House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 3 Recap: We’re Just Getting Started

Episode three of House of the Dragon faced a bit of a losing battle from the jump. Episode two, Queen’s Landing, was quite successful, boasting the show's highest rating on IMDb. Despite that, HOTD may have lost some viewers from last week, as there seems to be a large contingent of fans who were happy to see Rhaenyra ascend the Iron Throne and leave it at that. Of course, the Dance of the Dragons (and season three) is far from over, and as we see this week, sitting down on the throne is simply the beginning.

Those who abstained from watching episode three may relish in the fact that they won’t have to witness Rhaenyra very clearly struggling to take on the role she coveted her whole life. To a horror-film-like score of dramatic twangs and stingers, we watch for sixty minutes as Rhaenyra attempts to mourn the very recent passing of her son Jace while also trying to run a realm on the verge of ruin. A chorus of voices sings behind her as her confidants contradict each other with their differing advice, while every turn of the corner in the Red Keep brings someone who needs something else from Rhaenyra. She quickly learns that a Queen’s job is never done, and reaching the Iron Throne is only half the battle.

The episode begins with what looks to be a standoff between the Hightower host and Daemon Targaryen, who, though outnumbered, is backed by three dragons. Firepower is irrelevant at the moment, however, as this conversation is surprisingly peaceful. Daemon announces that Rhaenyra is officially Queen, and Ormund Hightower is to bend the knee and swear his allegiance to her. Ormund fights back slightly, but eventually concedes. But right before he is about to sulk back to Oldtown, Daemon requests one more thing: Alicent’s third son, Daeron, who has been living in Oldtown for the majority of his life. Again, Ormund gives in ridiculously quickly, but there is a reason for that. In episode one of the season, we see Ormund with an auburn-haired boy in Hightower green, who was assumed to be Daeron upon the season premiere's airing. Now, in episode three, Daemon is presented with a scrawny little bleached blonde boy. So, is he a counterfeit? Forced into the belly of the enemy to save the real Daeron from sure death? And do the Hightowers just have a lot of wigs lying around so they can impersonate Targaryens whenever they please?

Yes and no. The fair-haired boy is a knock-off, as we learn by the end of the episode, but that isn’t a wig. While the kid keeps silent through Rhaenyra’s questioning, when he finally faces his “mother,” Alicent, before being sent to the Wall, we learn he is an imposter, forced to bleach his hair and play the part of the prince by Ormund. Lucky for the Hightowers, Rhaenyra and Daemon don’t know what their half-brother/nephew looks like, but Alicent does, and her reaction to seeing her “son” quickly reveals his true identity: a merchant’s son who had no other choice. The real Daeron, meanwhile, remains safe and out of his enemies' hands.

This ersatz Daeron is the least of Rhaenyra’s problems at the moment. She has a growing list of other issues to deal with. Namely, she wishes to be officially crowned, but there are many obstacles inhibiting this formality. For one, the treasury has been ransacked, leaving the crown with little gold. Unfortunately, all those who could be questioned about its whereabouts—Tyland Lannister, Jasper Wylde, Otto Hightower—are recently dead. In addition, the people of the realm are starving, the Triarchy still runs amok, Sheepstealer and Aemond are still unaccounted for, and Rhaenyra lacks a small council. She feels betrayed by those who assisted her while in Dragonstone, and thus left them behind upon her ascension. Still by her side, though, is Mysaria, her Mistress of Whispers. And while Daemon has made it clear he does not trust the “White Worm”—and the two constantly bicker—Rhaenyra places a lot of faith in her.

A good headspace is necessary to take this all on, but Rhaenyra is far from stable at this point. She’s just days removed from losing Jace, and she’s clearly still grieving. Throughout the episode, Rhaenyra seems to get lost in her head. She sees Jace walking the halls of the Red Keep and lacks trust in all those around her. As she enters this new, dangerous phase, there are few with whom she can talk. Perhaps that’s why she continually finds herself in conversation with Alicent. After a season that kept them almost entirely apart, it is such a joy to see Rhaenyra and Alicent back together, sparring once again. Rhaenyra confronts her best-friend-turned-mortal-enemy about the whereabouts of the gold, a fact about which Alicent vehemently denies having any knowledge. “They hated me from the beginning. Resented my influence, my mere presence,” the Queen Dowager says, and based on what we saw in the last episode, we know she’s speaking the truth.

