“Second of His Name”: Breaking Down House of Dragon S2 E3

 Written By: Danny Albers 

Daemon arrives at the massive castle of Harrenhal, a castle which was badly burned by Aegon I and his dragon Balerion the Black. Daemon gets a royal welcome, but he seems to be battling demons. A young Rhaenyra (played by Milly Alcock) is seen sewing the head back on the infant Jaehaerys in what is some type of dream, before a young woman tells Daemon this is where he will die. Daemon finds out that war broke out between two families in the Riverlands, the families Blackwood and Bracken, both showing allegiance to the opposing sides. There didn’t seem to be a victor out of this battle, as the aftermath showed many dead. 

We must prevent more bloodshed 

Rhaenys offers advice to Rhaenyra as they bury Erryk and Arryk. She says haunting to Rhaenyra…

“There is no war so hateful to the gods as a war between kin, and no war so bloody as a war between dragons.”

She urges Rhaenyra to plead with Alicent to find a peaceful ending to this conflict, so that more innocent people don’t die for the political aspirations amongst families. She hints that people will only remember their losses, and not which side was right and wrong. Seasmoke is seen flying in the distance crying out, and Myasria suggests that the dragon is lonely. This can be a hint that a new prominent rider will take the reins of the dragon for Rhaenyra’s house. But this is an important moment as it shows Rhaenyra’s sympathy for Alicent, and that her intentions are only to hold political stature to help continue her fathers legacy. Intention is important, as it proves that Rhaenyra doesn’t truly wish for people to die, and that she has some sensible members of her council that aren’t afraid to hold her accountable for her actions (Rhaenys reminds Rhaenyra that she is responsible for the death of young Jaehaerys since Daemon’s involvement was solely Rhaenyra’s fault). Sir Criston suggests leading a war into the Riverlands, a plot of land that he thinks is important. AegonII loves the idea, but the entire council thinks his willingness to ride with Ser Criston is foolish. He takes this as an insult as has been a pattern to their meetings. Instead, Alicent’s older brother Gwayne Hightower will ride with Criston, in which Criston is uncomfortable because of the tensions of Aegon II and Criston turning on his father. Baela notices the war party on her dragon moondancer, but intelligently holds back any action not to signal the war. This is important, because it shows another sensible and intelligent woman in the ranks of Rhaenyra. Had it been her father Daemon, he’s likely had burned them and the woods to ember. She simply tracks their movement and takes note back to the council. Aegon II goes out to party with his guard. Larys convinces Aegon II not to ride out by mentioning to him the rumors that it might be Criston’s intentions to have Aegon II die in war so he may step in as king alongside Alicent in the interim. There is a man in a bar claiming to be a Targaryen, and that Baelon the Brave is his father. If truthful, this would make him Daemon’s half brother. He believes that Rhaenyra’s son Jace is the rightful heir to the throne. In an important scene, Aegon II is seen with his friends, drunk, and looking to run a train on one of the ladies in the brothel. He finds Aeomnd cuddling with the women that he’s in love with, the only women he slept with. Aegon publicly belittles Aemond, and this causes Aemond to walk away in anger. Him standing up nude is the important scene. He can’t strike his brother as it would make his family look weak. So in order to appear strong in public, he stands up defiantly and with no shame and walks off. He did more to protect his family at this moment. A public fight amongst brothers would cause people to lose faith in Alicent’s reign and might cause people to jump to Rhaenyra for a more unified council. The episode ends with Mysaria sneaking Rhaenyra into a church disguised as a nun. This is the only place where Alicent worships alone. Rhaenyra sits next to Alicent. They apologize for their parts in the death of each other's children. Alicent realizes that she might have made a mistake when she says that Viserys' last words were Aegon the conqueror, and not Aegon II. The significance of this is that Aegon the Conqueror made a prophecy called “The Song of Ice and Fire” claiming a dark future for Westeros. This claims a Targaryen will need to be on the throne when the White Walkers arrive to unite the realm and defeat the evil. This proves that Alicent mistook the last words of her husband, and might have caused this conflict by mistake. She says “what’s done is done” and walks away, signaling a war is coming.