Episode 5 of season 3 of House of the Dragon serves the exact same purpose as its counterpart in season 2: to add fodder content with little relevance to the overarching plot, which would be welcome in a 20-episode season, but seems like a waste of a good hour when there are only 8 precious episodes. The story does not move forward — and not even sideways, frankly. There are plot holes in every storyline. However, the episode deserves a pass solely for the cats that now roam the Red Keep.
Most of what happened in episode 5 is not taken from the show’s source material, Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin; some of it is even in direct contrast with the book. Let's analyze the various storylines.
The Riverlands and Spacetime
The Rivermen host and the Winter Wolves are still marching through the Riverlands, as they have been since the end of season 2. The concept of space and time loses all meaning when Lady Sabitha Frey (Sarah Woodward) shows up at King’s Landing this episode to present a grievance to Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy): House Frey was owed Harrenhal in exchange for letting the Winter Wolves cross through the Twins, but this season, the Queen promised the cursed castle to whoever would kill Aemond (Ewan Mitchell).
I am perfectly aware that an army is slower than a small party, but how are they still in the Riverlands, especially when the commanders know their terrain so well? This episode tries to argue that it’s because Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) and his men have been slowing them down by burning crossings, and raiding their camps, something they only started doing in episode 4. In the book, the situation is reversed: it’s the Rivermen who are slowing down Cole’s much larger army, given their knowledge of their lands.
Finally, this episode the Rivermen’s strategy moves to attack and they lay a trap for Cole, removing their horses from the equation. Even when all seems lost and Ser Gwayne (Freddie Fox) urges Cole to give up and join the Hightower host at Tumbleton, the Lord Commander refuses, wishing to continue on his suicide crusade that none of his men believe in. He wishes to die heroically as he meets his foes in battle, going down in history as a free man, not anyone’s servant. Of his death, he claims, “They will sing songs of it.” This is clearly a foreshadowing for the words that are spoken to Criston before his eventual death in Fire & Blood:
"“I’ll have no songs about how brave you died, Kingmaker. There’s tens o’ thousands dead on your account.”"Fire & Blood, George R.R. Martin
In the book, Lady Frey takes Harrenhal after Cole abandons it and survives Vhagar’s flames. She is a formidable young woman and a fighter who actively joins the war, where she shares a tent (and possibly more) with Lady Alysanne Blackwood. In the episode, Lady Frey is offered a seat on Rhaenyra’s council in King’s Landing. While this doesn’t happen in Fire & Blood, the writers must be setting the groundwork for her and Ser Torrhen Manderly (Dan Fogler) to become part of the council of regents later in the story.
Nothing goes right in King’s Landing
Rhaenyra’s council faces issue after issue, none of which are the Queen’s fault: while food for the smallfolk has been secured, the treasury is still rather empty, there is unrest in the capital and the Gold Cloaks (who still haven’t been paid their wages) have been attacked by an unknown foe. Outside King’s Landing, there is fear of Aemond as Vhagar has been spotted flying north of Harrenhal, and uncertainty at what Lord Ormund Hightower (James Norton) is cooking up at Tumbleton.
Rhaenyra feels her control slip. Helpless, guilty and worried sick, she can’t even bring herself to face her son Joffrey, who’s now joined her in King’s Landing to be close to her as the Prince of Dragonstone. Rhaenyra and Daemon (Matt Smith) have a brief disagreement over their priorities: the Queen wants her husband to go look for Aemond, while he deems it more important to solve the issues in the city. Later, Rhaenyra looks even to the Seven, desperate as she is to understand where her misfortunes stem from. I can see a paranoia starting to brew, and it’s entirely understandable, given that the writers are giving her obstacle after obstacle even if she does everything right. Daemon reminds Rhaenyra where her strength lies. He is her staunchest believer, and it’s to his faith in her she must cling, not that of the Seven.
Rhaenyra and Daemon’s worry about the unrest in the city was justified, as the enemy they can’t grasp continues to strike, slithering its way through the streets of King’s Landing, killing Gold Cloaks even in broad daylight. It’s Ormund pulling the strings and sowing the seeds of revolt in the capital, although it’s a bit far-fetched that he would have access to spies in King’s Landing, a place he’s never been, when Mysaria and Larys have such strong and vast networks there. At the end of the episode, the commanders of the City Watch, loyal to Daemon, have been slaughtered, including Ser Luthor Largent (Tom Cullen). This does not happen in Fire & Blood: Ser Luthor dies later in the story, killed in the riots that follow the battle of Tumbleton. While it’s possible that the Greens sparked the revolt, it’s unclear how Ormund would have done so.
