House of the Dragon (2022) : Queens Landing - S03E02 - RECAP

House of the Dragon season three episode two, cooked again, they really learn from their mistakes from Season 2 and seem to found the balance between drama an action, this episode is the perfect example of it. Start with that opening silent underwater moment, floating dead bodies, bright dragon flames cutting right through murky water. There is one poor guy struggling to get to his feet on a capsized boat and a passing dragon burns him right up, thats some awesome dramatic picture, its the little details that count. Then the camera drifts past Jace dead in the water and his dragon Vermax gone with him, but the most painful is Baela who carry Jace stretched across Moondancer and brings his body back home to the dark halls of Dragonstone. This is the second son Rhaenyra has lost during this war and damn Emma Darcy did a great job in that sad scene at Dragonstone when Rhaenyra looks at her fallen boy lying on a stretcher, sobbing hard, crying out asking what he has done, like she is denying it and wont accept it, telling him how could you do this to me, some might say this was a casualty of war although I dont it, it was all Rhaena's fault and where does Daemon lands here if he is going to be on the Queens side or his daughter??. We got so many threads on this single scene, how did we got here?, well Sir Lorent had locked Rhaenyra in her room earlier to keep her safe from battle and at first she says killing him will not bring her child back. I know some people might not have a clue whats next but its here where Dragon seeds start to form cracks in their relationship with true blood Targaryen. Daemon returns to Dragonstone to pull Rhaenyra out of that state, steps up, reminds her that her son died fighting for his queen and its funny how that little boost her up wearing armor and a sword, leaving strategy behind, and Mysaria hands her father's Targaryen crown before they fligth to Kings Landing. That opening left me a little disappointed because they speed run how fast all of this happens but the cast made it watchable and the grief does a great job even when things are a bit rush out.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11198330/
• Platform: PRIME VIDEO

What worked best was finally seeing Rhaenyra approaching Kings Landing on Syrax, with Daemon and the new riders flying guard, four dragons coming in as a show of force. Alicent goes down to the Gold Cloaks to deliver her message, talking about treason and she convinces them to stand down for peace but after all they only need to know Daemon was coming since the Gold Cloaks were still loyal to their commander. The CGI when the four dragons approaching the city was not the best to be honest and I say this even when watching the episode on a 4K rip. The soliders were not in terror as many decided to kneel down as a sign of peace, many dont even know the business between the two families and just follow orders while there were others, not many, but did decide to stand up to the end and its when Daemon cuts through the Red Keep courtyard, puts down stragglers, yells who else dares rise against us in our house and then push open the doors into the throne room with Rhaenyra next to him, it was interesting how one White Cloak and with him some castle soldiers decide to stand against them and its obvious nothing would happen to Daemon and Rhaenyra but you had to be a fan of the show to see the Gold Cloaks saving them both at the last minute so even though it was satisfying seen Rhaenyra take the throne if felt like they got out of that situation too easy, was too cheap. Finally Rhaenyra holds court and starts punishing everyone who stood against her, we start to see real treason when Grand Maester Orwyle offers up Lord Jasper to save his own neck, then it comes out that Larys Strong had trapped Otto Hightower down in the black cells the whole time after Aemond fire him, I was also wondering where the fuck he was. Rhaenyra executes Otto right in front of the court, swings Daemon Valyrian steel sword Dark Sister and it takes two hacks to get his head off, leaving a mess and she walks up to the throne with blood on her boots, what a start to rule. She sits down on the iron throne crying because she is not of blood and war, just right as Alicent gets hauled in with Helaena, I wonder if Alicent going to take it slight after Rhaenyra killed her father, we will truly see if she has finally accept that putting Aegon on the throne was a mistake and her father was just collateral damage. It is dope seeing Rhaenyra finally take that throne and Daemon walking her through the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy and those visions of a silver haired girl with three dragons, although anyone who have seen Game of Thrones knows Rhaenyra is not that girl but it seems like they both think she is, Targaryen have this tendency of go mad, not all of them but many so if they both continue this prophecy relgious path they might both tip over and start murdering people left and right just as Daenerys did.

If we compare this episode to earlier seasons, the show is clearly making big adaptation choices that must shift away from the original source and consider this is coming from a guy who have not read the books but I'm damn sure on the books Rhaena doesnt go to the Veil for hidding trying to get on Lady Jayne Arryn good faith as she fear Vhagar but the question is who she really fear the most Vhagar or the queen who has more than one dragon, besides Sheapstealer would never take down Vhagar alone considering how unexperience he is at battle, might be a strong dragon but has zero battle skills, plus some other events like the dramatic way Rhanyra takes the throne and the same for how during the Gullet Battle its Jace who leads the charge it just sounds ridiculous how Rhenyra's court would allow it like nobody is watching them, there is the excuse he is the prince and rides a dragon so who is going to stop him. The series keeps leaning harder into human behavior and bad choices, like Lord Jasper trying to blackmail Alicent right before he attacks her, and Grand Maester Orwyle stepping in to arrest him, proving that the smaller chess pieces have to play smart to survive, Orwyle knew Alicent might have made some bad choices but at that very moment he knew what he just saw, of that he was certain . We also get Corlys watching High Tide burn in the distance, offering Alyn his name on the beach in a moment that points toward acknowledging both Alyn and Addam as his sons and actually question if this was really a victory because for his personal interests it doesnt look like it after watching everything he owns burn down.

What did not work was Aemond arriving at Harrenhal acting like a lunatic, riding Vhagar into the castle walls, torching the garrison, storming into the dining hall where Simon Strong is just sitting there eating dinner, he didnt accomplish anything other than feeding his ego like he was Aegon The Conqueror when he was not, he didnt even melt the castle as Aegon did. Simon wipes his mouth with a napkin, tells him we were not expecting you and Aemond demands he draw a sword, that was a funny moment if you knew how Simon got alone with Daemon back then. The thing is Simon has no sword, tries to talk his way out of it so there is no real danger or oposition at all and still Aemond just kills him unarmed and picks up the ancestral sword Blackfyre off the table to cut down Simon sons in cold blood, acting unhinged but then one of those sons manages to stick a blade right into Aemond from behind that at first because of the heat of the moment look like he took it like a champ and I was like that cant be true, its that moment when he rapidly falls to the floor begging for help. The whole thing felt stupid without any accomplishment and Aemond ends up on the floor losing blood, crawling at the feet of Alys Rivers like a helpless mess. Alys just kind of appears in the background, says nothing, stands over him with all the power, she could do a Daemon a solid and kill him right there but she wants Harrenhal for herself and already knows Daemon is not going to give it to her. The Triarchy fleet stuff is also trash, slowing everything down just like to fill up space, watching those blue haired soldiers ambush a caravan is a complete waste of time and let Aegon get off too easy and too convinient. Whats remaining of the Triarchy attack the cart holding Aegon and Larys Strong, chaos breaks out and Aegon grabs a arrow tip to stab some squire, this is when Larys suggests making for Duskendale after they break free but Aegon refuses and pushes for Rooks Rest instead, which just makes the desicion feel all over the place like where are we really going?.

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