By: Kelly Kearney
After two years we’re back but only a handful of seconds have passed since we last left Westeros. A lot happened before the credits rolled in Season 2 setting up this premiere. We lost members of the royal bloodline, watched two viciously angry best friends become enemies, saw baby Jaehaerys lie in state, witnessed the death of Rhaenys at Rook’s Rest, and watched the common man attempt to claim dragons during the Red Sowing, only for the whole thing to end with volunteers being flame-broiled by the very creatures they hoped to ride.
Now, we pick back up where we left off, with a dwindling line of succession and Rhaenyra desperately wanting to believe her old friend, Alicent’s plot to end the bloodshed between their families. A sacrifice must be made to secure Rhaenyra’s place as the one true Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and King Aegon is barely holding on..
A Dragon Claimed, A King on the Run
We open somewhere in the Vale with Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) and Sheepstealer– the wild and unclaimed dragon who has been gobbling up the island’s sheep throughout Season 2. When the young woman and fire-breathing beast finally come face-to-face, it’s unclear if the dragon will accept her. The moment is tense as she approaches while he’s mid-meal. She reaches out to touch his leathery skin and, while he growls out a warning, he doesn’t immediately turn her into an appetizer. Taking the chance, she climbs onto his spiky back. The beast bucks and jerks, then launches into the sky with Rhaena screaming and holding on for dear life.
Meanwhile, in the Red Keep, word of King Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Larys’ (Matthew Needham) escape reaches his brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), who is already on the warpath and ready to eliminate anyone standing between him and the throne. Aegon stole his final chance to become king, and left the Keep vulnerable to their enemies. Aemond is furious.
When we catch up with Aegon the injured king and the opportunistic Larys, the two are hiding in the back of a covered carriage heading north. Traveling toward the farthest edges of the realm, the two hope Aemond and Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) won’t find them. After Rhaenys and her dragon scorched him from the skies and sent him tumbling back to earth at Rook’s Rest, his own brother tried to finish the job and steal his place in the line of succession.
Now the young king has deep-fried skin, a mangled manhood, and an opioid addiction. None of which has helped his already less-than-charming personality. As he begs Larys for more “milk of the poppy,” he complains about his status as “the King of Nothing. With raven s**t for a throne.”
Larys pretends to sympathize and offers the miserable royal a little hope, but King Debbie Downer continues throwing insults, calling Larys his “crippled protector.” His complaining is finally interrupted when their carriage is stopped by Queen Rhaenyra’s loyal soldiers. The group demands the travelers bend the knee and pledge fealty to the one true Queen. Larys kneels, but Aegon refuses. He even spits when one soldier demands proof of his loyalty. The soldiers assume his refusal means they are dealing with another Aegon supporter, and their leader orders the two men executed. That’s when Larys reveals the truth, much to Aegon’s shock. He explains the real reason he was being so difficult is because a king bends the knee to no one. The injured “peasant” standing before them is actually King Aegon, struck down during the Battle of Rook’s Rest. He is the rightful heir to the throne and worth far more alive than dead.
Unlike the bounty they could receive for Aegon and his new Hand, the other passengers in the group are commoners and expendable. They are quickly executed while the soldiers decide to imprison Aegon and Larys in nearby Duskendale. While there, they can eventually be shipped off to Dragonstone for a Queen’s bounty.
Speaking of Dragonstone, Queen Rhaenyra tells her son about her secret meeting with Alicent (Olivia Cooke). She believes peace is possible and wants to trust her old friend’s promises. Her son believes it’s all a trap designed to kill her and his uncle Daemon (Matt Smith). The Greens cannot be trusted. Flying into their stronghold based only on a promise could be suicide, especially if their queen falls to Aemond and the massive monster that is Vhagar. Rhaenyra assures him that Aemond and Vhagar flew to Harrenhal and Aegon is too injured to pose a threat. But because news travels at the speed of a drunken one-eyed raven in Westeros, Rhaenyra has no idea Aegon has been captured or that Aemond has returned and is preparing to challenge her for the throne. Things have changed since Alicent offered this plan. It won’t be as simple as flying into King’s Landing, putting Aegon out of his misery, and claiming the throne for herself.
