House of the Dragon' episode 3

2022 - 9 - 5

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House of the Dragon episode 3 review: Battle of the Stepstones ... (BT TV)

A party for Aegon, a hunt for Viserys and a violent battle with the Crab Feeder; we review House of the Dragon episode 3, Second of His Name.

And for the time being, Alicent appears happy to be a pawn in Otto’s strategic games. The arrival of twin Lannister brothers this week – both played by Jefferson Hall – was a brilliantly executed example. Gone are the splendid dresses of her youth, instead she now wears gloves and practical attire - she's already dressing for war. He had some stomach-churning proposals for how Viserys could resolve the heir-to-the-throne problem – Rhaenyra marrying baby Aegon! Paddy Considine captured Viserys' weakness and anguish perfectly as he got dragged on a hunt and he feebly killed a squealing deer that was being held captive for him. The wild and chaotic as he used himself as bait for the Crab Feeder. She’s growing rapidly in confidence from the nail scratcher we saw in episode 2. It only took us three weeks and an incredibly creepy bad guy with a fondness for crustaceans to deliver House of the Dragon's first bloody battle. And the lost and lonely as he longs for a purpose and role in the kingdom – or maybe just a cuddle from his big bro. It also gave us an introduction to more members of House Velaryon, including Coryls' brother Vaemond (Wil Johnson) and his son Laenor (John Macmillan). Includes Sky channels from NOW and Netflix. The battle itself was frenetic and stunning.

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'House of the Dragon' episode 3: The king - and the show - go ... (NPR)

In the third episode of HBO's Game of Thrones prequel, Rhaenyra is bored, has to fend off a Lord, then nearly gets gored; meanwhile, a minor threat gets put ...

- The show did a fair bit of work to set up the Crabfeeder as a formidable foe, but all of that work was purely visual. But we didn't get to actually see Daemon slicing the Crabfeeder on the bias, giving him a fashionable, kicky, off-the-shoulder kind of death. High on a ridge overlooking this sad scene, the true White Hart of Yeah No For Real You Are the True Heir to the Iron Throne, GurlTM appears to Rhaenyra and Ser Criston. He's the firstborn son of the king! This scene is a big emotional breakthrough for Viserys — yes, he's drunk, but he's clearly been putting in the work on himself, processing, self-actualizing, filling out the workbooks — but Alicent just sort of ... But instead of one that looks out at the wider world, this one looks inward — and to the past. He's troubled, also, by Jason Lannister's offer of a spear with which to kill the beast, as well as his offering himself up as Rhaenyra Suitor Number 1. This sets her fuming, and she confronts the king, accusing him of pawning her off for political gain. Rhaenyra feels overlooked and disregarded by the king and ... (It's in this same wood that King Robert I will later be mortally wounded by a boar, kicking off the events of Game of Thrones.) But Viserys dismisses him, too preoccupied with his son Aegon's upcoming second birthday, and the royal hunt that has been arranged in his honor. This recap of House of the Dragon's third episode contains spoilers for ...

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'House of the Dragon': All the 'Fire and Blood' Easter Eggs in ... (Vanity Fair)

Want to get a better handle on what's happening on the 'Game of Thrones' prequel? This guide to how the show's adapting its source material should help.

With that said, it’s good we’re getting to meet the dragon now; it’ll make a key event in the future involving Seasmoke all the more heartbreaking. Given the book’s sparse details about the war in the Stepstones, it shouldn’t be surprising to hear that Seasmoke’s role in this week’s episode was a show-only invention. Just as likely, it’s the show nodding toward a rare moment of Martin canonically exhibiting self-restraint. Perhaps it’s worth paying attention to Nymeria’s tale and how it might correlate with the princess and the queen’s future. For House of the Dragon, however, resolving that conflict required only a single episode, and even more succinctly, a seven-minute action sequence. Still, his fate is consistent with what happens in Fire & Blood, the fictional history book on which HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel is based.

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House of the Dragon episode 3: Targaryens find that Game of ... (Polygon)

House of the Dragon is based on George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, which was mostly a straight recounting of Targaryen history. But Game of Thrones' ...

