Warning: The following contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 5, and Fire & BloodRhaenyra Targaryen is not having a good time in House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 5. For starters, she’s incessantly on the back foot, more than one step behind her newest foe, Ormund Hightower. Paranoia grips her at every turn. In the scene in the sept with Daemon (the least likely place you’d find the Rogue Prince), she talks of a formless enemy, crouched and waiting, perhaps within the very confines of King’s Landing. Admittedly, I would’ve liked Paranoid Rhaenyra to be less fearful and more rageful like her book counterpart, but it seems the creatives are staying true to this aspect of her character. They bicker in High Valyrian (which Emma D’Arcy and Matt Smith speak so beautifully) about the most pressing matters at hand: the mysterious enemy slaying the gold cloaks, the gods now spurning Rhaenyra, the High Septon refusing to anoint her. Is it all connected? Is it a product of societal misogyny?
One thing’s for certain – our queen doesn’t have a handle on her household. Her small council meetings are a disaster. Alicent is still trying desperately to escape with a pregnant Helaena. And now her most trusted advisor, her Mistress of Whispers, is withholding vital information. At least Alicent finally seems to be regaining her sense of self in Episode 5. Her second scene with Mysaria, in particular, sees a bit of that Season 1 Alicent peek through as she manipulates Mysaria into keeping Helaena’s pregnancy and their escape attempts a secret from Rhaenyra.
Alicent plays on Mysaria’s obvious affection for the dragon queen, noting that Rhaenyra has chosen Daemon to be by her side. Targaryens will always choose each other. It’s a smart move, and Otto would certainly be smiling from the Great Beyond. Whether this version of her holds strong, as House of the Dragon can’t seem to decide on who Alicent will be from one episode to the next, remains to be seen. Side note: I loved the nod to Fire & Blood readers when Alicent urges Helaena to look out her window instead of venturing outside to see the moon. There was an…uneasiness I felt when watching it. Stay away from those windows, Helaena.
Speaking of Hightowers, the one scene we have with Ormund and Daeron in Tumbleton is one of the best in the episode. James Norton continues to impress as the conniving, cold, calculating Ormund. Even with his relatively short screen time, Norton makes sure you know precisely who this man is. Benjamin Evan Ainsworth does understated work as Daeron, showing us a sweet teenage boy who walks on eggshells around his abusive father figure. His desperate attempts to placate Ormund are profoundly relatable for anyone who’s experienced that kind of abuse. Overall, their dynamic is as fascinating as it is fraught with manipulation and toxicity.
Episode 5 is proof positive that Rhaenyra shouldn’t fear Aemond and Vhagar, but that Ormund is her most formidable obstacle. He even illustrates while reciting the tale of Meria Martell and her defiance in the face of Aegon the Conqueror that cunning and wits are more valuable in war than a sword. We see this as he surreptitiously takes out Rhaenyra’s gold cloaks, one by one. He even knew that the man Daemon and Luthor would eventually torture would get caught, so he ensured said man would have the gold coin with Daeron’s face on it. It’s subtle work, to be sure, but that final scene featuring Luthor and Daemon’s precious gold cloaks, their lifeless bodies arranged around a table à la The Last Supper, is the cherry on top. The message “A Feast for Traitors,” written in their blood, is the whipped cream.
Interestingly, the way Daemon finds Luthor and the gold cloak’s bodies is reminiscent of his wandering through the cursed halls of Harrenhal, sword and torch in hand, calling out to whoever might hear him. It’s enough to make one wonder if this is a dream, which is a clever move on the creative team’s part. That said, it would be foolish this far into the series to provide a fake-out of this magnitude. It’ll be interesting to see how Daemon retaliates against Ormund in Episode 6 after such a blow.
Elsewhere, Criston Cole the Nihilist leads the Hightower host to their doom as both his army and the Rivermen try to remain ahead of the other to impede their progress to Tumbleton. The burning of the river crossings, the “crow’s feet” – it’s fun watching true warriors resort to different tactics to best their enemy. Much of this episode focuses on Fabien Frankel’s Criston, which doesn’t bode well for the character’s survival. Frankel shines here. You can see how tired of living Criston is, and how he longs to be free from servitude. This was always a suicide mission for him, even as far back as Season 1 when he tried to take his own life. His crushing guilt over breaking his Kingsguard vows, this descent into unchecked violence, “turning off” his emotions – one could argue that most of this series has been a slow march toward death for Criston.
Freddie Fox is pitch-perfect in House of the Dragon Episode 5 as the idealistic Gwayne who, unlike Criston, is a bastion of chivalry. He is a true knight in every sense of the word. Criston’s decisions slowly chip away at Gwayne’s armor, but instead of embracing his inner monster like Criston, Gwayne falls into despair. Fox plays that moment when it dawns on Gwayne that Criston had always planned to lead the soldiers to their deaths so well. The series does an excellent job of presenting genuinely good people on both sides, and thanks to Fox’s portrayal, you can’t help but root for Gwayne to survive.
Tom Glynn-Carney is my other MVP. He never disappoints as Aegon, the bent and broken. Glynn-Carney beautifully taps into Aegon’s rage and self-pity. You see a boy who longed for the parental affection and approval he never received. This show loves its parallels, and hammers them home a little too obviously for my taste at times. However, what Aegon and Aemond say of each other in Episode 5 is intriguing. Aemond admits that, without Vhagar, he’s nothing (which is why Ormund is worth fearing, even with a smaller dragon). He turns into a frightened child around Alys (the Oedipal complex strikes again), claiming that he looked up to Aegon.
Conversely, Aegon is fire and fury, insisting that Aemond was the favorite child while he was at a disadvantage. Larys’ brutal dressing down of Aegon here is wholly satisfying. Larys doesn’t mince words. After spending several episodes listening to Aegon’s whinging, it makes his irritation feel all the more earned. It certainly shifts something in Aegon, who springs into action and finally prioritizes his survival over his desire for revenge against Aemond. (“You may call me ‘Your Grace'” is such a great mic drop line after he kills Janos; it’s so good.)
While there’s plenty to love about House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 5, the one thing that hinders it from truly flourishing is the strange editing choices. It’s not cohesive, and it feels choppy. There’s no seamless flow between scenes like in the earlier seasons of Game of Thrones. Instead, it feels like a bunch of strong scenes from different shows strung together. The abrupt pulling out of a scene as we’re thrust into an entirely different one is jarring.
Thus, the pacing suffers somewhat. It’s as if the show doesn’t know what to do when there isn’t a big battle on screen, which is a shame because some of the best scenes in the franchise are those featuring political machinations and figurative backstabbing. House of the Dragon isn’t quite on Game of Thrones‘ level in that regard, but we certainly see glimpses of it in Ormund’s scenes and even in the Rhaenyra-heavy third episode.
It’s really the performances and the chess pieces moving across the board for the next big battle that bolster Episode 5. The setup for what’s to come. If you’ve read Fire & Blood, you know that there’s still a lot of narrative on the horizon before the smoke from the dragon fire clears.
- Release Date
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August 21, 2022
- Network
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HBO
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Fabien Frankel
Ser Criston Cole
