Whew, what an episode and what a start to the season. The Dance of the Dragons has kicked off, and from what I understand, it is about to get crazy. I will preface this article by admitting that I have not read the books, nor have I seen the Game of Thrones television series. I have of course been online however, so I do have a decent understanding of what happens in the show and how it ends. This is not to say I am an expert in this world however, so I think I have a little bit more of an outsider perspective to offer. Additionally, studying literature has given me analytical skills that I fear many people are losing. Lastly, I have also studied politics and warfare. I am no expert, but again, while seeing some of the discussions around this episode, I realised that my knowledge is…not as common as I thought.

This episode as I understand it, had several departures from the original source material but I am only focusing on the things that we know or have learned in the show. As said, I also want to address some of the comments I have seen people make, or issues that they have brought up. Everyone is allowed to have differing opinions, but my hope is that people might at least think about the story a bit more before tearing into it…

Warning, spoilers ahead!

Rhaenys and Rhaenyra

Rhaenys’ counsel to and for Rhaenyra has been phenomenal throughout the episode. First telling Rhaenyra about how this war may have started long ago was clever, and a needed reminder. Now we can see that several shots have all been made to ‘begin’ the war, even as far back as Lucerys taking Aemond’s eye. We as viewers may not agree, knowing everything that happened, but the point is that what we know doesn’t matter! I can’t recall who says it, but perception is all that matters, and this is no truer than in politics. And perceptions can be shaped.

Rhaenyra was declared heir for years by Viserys, and he came up to bat for her time and time again. However, the people (men) of the realm each wanted a male heir to take the throne. Aegon’s birth shifted the succession in their minds, no matter what Viserys said. As Otto says, Rhaenyra was the ‘last to see’ that the Lords of the realm had made up their minds. Aegon is a terrible king, which his council is seeing in real time, but he’s there now, and they can’t change that!

Of course, Otto’s little parade around King’s Landing also warped public opinion against Rhaenyra, but she has been damaging her reputation for years. I agree that she is heir, but I don’t like people saying she is faultless. She flaunted her bastards for years, was accused of sleeping with her uncle as a girl, and removed herself from court as her father began to ail from his sickness. It also seems like she and Daemon did have Laenor killed to get married. We (audience) know that they did not, but that is what everyone else sees!

Rhaenyra mirrors Viserys and that makes sense! Of course as a mother she is grieving her lost son, but we must remember that even in that anger and loss, she has only ever witnessed one king’s reign: her fathers. She watched him live in relative peace and hesitancy to act for years. Think of those council meetings in the first season when Corlys was desperate for help to fight in the Stepstones. Viserys was a hesitant ruler, and so was Jahaerys before him. Rhaenyra may like Queen Visenya, but she does not know how to mirror her in practise. Of course, Daemon, who does provide that more decisive and brash side, has only ever caused problems for Viserys. Naturally Rhaenyra will want to stick with what she knows! I would like to see her be more bloodthirsty and nasty about this war, but I’m willing to let that side of her develop!

Also shout out to Rhaena, who spoke up about being pushed to the sidelines by Rhaenyra, who is supposed to be her step-mother. It was good to give her an important role, but I do hope we get to see a lot more of her going forward.

Hightowers and Team Green

Gwayne Hightower was a great addition, and I enjoyed seeing him get under Criston’s skin. I am keen to see how his role plays out in the series, and I’m so glad that Alicent is beginning to play more of her hand by using her allies! I have said it a bunch of times before, but I would love to see Alicent be more power hungry. She is an interesting foil for Rhaenyra, because she has spent years ruling as queen. I don’t think Alicent is able to be honest with herself about it all yet, but it would be great if she hid it behind her desire for duty and honour. Let her argue that the realm will only be peaceful when she is in charge, that is, ruling over Aegon’s shoulder, because even then the realm would not accept her as queen alone. I think that she could have such an incredible arc here.

Criston Cole’s haircut is not great, but it makes sense for him to cut it prior to going into battle. He’ll be wearing a helmet and not want to worry about lice or distracting long hair. Someone called it a continuity error, which absolutely baffled me, but it’s just…a bad haircut haha.

Badass Baela Targaryen

Baela’s chase scene was great. Watching her scare the daylights out of Criston and Gwayne was hilarious and so iconic. It was amazing to see Moondancer, who was absolutely beautiful. Learning that the dragon was designed to look like David Bowie only added to how iconic these characters are!