Only the gods ( [and book readers](https://www.polygon.com/23057740/read-fire-blood-house-of-the-dragon)) may know. [Aegon the Conqueror’s dream from episode 1](https://www.polygon.com/game-of-thrones/23289499/house-of-the-dragon-aegon-conqueror-prophecy-ice-and-fire-game-of-thrones), is a step back toward the more supernatural world of Thrones. The book itself is a fairly dry recounting of the events as told How to read the moment (or even how she reads the moment) is opaque, by design. It is, as one of the helpers holding it in place so the king may kill it notes, still a “big lad,” but the animal is not white. At a hunting party thrown in honor of Prince Aegon’s second birthday, many push for Aegon to be next in line (him being the firstborn son of King Viserys), while others insist [the throne is still Rhaenyra’s](https://www.polygon.com/23321956/house-of-the-dragon-episode-2-review) (being [the actual firstborn and named heir](https://www.polygon.com/game-of-thrones/23058669/house-of-the-dragon-cast-characters-story-fire-and-blood-targaryens)).

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House of the Dragon - Episode 3 Review - IGN (IGN)

This slow-burn episode of House Of The Dragon is Game Of Thrones as we know it – for better or worse – but the Targaryens' internal squabbles are still ...

This is Game Of Thrones as we know it, almost to a fault, with all the same backstabbing and family dramas. Back-up arrives in the form of the Velaryon forces and dragonfire to warm both the heart and all the other bodily organs. Whether he can hold the Stepstones is another matter – he’s not a details guy – but he appears to be on the up once more. Since they do, we’re back to resting on questions of marriage and babies for all the principal women, and old women discussing the fate of those who fall to enemies: namely, being exiled to a brothel to be raped. When Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) suggests that Rhaenyra marry her toddler half-brother to set things to rights, and he actually has a point dynastically speaking, it’s clear that something is rotten in the state of Westeros. Jason’s sensible twin Tyland Lannister (also Hall) is around, and appears to be the brains of the two. These men (so many men) all feel like the upcoming victims and villains of whatever schemes the show is cooking up, so they’re probably worth keeping an eye on. There’s lots of public bickering in this episode, the kind that would start unsettling rumors in a more stable court than any in Westeros. Viserys (Paddy Considine) and his court are off into the woods to celebrate the second birthday of his son, Aegon. The noblemen of Westeros have assembled to pay tribute to the baby, who they assume will eventually become the king’s heir – however much he protests that he’s still backing Rhaenyra (still Milly Alcock), his anointed heir. Rhaenyra looks and feels isolated – though she also doesn’t seem to have much grasp of the politicking that might make her position more secure. But after that familiar theme plays and those clockwork credits spin, this week’s episode comes with a little homework: time to start making notes on the Lords of Westeros, because the movers and shakers have arrived in great numbers now, and they’re beginning to look like sharks in the water.

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House of the Dragon Episode 3 Recap: A Prize to Be Won (ELLE.com)

In the third episode of the new Game of Thrones prequel, family parallels become dangerous. Here's a recap of what happened in season 1, episode 3 of House ...

But it’s also a sign from House of the Dragon that this character is not a real character but a symbol. He is not meant to stand apart as his own person, but merely as an entity in opposition to Daemon, as a sign of what the prince is willing to do to his opposition. Waving a white flag before the Triarchy forces, he draws the Crabfeeder and his men out into the open, kneeling before them with his sword held open-palmed. After reading Viserys’s letter promising aid to the Stepstones, Daemon is royally pissed-off, so he pulls a classic Daemon and does exactly what he wants. He did so out of guilt over Aemma’s death, but also out of love for his daughter, and now he fears he’s endangering the vision he saw so clearly as a younger man: of placing a son upon the Iron Throne. His stabs are imprecise, prolonging the stag’s suffering as well as the scene’s longevity, forcing the audience to watch and listen as the innocent creature writhes in agony. In the Kingswood, the Targaryen family members gather with the lords and ladies of Westeros, the wine and the gossip flowing. But Rhaenyra is not such a fan of peacocking, and is so insulted that she initiates a public shouting match with her father. And she’s hesitant to test out that authority on Rhaenyra, who’s resentful that a towheaded toddler seems likely to steal her claim to the throne. Taking place three years after the events of “The Rogue Prince,” two key settings are smartly juxtaposed in “Second of His Name”: the war in the Stepstones and a hunt in the Kingswood. One features Daemon, fighting the Triarchy and glowing in the light cast by his dragon’s gasps of fire, while the other features Viserys, honoring his son’s name day in a genteel forest celebration. Targaryens might come from a long line of warriors, but not all of them seem so comfortable with the nastiness of bloodshed.

