House of the Dragon Season 3

Is Rhaenyra a good queen? Well, she’s trying to be. In season 3 of House of the Dragon she gets on the Iron Throne but inherits Aegon’s mess and has to clean it up, but she faces opposition from Ormund, who wants to raise her brother, Daeron Targaryen, as king; Aegon, who is believed to be dead but is secretly alive is her biggest threat since the High septon raised him as king already and refuses to turn on that; and her citizens, who don’t care whose in power; they just want their problems fixed.

Season 3 of House of the Dragon improves from the drag that was season 2 by picking up the pace a little, but there is still a lot of heartache for Rhaenyra on her journey as she faces new problems on the Iron Throne. Rhaenyra’s team is team black, while her brother Aegon is Team Green, just in case you forgot. In this house, we are team black, and I hope you are too. House of the Dragon is for people who love fantasy, read fantasy, the medieval time period, and drama. The showrunner for this season is Ryan Condal, and it stars Emma D’Arcy, Matt Smith, and Olivia Cooke. It has similar vibes to Game of Thrones for obvious reasons, Lord of the Rings, or The Wheel of Time because they are all fantasy shows adapted from source material that is loved and take people on a journey. From here on out, there will be spoilers, so be warned.

The last season fell a bit flat for me, but this season definitely found its footing. The story builds on why people won’t accept Rhaenyra as a leader. There are too many problems, and while she didn’t cause them, the people don’t care who caused them; they want solutions. It’s a little flat when it comes to taking on her enemies; she seems like she doesn’t want to kill, but they are after her head, so there’s a lot of her speaking about threats, but they move slowly to address the threat. It’s better than last season, where I feel like she did nothing; she’s just stressed this season with the weight of the crown. In the finale, she decides that if the church septon won’t raise her as the queen, she will kill them and raise herself, which shows her finally being more aggressive after trying to do things peacefully.

The season had an exciting start with the battle of the gullet, then it slows down a bit, but there are some interesting moments still that push the story forward. Pacing is a little inconsistent, mainly because I think they are dragging the story a little too long. Ormund shouldn’t have been doing whatever he wanted in Tumbleton for a whole season with Daeron. It would’ve been cool to see more of the small battles taking place along the lands of people fighting for Rhaenyra. Harrenhal is a place we visit too much, and after season 2, I needed a break. This season sees us returning, so not only do we get more gothic witch Alys Rivers, but we see her throwing herself at Aemond, who is imagining her as his mother- yes, you read that right, so please don’t ever take me back there.

Now it isn’t that many episodes, but there are 2 standout episodes. I think it’s important to note these because I think they’re great and I want to talk about them.

The first episode of the season really threw us straight into the Battle of the Gullet. It’s an intense water fight with the Triarchy and the Lannisters vs the Velaryon fleet led by Corlys. The Velaryons come out on top, of course, but that doesn’t mean that it was not without tremendous sadness. Rhaenyra wants to fight, and her son Jace doesn’t think it’s a good idea, and he ends up getting killed after the wild dragon Sheepstealer starts burning everything and everyone. It was truly heartbreaking because there’s so much excitement with them winning and Lohar’s death, but then so much sadness as Jace, a character who really wanted to make his mom proud, died via arrows, which is now her second child to die. It was a great way to start the season.

The finale was the other episode that I loved, and it’s another battle at Tumbleton. If there’s a theme you noticed, it’s that they do battles pretty well. So much happened, and I was so invested in all the converging storylines. Rhaenyra learns Aegon is back, and she finally leans into Daemon’s wishes, which is basically: if they won’t acknowledge you as the legitimate queen, then make them. She kills the High Septon, who keeps disrespecting her, and raises herself. In Tumbleton, Daemon gears up for battle with the winter wolves and the river men. They attack on three fronts to overwhelm their enemy, even though Ormund is using kids as shields on the front lines. Daemon and the best dragon there is, Caraxes, burst through the front door, and all hell breaks out. Ormund gets fucked by the North when Lord Roderick gets a blade and sticks it up his ass, then he is burned. Ulf burned both sides, which makes the battle feel like no one won, and I feel like the blame will be put on Rhaenyra. All this had me stressed, and then the episode ends with the saddest death. Helaena, the one Team Green member that I liked, kills herself in the same way Tommen did in Game of Thrones and probably in the same room. It was a great way to end and set up the journey Rhaenyra and Aegon will go on next season.

