Episode 6 of House of the Dragon season 3 started off strong.
That may be because it began on a high, adapting an iconic scene from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood rather faithfully: the Butcher’s Ball, as the battle is called in the book.
“In the village commons at Crossed Elms, another of the ghastly feasts was found. Familiar with such sights by now, Ser Criston’s outriders grimaced and rode past, paying no heed to the rotting dead...until the corpses sprang up and fell upon them.”
The episode cleverly draws on a detail that is merely mentioned, easily brushed off, and successfully transforms it into an intense moment: Criston Cole's (Fabien Frankel) few remaining scouts find a horror scene, hundreds of soldiers laying dead after a phantom battle… distracted by the sight, they are drawn into a trap when the dead rise and attack them, disguising the arrival of the considerably larger army of Rivermen and Winter Wolves.
During Cole’s attempt to parley, only the characters are different, but it makes perfect sense to swap unknown Ser Garibald Grey and Pate of Longleaf for the familiar face of Ser Oscar Tully (Archie Barnes). The lines spoken are verbatim from the page, except for one — perhaps the most legendary, which is sadly missing entirely from the episode:
"“I’ll have no songs about how brave you died, Kingmaker,” declared Longleaf. “There’s tens o’ thousands dead on your account.” He was speaking to a corpse. "George R.R. Marti
I also appreciated how it was Black Aly — the nickname for Lady Alysanne Blackwood — to shoot the first arrow. While we have only seen glimpses of this character on screen, she will have an important role to play in season 4.
Rhaenyra's plans finally (almost) pay off
As for the King’s Landing plot, almost all scenes in this episode are show-original. This episode (along with the previous 3) could essentially be summed up with this line from Fire & Blood:
“Despite the disaffection of the Kingslanders, the city and crown were hers. Across the narrow sea, the Triarchy had begun to tear itself to pieces. The waves belonged to House Velaryon.”
Lord Corlys (Steve Toussaint) finally destroys what was left on their shores of the Triarchy’s fleet and regains control of the Narrow Sea. Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) keeps facing problems in the city that are not of her making, and her council has the same argument as last episode: Lord Ormund Hightower (James Norton) and his spies in King’s Landing have successfully scared many Gold Cloaks into deserting, thus leaving the streets undefended and easy prey to petty criminals and insurrections alike. The commonfolk are scared and turn to Rhaenyra for protection.
And there lies the Queen’s conundrum: even atop the Iron Throne, there is little Rhaenyra can do with an empty treasury and no guards, with her mind perennially on the threat of Ormund and the Hightower army looming from nearby Tumbleton. It is here, in dismissing the commonfolk’s worries due to her own helplessness, that Rhaenyra cuts herself on the throne, ever an omen in this world.
Despite that, Rhaenyra’s strategies to deal with their current issues are paying off: she’s right in insisting that Daemon stay in the capital and deal with the green agents there — Daemon does, on first attempt, catch Ormund’s chief spy — and her plan to neutralize Ormund almost works.
When a delegation of Baratheon men arrive to swear fealty to Rhaenyra on behalf of their lord, she recognizes the ploy for what it is: a way to stall, without Lord Borros actually having to show up and follow through, given that he’s clearly allied with the greens. Rhaenyra seizes the opportunity and takes the Baratheon party’s clothes and names, and sends them to Tumbleton. The plan is perfect — if not for the unexpected arrival of Ser Gwayne (Freddie Fox), who might have looked a little too long at Borros’s cousin at a tourney or other and remembered his face enough to (not) recognize it years later, saving Ormund’s and Daeron’s lives.
Still, Rhaenyra tries to replicate the same plan — sending a friendly face disguised as an assassin to do off with another foe — when she resolves to make Alicent (Olivia Cooke) meet Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) at Harrenhal, where her guards will do what must be done. To us, it’s obvious this plan, too, won’t succeed, and there are a million ways it could go wrong, but Rhaenyra is desperate and correct in thinking that there is no other way to get close to Aemond.
Alys and Aemond may be even better than in the book
If the one-eyed prince had his way, any hedge knight could have succeeded at killing him in his sleep to collect Rhaenyra’s bounty. In a storyline that is perhaps the most intriguing this episode, Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) convinces Aemond to stay at Harrenhal, seducing him not only with her womanly wiles, but with an alluring promise for the future, through a gift from the past: a clutch of eggs laid by Dreamfyre, the dragon of Queen Dowager Rhaena Targaryen. While the existence of dragon eggs at Harrenhal is not canon in the book, Rhaena did spend over a decade in the cursed castle, and it is possible that her dragon lay eggs there.
The plot of Alys and Aemond differs from Fire & Blood, where it is simply narrated that Aemond took Alys as a bedmate as a spoil of war and that the two may or may not have had a child together. The show built a much more layered dynamic where Alys made herself instrumental to Aemond’s survival. Their kiss does not occur out of violence nor lust — it’s almost a promise sealing the future Alys has built so appealingly.
The tragedy of Daeron (and Gwayne flying?)
I also appreciated the dynamic between Daeron (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) and Gwayne giving the prince the chance beg his uncle for help. (The show always takes good care of creating new storylines and deeper dynamics for Team Green, and I just wish the same luxury was afforded to Team Black... have we ever seen Prince Daemon and his daughter Baela interact?)