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House of the Dragon Episode 3 Review: Second of His Name (Den of Geek US)

As evidenced by King Viserys's (Paddy Considine) nearly three-year long refusal to get the crown involved with it, the Stepstones war is far from an existential ...

The fact that it still feels like classic Game of Thrones anyway is as auspicious a sign as a white hart in the kingswood on your Name Day. “Second of His Name” does well to spend plenty of time with Rhaenyra as well as she nurses her wounds over her father’s marriage and the creation of an heir that might leapfrog her over the throne. More and more the Iron Throne looks like a prison of contradicting responsibilities on House of the Dragon. Neither Rhaenyra nor her father are one to indulge in superstition but how can Rhaenyra deny the mighty symbolism of being the one to see the white hart when it was intended for somebody else? Befitting of the great hunt’s scale, “Second of His Name” provides House of the Dragon with another influx of new characters. Here, however, the scale of the occasion is truly immense and impressive. House of the Dragon answers this question and more in “Second of His Name.” While our time in the Stepstones is certainly worthwhile and glorious, “Second of His Name” could not be considered a successful episode of television if it contained only that. It would be one thing for Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) and the rest of the realm to hear about Laenor Velaryon’s (Theo Nate) ascension as a dragonrider, it’s another thing entirely for us to actually see it. In Game of Thrones, King Robert’s hunting party consisted of the drunken king himself, his brother Renly, and a handful of other dudes roaming around the woods until a boar goared the Usurper King to death (offscreen of course, in keeping with Thrones’ early monetary modesty). Though House of the Dragon does imbue the Crabfeeder saga with a little more importance than its worth, the show does get one crucial character (re)introduction out of it. In fact, for much of its early run Game of Thrones went out of its way to avoid major battles even when the situation called for it.

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House of the Dragon Episode 3: The Disappointing Deaths Begin (Esquire.com)

King Viserys has had enough with politics in 'House of the Dragon.' Here's our recap on Sunday night's episode on HBO.

The stag is screaming bloody murder the whole time, which is a little bit of a buzzkill. Laenor also arrives on the back of a white dragon, burning a whole host of the enemy’s army alive. Faking a surrender, the prince marches out to the middle of the battlefield and slays nearly 20 of the Crabfeeder's men on his own, before he's clipped by flying arrows. Ser Vaemond doesn't believe in Daemon and his dragon to get the job done, but Laenor plots to use Daemon as bait to draw the Crabfeeder's men out. "Was I named heir to the Iron Throne so that I might only further raise the standing of a lord of Casterly Rock?" Trying to console the king, Lord Strong reminds him that the previous King Jaehaerys was driven to the edge of madness by his daughters as well. The king is in a drunken-no-more-fake-friends tantrum. Outside of Craghas the Crabfeeder—the man who has crabs eat people alive on the beaches of the Stepstones!?—the realm is now a relatively safe place. Tyland is a political strategist in the king's court, while Jason is the lord of a castle in the west, called Casterly Rock. If a raven hasn't delivered the message to you yet, [House of the](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a36342276/house-of-the-dragon-hbo-game-of-thrones-prequel/) [ Dragon](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a36342276/house-of-the-dragon-hbo-game-of-thrones-prequel/) doubled its massive viewership numbers last Sunday from roughly 10 million viewers—to over 25 million. House of the Dragon may not have all the dragons it promised us just yet, but it certainly has drama. Like it or not, House of the Dragon Episode Three begins with a time jump.

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'House of the Dragon' Season 1 Episode 3 Recap: Going Stag (Vanity Fair)

Two intertwined stories unpack the value (and pitfalls) of Targaryens trying to go it alone.

Even Lord Lyonel Strong (Gavin Spokes) once again steps forward as a voice of reason, reintroducing the idea of a marriage pact with House Velaryon, except this time, proposing a marriage between Rhaenyra and the Sea Snake’s son, Laenor (Theo Nate). Many in the realm view young Aegon as the heir apparent to the Iron Throne, despite public pledges of fealty to the current reigning heir, Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock). Despite her father’s position, Rhaenyra doesn’t expect her claim to the throne to last much longer. The Game of Thrones franchise’s megahit spinoff finally delivers its first explosive war scene in “Second of His Name,” an episode that follows two separate stories: Daemon and Lord Corlys Velaryon’s (Steve Toussaint) war against the Crabfeeder Craghas Drahar (Daniel Scott-Smith) in the Stepstones, while the Targaryen royal family throw a birthday party in mainland Westeros. [“The Rogue Prince”](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/08/house-of-the-dragon-season-1-episode-2-recap)—but it’s here in week three that Prince Daemon truly lives up to his rogue reputation. But Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) certainly shares the sentiment.