Some character Arcs either grew this season or had a nice payoff. We are now in season 3, so there are some characters whose arcs have been a slow progression, while others had either been flying under the radar until this season or were just introduced.

Alicent was truly looking after herself and Helaena this season after helping Rhaenyra get into the castle. She’s over this civil war that she helped start, which is very convenient, and hates her sons. If you think I'm exaggerating, Rhaenyra asks her to kill Aemond, and she agrees.  She keeps reminding Rhaenyra about how the throne changes people for the worse and tells her how she can see that happening to her every chance she gets. I haven’t forgotten about her in past seasons, but she wasn’t at the top of my hate list this season.

Rhaenyra gets to the throne, which I’ve been wanting this season. It is overwhelming her, though, as she says she is “awash in dilemmas and deficiencies” because Aegon was not fit to lead and left everything in shambles. Throughout the season, I wanted her to be more proactive when dealing with those who want to undermine her, which we see in the finale when she stops trying to be nice to everyone to get what she wants and starts taking it by force.

Daemon this season is finally not at Harrenhal anymore, thank god. When Gold Cloaks start dying and resigning, he takes it upon himself to weed out the perpetrators. He eventually learns it’s Ormund, and he wants to go and confront him, but he actually listens to Rhaenyra and doesn’t until after he has found a way to convince her.  They showed more of his battle skill in Tumbleton and how he and Caraxes are a dream team in the finale.

Rhaena has been around since season 1, and it felt like she was in this season more than season 1 & 2 combined. She bonded with Sheepstealer, who is a wild dragon who is hard to train but liked Rhaena. I rooted for her and Sheepstealer and was sad Rhaenyra separated them.

Alyn gets more screen time helping Rhaenyra with strategies but also being a bridge between Rhaenyra and Corlys during their argument. He starts falling for Baela too in the midst of everything. He was the real MVP in the Battle of the Gullet by taking out Lohar.

Gwayne was the one with logic when Criston Cole wanted to die with honor, and Gwayne just wanted to go home.  He promised Criston they could give him a title, and he could live a carefree life, but Criston wanted to die in battle, and you could see on Gwayne’s face that he would not be following that path. He flees and goes to Tumbleton and saves Daeron when fake Baratheons come and try to kill Daeron, but Gwayne identifies them and kills them first. He tries to bargain with Daemon by giving Corlys back, but it fails as Daemon wants him dead; once again, Gwayne doesn’t want to be a part of this war; he wants to live out his days in Oldtown. He is not brave, but he knows how to survive.

Ulf being a traitor was validating to me cause hes annyoning and only does stuff to benefit himself, not help anyone else. In the end, he betrays everyone, which for me was a payoff because it solidified he is a whiny brat.

Ser Roderick and Lord Tully were two coworkers on a road trip to their queen, just taking out as many greens as possible. Tully’s speech and ordering the killing of Criston Cole on the journey was a highlight of the season, not only cause i hated Criston, but because Criston tried to bargain with these two, and Tully is like, you don’t get to call the shots. Roderick was super vital in the battle of Tumbleton with his winter wolves, and him hyping them up got me hyped. He was ready to die, but he wanted Ormund, so in the end he gives Ormund a proper fucking from the North.

While these were great, some didn’t really live up to their potential this season.

Corlys starts the season very involved, considering his people are on the forefront in the Battle of the Gullet. After this, he has a heart-to-heart with his illegitimate sons and wants to make them legitimate, which Rhaenyra declines. He scolds her, then goes off on a mission to hunt down Triarchy, but really he's just mad at her. He is the Hand of the Queen, but he’s not there for most of the season; we get like 2 minutes per episode, or every once in a while, just so they can say hey hes alive and then he gets captured, and even then he doesn’t say much. In the end, when they are bargaining, he speaks up and does peace talks, which disgusts Daemon, and that reminded me exactly why he’s the Hand, but the season really gives him enough moments to shine.