Jacaerys (Harry Collett), Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), Baela (Bethany Antonia) and even her Small Council remain convinced The Queen cannot trust a peace offering from the Greens, but Rhaenyra is still tied to the memories of her relationship with Alicent. She cannot see past those feelings, and her son knows that emotional connection could get them all killed.
While ignoring Jace’s warnings, Rhaenyra moves forward with the plan that Alicent will open the doors to the Red Keep, allowing her to take the justice she believes is owed: a son for a son. Alicent, Helaena, and Jaehaera will be spared, while Aegon’s life will be surrendered and the throne taken by its rightful heir.
It sounds like a simple, cut-and-dry plan, but wars rarely end with a neat bow. Rhaenyra is either blinded by her love for Alicent or completely exhausted from years of losing her children. Nobody knows if this plan can be trusted, but the queen refuses to listen to the doubts around her. She orders a message sent to Lord Corlys (Steve Toussaint) to prepare ships filled with soldiers ready to take King’s Landing once she is seated on the throne. She also demands Daemon return to Dragonstone immediately. They fly to King’s Landing in two days, and while Rhaenyra is hopeful this nightmare is finally ending, her son is left swallowing his rage while watching his mother and queen risk everything on the word of their enemies.
Aemond Foils the Plan
When we catch up with Alicent, she is making her way back to the Keep, still wearing the hooded disguise from her meeting with Rhaenyra. The king has requested her presence, and as she removes her cloak and walks through the castle, she is directed to the throne room.There she finds her son Aemond sitting on the Iron Throne, much to her shock and horror. When she cautiously approaches him, demanding to know why he is in King’s Landing, she is stunned to learn that Aegon has abandoned the throne and fled with Larys, This leaves his volatile and power hungry brother no choice but to defend the city with his dragon. From the look on her face, Alicent knows this throws a massive, Vhagar-sized wrench into her plans. She was telling the truth when she promised Rhaenyra an end to this war. She believed Aemond was still in the Riverlands and that Aegon would be an easy sacrifice to restore peace. Now her old friend is risking everything based on a promise that no longer exists.
Not only does this make Alicent look like a liar, but with Aemond now playing king, Rhaenyra and Daemon will have to face Vaghar. And no amount of preparation may be enough to prevent their bloody end. When Aemond mentions his mother hasn’t been seen in days and questions–with a suspicious tone, where she was, Alicent starts to panic. She knows what her son is capable of, and learning she sold their family out to Rhaenyra, will be seen as a treason. Matricide is not beneath him–in fact, killing family members is his entire plan to steal the throne. She is just giving him a legitimate reason for murder rather than an innate desire for it—which he has displayed many times. After a long pause meant to shame him for questioning her loyalty ,she lies– claiming she was in Kingswood, and wonders why he left the Riverlands. Both of them are hiding the truth, but only one’s lies are to bring about peace. Alicent is visually concerned–with her long pauses, wide-eyes, and slow stomach clenching gulps. Aemond is hungry for a kill. He informs her that Lord Ormund Hightower and 15,000 battle-ready men are marching with Daeron–who we have yet to meet, and his dragon enroute to King’s Landing to defend their capital. The Triarchy Fleet led by Tyland Lannister (Jefferson Hall) and Sharako Lohar (Abigail Thorn), will cut the head off of the Sea Snake blockade, ambushing Corlys and giving Aemond time to plot his move against Rhaenyra.