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House of the Dragon Recap: Green-Eyed Monster (Vulture)

Viserys may swear to Rhaenyra, “On your mother's memory, you will not be supplanted,” but Daemon is still out there, waiting in the wings.

Viserys may swear to Rhaenyra, “On your mother’s memory, you will not be supplanted,” but Daemon is still out there, making mincemeat of other tough guys, waiting in the wings for his moment to toss aside the proverbial white flag and make a move for the Iron Throne. His father served at Blackhaven, in the Stormlands, but he wasn’t highborn, and he isn’t as Dornish as Rhaenyra first assumed. I hate to hope for a show that is just a bunch of men riding around on horses and slitting each other’s throats, but when blood is in the air and Matt Smith is onscreen, my pulse picks up its pace. (In a moment of perfect character development, he mercilessly beats about the head a messenger from Viserys who promises aid in the form of ships and soldiers.) But Smith really sells it that Daemon may be surrendering, that his men cannot defeat a band of marauders who retreat to caves every time a dragon wing flaps overhead. If Rhaenyra proved her moxie with that dagger to a hog’s belly, Daemon did the same by singlehandedly dicing up dozens of men, taking three arrows to the body, and still hauling half of the Crabfeeder’s torso through a tide pool, barely breaking a sweat. In her place, this chit of a girl who flounces around the Red Keep ordering musicians to strum the same old tunes over and over again: “She fled with her ships and her people!” House of the Dragon struggles to make disagreement interesting, mostly because it goes light on the scheming and heavy on the exposition. It’s bizarre to see any king so loved in Westeros, especially with the foreknowledge that so many of the rulers in the continent’s future are winos, tyrants, and blond terrors hell-bent on cruelties of the We Need to Talk About Kevin variety. As an emissary to the ladies’ chat circle in the banquet tent, she wittily dispatches with Lady Redwyne, an avatar of Pocahontas’ Governor Ratcliffe and his smug little pug. The existence of a male heir has reignited the same ol’ succession woes we went through in the [first episode](https://www.vulture.com/article/house-of-the-dragon-series-premiere-recap-episode-1.html). [two](https://www.vulture.com/article/house-of-the-dragon-season-1-episode-2-recap-the-rogue-prince.html) and three of House of the Dragon. Martin that its character list was sliced in half, with some appearing in those chapters and the rest in the fifth book, A Dance With Dragons.

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'House Of The Dragon' Episode 3 Review: 'The Second Of His Name' (Forbes)

“Even I do not exist above tradition and duty, Rhaenyra!” - King Viserys I Targaryen, to his daughter. Sunday night's episode of House Of The Dragon gave us ...

He lands on his dragon, walks over to the warlords discussing their next move, reads the letter, hands it to Corlys, picks up his helmet and smashes the messenger’s face in before being dragged off, and then rows over to the other side and the forces of the Triarchy and never once during all of this does he utter even a single word. Then Daemon sees the Crabfeeder retreating into his tunnels and follows him, emerging at last with just one half of his enemy’s body, covered in blood. The B-plot takes place at the beginning and ending of the episode. The Crabfeeder and his men retreat to the caves. That takes place at the end of the episode. Alicent urges Viserys to send help to Daemon—for the realm if not for his brother, who Viserys calls a malcontent. The symbol of the white hart was once a sign of nobility prior to the Targaryen conquest of the land. Indeed, as his daughter is fending off the boar, Viserys is downing cup after cup of wine, sinking further and further into a wretched mood. Viserys botches the slaughter and is forced to stab the poor beast several times with a spear gifted to him by Jason Lannister, before he strikes the killing blow. He seems almost as much in denial over his daughter as he is the war in the Stepstones. Hightower tells Viserys that he is king and his daughter would obey him if he ordered her to wed the Lion. Boars and wine were, of course, the downfall of the Baratheon king, whose sigil was a stag.

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House of the Dragon episode 3 recap: Meet baby Prince Aegon (Radio Times)

The new episode of House of the Dragon, Second of His Name, saw a climactic battle and a new Targaryen in town.