Baela joins Jace at the Battle of the Gullet, which obviously ends badly, and she brings his body back. It always feels like her storyline has her second to a man, all who are more inexperienced dragon riders than her. I feel like she should have a bigger role as a dragon rider and Rhaenyras Daughter in law.

Some smaller characters don’t get their proper introduction, but are doing a lot of the fighting. Alysanne Blackwood just pops up and kills Criston Cole, which is a big deal, but I had no idea who she was. I had to look online to figure out her name because they never said who she was. Jon Roxton is another one who didn’t get a good intro, and he played a big part in being with Ormund and kidnapping Corlys. I get there are a lot of characters to introduce, but you have the time to do so.

Aegon is going against Rhaenyra, but since season one the show has felt like Rhaenyra vs. Alicent, and they never figured out how to shift focus to Rhaenyra vs. Aegon since they are the 2 going for the throne. I love Olivia Cooke's portrayal of Alicent, but she’s not going after the throne; Aegon is.

With a new season comes new characters. Some work, and some feel like they get lost with everything going on.

Ormund is the main villain of this season who was great. He has an issue with bad scents, which makes him lose his mind a bit. He wants Daeron to be the next king, but he wants him to raise the Hightowers because he hates the Targaryens, even though Daeron is one.

Daeron is Alicent’s youngest, who had been missing in action but appears this season with his beautiful blue dragon. He hates Ormund but just doesn’t know what to do when it comes to him, so he just tries not to make him upset. He is being pushed as the king now that Aegon is dead, but he doesn’t want to; he is just doing it because of Ormund. He was supposed to be trained by Gwayne until Gwayne was summoned to King's Landing, and he prefers him over Ormund. In the end, his fate is a mystery, but I didn’t see a body, so I’m assuming he’s alive somewhere with his dragon.

Tohren Manderly was a hilarious addition this season as the new Master of Coin. He really is on the small council for the gossip, but Rhaenyra is actually using him as a scapegoat for the city’s money problems. It’s funny because in episode 7, he jokes that she is using him as a scapegoat, and he has no idea that he’s actually right.

Alyssanne Blackwood is a new addition who gets shortchanged, which I mentioned but won’t go into again. I just hope we can at least learn more about who she is.

This is an adaptation from a book, and usually, there are bound to be some changes. Some are minor, and some are big, and I’m not going to go over them all because we would be here all night. I think the big one is obviously the choice to combine Rhaena and Nettles. In the book, Alicent was never really an ally. Daemon is banished from the Eyrie because they suspect he killed his wife, which was in the show and I completely forgot about, and he’s not involved with the battle at Tumbleton. Lord Jasper didn’t try to rape Alicent, so that was just a weird addition to the show. Some of the changes make sense, but some will make you scratch your head. 

Some of the changes that don’t serve the story can really make things confusing. Like Rhaenyra and Aegon both have kids that seem to conveniently be missing. Joffrey, who is Rhaenyra’s kid, makes an appearance in the finale, and we haven’t seen him probably since season 1, I think, and it was very brief. There are also some people whom we see in the city who, in the books, are out fighting this war on the many different battlegrounds. I think that would’ve been interesting to see because King's Landing is interesting, but if there are constant battles, show us those and what’s going on with the differing sides a bit more.

The writing this season is better than season 2, but there are still some events that are dragging on, like Tumbleton. It’s a good storyline, but we don’t need a whole season. It feels like they want people to start hating Team Black and Rhaenyra this season, but it’s hard for anyone with a functioning brain because all the problems she’s dealing with in King’s Landing are caused by her brother, so you understand her more. There are some new faces, but we just have to find a way to introduce them better or maybe reminders of their names, since we are not only juggling a vast amount of names but also names that sound very similar. With all the changes from the book, it does make me wonder how the writers will craft a series finale that will be satisfying.

