HBO’s House of the Dragons returns with the third episode of its action-packed second season, which teases that a full-scale war is just around the corner.
The new episode which clocks in at a whopping one hour and 10 minutes – sets the stage for the war to come.
The trailer for this episode showed the soldiers from both the Targaryens and the Hightowers starting to assemble as the battle is near.
Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) states that she, ‘lost my throne and I want it back,’ while still mourning the death of her son Lucerys.
The new season has been scaled back some, from 10 episodes in the first season to just eight in Season 2.
HBO ‘s House of the Dragons returns with the third episode of its action-packed second season, which teases that a full-scale war is just around the corner.
HBO ‘s House of the Dragons returns with the third episode of its action-packed second season, which teases that a full-scale war is just around the corner
The episode begins with four soldiers talking in a field, when someone yells out, as it’s revealed to be rival soldiers.
They are told not to move the boundary stones as they both stake claims to the land they stand on.
One says that Rhaenyra is a ‘baby killer’ while another says that Aegon is no true king.
One draws his sword as the others laugh, though we later see them and many other soldiers dead on that same field after the imminent battle.
Meanwhile, Rhaenyra buries both the twins Eryck and Aryck – the former who was sent to kill her.
Rhaenys (Eve Best) says that Otto Hightower would have never ordered this, adding, ‘Soon they will not even remember what began the war in the first place.
Rhaenys thinks they can stop the way by going through Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), though Rhaenyra does not agree.
‘Alicent is in King’s Landing. Her son sits my throne. There is nothing more to be said,’ Raenyra says.
Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) – the new Hand of the King – is late to a small council meeting as the King is told of first battle, which came in the King’s favor.
‘Call it what you will. I call it war, and so will Dragonstone. The real question is, what are we going to do about it?’ Aegon says.
They suggest writing to Lord Tully but others think he’s worthless as they continue arguing.
Cole says the Riverlands is the ‘key to the war’ and says he will turn those to his cause or he will take Harenhaal himself.
Cole says that the Gods favor the bold but Alicent thinks the Gods did not favor Aryk, as King Aegon throws them for a loop by saying he will fly out with Cole.
Meanwhile, Rhaenyra meets with Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), who is told Mysaria came back to warn of Eryck coming to kill her, as she admitted she saved her life.
In return, Mysaria wants a seat on her council, which Rhaenyra seemingly agrees to.
Rhaenyra meets with Rhaena, telling her to, ‘send Joffrey to ward with my cousin, Lady Jeyne Arryn.’
‘She has pledged an army in return for a dragon, so she will have one. Aegon and Viserys will accompany him until a place of greater safety can be found,’ Rhaenyra says, though Rhaena says, ‘Tyraxes is but a hatchling.’
‘Rhaenyra adds, ‘The Red Keep is in disarray. They have sent one assassin in the night and their dragons are ever a short flight away. You must take the little ones further. To Pentos, I think,’ adding Pentos is, ‘safer than anywhere in Westeros.’
‘Write to Prince Reggio. If he will have you, then go to him. I am sorry to put this upon you. It breaks my heart to send my boys away, not knowing when I will see them again. But you have seen what may befall them here,’ Rhaenyra says, as Rhaena agrees.
HBO ‘s House of the Dragons returns with the third episode of its action-packed second season, which teases that a full-scale war is just around the corner.
The series is set 200 years before the events that unfolded in HBO’s flagship series Game of Thrones, and 100 years into the rule of House Targaryen over Westeros.
By the end of Season 1, King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) had died, with his only son, Aegon II, taking claim to the Iron Throne.
Rhaenyra felt that she had a right to the throne, as House Targaryen became divided between factions led by Rhaenyra and Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), Rhaenyra’s former best friend and wife of King Viserys.
The Season 2 premiere suffered a bit of a ratings hit, with 7.8 million viewers tuning in last week through all platforms.
That number was a 22% drop from the 10 million viewers that tuned in for the series premiere back in August 2022.
The drop was attributed to linear viewing, those who watched the episode live on HBO, which was 1 million fewer than the series premiere.
The second episode of Season 1 actually increased to 10.2 million, representing a series peak, with 9.3 million viewers watching the Season 1 finale.
Last Sunday’s season two debut was penned by showrunner Ryan Condal and directed by Alan Taylor, who previously directed episodes of Game of Thrones, as well as HBO staples such as Boardwalk Empire, Sex and the City, The Sopranos and its prequel film, The Many Saints of Newark.
The series is set 200 years before the events that unfolded in HBO’s flagship series Game of Thrones, and 100 years into the rule of House Targaryen over Westeros
The new episode which clocks in at a whopping one hour and 10 minutes – sets the stage for the war to come.
The show’s second season kicked off with a revised opening titles sequence that was noticeably different than the one broadcast in the show’s first season.
The first season of House of the Dragon featured an animated opening that incorporated Old Valyria in a stone model.
It had been presided over by the late King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine). It included red blood streaming through Valyria’s streets, with symbolism alluding to the Targaryen leaders.
House of the Dragon airs new episodes Sundays at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT only on HBO.