House of the Dragon war explained](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/fantasy/house-dragon-dance-dragons-war-explained/) [Where was House of the Dragon filmed?](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/fantasy/house-dragon-filming-locations-sets/) [What is Dark Sister in House of the Dragon?](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/fantasy/house-dragon-dark-sister-explained/) [Who is the opening voiceover in House of the Dragon episode 1?](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/fantasy/house-of-the-dragon-voiceover/) [What book is House of the Dragon based on? Game of Thrones timeline explained](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/fantasy/game-of-thrones-timeline-house-of-dragon/) [What time is House of the Dragon released in the UK?](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/fantasy/house-dragon-time-release-uk/) [What is the Dance of the Dragons? Queen Alicent approaches King Viserys in his chambers to discuss Princess Rhaenyra and the Queen suggests she will marry if she believes it is her choice to do so. King Viserys notes the importance of marriage but does not want to replace Princess Rhaenyra and wants to see her content and happy. Queen Alicent pushes King Viserys to do what is best for the realm - and that is to vanquish the Crabfeeder. Lord Lyonel suggests a match and King Viserys assumes it will be his own son but the honourable Lord Lyonel actually suggests Ser Laenor Velaryon as a match for Princess Rhaenyra to mend the ties between House Velaryon and House Targaryen and provide wealth and pure Valyrian blood - if Ser Laenor survives the war in the Stepstones. Ser Otto visits an unhappy Queen Alicent and he pushes the importance of Prince Aegon becoming the heir to the Iron Throne. The pair return to a shocked group of onlookers in the camp with the dead boar as Princess Rhaenyra passes by covered in blood. Lord Jason hands King Viserys the spear to kill the stag and he does but it is slow and he must stab it twice. In the forest, Princess Rhaenyra sits with Ser Criston by a fire at night and she asks him if the realm would ever accept her as their queen but he says they will have no choice but to. Lord Jason makes clear his desire to marry Princess Rhaenyra and to add strength to House Targaryen and compensate Princess Rhaenyra for (he expects) her losing her title as heir to the throne. Catching up with her near a lake in the Kingswood, Ser Criston asks Princess Rhaenyra what troubles her and she admits it is her marital prospects and Ser Criston jokes that he could kill Lord Jason for her.

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House of the Dragon episode 3 review: "Finally, the dragons in all ... (GamesRadar+)

Scheming, omens, and fiery action come together in another solid episode in the Game of Thrones prequel series.

[House of the Dragon release schedule](https://www.gamesradar.com/house-of-the-dragon-release-schedule-hbo-sky/) to find out when the next episode drops in your time zone. The new balance of their relationship is revealed in a scene by the Weirwood tree, where Rhaenyra attempts to avoid a hunting trip to celebrate Aegon's second birthday. After Viserys stunned the small council with his decision to marry Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey), the new queen has a son – another Aegon Targaryen – and is heavily pregnant with a second child. Daemon is a true wild card and Matt Smith brings a magnetic mystery to the character. Disappointingly, though, the promise of a showdown between Daemon and the Crabfeeder isn't quite fulfilled: the smirking Targaryen prince sprints after his nemesis into the dark caves and slashes the Crabfeeder gruesomely in half. The sheer power of the creature is enough to raise goosebumps: a blast of fire knocks Daemon clear off his feet, and those huge wings audibly beat the air.

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'House of the Dragon' episode 3: The king - and the show - go ... (knkx.org)

In the third episode of HBO's Game of Thrones prequel, Rhaenyra is bored, has to fend off a Lord, then nearly gets gored; meanwhile, a minor threat gets put ...

But we didn't get to actually see Daemon slicing the Crabfeeder on the bias, giving him a fashionable, kicky, off-the-shoulder kind of death. High on a ridge overlooking this sad scene, the true White Hart of Yeah No For Real You Are the True Heir to the Iron Throne, GurlTM appears to Rhaenyra and Ser Criston. He's the firstborn son of the king! But instead of one that looks out at the wider world, this one looks inward — and to the past. — House Velaryon is represented by cool-ass metal seahorse tokens, House Targaryen by jawbones that look like dragon wings, and the Crabfeeder by crab claws. This scene is a big emotional breakthrough for Viserys — yes, he's drunk, but he's clearly been putting in the work on himself, processing, self-actualizing, filling out the workbooks — but Alicent just sort of ... He's troubled, also, by Jason Lannister's offer of a spear with which to kill the beast, as well as his offering himself up as Rhaenyra Suitor Number 1. This sets her fuming, and she confronts the king, accusing him of pawning her off for political gain. Rhaenyra feels overlooked and disregarded by the king and ... (It's in this same wood that King Robert I will later be mortally wounded by a boar, kicking off the events of Game of Thrones.) This recap of House of the Dragon's third episode contains spoilers for ... Don't get me wrong: House of the Dragon remains as listlessly talky as ever, and is still telegraphing its each and every narrative punch by having different characters make the same point over and over, for our putative benefit.

