House Of The Dragon – S1 E3 Second Of His Name Recap & Review
House Of The Dragon – Season 1 Episode 3 “Second Of His Name” Recap & Review
Second Of His Name Review :
Episode 3 of House of the Dragon begins with a burning banner. That banner is of a ship, full of hungry flames licking the wood. We're with Crabfeeder, who is going his wicked way with various sailors. Damon attempts to kill the Cellswords, alone with his dragon, but they are now well equipped to deal with this dragon.
The crabfeeder manages to slip into a nearby cave shielded by flames, while the archers drive the dragon away to a cliff-faced ward. The fight ends in a stalemate.
2+ years have passed in the world and the fight over the Stepstones continues, Viserys now has a son with Alicent and he is 2 years old. Otto is still pulling the strings behind the curtain of deception. Although during the celebrations, the matter of the Stepstones is brought to Viserys' attention, in view of his son's birthday, Viserys is only half listening. He is more interested to know where Rainyara is. Well, she's studying outside with a bard. A pregnant Alicent appears in Godswood and convinces Rainera to accompany her. She is not at all happy about it but still she comes in front of her king and father.
As part of the king's celebrations, Viserys encourages Renera to join him in the upcoming hunt. He is not happy, believing that the king's son is now in line for the throne and that he himself will not get the chance. As a result, she is withdrawn, angry and far more interested in military affairs.
Of course the big discussion here is Damon's fight at Stepstone. Everyone agrees that the Crown must get involved and help, destroying the Crabfeeder once and for all. Viserys refuses to do so though, and he may well come back to bite her.
Rainera soon meets Jason Lannister, who tries to seduce her, flexing his power and calling Rainera his queen... and potential wife. Instead, she smiles and walks away, thanking him for the wine. In other words "no thanks."
Rainera goes to her father, where the pair fight in the midst of all about this planned marriage. Rainera is adamant that she does not want to marry, but Viserys does her best to convince her that they are all bound by duty. Well, she snatches a horse and runs away instead. Ser Kristen follows her and manages to pacify her.
After the hunt, Jason Lannister again makes his vows to Viserys, offering a throne to Renera. Viserys is quick to point out that Aegon isn't next in line, Rainera is and he didn't take that vow lightly. In the end, Viserys wants his daughter to be happy. Otto suggests a way to shut down the controversy altogether. Even though Rainera should marry Aegon, he is only 2 years old. This is certainly not unusual for the Targaryens, but for Viserys he is sick of all this politics and decides to douse himself in alcohol instead.
This is a precarious situation for Viserys, who is trying to please his daughter on the one hand and trying to keep both the tradition of his people (marrying strategically to strengthen his own claim) on hold. doing, as well as realizing the entire kingdom is filled with the idea of a male heir, which is only pushing Rainera further away.
In the woods, Kristen Cole and Rainera are attacked by a wild boar. Kristen manages to kill the beast, while Rainera repeatedly stabs himself with a knife, spraying himself in blood in the process.
In the morning, Viserys appears in the wood where he finds that his soldiers have captured a stag. It might not be the dreamy white stag they expected, but it's enough. Viserys is tasked with delivering the killing blow, but the strikes are stilted and it takes him several times to finish the job.
Interestingly, that white stag actually appears before Rainera. Now, it is also generally considered a symbol of wisdom and glory. No mention of prophecy. The exact meaning may not be known to us yet, yet it is an interesting inclusion, and one that could change the story going forward.
That night, under the dancing lights of the fire, Viserys is convinced - partly thanks to Alicent - to send aid to help Damon get rid of the crabfeeder. Rainera is still not happy, especially when the topic of marriage is being raised. Although Viserys marries for strategy and strength, she quickly reveals that she didn't follow this rule at all, as she didn't marry Lana. Which would have been a better option for the state. And to be honest, he has a point here!
Word reaches out to Damon trying to soothe the pain between them because of receiving the men and boats from Viserys. After killing the messenger, Damon appears in front of Crabfeeder and other sailswords on the wasteland, waving a white flag to surrender and raise his sword. This is, of course, a trick as Damon stabs a man with a knife and moves out of range of the archers.
daemon goodChhaya does but is unfortunately hit by a stray arrow. As Cellsword sets off to strike a killing spree around him, Corlis's men appear and prepare to attack. A dragon also appears and twists the balance of power, burning several men. While the fight rages on the outside, Damon chases the crabfeeders into the caves. When he returns, he does so with the crabfeeder's mutilated carcass.
Episode Review :
The third episode of F House of the Dragon 2 offers to look forward to another time this time of year. The show has been rocking for years and in a way I think that is to be expected. There's a lot of history with the Targaryens and it looks like the show is trying to squeeze as much in these seasons as possible.
With the show recently given the green light for another season, it's clear there's much more story to tell, possibly leading to the Mad King and the Kingslayer tying in on the older season of Game of Thrones. would be a good way to do it. ,
For this episode, we see more choice of Viserys as King comes to the foreground and I can't help but think that killing that stag is symbolic of Viserys' hack-job for King so far. He hasn't handled the area particularly well and includes Alicent Hightower to help Viserys appease Damon and swing the fight in his favor. I can't help but think that had they actually sent aid years ago, they could have avoided the loss of many soldiers.
The fighting itself is great though and the visceral, epic action we've come to expect from Game of Thrones is here in abundance. Personally, it would have been nice to see Crabfeeder actually fight with Daemon and perhaps edit it back and forth with a bigger fight outside, but it at least serves its purpose of shutting down this menace. .
Unfortunately, Crabfeeder turned out to be a pretty nifty adversary in the end, with barely any screen time and just an inconvenience that was too easy to send off, all things considered.
Although politics is still going on on this and the characters are very interesting to watch. Unlike in Rings of Power, the details are more clear here, with things like costume design, sets, dialogue, and a lot more precise details for the world. The ending of this chapter definitely leaves the door open for where this could go next, and next week's episode should be another good one!
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