Summary
Another brilliant episode of House of the Dragon leans on Emma D’Arcy’s superb performance, but exchanges scale and scales for a tight focus, emotional depth, and political complexity.
House of the Dragon is really rather good, isn’t it? This is not a show that has been without problems over the years, and after kick-starting Season 3 with two episodes that were intended to be the high-stakes climax of the previous outing, there were worries — validly, in my opinion — that Episode 3 would bring with it a significant drop-off. And to be clear, there is a significant drop-off, but importantly not in quality. This hour exchanges scale and scales for a zoomed-in, disorientingly off-kilter focus on Rhaenyra’s first day as queen, following her around the Red Keep with an almost drunken lurch as she fields a seemingly endless list of problems and personal grievances. I’ve already been pretty loud in my praise for Emma D’Arcy’s performance in this show, and this episode, which she carries on her back almost entirely, only proves me right.
The focus on Rhaenyra is so strong in this episode that I believe there is only one scene that doesn’t unfold from her point of view, which is the cold open. Otherwise, it’s all her. We don’t check in on Aegon and Larys Clubfoot; we don’t see what befell Aemond at Harrenhal; we have no idea where Rhaena and Sheepstealer are. Emma D’Arcy is given a tremendous amount to do, cycling through various modes on the fly, sometimes within a single scene, and while the performance isn’t as showy as her grief in the aftermath of Jace’s death in the premiere, it’s just as impressive.
A Royal Hostage
On the subject of that opening scene, it’s worth paying attention to both because it’s the only one that Rhaenyra isn’t in and because it sets up a killer twist later. In it, Daemon, flanked by dragons, explains to Lord Ormund Hightower that Rhaenyra is now queen and has granted him and his men clemency, assuming they bend the knee. Ormund is reluctant, but to spare the lives of his men, he submits and agrees to leave.
Daemon’s only condition is that Ormund hand over Daeron Targaryen, Alicent’s son, as a royal hostage. Again, Ormund doesn’t love it but doesn’t have a great deal of choice in the matter. When Daemon takes him back to the Red Keep, Rhaenyra asks him a few questions about his knowledge of usurper plots, and when he remains noncommittal, she has him thrown in a cell. Daemon insists that she’ll have to kill him at some point since he’s a legitimate claimant to the Iron Throne, but there’s no rush.
We’ll return to this later.
The Crown Is In Disarray
War, it turns out, takes quite a toll on a kingdom, which Rhaenyra discovers to her misty-eyed dismay all through this episode. Initially, she’s focused on being officially coronated for legitimacy’s sake, but that’s the least of her problems. The crown has no gold, for a start. The treasury is empty, as are the granaries, and the navy is badly depleted after the Battle of the Gullet. There are even rats roaming all over the place, since Aegon hung all the ratcatchers.
To make matters worse, Aemond and Vhagar haven’t been seen since they left for Harrenhal; nobody knows where Sheepstealer is; Rhaenyra is on her period, which only makes her more stressed, and she’s having visions of Jace all over the place. She can’t walk ten feet without being accosted by someone who wants something from her, and since she generally doesn’t have the resources to fulfill the request, whatever it is, her sense of discombobulation continuously mounts. The only people she can trust are Daemon, who keeps giving insane Mad King-style advice that is directly contrary to the way she wants to do things, and Mysaria, who might have her own agenda.
Unlikely Allies
To be fair, House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 3 definitely positions Alicent as a potential conspirator of Rhaenyra, though their relationship remains testy for obvious reasons, given all the family murder they’ve both been privy to and complicit in. Rhaenyra can’t quite believe that Alicent had nothing to do with, say, Larys spiriting Aegon out of King’s Landing, but Alicent also feels like she did exactly what was asked of her and is now being punished unduly (she and Helaena aren’t allowed to leave, even though Rhaenyra promises to treat them with kindness).
But the fact remains that in Rhaenyra’s absence, Alicent basically ran the realm, so she becomes Rhaenyra’s first port of call when it comes to dealing with complex political issues, especially in lieu of a small council (Rhaenyra thinks the one she had on Dragonstone was useless, which is fair enough). This is a fascinating relationship since both have extremely justifiable positions and aren’t inclined to listen to anything the other says, even though what’s being said is largely pretty adroit advice (Alicent suggests, for instance, that Rhaenyra just declare Aegon dead and, in the event of his return, just pretend he’s an imposter. Since he’s so badly burned, nobody will recognise him).
What becomes clear is that there’s no way Rhaenyra is going to be able to rule without abandoning her most fundamental principles. It’s an idea she’s reluctant to, but as we come to see, even her grand gestures are on a tight timeframe, and eventually she’s going to have to make the hard calls. Alicent knows this because she has lived it. She continues to lose people and pride at an alarming rate even now.
Olivia Cooke, Phia Saban, and Emma D’Arcy in House of the Dragon Season 3 | Image via WarnerMedia
Rhaenyra Targaryen, Queen of the People
You’d think if she had a bit more spirit and support, Rhaenyra would make a fine queen. After receiving the smallfolk and hearing their various problems, almost all of which are down to scarcity following the war, it becomes obvious that the lords and ladies she’s supposed to suck up to are responsible for bleeding the kingdom dry.
To solve this problem, Rhaenyra throws a lavish banquet and serves up the staple meal of the commoners — rat. The nobles are appalled, but they weren’t appalled about loading up their storehouses during strife and leaving everyone else to starve, so fair’s fair. While they’re dining, Rhaenyra also has Gold Cloaks raiding their homes and rounding up the excess to redistribute it among the smallfolk. It’s a short-term win, but it’s a win nonetheless, and the alternative, as per Daemon, is just jumping on a dragon like a lunatic and burning everyone into submission. Rhaenyra is rightly fearful of how much power she has.
What’s In A Name?
While all this is going on, Corlys introduces Addam and Alyn to Rhaenyra as his children. He also names Alyn as his heir and wants Rhaenyra to legitimise the kids as Velaryons. It seems a small favour to ask after he almost died fighting the queen’s war.
Of course, Rhaenyra can’t be seen to be doing it. When she knights the Dragonseeds, she styles Ulf as “Ulf the White”, Hugh as “Hugh the Hammer”, and Addam as “Addam of Hull”, a rejection that Coryls is furious about. Rhaenyra’s argument is that given the rumours — ahem — about her own children, she can’t be seen to be elevating those “outside of noble troth”. Corlys essentially redoes Vaemond’s whole “he can keep his tongue” bit from Season 1, but Daemon isn’t around to lop the top of his head off this time, so Rhaenyra is left reeling from the affront (which is also, you know… true).
Parent Trap
Predictably, House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 3 ends with another rug pull. Rhaenyra tells Alicent that she has decided to send Daeron to the Wall to take the black, which is offered as a kind, conciliatory gesture but isn’t really taken in that spirit, even though Alicent hasn’t seen the kid for years and barely knows him. You can see her point. Rhaenyra just chopped her father’s head off. All she asks in return is that she see Daeron in person to say goodbye.
Immediately, Rhaenyra recognises that Alicent and Daeron don’t know each other. He’s an imposter. Ormund compelled him to play the part under threat of having his mother hanged. It was all part of a calculated Hightower play, which becomes obvious when a dragonkeeper from Tumbleton arrives and tells Rhaenyra that Ormund has captured the place and taken the people as hostages. And since Rhaenyra is now a champion of the smallfolk, she can’t raze the town without harming them and betraying her most immediate political promises. She’s stuck and on the back foot, and it’s only, like, day one of her reign.
This isn’t going especially well.
