This article incorporates spoilers for House of the Dragon.
War is afoot in House of the Dragon. After all of the lead up of the primary season and the violent horrors we have seen thus far within the hit HBO present’s sophomore entry, Episode 3 begins with a slaughter. But, in one other considerate adaptation change, we see what results in it. Boyish teenage stupidity and its consequence: a horrific discipline of hundreds of bloodied and bruised lifeless our bodies. It’s a brutal starting to an episode that lastly sees the Green and Black factions head into the approaching warfare, or no less than the younger, fiery, and livid males of the households. As the episode ends, we study that there’s one final hope for peace that comes within the type of a surprising twist that sees Rhaenyra (Emma D’arcy) and Alicent (Olivia Cooke) reuniting beneath the quilt of darkness.
One of the best strengths of House of the Dragon has been the way it has constructed its chamber drama type storytelling round two younger ladies thrust into the fires of a royal warfare. From childhood, each Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) and Alicent (Emily Carey) have lived the lives set out for them by their fathers, the previous as the primary feminine inheritor to the throne of Westeros and the latter as a baby bride married to King Viserys to lift her household’s standing within the kingdom. At one time, they have been one another’s confidantes and greatest mates.
Based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon ostensibly adapts fictional historic paperwork which might be informed by quite a few completely different and probably unreliable narrators. That places the sequence in an attention-grabbing place because it basically implies that what we’re seeing on display is the “actual” model of occasions, even when it adjustments the canon of the tales as we all know them. The season began with an intriguing and considerate adaptation of two notorious characters Blood & Cheese, and with this new late stage gambit by Rhaenyra, we get perception into the brand new makes an attempt to make peace that got here earlier than the violent, terrible, and inevitable warfare.
As Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) leads a warfare social gathering into the Riverlands and Rhaenyra’s council pushes her to behave, the one individuals who appear conscious of the truth of what a warfare will do to the Seven Kingdoms are Rhaenyra and Rhaenys (Eve Best) The latter was as soon as neglected for the crown, however somewhat than changing into bitter and merciless, she as a substitute stands as a sole voice of cause. It’s she who encourages Rhaenyra to keep in mind that Alicent was her pal; her that will get her to lastly open the raven’s letter that Alicent despatched after Luke’s loss of life; and she or he who councils persistence, and reminds the council that Rhaenyra wears the crown of Jaehaerys the Conciliator, implying that she might be able to discover peace the place solely warfare appears to potential. It’s that which conjures up Rhaenyra to enlist Myseria (Sonoya Mizuno), her new Master of Whispers, to smuggle the Targaryan Queen into the Great Sept costumed as a Septa, at nice danger to her personal life.
It’s right here that we see the lengthy awaited reunion between the 2 former greatest mates, although now Rhaenyra is holding Alicent at knifepoint. We’re a good distance from the pair laying with their heads in one another’s laps studying the historical past of Westeros. It’s right here that Rhaenyra lays out her not very nice plan, Alicent surrenders, they usually finish the inevitable warfare earlier than it begins. It seems like there ought to have been extra thought, possibly maybe a compromise, however in fact we already know the result of the warfare because of Game of Thrones, so a barely higher plan was by no means within the playing cards. Still, it’s a large second as a result of it as soon as once more expands on these two ladies, their relationship, and the way regardless of filicide, betrayal, and nice trauma, they’ll nonetheless come collectively in an effort to attempt to change the fates of their households and one another.
Sadly, it appears it’s miles too late for Alicent to return on the warfare she’s began, however no less than now she’s conscious of the reality of what Viserys mentioned: Aegon II is not the rightful inheritor, and as a substitute he was speaking in regards to the Prince Who Was Promised prophecy somewhat than her son. It’s a surprising second that exhibits the Green and Black factions did have an opportunity at peace, however it was apparently all for naught as Rhaenyra struggled to persuade her previous pal. But it appears essential that Alicent allowed Rhaenyra to flee safely as a substitute of calling for her guards and killing her proper then, so possibly there may be some hope for the Seven Kingdoms in any case.
It’s a testomony to each Cooke and D’arcy that in an episode the place we get dragon eggs — maybe the identical one Daenerys was gifted in Game of Thrones — and a Dragonseed (Targaryan bastards who can experience dragons) that their assembly is probably the most highly effective factor we see. Both their performances and the writing provide nice weight and a brand new addition to canon that adjustments the tales which were informed in regards to the warfare and our notion of them. In Fire & Blood, the warfare is one thing that occurs to Rhaenyra and Alicent somewhat than them being lively contributors who took steps to attempt to cease the bloodshed. So it doesn’t matter what comes subsequent, we now know that the warfare wasn’t as inevitable as we thought, and there was even at one level a path to peace which was crafted by a Targaryan, regardless of the violence and insanity that they are infamous for.
Rosie Knight is a contributing freelancer for IGN masking all the pieces from anime to comedian books to kaiju to children motion pictures to horror flicks. She has over half a decade of expertise in leisure journalism with bylines at Nerdist, Den of Geek, Polygon, and extra.
