House of the Dragon has run up against an interesting issue in its third season – it’s running out of major plot points with which to drive the story forward while also refusing to take this time to flesh out its supporting cast in meaningful ways. The cast of House of the Dragon isn’t as sprawling as that from Game of Thrones and the story is significantly less complex and wide reaching. Yet, Game of Thrones was able to (for most of its run) deftly manage a large cast of characters, offering key moments of character development that took seemingly minor characters and turned them into fan favorites. It’s something that House of the Dragon has failed at at every turn. And in an episode like this one, where there’s a lot of conversation, obfuscation, and not a ton of action, this is the kind of thing that really bites the show in the foot.
In our key arcs, we ended up learning next to nothing new about any characters we cared about – save that, perhaps, Mysaria is far too trusting of Rhaenyra and Alicent can. read her like a book. Ormund is a power-hungry madman who is more than willing to sell both the Greens and the Blacks down the river if it gets him a Hightower on the throne (and, even without knowing how this Dance ends, I think we all know that Ormund’s plan isn’t going to end the way he wants it too, considering the Targaryens continue on the throne for several more generations). Aemond finally has a powerful woman by his side who is willing to listen to and comfort him – and possibly use blood magic to bring him back from the brink of death and lock him in a haunted castle. Aegon finally got a verbal smack down from Larys that hopefully will make him stop wallowing in self-pity and turn back into some semblance of a lord (although it’s probably too much to hope that he’ll learn some compassion and not revert to being a total monster). And Rhaenyra and Daemon have a host of problems back at Queen’s Landing, but perhaps chief among them is the growing divide between what they both want out of their time on the throne.
So, a lot of people talking, fighting, and not really getting anywhere. Just another in a line of episodes that did much of the same throughout the life of the series. I’m not asking for massive battles each week – I, personally, don’t care much for those massive set pieces. But what I would like is something in the way of true character development. I’d love for more scenes like the one between Daemon and Rhaenyra in the Sept, where they spoke openly about how each one sees this monarchy very differently – Daemon the practical one and Rhaenyra keenly pointing out all the shadows coming for her with no way to catch them all. But, that’s really all we had in terms of foundational character conversations. Seeing Alys be witchy was fun, but we’ve seen it before. Aemon whinging and then starting to come back to himself was important, but it was more about Larys understanding when to play that particular card than anything Aemon found within himself. And Helaena’s pregnancy and the aborted escape with Alicent was repeating the same beats from the last few episodes. Nothing good can come of any of it, yet Alicent still thinks this is the best way out of the situation for them both – which tells us she hasn’t changed at all over the years, trying to save the child she cares for the most while also trying to save her own skin.
One could argue that Alicent never wanted this life – she was pushed into it by the pressure Otto put on her to play the role he crafted. She didn’t want to marry Viserys. She didn’t want to be the mother of the king. She certainly didn’t want to parent her boys considering how terrifying both ended up through a complete lack of boundaries. But each time she tries to leverage her name, her family, the power she still has, it’s clear that she enjoys that she has it. She appreciates what her position meant. She wanted her son to be king. She wanted the power it gave her. And she wanted to stick it to her former best friend who she still feels betrayed her all those years ago. But again, we know all this. We’ve seen all this. We don’t need to rehash it every time Alicent must confront something Rhaenyra has done or might do.
The series continues to go round in circles until it’s time for the next major battle that will result in a major death – that’s the path of the series each and every season. Taking this time now to flesh out characters who might be incredibly important down the line like Alyn or Hugh would have been a much better use of an episode than having characters make minute moves toward a goal that we know they won’t reach until the end of the season.
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