Before anything serious can happen to him, a dragon appears and starts burning the men to death. Daemon drags half a corpse with him as the bloodshed continues.
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