House of the Dragon: 2x3 Full Reaction

Rewatching it, I forgot how much I liked this episode. There's a lot of great character moments and groundwork being laid. The chemistry between Emma Darcy and Olivia Cooke is so palpable, it's great to see them on screen together again. I love that final scene between them, and like you I was so happy that the miscommunication was cleared up pretty quickly. Now our characters are making fully informed decisions, even if Alicent's a bit in denial. The camera work in their scene is also very reminiscent of a scene between them in the first season, calling back to when the two girls were sitting, talking, and comforting eachother in the same place. Harrenhal's spooky vibes are immaculate - that sequence of Daemon wandering the halls feels like playing Dark Souls, and I'm a sucker for ghosts and haunted castles. I love seeing Milly Alcock back, even briefly. It's interesting to note that when Daemon awoke from his vision/hallucination he was standing in front of a weirwood tree, known for their connection to the Old Gods, Children of the Forest, and the 3-Eyed Raven. If you look at a map of Westeros, Harrenhal is located on the banks of a lake called the Gods' Eye; in the centre of that lake is a small island, called the Isle of Faces, which is home to the largest concentration of weirwood trees left on the continent. It was the place where the Children and the First Men signed a pact to end the war between them, and is thus a place of great power. It's inhabited by a sacred order called the "Green Men", who protect and maintain the trees and are said to be horned and have dark, green skin, though maesters say they just wear antler headdresses and wear green clothing. It's quite subtle, but the bar maiden in the tavern scene is actually Dyana, a servant of Aegon and Helaena in season 1. She was SA'd by Aegon and dismissed from service by Alicent with a bag of money and a cup of tansy tea, the morning after solution, to ensure she wasn't pregnant. If you watch closely while she's pouring drinks for Aegon, she is visibly extremely uncomfortable and hurries away, for obvious reason, and Aegon doesn't even give her a second glance. In fact the scene with the smallfolk (which I really appreciate incidentally, it's great to see another perspective on events) is full of details that are easy to miss. Right near the start, a bag (of money presumably) can be seen being secretly passed from one person to another until it is handed to the woman whom the camera follows for a while. I can't be sure, but I think this woman is one of Mysaria's agents who gave information to Arryk and Erryk in episode 9 of season 1 when they were searching for Aegon. Even if it's not the same woman, I think it's definitely a hint that Mysaria's spy network is getting back up and running. Her title was The White Worm by the way. The camera then shifts to follow the man who claims to be a bastard Targaryen, and we actually saw him briefly in the previous episode. When we first see the ratcatchers have been hanged, we see him steal some food and ask a woman who they were. In case you didn't catch it, his friends called him Ulf. Can't wait for the next reaction, it's one of the best episodes of the season 💜

Jordan McLaren