(Speaking of Ormund, how ironic that this woman-hating, Andal supremacist from the Reach spent entire minutes singing the praises of Dornish Princess Meria Martell. Don’t get me wrong, I am a Martell fangirl first, ASOIAF enjoyer second, but I found this extremely funny, coming from him.)
In their shared chamber in the Red Keep, Alicent (Olivia Cooke) begs Helaena (Phia Saban) to take moon tea to end her pregnancy, but Helaena refuses. This whole sequence provided a bit of dramatic irony for book fans — as Helaena’s youngest child Maelor should have been born already at this point. Alicent proceeds to try and fail to escape twice this episode. She comes face to face with Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) and their conversations leak inconsistencies: one, how would Rhaenyra know about Alicent and Cole; two, how would Alicent know about Mysaria being Rhaenyra’s prisoner on Dragonstone; and three, how does she know that the two are entangled romantically? Their dialogue feels forced, the writers are indirectly making them fight about Rhaenyra, and it's rather unnecessary and comes off a bit fanfiction-y.
The only moment of note in their scenes is when Helaena laments her desire to go out and to see the moon, standing dangerously close to the window of her chamber. This is strong foreshadowing for her demise, although the motives will be very different, given the changed circumstances.
The Targtowers and more inconsistencies
Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) was the highlight of this episode. She has inherited the title of Steward of Sass from Ser Simon Strong. I loved seeing how Alys is at one with the castle, how her powers are intertwined with the very foundations of Harrenhal. She has Aemond in a chokehold, not by being his lover (as she is in Fire & Blood), but acting as a surrogate mother, tapping into the prince’s mommy issues. Aemond is lost, eaten by guilt (once again) for Aegon, and I wonder why the writers make him commit horrible action after the other, only for him to feel remorse about them afterwards, just like he did about Lucerys. If this is a way to try to redeem him, it’s truly not needed.
If Aemond feels guilty about what he did to Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), his brother does not share the sentiment. In a pitiful soliloquy, he laments about how unfortunate his life has been compared to Aemond’s, and it felt so good to watch Larys (Matthew Needham) finally put him in his place.
After that scolding, Aegon abandons his plan of leaving on his own and goes back to the town. But, since events always manage to go Aegon’s way, Tyland Lannister (Jefferson Hall) appears out of thin air like a deus ex machina and offers Aegon escape. If you thought Lannister was dead, you are not alone. In episode 3x01, we watched him be tossed overboard by Lohar in the middle of the Dragon Pass, in waters close to Dragonstone and Driftmark; how he managed to survive drowning during such a bloody battle and make his way to Rook’s Rest is beyond me. But above all, why would he go to Rook’s Rest at all? How would he know to find Aegon there? If rumors about the (late) king were swarming, surely other characters would have heard about it. As a reminder, none of this happens in the book.
The one change I can get behind (surprisingly)
Baela (Bethany Antonia) finally got two speaking scenes this episode. In both, Addam (Clinton Liberty) explicitly worries over her wellbeing, given how thin Baela is stretching herself to be useful to Rhaenyra and regain her trust. It’s clear that the writers are hinting at the dynamic between Baela and Addam becoming romantic. Beside the care he displays for her need to eat and sleep, when Baela complains she will be married off to whatever lord for political reasons, Addam promises he will find her and they will fly on their dragons to a new adventure.
Do I dislike that the writers are setting up a new relationship for Baela when Jace’s body is not even cold? Yes. But do I think Addam is the only man in Westeros who deserves Baela at this point? Also yes.
This would be a departure from Fire & Blood, where after the war the council wants Baela to marry Lord Rowan, a man forty years her senior. To escape that fate, she flies to Driftmark, where Alyn is now Lord Velaryon, and marries him. Their marriage is turbulent, Alyn has his share of lovers and bastard children. If the show writers change various characters’ destinies and Baela manages to be with Addam, I will be very happy indeed. We’ll have to wait and see — not all changes are bad, they just need to make sense.
Episode 5 is the weakest of the season, so far. Too many unconnected storylines, scenes strung together, with no character growth for most of the protagonists. The inconsistencies and the plot holes pile up, and many are easy to grasp even for people who only watch the show casually. Hopefully, episode 6 will pick up.
Episode rating: C
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