The scene is a reminder that while this show is about a civil war, it’s also about the relationship between these two women, who have much more in common than they likely want to admit. Really, if Rhaenyra is looking to fill out her small council, there is no one better than Alicent. As Rhaenyra recognizes later in the episode, Alicent was leading the realm in all but name when Viserys was on his deathbed. She truly is a strategist, and she suggests that Rhaenyra simply announce that Aegon is dead. “No one knows what he looks like,” Alicent admits after he was roasted by Vhagar, and if Larys eventually tries to reintroduce Aegon into the narrative, Rhaenyra can simply claim he is an imposter. Of course, Alicent likely has ulterior motives, as such an announcement will have the added effect of sparing the life of her son, whom she previously all but left for dead. But if Alicent was hoping this advice would convince Rhaenyra to set her and Helaena free (which was part of their original agreement anyway), she is mistaken. Rhaenyra is not willing to let them go, not as long as Aemond remains at large. And considering the one-eyed prince is MIA throughout the episode, finding him may take a while.

Rhaenyra has accepted that she can’t have the coronation of her dreams, but she still hopes to be anointed by the High Septon in the Eyes of the Seven, a move that will give her a bit more legitimacy, especially to those in the faith. Unfortunately for her, the High Septon is not as easily manipulated as others in King’s Landing, and while Rhaenyra claims that Aegon is dead, he requires evidence. Mention of dragons only angers this man of the cloth, and he warns the Queen not to make an enemy of the faith, perhaps foreshadowing more of Rhaenyra’s struggles to come.

A highlight of Rhaenyra’s otherwise stressful day seems to come from a dinner with Corlys and his newly claimed sons, Alyn and Addam. Despite his change of heart, though, Rhaenyra is unwilling to legitimize the boys, recognize them as Velaryons, and make Alyn his heir. She is nervous that her raising of bastards will get people talking about her own sons’ legitimacy. Ever since their birth, rumors have circulated that Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey were the sons of Harwin Strong, not Laenor Velaryon (because they are). Recognizing Corlys’s bastards will suggest a pattern. Unfortunately, Rhaenyra needs allies right now, and Corlys was one of her strongest, but her refusal to grant this request does not sit well with him. He rightly reminds Rhaenyra of all that he has done for her, before exploding into rage as he yells through the Red Keep about Rhaenyra’s sons’ bastard status. Not great timing, considering Rhaenyra just called for Joffrey to come to King’s Landing to act as her new heir.

The interaction likely doesn’t do anything to help Rhaenyra’s mental state. Neither does her time of the month, which comes just as she’s about to face the people. Kings never have to deal with their monthly visit from Aunt Flow. And hasn’t enough blood been shed in this war already?

Whether it’s the commencement of her period or the many pleas of the common folk, Rhaenyra doesn’t seem to handle the petitioners with much confidence. They are starving, thanks in part to the noblemen, who are hoarding food. Rhaenyra is reminded by the especially vociferous Madam Sylvi that she came to power as a champion of her people. She has long talked the talk, but now she has to walk the walk, and she’s quickly learning it’s easier said than done.

Of course, she could take Daemon’s advice and ignore the poor and “the never-ending inconvenience, the insistence of the people being fed.” Daemon and Mysaria sit on Rhaenyra’s shoulders like the angel and devil. The former whispers tales of immense power as he attempts to convince his wife to continue conquering beyond Westeros. Mysaria, meanwhile, advocates for the common folk, reminding her that “a hungry population is a dangerous one.” It seems Mysaria has won this battle, as Rhaenyra opts to throw a banquet, but not just any banquet. She gathers the heads of some minor houses for dinner, only to serve them rat (well, that’s one way to put a dent in the Red Keep’s vermin problem). “This is what the common folk of my city ate, this and worse, while you hid provisions away in your storehouses,” she tells them. The move is the one sign that the old Rhaenyra is still in there somewhere. Of course, one practical joke does not a Queen make. She does, however, follow that up with a trip to the town square for some PR rehabilitation. Just call Mysaria Tree Payne. She hands out food as the public adoringly cheers her on. “Let the Septum deny you,” Mysaria says. “This will be your anointing.”

Her trip to the city center is a high point for Rhaenyra, who has been floundering since she took the throne, but just as things seem to be taking a turn for the better, she gets hit with a double whammy of bad news. First, there’s the realization that the boy she’s been harboring is not, in fact, Daeron. But before she can even react, she learns of even more betrayal at the hands of Ormund Hightower. Despite pledging his fealty to Rhaenyra, he and his troops have taken the small town of Tumbleton, not far from King’s Landing. Perhaps Daemon was right, and he should have incinerated them all. And as Rhaenyra angrily stares into the burning pile of Team Green’s banners, it seems that she is ready to fall down the path that seems to befall all Targaryens at some point: that of complete destruction by fire.