Next we head to the Riverlands where Daemon and his army are soaking the soil with Lannister blood and carnage. From the fires and decapitated heads littering the land, it seems Daemon has won. While plotting his next move, the bloodied Prince hears a stir in the perimeter of the woods. He and his men run to find another army from the North–The Winter Wolves, old friends of Jahaerys. Their leader–Roderick Dustin (Tommy Flanagan) is a man of few words. He tosses the head of Jason Lannister at Daemon’s feet and growls out, “We’ve come to die for the Dragon Queen.” Some people bring flowers or a bottle of wine to a courtship, but in Westeros, the head of your enemy will suffice. After looking into Jason’s dead eyes, Daemon is pleased and invites the Wolves to join him in finishing this lion hunt–the golden symbol of House Lannister.
“Doom and Ruin Surround Us”
…Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) tells Ser Gwayne (Freddie Fox) when his leadership is called into question. After the devastation at Rook’s Rest, Criston needs to work a little harder at keeping the troops both safe and honorable. Women, torn from their clothes and crying as they flee tents occupied by Criston’s men, are not exactly exhibiting behavior fit for knights. Gwayne understands they are battle weary, but they need to hear from their strong leader and know they are protected above by Vhagar, who hasn’t been seen since their last battle. They also need to be reminded what honor means. Gwayne wants Criston to do something about his out-of-control soldiers, but ever since the Knight saw what they were up against– mainly the fiery breath of dragons, he has lost his love of the fight. He has all but abdicated his duties, spending his time painting his shield and talking about the inevitability of death. Not exactly pep rally vibes coming from Cole. Things are bleak, and just like his sister, the look on Gwayne’s face says he knows it.
Next, we check in with the lowborn dragonseeds, the ones who survived Rhaenyra’s experiment to see if commonfolk could charm her scaly, winged relatives. Most died, but the drunken, moraless Ulf (Tom Bennett), the honorable Hugh (Kieran Bew), and Addam (Clinton Liberty), the brother to Coryls’ secret son, beat the odds and tamed their own beasts.
Now, with their dragons gathered above watching, they sit and wait on the Isle of Faces, not far from Harrenhal where they assume Daemon is in need of their back-up. They have no idea he has already traveled south, leaving a trail of bodies behind him. They also don’t need to worry about Vhagar showing up for another dragon battle because he’s back home playing King of the Castle.The three are waiting for a sign that likely won’t come. In the meantime, they have no choice but to get to know each other. Ulf makes it clear his motivation for volunteering to ride a dragon is completely selfish. He isn’t in this for honor or to rally behind the Queen. He’s in it for the attention from women and the castle he assumes most knights are given. Hugh laughs off Ulf’s fantasies, but then the mood on the island is anxious anticipation.
With three dragons cooling their fire breathers on the Isle of Faces, Sheepstealer can’t seem to shake his prospective rider. He’s a wild one, not interested in being tamed. So, when he eventually tosses Rhaena from his back onto the ground, he growls and hisses, trying to keep the young woman at a distance. She tries singing to him, then reasoning with him about going home to Dragonstone, but the aggressive beast only roars at her before flying off.
Back at the Keep, Helaena (Phia Saban) meets with her mother and offers up her prophetic observations. Alicent is worried, and Helaena doesn’t disagree. Alicent is concerned for her brother Gwayne and Ser Criston, not to mention her and the rest of the family now that Aemond is back. She’s also not happy that Aegon abandoned the throne and tells her daughter it should have been her other son who was injured. Her fear is obvious, but Helaena points out that Aemond is also afraid. Once he chose Vhagar, he forgot what fear was. Now he knows he can’t win if he faces all of Rhaenyra’s dragons, so that fear has returned.
The two get interrupted by Ser Soren(Ben Dilloway), who is directed to take a letter Alicent forged to Ser Ormund Hightower, who is marching toward King’s Landing. She says the letter contains the king’s orders, which immediately raises her daughter’s eyebrows.