Direction is important because it really helps make the script into a visual story. The show is filled with some great shots which are great to see the land but also to see the facial expressions of characters. I loved when Rhaenyra was being questioned on the throne; you could see on her face how stressed she was and just overwhelmed. When it comes to emotional moments, they did a good job of letting us sit with that for a moment and not immediately hopping to a new scene. As I said, I do think they should figure out ways to get through some stories quicker because there are so many things going on at once, so they should be able to balance it a bit better.

One thing about the show is that no matter what’s going on, the acting is going to be top-tier. While I think everyone is great, there are some standout performances.

Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra- she commands the screen when she is delivering lines. When Jace died, her grief is felt, and yet she still kept going and remained strong. You see her passion throughout the season and the battle with trying to be a good person and a great queen, even though she is tested daily.  Even if the story has its faults, Emma’s performance does not. They deserve an Emmy.

Olivia Cooke as Alicent- Rhaenyra’s prisoner, but also offering advice to her. Her reactions were funny, like not knowing about the decoy Daeron that Ormund sent, or when Rhaenyra asked her where the money was, and she looked around, confused. She’s a phenomenal actress, and I love her in this role.

James Norton as Ormund- a great villain who just hated the Targaryens and wanted Daeron to be king, but still hates his Targaryen side. He can’t handle gross scents and has anger management issues.  I thought he was smart to undermine Rhaenyra’s rule from afar, but sometimes he was very full of himself, which blinded him because just because he wanted people to listen to him doesn’t mean they would.

Steve Toussaint as Corlys- what a great actor to have on this show. He does a great job trying to legitimize his kids and questions Rhaenyra when she won’t. He gets angry and tries to take a break from being around her. In the finale, I was reminded that he is the person to have as the Hand because he’s the most level-headed, and when he was explaining why peace should be on the table, he convinced me to agree with him.

Dan Fogler as Torrhen Manderly- sometimes you just need a little comedy, and he was the perfect person to bring it. He is a scapegoat for the money problems, so he is in Rhaenyra's small council, but he seems to just be there for gossip.

Freddie Fox, as Gwayne, a Hightower knight who is just trying to survive. I relate to him because if I were in battle, I too would just want to go home and not risk my life for something that doesn’t benefit me at all. He seems scared and has no intention of dying for the crown, and he offers a different perspective because the driving force behind his actions is that he isn’t labeled a coward or kinslayer because he also hates Ormund, and I felt if he had a chance, he would have killed him. I loved how he did a better job looking after Daeron, and it felt like he wanted what’s best for him instead of focusing on making him ready for battle or vying for the throne.

Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria. She was great as this person who felt she had the queen’s ear but argued with the king consort. I loved how she knew more than she let on and tried to play a strategic angle. One of her old friends reminded her she would always be a whore, which was some foreshadowing because after she sleeps with Rhaenyra, she is banished. She did a good job showing someone who not only wanted to weasel her way into high society but also one who let all that she gained go to her head. In the finale, she escapes the guards and witnesses Rhaenyra’s speech, and I’m wondering what she will do next.

Looking forward, I think a mixture of Ulf’s actions and her killing the High Septon will cause some unrest. Aegon’s supporters will start rallying next season as well, so maybe we will see even more conflict. I’m curious how people will handle the news of Helaena. This season is quietly weaving this idea that the dragons aren’t gods; they can be killed, which puts the Targaryens on rocky ground when discussing why they should be on the throne.

Not every episode can be a standout episode, and there was one that stood out as the weak link. Episode 5 sees us spending more time with Alys and Aemond, the weirdest couple you’ll ever meet, at their haunted castle, Harrenhal. The moment we ended up in Harenhal i was ready to go; that place just doesn’t interest me. Nothing goes on there besides everything being spooky, so I don't want to go back.

Rhaenyra took King's Landing but was handed a pile of shit. While I can understand the townspeople’s frustrations, I still root for her because I know they aren’t her problems. I’m glad that by the end she is being more assertive because she has lost two sons in this civil war, and it’s time for the Greens to start paying. The church tries to deny her, but she decides that if the High Sept wants to talk down to her, she will just get rid of him. Everyone knows Aegon is back, so now an even bigger battle looms on the horizon. I’m just hoping that the dragons can somehow survive, even though I know they won’t.