I have seen so many people say that they would have burned the whole forest down, or that she should have done it which is so ridiculous to me. There are so many reasons why Baela made the right choice, so let’s discuss. First of all, she was ordered to scout and not engage by her queen so disobeying orders would have undermined Rhaenyra further (potentially causing her to lose her place even more). Baela is a child still, and likely did not want to murder anyone just yet too… Of course, there is also two other key sentiments that have been explicitly stated in the show, which we must remember: ‘when dragons fly to war everything burns’ and ‘when princes get mad it is the small folk who suffer’. Baela burning the forest might have killed Cole, but she would have set fire to an enormous swathe of land, injuring people or ruining their lands or sources of food. It ALSO would have enraged whatever lords or vassals were in charge of the land, and because they are all at war (need I remind you!), it would have done irreparable damage to Rhaenyra’s reputation–which is already seriously damaged!

I also want to refute those who say that Baela is Daemon’s daughter and should act like him. As this is a show that is explicitly and implicitly dealing with the damaging nature of patriarchy, we need to consider how that plays out. Baela, first of all, is not her father. She even says that she thinks she hates him to Jace in episode 2. Also, let’s not pretend that Daemon is a good character. His primary role in the show is to cause headaches, the only reason Rhaenyra liked him is that up until now, he wasn’t causing them for her. Daemon is a dangerous character and a loose cannon, all you can hope to do is steer him away from shooting at you. Baela is not like him, and she does not need to be. Her choice to allow Cole to flee was wise, and scaring him like that may just help their cause further. Fear is as good a weapon as any in war.

A haunting at Harrenhal

As I am not an OG Game of Thrones fan I don’t think I felt quite the same excitement at seeing this old castle, but it was still immensely cool. Learning that the set was actually built for these scenes was phenomenal, and I know that one day if they allow tours that those will be amazing places to visit!

It was hilarious seeing Daemon just walk in and take the hall so easily, but I think the show is foreshadowing that this will not be all that good for him in the long run. The dream sequence was pretty haunting and though I’m not entirely sure of all the history, I did see these two posts which have given me much to think about going forward!

Alicent’s admission

Of course, we need to talk about that final scene. I admit that I thought it a little strange, and possible silly, but I think it also has an important place in the conflict. Rhaenyra was able to learn of her father’s final words, and the big ‘misunderstanding’. Alicent learned that she truly had been mistaken, but her assurance that there was no mistake by the end was the perfect line to complete this episode.

Aside from the dress-up shenanigans, I believe that this was a decent addition plot-wise. The final attempt to resolve this peacefully is something I could imagine Viserys doing, and in that regard Rhaenyra is definitely trying to honour her father. The reveal of the prophecy being from Aegon the Conqueror shows that Alicent doesn’t truly understand much of the Targaryen histories, but the Hightowers (from what I understand) never wanted to. They did not willingly accept the Targaryen’s when they first arrived, so even marrying into the family might be the result of years of work to infiltrate and perhaps redirect the ruling house. It’s not that Alicent didn’t learn the Targaryen history, it’s that her house doesn’t care.

It also hit home for me how final everything is. War is here whether the women want to accept it or not, but Rhaenyra is again the last person to see that. Aegon was publicly crowned and Rhaenyra has been publicly denounced. The damage is done, and the Hightowers will not back down now because they can’t—they can’t publicly admit they usurped the throne or they will be killed, they can’t give it back to Rhaenyra because everyone (especially King Aegon) hates her! And Daemon! And they think her children are bastards! She is an apostate in most of their eyes. We see how she struggles to gain allies for all these reasons and for her gender. That is the unfairness of it all, which Alicent does see, even if she may not agree.

Conclusion

Ultimately, this story is an epic tragedy. Everyone will suffer, and everyone will end up losing because that is the way of it, you don’t have to know the story to understand the costs of war. Rhys Ifans summarised it excellently in this interview.

I’m sick of people trying to fit todays morals or their own standards on it! Let them make mistakes and be awful or not, let’s give the show time to unfold and see how it all works. I also desperately urge viewers to think ahead about what the consequences are for each characters’ actions! Baela burning the forest might be a small win if they could eliminate Cole, but let’s be honest, was he ever a real threat? He has been made Hand, but those come and go like the weather. This would only add fuel to Aegon’s fire and then who knows, maybe Vhagar would have been sent straight to Dragonstone to end it all for good.

We’re only at episode three, so there’s still time for the story to unfold. I’m seeing lots of posts to suggest that there will be a significant battle in the latter half of this season which I am eager to see, but until then, let it all happen!