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House of the Dragon S3 Ep 7 Review

You know, in a perfect world, Rhaenyra Targaryen would have been able to become Queen and stay as such without problems. That is what her dad wanted, and that is the oath that all the lords and ladies of Westeros swore to uphold. But while she now rules from King’s Landing, everyone is out to get her! She is surrounded by liars and people taking advantage of her, and this week, she has the biggest shock of her life as she learns the truth about Sheepstealer’s rider. And to be honest, I’m surprised that she shows as much restraint as she does with Rhaena in this episode. And meanwhile, Ormund continues to be the biggest d**** in Westeros since his relative, Otto, died.

Oh, and some racy scenes take place.

Why, Rhaena. WHY?!?

So, Rhaena once again proves how bad a decision-maker she is. Rather than accept living in hiding forever in the foothills of the Vale or flying into exile somewhere, she gets it in her head that if she hunts down and kills Vhagar, Rhaenyra will forgive her. I could only chalk this up to her guilt and lack of sleep, because any rational person would tell her that this was a stupid idea. Even if she tracked down Vhagar, there was no way Sheepstealer could kill her. That’s not even counting the fact that Sheepstealer refuses to listen to Rhaena! And she was still responsible for Jace’s death, so Rhaenyra won’t forget that.

Seeing how Rhaena’s storyline has played out in the show, it really makes me wish we had gotten Nettles. In the books, Nettles was a peasant girl who cleverly earned Sheepstealer’s loyalty by feeding him sheep every day. Not only that, but she was the only one of the major dragon riders of the war to walk away with her life and her dragon, fleeing to parts unknown. Unfortunately, Rhaena has proven neither clever nor as fortunate, and her luck ends up running out. After her sister and Addam spot Sheepstealer, Rhaenyra realizes Daemon lied and goes out to deal with the problem herself.

Once again, the characters on the show keep making the wrong decisions! Baela probably didn’t even realize that she had damned her sister. And Daemon is in full panic mode as he knows that his daughter’s life is in danger. When you hear him say “please” to Lady Jeyne Arryn, then you know that he’s desperate. He’s only able to get to his daughter for a brief moment, but in that moment, he shows off a vulnerable side to himself as he admits that he didn’t have a dragon of his own for a long time. It’s clear that he’s fully aware of how bad a father he’s been, and he is trying his damnedest to make things right. But it’s already too late: Rhaenyra and Addam soon come upon them.

The look on Rhaenyra’s face when she realizes that Rhaena was the one responsible for Jace’s death was absolutely superb. Emma D’arcy has really grown into playing the role of the dragon queen, showing just how more and more unhinged she’s become as time passes. But their acting in this episode was some of the best they’ve given all show. And to top it off, we get to see Syrax, Caraxes, and Seasmoke all fight Sheepstealer as the dragon goes berserk! We’ve already seen what dragon fights look like in the sky, but when they’re confined to the ground, they’re even more vicious. Seeing the maiming that Sheepstealer gets is just absolutely brutal; it’s a miracle that the dragon was even able to limp away intact. But it takes a lot more to kill a dragon.

What were the Show writers thinking?

Speaking of trying to kill a dragon, Alicent manages to make it to Harrenhal as part of Rhaenyra’s suicidal plan to kill Aemond. But before that happens, we apparently get yet another example of disturbing incest in the Targaryen family. We are led to believe that Alicent has come to find her son, and then we are treated to a scene of her and Aemond almost having s*x. It was even more disturbing than the kissing scene from earlier in the season. The only saving grace is that it was really Alys disguising herself as Alicent. Still, that’s messed up, even by Targaryen standards.

And then, when the real Alicent does meet her son, things don’t go well. Firstly, Aemond kills her escort out of fear that Alys is messing with him. Secondly, when Alicent tries to poison her son, he’s able to make it to Alys, which means he’ll likely survive. As for Alicent, she’s had to flee Harrenhal, and if she knows what’s good for her, she’ll head back Oldtown and stay there. But she won’t.

At least her one good son considers doing just that.

Ormund Has to Go!

Where do I even begin with Ormund? Even though the Winter Wolves are about to storm Tumbleton, he’s still acting like he’s going to have the last laugh. He arrogantly tells Gwayne that he’s got a secret trump card to use, but leaves everyone in the lurch about what it is. It isn’t until the end of the episode that we find out that it’s Ulf the White. He’s convinced him to turn on Rhaenyra in exchange for rule over Driftmark.

Full disclosure: I knew that Ulf was going to do this thanks to the wiki and the books. What I appreciate the show doing was giving some justification for why Ulf turned on his Queen. He thought he was going to become a Lord and someone important, only to instead be denied that and even the right to go drinking with his friends. The sad thing is, I think that if he had stayed loyal, she would have given him both after the war ended.

The crowning moment of this entire episode, though, has to go to Aegon. His plans to flee to Essos are dashed thanks to an army of Riverlanders bearing down on him, Larys, and Tyland. And while Larys opts to flee, Aegon decides that if he’s going to die, he’ll die fighting. It’s probably the first genuinely badass thing that he’s done in his life. At least, he tries to make it badass with that speech of his. But it turns out that the enemy was really just scared of the dragon behind him.

I KNEW Sunfyre was still alive!

