House of the Dragon: Things You Missed In S2E3

Top 10 Things You Missed in House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 3

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re scoping out the details, hints, Easter eggs and literary context that you might not have caught while watching Season Two, Episode Three of “House of the Dragon”. If you’re afraid of spoilers, turn back now! There will be plenty.

#10: The Main Titles DID Change!

After Season Two’s premiere, we speculated that “House of the Dragon”’s newly stylized credits might change over time. The “Game of Thrones” titles sure did! They gradually featured new geographic locations, and later openings even highlighted the map in blue to show the advancement of the white walkers. Episode Three’s intro includes the design of a boy and a bright red line tracing across his neck. It’s almost certainly notating the death of Prince Jaehaerys. Images that materialize in the credits have traditionally been relevant to the plot’s current events, almost like a subtextual “previously on” segment. It’s interesting that we can also spot an apparent burning city, which could be the legendary Doom of Valyria, or perhaps some catastrophe we’ve yet to see.

#9: Blackwoods vs. Brackens

Episode Three opens with soldiers from two houses, one garbed in red and the other in yellow, each on different sides of the war. These are members of House Blackwood and House Bracken, whose colors we’ve seen before. When young Rhaenyra was choosing potential suitors in Season One, an adolescent Blackwood boy made a proposal. He was taunted by a spectator from House Bracken, and their scuffle ended in violence. Both families are ancient names in Westerosi history, and their feud goes back so far that no one even remembers how it started. A few characters drop lines that echo that idea: once generational hatred begins, its origins soon become irrelevant. The schism between the Greens and Blacks is already unfolding the same way.

#8: A Feast for a Crow

We’ve pointed out that Season One gave a nod to the title of the fifth book in George R. R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” book series, named “A Feast for Crows”. King Viserys alluded to the phrase when insulting his small council. The concept compares those fighting for power with ravens squabbling for carrion, among other possible metaphors. You might have missed a quick shot showing a crow that’s perched on a deceased man’s shoulder. The framing of a black bird against a red background is reminiscent of the cover for Martin’s novel, and it’s an allusion to “Feast” that’s done with visuals this time, rather than words.

#7: The Curse of Harrenhal

The great castle Harrenhal is shaping up to be an important location for the impending war. In Episode Three, Daemon visits Ser Simon Strong, Harrenhal’s current castellan, who makes mention of Targaryen ancestors setting its walls on fire. Tywin Lannister also referenced the castle’s history in “Game of Thrones”, detailing how Aegon the Conqueror and the Targaryen dragons brought down the seemingly invincible fortress. Much of the massive castle does remain desolate, as we see when Daemon first explores its empty halls. In “Thrones” lore, Harrenhal is dubbed cursed, as any family that’s commanded it has eventually fallen to ruin. Considering that Simon’s nephew is the manipulative Larys Strong, that backstory might foreshadow ill fates for both of them.

#6: Dragon Scars

We get another glimpse of the colored dragon eggs that have appeared in other episodes, though we’re still speculating if they have any connection to Daenerys’s children in “Game of Thrones”. There are some young hatchlings too, but did you pay any attention to the dragonkeepers helping to move them about? They haven’t yet gotten the spotlight, but dragonkeepers are an order of devotees, originally assembled by former King Jaehaerys and charged with the care and management of Targaryens’ winged steeds. Their presence is a fine-drawn bit of worldbuilding that indicates the showrunners have definitely done their homework. If you look closely, you’ll even see scars on their faces, a result of their taxing assignment. It takes some thick skin to wrangle a baby dragon.

#5: The Stranger

Religion in Westeros is…complicated. Various regions worship different deities, with The Lord of Light, the Drowned God, and the Many-Faced God among them. In Alicent’s attempt to comfort a mourning Helaena, she mentions the “Stranger,” referencing her realm’s most common belief system. She’s talking about the incarnation of death according to the Faith of the Seven, a creed you might remember being taken up by Tommen Baratheon towards the end of “Game of Thrones”. It’s often represented by a seven-point star, which you’ll also catch on set pieces like windows and golden coins. We don’t seem to have met anyone as devout as Jaqen H’ghar or Melisandre, but there’s potentially some groundwork for religion to play a bigger part in the story ahead.

#4: Masters of Whisperers

As Aemond studiously points out, it takes more than dragons to win a war. Successful rulers of the Red Keep also arm themselves with advisors and, less glamorously, spymasters. These consultants are in the business of rumors and lies, equipped with knowledge unknown to most others and obtained through a network of mysterious espionage. In “Game of Thrones”, those players were Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish and, more famously, the enigmatic Lord Varys. “House of the Dragon” has its own version of these characters, namely Ser Larys Strong and the lady Mysaria. By this episode, Mysaria in particular has solidified her surreptitious spot on Rhaenyra’s council. She’s also known as “the White Worm,” whereas Varys was called “the Spider.” It seems secret keeping doesn’t beget favorable nicknames.

#3: The Heart Tree

As Daemon spends more time in Harrenhal, he begins to behave increasingly paranoid. While he uneasily stalks through the castle, he stumbles across a courtyard housing a white weirwood tree. This appears to be a heart tree, which was meaningful flora for “Game of Thrones” characters like Jon Snow and Bran Stark. Heart trees are places of prayer for believers who observe the old gods. They are presumed to be sacred sites where men cannot lie because they are in full veracious view of divinity. Daemon surely has some issues to work through, and the tree’s significance here may suggest his need for confession or of judgment. At the very least, it means that the supernatural folklore of this universe is never too far away.

#2: Return to the Sept of Baelor

Much has happened since the last time Rhaenyra and Alicent saw each other face-to-face, and Episode Three gives us their complicated reunion. To meet with Alicent, Rhaenyra infiltrates the Great Sept of Baelor, a major center for religious observance in King’s Landing. We’ve actually been here before with the two of them, back when they were still young friends. An earlier scene in Season One saw Alicent encouraging Rhaenyra to pray and showed both girls taking comfort in each other. Here as adults, Rhaenyra makes a final desperate plea to end the brewing war between their families. Both are kneeling in the same positions again, and it’s a bitter parallel that calls back to their former sisterhood.

#1: Dragons Mean Atomic Warfare

Fans have been itching for some cool dragon fighting, and we’re probably going to get it soon. There are reasons that more beast clashing hasn’t happened yet, though, aside from just dramatic buildup. Counselors of both sides understand that dragons are a controlled chaos that could bring about disaster, if used unwisely. “Game of Thrones” showrunner D. B. Weiss once equated dragon warfare to bringing an F-16 fighter jet to a medieval battlefield. Given their explosive power and erratic instability, dragons can certainly be called the atomic bombs of Westeros. Hesitance to unleash them is somewhat allegorical for the fear of mutual assured destruction, which helped end real-world conflicts like the Cold War. In this case, though, it’s unlikely that anyone’s turning their wyverns around…

Are you ready for the Dance of Dragons!? What signs, Easter eggs, or dramatic foreshadowing did we miss? Comment below!