House of The Dragon S2, EP 3 Recap & Thoughts.!

Finally, the true interpretation of King Viserys Targaryen’s words is made known to the protagonists of the story or they finally get to know what the meaning was. This was indeed the most waited scene for the viewers, all of the bloody war and killings centred on this whole misunderstanding. But is there any chance to bring everything to a stop.? Is this late as ever for a reconciliation.? The episode begins with the clash of Blackwoods & Brackens, which all began in the name of who their allegiance lay with. This scene hints at the horror that is yet to be unleashed upon Westeros. This means every feud that exists between the Houses will be further aggravated, which will be used as a pretext to the war.

House of The Dragon Episode 3 has just given the first tease to an all out war that is going to be the most devastating one in all of the Westeros. On one side is a reckless and rambling King who is assisted by a new hand who is not wise enough to maintain diplomatic relationships. They think waging war is wiser and the solution to all the problems is to simply slay the Queen. They will want the support of other lords for that and if any of the lords are not willing to pledge support, they’ll be simply wiped out. It simply means war is inevitable and the Greens will have no mercy over the Blacks. On the other hand, Blacks are rethinking about their strategies and Queen Rhaenyra is wise enough to look at solutions without war. Her council plead otherwise to end this once and for all by using the services of the Dragons. But she is clear about Dragons and how catastrophic that will be for the continent. She has a judgement and is aware about the repercussions of a war. One would agree that she is a true ruler by all means. The whole point of the episode seems to be about the viewers rooting for the Queen and the sheer establishing of her character amidst all the weaknesses and opposition she has to face as a woman.

Another short and brilliant scene between Alicent & Halaena is even darker which is about the conditions of women. She is aware about the pitiful state of the children and women who are not high born. She feels she doesn’t need to be as grieving like the ordinary civilians who face poverty and near death situations every day. She implies the truth and the character is probably the most humane in the entire series. And the horrible truth about her being the most affected and traumatised even draws the audience emotionally closer to her. Those final words from Halaena were even powerful that she is no more lamenting as a victim of others wrongdoings. This episode also marks the rise of Larrys Strong who has earned the trust of King Aegon to be a member of his council as the Master of Whisperers. He will be a great addition to the Greens considering the fact that they do not have the service of Otto Hightower, at least now. The young erratic King will stand no chance against the Blacks with his current strategy without the assistance of someone like Larrys Strong by his side.

Another highlight of this episode is that Daemon has made the big move before Greens. He has just captured the castle of Harrenhal, which both sides consider as the biggest asset in the war. The highlight of this scene is that Daemon Targaryen does this with very little effort. He declares himself as the Lord before ‘House Strong’ just by descending upon the castle, riding upon Caraxes. He is also surprised to learn that all of the House Strong’ members detest Larrys Strong as they are well aware about the ill fate of Lyonel Strong & his son Harwin Strong (fire incident in Season 1). Literally, the biggest strategical importance now lies with Blacks. On the other side, Greens were planning to take over the biggest castle led by the new Hand to the King Criston Cole. Aegon was supposed to join them, in the ensuing battles to take all off the Riverlands. This is when Larrys Strong convinces the King to rethink his decision to join the war front. This means that Criston Cole and the Greens army would have to face Daemon, who is alone in Harrenhal. But it is not too all easy for Greens just because Baela Targaryen riding on Moondancer just spotted the Greens army. She has alerted the council of Rhaneyra that the Greens have made their first step towards war. Soon the Greens will mobilise an entire army and now is the time for Rhaneyra to make one last effort to stop the war.

As said before, Rhaenyra is a wise queen as she has a contingency plan when everything go adrift. She has now entrusted Rhaena Targaryen with 4 dragon eggs and her toddler sons. She now has to take care of the future of Targaryens in case the war takes away everything from the Blacks. Well this is a tease to the Game of Thrones, where Daenerys Targaryen receives Dragon eggs in Pentos. Not sure whether the eggs were same though. Finally comes to the most thrilling revelation about the prophecy of Aegon. Rhaenyra could easily sneak into the Kings Landing with the help of Lady Mysaria, who alerted the Blacks when Sir Arryk arrived to kill the queen. Lady Mysaria will now have a seat at her council. It is to noted that she could still track all the activities around Kings Landing and this makes her a worthy asset for Blacks against Larrys Strong who is siding with the Greens.

Rhaneyra, easily making it into the Kings Landing also shows that Aegon has made no plans to strengthen his army in case of any sudden attack. Aegon & Aemond are still not in the court but wandering through the whore house at nights. This proves that Blacks can still have a go at any of the major assets that Greens possess. But Rhaneyra has come to find a way to stop the war and she pins her hope on Alicent for that. This was one of the most anticipated moments in the series because everything started from them. Alicent finally realises the last words of King Viserys but she can do nothing about it now. Rhaneyra is in disbelief after learning about the final words of Viserys but she is now forced to leave at once as Alicent is still not ready to give heed to her words.

Now the war is inevitable but Rhaneyra, after learning about the true words of Viserys can now lay claim to her throne by convincing the other lords of Westeros. She can seek support but still there will be bloodshed as Greens, particularly Aegon & Aemond, after going through everything will not stop at anything.