Yes, against all odds, the show keeps with the book canon. Sunfyre is still alive, and arrives just in time to save his rider. And he looks absolutely hideous now! It’s hard to see from the darkness, but you can tell that Sunfyre has been just as maimed and scarred as his rider, to the point where I don’t even know how he’s still alive at all. But then he and Aegon get the last laugh as they set fire to their foes, symbolizing the return of the king. The fake king, at least!

What a crazy episode this was. Dragon-on-dragon violence abounds, Sunfyre rises from the dead, and Rhaenyra has no clue what to do with Rhaena. And next episode is supposed to be the last one of the entire season! With so much left to cover before the break as we await what is almost certainly the final season, I’m guessing as to who’s going to die. And I hope that it’s Ormund!

I Give “The Dragons in Winter” a 3/5

House of the Dragon S3 Ep 2 Review

The season three premiere of House of the Dragon managed to start things off on an absolutely crazy note. HBO proved that the time and money they put into the season opener was well spent with The Battle of the Gullet, one of the biggest clashes of the Dance, as this war shall be called. Thanks to the impulsiveness of Rhaena Targaryen, we had to watch as Prince Jacaerys and his dragon were slain by the Triarchy, depriving Rhaenyra of her eldest son and heir to the Iron Throne. And as we know thanks to her descendant, Danaerys, when Targaryens lose the ones they love, they will set the entire realm on fire. And that is what pretty much what happens in this episode as Queen Rhaenyra gets what she wants: she gets the Iron Throne. But I think she’s already questioning if it was worth it or not.

Rhaena is a Dead Woman Walking!

The opening to this episode is a somber one as Baella and Moondancer return to Dragonstone with Jacaerys’ body. Everyone on the island is shocked and horrified by the death of the prince, but the person who is most horrified is, naturally, Rhaenyra herself. Emma D’arcy has proven an oustanding actor as Rhaenyra, as they manage to have the Queen go through multiple stages of grieving in a matter of moments. Seeing her be in initial denial that her son is dead to howling in tears over it is absolutely heartbreaking to watch. It was Jace who chose to fly to what would be his death so he could prove himself a worthy heir, but Rhaenyra still blames herself like any good parent would. That, and she blames the person who rode Sheepstealer. Though she doesn’t know that it was Daemon’s own daughter…yet.

As for Rhaena, she is pretty much a dead woman walking. She defied orders to flee to Pentos so she could claim a dragon. Then she impulsively decided to ride said dragon into battle without any further training, leading to Jace’s death. She knows that Rhaenyra will kill her for this, so rather than let that happen, she flees back to the Vale to hide, though Lady Arryn say she doesn’t want to see her again. I don’t blame her, either. I was happy that Rhaena got her own dragon at last, but what Sheepstealer did only proves the late Viserys point that dragons are too dangerous for man to control. Which sucks, because the dragons are the coolest part of this entire franchise!

The one Silver Lining

The only silver lining to all of this is that Corlys Velayron is still alive. But Driftmark is now in ruins, and it’s likely the Triarchy made off with a lot of his fortune. His house will never be as big as used to be. But at least he has his granddaughter and sons, Addam and Alyn. The latter of whom is now ready to accept Corlys as his dad.

So, with Aegon in the wind and Aemond having flown to capture Harrenhal, Alicent has held up her end of the bargain to Rhaenyra, but it almost gets her r*ped in the process. No, really. Lord Jasper, the Master of Laws, figures out what she’s up to and tries to blackmail her for s*x in exchange. And then we get a very graphic moment where he attempts to r*pe her! I actually thought the show was going to go through with it, but thankfully, Alicent is saved at the last second. Sadly, she and Helaena are unable to escape King’s Landing before Rhaenyra, Daemon, Hugh, and Ulf fly in to capture it.

The Queen Lands

The capture of King’s Landing is incredibly well-executed, in my opinion. The sight of the people panicking as Queen Rhaenyra’s dragons fly overhead is an excellent contrast to how nonchalant they were about in the first episode. Seeing Rhaenyra and Daemon tear through the Red Keep and take it for themselves is an excellent display of assertiveness. And that moment when the City Watch helps them take the city out of loyalty to Daemon? Chef’s kiss. Of course, I think that my favorite scene has to be how Rhaenyra deals with those who tried to deny what was promised to her.

So Long, Otto!

Like Littlefinger centuries later, Otto Hightower is the man responsible for the chaos unfolding in the show. He tried to put his own blood on the throne by selling off his own daughter as a bride. He and his conspirators basically enacted a coup by putting Aegon on the throne against the wishes of Viserys. Otto was a traitor hiding behind a veil of tradition, and it cost him his life. I was happy to see him go, but that joy was muted by the show’s decision to have Rhaenyra execute him herself.

The bloody footprints as she climbed towards the Throne that was promised to her is peak symbolism, in my opinion. It’s a Throne she’s had to win in blood, and the distraught look on her face as Alicent enters the throne room says that she is shocked at what she had to do to get it. But the bloodshed has only just begun.

The season is far from over, and while Rhaenyra can now say she is Queen, she has to hold it while Aegon and his brothers are still on the loose. And holding the Iron Throne is even harder than winning it! Ball’s in your court, Rhaenyra. Let’s see how long you can hold it.

I Give “Queen’s Landing” a 4.5/5