The young prince Daeron is, for all intents and purposes, Ormund’s hostage and victim. How ironic that Alicent thought she was saving him in sending him to foster at Oldtown, only for her cousin to enclose him in a gilded cage. Daeron would have been much safer in King’s Landing, where Rhaenyra may have simply confined him to his chambers, as she did his fake proxy.
While I loved the scene, I do have to point out that the inconsistency of space-time persists: how has Gwayne safely crossed the Riverlands and arrived at Tumbleton so quickly when the Rivermen are still weeks away, and have been weeks away for 5 episodes? The show writers can obviously go wild with Gwayne: here is a friendly reminder that the knight should be long dead according to Fire & Blood, having fallen the day Rhaenyra took King’s Landing, killed by his own brothers in the City Watch.
People in King's Landing are already calling Daeron 'the Daring', an epitet he has in Fire & Blood. In the book, however, the prince earned the name thanks to his deeds on the battlefield, in the Battle of the Honeywine which did not occur in House of the Dragon. On the show, the nickname is simply an act of Ormund's propaganda to bring the commonfolk to his cause.
Baela and Alyn
In need of men to replace the Gold Cloaks, Rhaenyra asks for Velaryon aid and Alyn (Abubakar Salim), petitions his father for men and begs him to come back. Still, Corlys is holding on to his anger and Alyn struggles to get through to him. Frustrated, Alyn confronts Lady Baela (Bethany Antonia), about Corlys. The scene inexplicably ends in a kiss between the two which occurs entirely out of the blue.
Alyn and Baela have interacted on screen for about a minute in episode 2 — talking about Corlys after the Battle of the Gullet, hoping against all hope to find him alive. Last episode established that Baela has a closer bond with Alyn’s brother Addam (Clinton Liberty) who, as a dragonrider, has been spending lots of time with Baela and may or may not be smitten with her. In fact, their final scene in episode 5 seemed to suggest that there could be feelings there, and we can’t honestly say the same for Alyn and Baela.
While I could never fault anyone for falling for Baela Targaryen, who Bethany Antonia plays so fiercely, this kiss with Alyn felt rather misplaced because there was absolutely no build-up. Had Alyn and Baela interacted once per episode, I could have been on board, but there was nothing meaningful to justify it.
In Fire & Blood, Baela and Alyn do get together, but it’s much later on in the story. After the war has concluded, and the council of regents is urging Baela to marry for political reasons, she escapes King’s Landing and flies to Driftmark, where she marries Alyn in secret. The book does not suggest that there was any pre-existing bond there and — while a secret relationship could be possible — it is unlikely. Baela married Alyn, who has since become Lord Velaryon, because he is the last close relative and the best option she has. I don’t mind the change in itself, just the lack of interactions prior to the kiss.
Other differences from the book
Mysaria is officially witholding information from Rhaenyra: she found out about Helaena's pregnancy and did not tell the Queen, despite telling Alicent she would. When Rhaenyra found out and confided in Mysaria this episode, the Mistress of Whisperers pretended she did not know. While Helaena's pregnancy does not happen at this point in the book but much earlier on, Mysaria is loyal to Rhaenyra until the end. Is this omission the embryonic stage to a betrayal, or just a moment of weakness? Rhaenyra asks Mysaria if she knew and the latter lies to her face. An easy way out could have been, "Yes, this came to my attention yesterday and I would have brought it up at the Council but we were interrupted by the Baratheon delegation." The lie feels rather deliberate, and it is worrisome.
Daemon's side quest with the Gold Cloaks does not occur in Fire & Blood, but is a decent addition — definitely a better way to give Matt Smith more screen time than whatever trippy plot was going on in Harrenhal last season.
Ulf (Tom Bennet) is one tiny bribe away from turning green, but Hugh (Kieran Bew) may still need more motivation — despite his wife never being mentioned in the book. As fun as it may be to watch Daemon humiliate Ulf time and time again, that tipping the scale and bringing about his betrayal will be rather sad, considering that Daemon proposed to make Ulf and Hugh lords in the book.
Rhaena saw Baela's dragon Moondancer in the distance and loneliness got the best of her: she tried to follow. For this, Lady Jeyne Arryn chastised her. None of this happens in Fire & Blood, where Rhaena never claims Sheepstealer and enjoys a life of comfort (not self-imposed exile) in the Vale. Given this new storyline, I hope Rhaena's loyalty to her family will bring her back to them soon.
The episode ends with Corlys being attacked by Bold Jon Roxton (Joplin Sibtain) and presumably captured at Ormund’s orders. The Hightower lord did let his admiration for Corlys slip earlier in the episode. Could he kidnap Corlys so that Lord Velaryon can serve Daeron as Hand of the King? If that ends up being the case, how deep does Ormund’s delusion go? There is no trace of this in Fire & Blood, where Ormund never declares Daeron king.
The ending twist felt underwhelming, or maybe it’s just that starting the episode with a scene as legendary as Butcher’s Ball was an odd pacing choice in itself, setting too high expectations and a weird rhythm for the rest of the episode. Criston Cole’s death scene may have worked better as the ending.
Episode rating: B+
Let's send off the great Fabien Frankel with a round of applause. I may not always have appreciated his character's storylines, but Frankel has been an amazing Criston Cole and I want to thank him for it.
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