Sheepstealer and the Triarchy
Out on the blockade, Ser Corlys summons his secret son Alyn (Abubakar Salim) to his chambers for a drink and a conversation. The Sea Snake fills his son in on the Queen’s plan to take King’s Landing. She is summoning five ships from the blockade to help her once she seizes the throne. Before they enter these rougher waters, Corlys wants his son to know he’s sorry for the role he played in creating the wedge between them. He admits he was fond of Alyn’s mother and made sure he and his brother, Addam, always had what they needed. Without emotion, Alyn responds, “Everything but the last name.” For that, Corlys is sorry. It seems now, as they face a battle they might not win, the Sea Snake wants to make his son’s birthright legitimate. The two barely get to focus on that before there’s a commotion outside.
The weather on the seas is windy and foggy, but the crew spots a fleet of enemy ships heading their way, and they easily outnumber them. Corlys orders his crew to put out the oars and send word to Dragonstone that the blockade is at risk. He then orders his son to guide them to the head of the fleet. They’re either facing the Greyjoys or the Lannisters, and the Sea Snake never backs down from a fight. When Alyn tells him it’s actually the Triarchy, his father pauses, takes a deep breath, and orders him to bring his armor.
On the Triarchy ship, Tyland Lannister, dressed in his battle armor, and Sharako Lohar, dressed in more functional and seaworthy attire (a detail that will be important later), cannot agree on how to attack the blockade. Tyland’s plan is to prevent an attack from the sky by crowding Corlys’ fleet so closely that any dragonfire aimed at them would destroy the Queen’s Navy too. Lohar wants a different approach. She has a longstanding feud with Corlys and orders a group of ships to dock on Driftmark and burn down Corlys’ ancestral home, HighTide. His attention will be split between the battle ahead of him and the sight of his nearby home burning. It’s a distraction Lohar can take advantage of.
Trapped on an isolated rock in the middle of nowhere, Rhaena hears Sheepstealer in the distance. She is battered, hungry, and unsure if the dragon has returned to kill her or leave her behind to die from starvation. When she finally manages to meet him face to face, he growls at her and then tosses a barbecued sheep at her feet. She rushes to gobble up the meat. It’s not only a sign that he is willing to share his mutton meal, but that he is willing to share it with his new dragon rider. The bond between the two has been made. Until death do they part.
Over at Hightower’s Camp we get a peek at Daeron’s dragon just as Ormund (James Norton) exits his tent to receive Alicent’s, aka King Aemond’s, letter ordering him to slow his march toward King’s Landing. Aemond is on his way to meet them, and Ormund is to wait until he arrives. Alicent is making good on the promise she made to Rhaenyra, and if the overly primped Hightower doesn’t arrive with the backup Aemond needs, she will have a clear and bloodless path to the throne.
Keeping It in the Targaryen Family
With Hightower now stalled, Alicent still has to deal with Aemond. She works overtime convincing him to fly back to Harrenhal by massaging his ego. First, she gives in to his need for maternal praise and tells him he is a much stronger leader than his brother Aegon ever was. Next, she uses Helaena’s predictions to soothe his fears over Rhaenyra’s dragons by reminding him he would be safer in Harrenhal. She can’t lose another child, and his ego won’t allow him to admit he’s afraid. So Alicent uses her Targaryen nature and convinces him through doe-eyed flirtations that lead the two to kiss. Alicent walks the line between fear of her son and utter disgust at the incestuous ploy she had to pull, but it works. Aemond agrees to leave King’s Landing and go murder his uncle Daemon at Harrenhal.
Back to the Isle of Faces while Ulf is relieving himself, he spots a half-man, half-beast spying on him. He alerts the other two, but they saw it too, and it ran after Hugh pulled out his dagger. Everyone is on edge. They had orders to surprise attack Vhagar if it came for Daemon at Harrenhal. Now Hugh is wondering how long they are supposed to wait, and Ulf is packing his things, ready to flee the creepy island regardless of his oath to Rhaenyra. Addam stays calm, following the Queen’s orders. That’s when the witch, Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) shows up with news: they are needed at the Battle of the Gullet.