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'House of the Dragon' Season 1 Episode 3 Recap: Family Feud (Collider.com)

The only force that can put an end to House Targaryen is House Targaryen itself. We recap House of the Dragon Episode 3, "Second of His Name."

And, as the late King Jaeherys (Michael Carter) foresaw, the only force that can put an end to House Targaryen is House Targaryen itself. It has a great deal more in common with the likes of Dallas and HBO’s own [Succession](https://collider.com/tag/succession/) than with big fantasy classics, such as [The Lord of the Rings](https://collider.com/tag/the-lord-of-the-rings/). The event has made all the much clearer that the lords aren’t willing to accept Rhaenyra as queen now that the king has a male heir, and Rhaenyra is not giving up her position without a fight. He’s so distraught by it, in fact, that he nearly kills the poor messenger that brought him news of Viserys' departure from King’s Landing. In the heat of battle, he goes after the Crabfeeder into one of Bloodstone’s caves and comes out dragging the upper half of his enemy’s body, intestines out for everyone to see. It’s his talk about the wonders of Casterly Rock and just how loaded his family is that prompts Rhaenyra to start a scene and subsequently storm off her brother’s party with Ser Criston (Fabien Frankel) in tow. [House of the Dragon](https://collider.com/tag/house-of-the-dragon/) has a lot less in common with its parent show, [Game of Thrones](https://collider.com/tag/game-of-thrones/), than what meets the eye. And though he reminds the princess that it is her duty to marry, he also allows her to pick the best man for the job of king-consort. Some of the king’s scouts return to camp with news that a white hart has been seen in the woods. The only person not happy with His Majesty entering the war is — take a guess — Prince Daemon. Ever since she came of age, all lords of the realm have been filling up her father’s mailbox with marriage proposals, and now Rhaenyra has to deal with unwanted attention from men like Jason Lannister (Jefferson Hall), who approaches her with that Lannister cockiness that we all know so well. Well, maybe he finds some semblance of joy riding his dragon into the Stepstones and burning the hell out of the Crabfeeder’s (Daniel Scott-Smith) men — and some of his own men as well.

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'House of the Dragon' Episode 3 Recap: Daemon Has Quite a Day (CNET)

War with the Crabfeeder escalates, and the duty of marriage is thrust on Rhaenyra Targaryen in The Second of His Name.

Daemon and Lord Corlys are losing to the Triarchy's forces, but Viserys doesn't want to send help to the "malcontents." He says he named Rhaenyra heir to protect the realm from Daemon, but that perhaps that was a mistake. "He's made a mess and the king must put an end to it," says Lady Redwyne of Highgarden. Queen Alicent objects, and says Rhaenyra will make a good queen, but Otto says the laws of gods and man would be broken if Aegon wasn't made heir. A food hall is built up within a huge tent, and Rhaenyra finds herself invited to chitchat with the ladies of the court. "I would be honored to take the Princess Rhaenyra to wife, your grace. A royal hunt is an extravagant thing, with a town's-worth of comforts transported to the hunt headquarters. Viserys is informed of this development and is told that the Crabfeeder's forces have retreated to Stepstone caves, neutralizing the dragon advantage. In the premiere episode of the Game of Thrones prequel, we saw the traumatic death of [Queen Aemma](/culture/entertainment/every-targaryen-in-hbos-house-of-the-dragon-explained/) and the naming of Rhaenyra [Targaryen](/culture/entertainment/every-targaryen-in-hbos-house-of-the-dragon-explained/) as heir to the throne. Episode 2 ended with Daemon and Corlys striking up a partnership to deal with the Triarchy and its apparent leader, the Crabfeeder. You'll recall in that episode King Viserys Targaryen announced to the Small Council his intention to marry Alicent Hightower. [first episode](/culture/entertainment/house-of-the-dragon-recap-the-heirs-of-the-dragon/) was spent introducing us to the cast of new characters, and [episode 2](/culture/entertainment/house-of-the-dragon-episode-2-recap-succession-but-with-dragons/) saw tempers and tensions escalate.

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