(Spoilers ahead)
If you’re about to hop on to Season 3 of “House of the Dragon,” prepare to hold on to your saddle because the series gets off to a very strong, thrilling start.
Despite some attempts at diplomacy from Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) and Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cook) at different junctures, it seems too much has been set in motion, the thirst of vengeance and conquest among those close to them too strong.
And really, where’s the fun in settling differences in front of elders, or an impeachment court, or having the smallfolk vote when you can use pirate ships and dragons?
Episode 1, aptly titled, “Salt and Sea, Fire and Blood” wastes little time in taking us to the very dramatic Battle of the Gullet which offers us no shortage of the titular words. Here, the forces of Corlys Velaryon, aka the Sea Snake, face the wrath of pirate queen for hire, Sharako Lohar of the Triarchy.
They engage in a brutal sea battle involving a breathtaking chase through a narrow pass, ships getting boarded, and men getting brutally cut, or thrown overboard. Look elsewhere for the fancy pirate fencing. To add to the chaos, death, and destruction, suddenly dragons show up and are added to the mix: two identifiable and one rogue.
The ensuing aftermath results in a victory but at what price? At one point, the second episode feels like touches the level of Shakespearean political tragedy as Rhaenyra Targaryen utters these heartbreaking lines, “The boys who clung to me, who hid their little faces in my skirts, dead, so that I may sit upon a throne of swords?”
In the third and fourth episodes, those portentous words ring miserably true. That much-coveted iron throne comes with all sorts of thorny troubles. Apparently, there’s no money in coffers for a coronation, much less paying the guard, or feeding supplicants. If only they could convert all the roaming palace rats to coin.
Meanwhile, other chess pieces are on the board: Prince Aemond One-Eye (Ewan Mitchell) was last seen falling nearly lifeless at the feet of the witchy and mysterious Alys Rivers. The most recent occupant of the iron throne, Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), survivor of an assassination attempt at the hands of his brother Aemond, is on the run with slimy and scheming Larys Strong.
So many interesting things are happening to the other characters. One new player of note has joined this power struggle: James Norton joins the cast as treacherous and cunning Ormund Hightower.
The opening episode was a jolt, and the setup of so many scenarios that can tilt the fates of the opposing factions should keep the second half of the season exciting. Now the big question is — will the season end the way it started? With a bang?
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New episodes of House of the Dragon are out every Monday on HBO Max, with the eighth and final episode set for August 10.
