A new episode of House of the Dragon will air this September 5 on OCS City and is already available on demand on OCS. But what about episode 3, “Aegon the second”?
The first season of House of the Dragonwhich finally has a credits that we have deciphered, continues on OCS with episode 3 entitled “Aegon the second”, Where “Second of his name” in the original version. As its title indicates, it is on the son of Viserys I (Paddy Considine) and Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey) that the episode is focused, because that’s it, a time jump did occur between episode 2 and episode 3. Three years have passed, during which the widowed King Viserys I Targaryen married Alicent Hightower, daughter of his Hand, and best friend of his own daughter Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock). The feelings of the young heiress are also at the heart of a large plot, partly because of her link with Alicent and the upheaval caused by the birth of his little brother, Aegon II. If her father makes her the promise to bequeath the throne to her, Rhaenyra is aware that the whole kingdom now thinks that her half-brother will inherit the Iron Throne, being the first son of the king in place.
But these questions about his legitimacy to take power are not the only ones to work on Rhaenyra. From the first episode, his relationship with Alicent has been shown with some ambiguity which underlines that the young heiress has more than friendly feelings towards her friend. A theory that has also been confirmed by the interpreter of Alicent, Emily Carey, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. So it’s easy to imagine Rhaenyra with a broken heart, not only seeing her father remarry after her mother’s death, but also doing it with her best friend with whom she is in love. This reading of their relationship also gives another weight to a key scene in episode 3 of House of the Dragon in which Viserys allows Rhaenyra to choose her future husband. The latter, with tears in her eyes, is content to leave the room without saying a word, perhaps thinking that the person with whom she wanted to spend her life is already part of her family and has become, a few years ago , his new mother-in-law…
Daemon emerges victorious from the battle
In addition to the moods of Rhaenyra Targaryen, who finds some comfort with her protector, the knight Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), episode 3 of the prequel to Game of Thrones also advances a major arch of this beginning of the series. The Battle of the Stone Steps has been raging for several years after being started by an overconfident Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith).. Despite the advantage of the dragons at his side and his alliance with Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), the brother of King Viserys I cannot overcome Craghas Drahar (Daniel Scott-Smith), the Crab-Giver . It was only once the king finally decided to get involved in this war – following the well-advised advice of his wife Alicent, herself advised by her father – that Daemon manages to take over. This lets viewers not only witness an epic battle scene the way we love them, but also learn that the Targaryens aren’t the only ones who can ride dragons.
Indeed it is the son of Corlys Velaryon, Laenor Velaryon (John MacMillan), who comes to the rescue of Daemon who then finds himself in difficulty. If the young man manages to control the beast, it’s because his mother is Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best), the Queen who never was, and that she insisted that when she was born, a dragon egg be placed in her cradle as with all Targaryens. The battle aside, the episode of House of the Dragon focuses on a hunting party that celebrates the two years of young Prince Aegon II, son of King Viserys I and Alicent Hightower.
Winks to Game of Thrones always more numerous
Finally once again and as already underlined by Télé Star, the spin-off of Game Of Thrones draws several parallels to the original series, some more subtle than others. In the first season of Game Of Thrones, a hunting party gone wrong is the cause of the death of Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy), starting point of the war for the Iron Throne. The Baratheon house is represented by a majestic deer, very present in this episode since it is an immense white deer, king of the forest, which has been seen and which the hunters want to kill. Only it is a normal deer that they will manage to capture, and which is killed by King Viserys. Everything takes place in Bois-du-Roi, or Kingswood, the very place where Robert Baratheon will be mortally wounded by a wild boar. Other winks can be underlined, such as the dynamic made of loyalty and protective instinct of Sir Criston Cole towards Rhaenyra which echoes that of Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) and Jorah Mormont (Ian Glen); or even the white horse of Rhaenyra which recalls Daenerys’ white mare, courtesy of Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa). Finally the first Lannister introduced in House of the Dragon is a twin, just like the famous Lannisters of Game of Thrones, Cersei (Lena Headey) and Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau).
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