Oh Rhaenyra, you’re in danger, girl. And not just from the newly risen Aegon and Sunfyre, who are now almost certainly on their way to take back what is theirs. You can’t trust Daemon – although, can you really blame him for wanting to protect his daughter (who he couldn’t have cared less about a few months ago, but who he now is willing to lie to Rhaenyra to save). You’re letting your dragon riders – Alyn, Baela, Hugh, and Ulf – start to think they’re expendable to you, only worthy for their mounts and as chess pieces on the board. Hell, Hugh’s wife has all but left him and Ulf is dining with the enemy, brokering a deal that will ensure him a house of his own if he turns on his queen. And you’re trusting Mysaria, who is starting to become drunk with power, convinced she has positioned herself so that you see her as your only ally. It doesn’t hurt that she’s able to seduce you in more ways than one.
But this is the most precarious position Rhaenyra has been in throughout the entire season. Alicent has completed her task – poisoning Aemond – but does anyone think Alys is going to let that idiot (her word, not mine) die? The enemies are regrouping. The allies are fracturing. And Rhaenyra can’t trust herself anymore. She’s stressed, scared, grasping at straws to get some sign that her reign is secure. Heleana couldn’t offer her any solace (green dreams don’t work like that, of course – although that last dream of hers seems to hint that winter was coming, which isn’t happening for a while yet – so perhaps it was a sign of her own impending doom). While I think Rhaenyra will live to fight again in season four, things are shaping up so that her forces are greatly reduced by the end of the season.
This is the second episode in a row that was more about positioning characters for the finale and foreshadowing how the pieces on the board might be moving for the upcoming final season. We have Aemond secured in Harrenhal – with Alys and many a ghost – and Vhagar off on her own. We have Rhaena brought to heel, forgiven by Baela, but not by Rhaenyra. We have Mysaria potentially overplaying her hand while Rhaenyra begins to show worrying signs of a mental decline and potential Targaryen madness. And Aegon is now back as a major player, although one scarred man with a dragon doesn’t mean much when he has two brothers who both have designs on power and the throne.
Yes, there was a cool dragon showdown, but we didn’t get all that much in the way of major characterization this time around. Rather, the episode made clear just where everyone stands, what everyone feels, and who does and doesn’t trust each other. I do wonder how all of this plot will tie up in our final battle this season – presumably in Tumbleton, as that seems to be the place where everyone is headed. I have to admit, I’ve found myself much less invested in the series overall this time around. I suspect it’s because so much of the story feels like a march to an inevitable ending. And, if you have any knowledge of how the Targaryen line continues on past this civil war, a lot of the story being told here doesn’t have the urgency of something like Game of Thrones. Even A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms felt more exciting and character-driven than House of the Dragon has become at this stage of things, and it was easy to find out how that series ended as well.
I don’t dislike House of the Dragon. There are still some compelling performances – chief among then Emma D’Arcy who is great at showing us Rhaenyra’s fraying mind – but the story just doesn’t feel as organic as early Thrones was. The characters aren’t as complex. The writing isn’t as crisp. I doubt the series is going to be able to fully win me back with whatever major set piece is to come, but I have to say that I’m disappointed at how shallow these characters remain, three seasons into the series. At this point, Thrones was juggling twice the number of characters and many of them felt much more layered and interesting than the ones in House of the Dragon. I just wish the show was less focused on moving the story from one battle to another and more on helping us to understand the inner-workings of the show’s characters. But, alas, I suspect that ship has sailed and this is what we have. I’m pot-committed at this stage of the game, so I guess I’ll see this one to the end.
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