When Dragonstone gets word from Corlys that the Triarchy is attempting to breach the blockade, Jace feels vindicated. “They’ve sprung their trap,” he says about Alicent’s plan. A headstrong Rhaenyra announces she is flying to their aid, but Jace has other ideas. He orders Ser Lorent Marbrand (Max Wrottesley), a loyal and trusted Queen’s Guard, to lock the Queen away in her chambers for her own good. Besides the fact that it is technically treason, Jace is trying to control a woman, a queen, who refuses to let anyone stand in her way, including her children.
With his mother locked away, stabbing daggers at her clothes and ranting about what it means to be a queen in a patriarchal society, Jace and Baela hop on their dragons to end the skirmish with the Triarchy themselves.
The Battle of the Gullet
Back at the blockade, the Battle of the Gullet has officially kicked off into a brutal firefight at sea. As boats burn and soldiers scream, Jace and Baela arrive on the backs of Vermax and Moondancer, providing cover. Now the Sea Snake can hatch a plan to separate Lannister from the mercenary Lohar. With the tides low, Corlys can lure Lohar through a shallow channel he knows how to navigate, a route that should wreck her boats. Of course, with low tides, Lohar can’t take on any extra weight.
In a surprising turn of loyalty, she turns on Lannister and orders him and all of his heavily armored men to be tossed overboard. She did not come to the Narrow Sea to retreat or win some war for a king. She came to cut the head off the Sea Snake, the man who murdered and enslaved her people for two decades. The Lannisters are just dead weight on her boat to justice.
As Vermax and Moondancer swoop through the clouds to burn through a few Green ships, Lohar loads her weapon and shoots an arrow tying Vermax to the boat. The beast flaps his wings, but he can’t escape the tether until Baela uses Moondancer to snap the rope, allowing the two to escape the battle.
Corlys masterfully navigates his ship through the channel, and Lohar does too, although she loses a few ships along the way. When Corlys realizes his plan didn’t neutralize the threat and Lohar is right behind him, he looks ahead and sees HighTide in flames. He can’t concentrate, so Alyn takes over, ordering the crew to prepare for a head-on collision with Lohar.
When the two ships collide, it is a slaughterfest. Planks are thrown down, and soldiers engage in bloody hand-to-hand combat. Lohar slashes her way across the Sea Snake’s boat, searching for him. When the two finally meet, it becomes a clash of swords and brutal hand-to-hand fighting. When the ship splits in two, Corlys, Lohar, and Alyn fall overboard. Alyn, attempting to defend what he assumes is his dead father’s honor, engages in a long and brutal fight until he finally ends Lohar by stabbing her in the chest and drowning her among the ruins of his father’s fleet.
Meanwhile, Baela is still flaming ships from above when Sheepstealer arrives. Her sister Rhaena first flew to Dragonstone, but when she saw the battle on the seas, she joined the fight. Unfortunately, Sheepstealer doesn’t understand the politics of House Green and House Black. He just sees fire and enemies. The wild dragon starts flaming everyone while Rhaena screams out orders, trying to keep her dragon under control. The chaos escalates into a dragon on dragon on dragon fight. Jace returns with Vermax, only to take another hit and go tumbling into the sea. Sadly, Vermax drowns, and Jace, just as he unleashes his final tie to his dragon and swims away, takes three arrows to the chest courtesy of the Triarchy. Another child of Rhaenyra is gone and the blockade protecting Dragonstone is destroyed.
As the battle draws to a close, Alyn pulls himself out of the sea to see what remains of his father’s fleet. It is nothing but wreckage and fires, with a squealing Sheepstealer circling the warzone above. Someone better let that Queen out of her chambers because every time someone denies her vengeance, another one of her children dies. It’s time for the Queen to take flight and take back her birthright.