‘House of The Dragon’ Episode 3: A Feast For Crabs
The third episode of House of the Dragon is out, and there is blood, lots of blood.
HBO’s House of the Dragon has proven to be a hit. Many people were worried after the final season of Game of Thrones. However, the first couple of episodes have shown that things are back on track in Westeros. Episode 3 gives us more battles and more intense politicking.
***BEWARE, HERE BE SPOILERS***
Family Matters are Key in Episode 3
After a short intro showing the fighting on the Step Stones, we are quickly back in King’s Landing. It’s been roughly three years since the end of episode two. King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) and Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey) have been married for a few years. Their son, Aegon, is turning two, and Alicent is pregnant with another child.
Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock in this episode) is feeling threatened by Aegon. Despite being only two he is a male and she worries he will be named heir instead of her. As such, she seems to be in a bit of a teenage funk and hasn’t really been talking to the king much, or doing much of anything it seems. In honor of the Prince’s birthday, the court heads out to the Kingswood to hunt – and the teenage Rhaenyra is dragged along.
The king and his daughter are further driven apart during the hunt. The question of Rhaenyra getting married comes up. She doesn’t want to be married, but Viserys insists she needs to marry. Thinking the marriage idea is a way of getting rid of her so he can name Aegon his heir, Rhaenyra rides off into the woods, with Criston Cole.
She’s Got Blood on Her Hands
While Rhaenyra wanders in the wood, Viserys is stuck with his court on the hunt. Throughout episode 3, various people engage him on the succession and Rhaenyra’s marriage. He wants none of it, and slowly gets drunk over the course of the night. We are also introduced to the soon-to-be important character of Larys Strong.
Viserys is then told that the royal huntsmen have found a White Hart. This mystical beast is a powerful symbol and seems to suggest that Aegon is blessed. Speaking with Alicent he talks about his dreams and seems to doubt if Rhaenyra was a good choice (he’s also missing two fingers). Alicent for her part seems to still genuinely want to be friends with Rhaenyra, who rejects her, and still thinks she will be Queen.
Rhaenyra wanders around at night and has a heart-to-heart with Cole. They are then attacked by a boar. After Cole wound’s it, Rhaenyra finishes it off in a cathartic moment. She ends up covered in boar blood. In the morning, the King’s hunt finds their prey, but it’s a normal brown deer. The King seems relieved by this as the lack of White Hart seems to suggest Rhaenyra is the true heir. Meanwhile, Rhaenyra does see the White Hart but lets it go. After returning, and causing a stir, with her boar, the hunt ends.
Reconciliation
After returning to the Red Keep, Alicent meets with her father Otto. He convinces her that she should push for her son Aegon to be named heir. She goes to talk with the king. However, instead of bringing up the succession she convinces the King to reconcile with Daemon, who is losing his war, and send him aid.
Viserys also meets with Rhaenyra. They finally have a good heart-to-heart. The king says he has no intention of replacing her as heir. He wants her to marry to make her claim stronger. She needs heirs for her own succession and a strong husband can support her. He then gives her leave to marry as she wishes but tells her she needs to do it soon. They seem to end on better terms.
Episode 3 Takes Us to the Stepstones
via HBO
House of the Dragon Episode 3 begins and ends in the Step Stones. Somehow, Daemon and Corlys are losing. Despite having dragons. Craghas Crabfeeder and his men can’t deal with the dragons, so anytime they come around they hide in caves. It’s unclear who this is letting them win the war. The Valeryons are said to be losing ships left and right and running low on food. Yet it seems that the troops from the Triarchy would be in just as bad a position with the dragons able to sink their ships.
via HBOMax
When news reaches Daemon that his brother is sending aid, he goes into a rage. Not wanting to be seen as weak, Daemon decides to… single handily attack Crabfeeder and his men on foot. After pretending to surrender, Daemon starts cutting his way through enemy troops. He also dodges a million arrows (if only Rickon Stark was that good).
Eventually, he does get hit, but at that point, Leanor Valeyron and his dragon show up, with the rest of the army. The Triarchy forces are routed and Daemon kills Crabfeeder off-screen. Seemingly ending the war, and certainly ending the episode.
Some Thoughts on Episode 3
I have to say the whole war in the Step Stones was a bit of let down. It’s odd that after a three-year time jump House of the Dragon Episode 3 just tells us the war is being lost. And lost because of Daemon. Yet we never get to see this. Daemon never makes any obvious mistakes in the episode.
Then in the end Daemon decides to take more direct action on foot. It’s not clear if he had a plan here. Right before he heads over to fight Crabfeeder, Corlys and his men are talking about a plan that they need Daemon for. That seems to be what happens. However, in the behind-the-scenes, the directors imply that Daemon had no plan and was going to commit suicide.
Daemon’s whole run was also just a little…over the top. This dude just dodges all the arrows and cuts down a ton of enemies (who only fight him in small groups). It’s kind of crazy. I guess this is why Daemon has a reputation as a great warrior since this has to be one of the most epic feats in history. Even after getting shot, and saved by Laenor’s driver by flaming, he still manages to hunt down and kill Crabfeeder. However aside from the Stepstones part, House of the Dragon episode 3 was pretty solid.
Let us know what you thought of the episode, down in the comments!
