House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 4 Recap and Review

Full spoilers travel for House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 4.

Poor Rhaenyra. Emma D’Arcy’s queen has hardly been connected the throne for 5 minutes, and already she’s been bamboozled by a supposedly defeated enemy, abandoned by her oldest state and lied to by her husband. Armies are moving, and they are not her own. After congratulating herself – concisely – connected a warfare well-won, the Iron Throne has erstwhile again proved that it is much of a poisoned chalice, resistant to those who privation it astir fervently. This occurrence spent overmuch of its (considerable!) vigor examining the forces inactive aligned against her.

One large occupation is the caller guy, Lord Ormund Hightower (James Norton). After supposedly surrendering, helium marched to Tumbleton – a municipality loyal to Rhaenyra – and billeted his soldiers with the locals. Rhaenyra truthful can’t conscionable alert implicit and occurrence the municipality without charring her supporters, creating a neat catch-22 that Ormund hopes to worsen erstwhile Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) arrives connected Vhagar to supply other firepower.

After nakedly – successful much than 1 consciousness – threatening the town’s ruling lord and lady, who helium has displaced from their quarters (don’t they get that helium needs his sleep?), helium helpfully explains this program to the flunkies we’ve seen with him before, “Bold” Ser Jon Roxton (Joplin Sibtain, aka Brassos from Andor) and the leafage who turns retired to beryllium the existent Prince Daeron (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, besides Link successful the upcoming Legend Of Zelda film). The second shows his bully quality by subtly informing a serving lad to wide the blast portion erstwhile Ormund loses his temper.

Ormund Hightower (James Norton). Photo: Kevin Baker/HBO

Alas, Aemond and his dragon are wholly MIA aft his stabbing – arsenic Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) besides learns erstwhile helium arrives astatine Harrenhal this occurrence to find lone Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) haunting the place. To accidental Ormund is displeased to person the aforesaid quality would beryllium a delicious understatement; helium unleashes a cacophony of C-bombs and does his level champion to, well, level the furniture. The operation of specified unpredictable unit with his prissy aversion to ungraded and fastidious formal consciousness suggests 2 things to the seasoned Westeros watcher. One, this feline is going to beryllium fun. Two, he’s astir apt going to endure the smelliest smells that ever stank during his campaign.

More importantly, Ormund establishes that he’s not conscionable an hostile but a villain by making a large amusement of forgiving Kat’s (Ellora Torchia) member Leo (Ahbin Galeya) for defending her virtuousness against a rapist among his troops, lone to aboriginal abduct the member and importune that Daeron – who Ormund thinks should beryllium the adjacent king – execute him. Daeron is traumatised, but the wont of obedience to his mercurial uncle is ingrained; there’s a twisted echo present of the precise archetypal occurrence of Thrones, wherever Ned Stark taught his children the work of execution. Like High Septon Eustace past episode, Ormund considers dragons an abomination and a blasphemy (Tessarion leans into this by flaming and presumably eating the corpse), but he’s intelligibly hypocritical capable to usage their power.

"So successful the end, it’s mostly astir radical protecting the ones they love, oregon the ones they need.“

Back successful King’s Landing, Rhaenyra is trying to capable retired her council. She inactive leans heavy connected Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) but has a caller Master of Coin successful Ser Torrhen Manderly (Dan Fogler) and, aft Corlys (Steve Toussaint) flounces disconnected pirate-hunting, has a bully country with Alyn (Abubakar Salim) that suggests helium tin capable his father’s large shoes. He makes the extremist proposition that cats mightiness beryllium utile against the rat plague; not saying that Rhaenyra sometimes overlooks the evident but, c’mon.

She besides learns absorbing facts astir the Hightowers – notably that determination is not 1 grounds of immoderate connection from Ormund successful each the years Otto lived successful King’s Landing, suggesting that they person been cautiously pruned – and faces requests of wealth and favours from Ulf (Tom Bennett) that she thoughtlessly answers by attempting to fastener him up successful the Keep, due to the fact that he’s acold excessively invaluable to spell retired carousing. Almost successful revenge helium tells her astir the “Queen of Bastards” graffiti successful the streets, and she orders the Gold Cloaks to find the culprits but does not, crucially, acceptable limits connected their response. They spell brutally overboard. That’s going to triumph implicit the masses; different ain goal, Rhaenyra.

Meanwhile the scarred Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) and his right-hand schemer Larys (Matthew Needham) person reached Rook’s Rest and established a humiliating but harmless spot there, peculiarly for Aegon. The erstwhile king is convinced, incidentally, that his dragon Sunfyre is lone mostly dead, and truthful somewhat alive, contempt appearances. He whitethorn person mislaid his caput arsenic good arsenic his look – oregon possibly the 2 person a resurrection inactive successful them.

Daemon (Matt Smith) goes to the Vale to request wealth from the precise spiky Lady Jeyne (Amanda Collin). While determination his dragon Caraxes acts each weird, and ignores his commands and flies to a small, rocky ledge. There, helium learns that the despairing, half-demented Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) was the enigma dragonrider connected Sheepstealer erstwhile Jace died. He’s awed, and horrified, that she bonded with a chaotic dragon, but she rejects immoderate assistance oregon anticipation of redemption and flies off. He looks thoughtfully astatine a shepherd down beneath and – yup – brings the mediocre man’s caput to Rhaenyra, claiming that this was Sheepstealer’s rider. No mode that could backfire.

So successful the end, it’s mostly astir radical protecting the ones they love, oregon the ones they need. Kat’s member paid for his protective efforts with his life, portion her hubby has requested Tumbleton work to effort to prevention her. Larys is keeping Aegon alive, contempt the dethroned king having the endurance instincts of a peculiarly daredevil lemming. Alicent has conscionable figured retired that her girl Helaena is large again, and needs to flight the Red Keep with her, and fast. Daemon is lying to his wife.

Practically the lone idiosyncratic who’s cheery this occurrence is Criston Cole, who seems positively elated to larn that Rhaenyra has taken the throne. He yet stops moping and decides to motorboat a hopeless guerilla warfare due to the fact that there’s thing near to lose. He excessively is going to caput to Tumbleton, to harass the River Lords arsenic they march south. “Let america go wraiths…Our combat volition not beryllium clean, but it volition beryllium pure,” helium claims. “And it volition beryllium escaped from dragons.” Well, you person to respect his optimism.