Rewrite this title for a blog post. Remove any site names from it The title is: House of the Dragon Season 2: I saw episode 3 and there were more surprises than you thought! This scene should remind you of something…

And three! Today, those who assiduously follow the series House of the Dragon can therefore attack the sequel and discover the new stages of the quarrel which reigns between the camp of Alicent and that of Rhaenyra. After a first episode that ended on a horrible scene And a following that has caused debate despite the importance of certain scenes, What awaits us in this third episode? Well, more or less the same as last week! Before major hostilities, it is always the observation round in the chess game that is played between the two pretenders to the throne. For my part, I must say that the series is still as mastered as ever and that it is right to take its time before impressing us with it. In today's episode, I felt that the Dance of Dragons was taking another turn, preparing to change pace for a bloody ball and, above all, that it wanted to surprise us with multiple moments that will please us just as much to fans of books and series Game Of Thrones And House of the Dragon. Here's what I can tell you!

The Dance of the Dragons is accelerating with episode 3, you are not ready for the continuation of House of the Dragon!

The calm before the storm. This was once again the key word of this episode, and the longer this tranquility drags on, the more it risks leading to real chaos. We reassure you, you won't have long to wait to witness this since the next episode should make an impression, and not just a little! In reality, if we are preparing to close the first half of this second season and fully enter the war between the Greens and the Blacks, the Dance of the Dragons has already largely begun. Like two dragons, the two clans face each other and twirl around each other, like a sort of pre-fight parade where the two adversaries size each other up, just a few seconds away from being the first violent ones. blows. However, we sense that certain characters, like Rhaenyra and Alicent, have no taste for bloodshed – Rhaenyra is described as having ” a mother's heart » in the books, in particular because she wants to protect her remaining children -, although there is no outcome that can avoid the tragedies to come: peace is impossible, especially since this resentment which gnaws away at the two families begins to interfere among the lords and houses who have sworn allegiance to the king or queen who seemed legitimate to them. We see it from the start of this week's episode with the heavy toll of the Battle of Moulin Brûlé and all those dead piled up.

During this short scene where the Nerboscs and the Brackens confront each other, we feel that the two camps are trying to strengthen their position and their legitimacy with more and more allies and are going to surrender blow for blow, as we are preparing to to see him. However, each camp must face its own problems. On the one hand, Rhaenyra does everything possible to protect her sons, which is told differently in the book. In the original writings, it is above all Jacaerys (or Jaque) who takes the lead in order to help his mother, still so bruised by recent events.. He decides to send Joffrey, the dragon Tyraxes and Rhaena to the Vale of Arryn to honor his promise while Aegon the Younger and Viserys are sent to Pentos, raised by Prince Reggio during the conflict between the two camps. If there are slight differences, this is what we find more or less in the series through the decisions of Rhaenyra who only takes the opportunity to make Aegon and Viserys take a detour through the Vale of Arryn… accompanied by a little surprise, a wink for fans of Game Of Thrones !

In short, in the Rhaenyra camp, we are considering and taking all the necessary measures to protect ourselves from the shenanigans and assaults of the Green camp. However, Alicent and its allies do not show the most confident or assured face : we see Criston Cole more hesitant than ever, as if he doesn't feel up to being the Hand of the King, Aegon confirms to us (it has become a habit) that he is not fit to reign and that he is of immense cowardice, preferring to abort his participation in the next battle for fear that his brother Aemond will steal the throne from him, while the latter reveals all his fragility away from prying eyes until his brother also sets foot in the brothel which he frequents quite regularly. The height of this episode, however, will remain Queen Alicent who refuses to accept her mistake (about Aegon) when Rhaenyra asks him about the prophecy of the “Promised Prince” which she is, technically, the only one to know (if at all, since Viserys never mentions any of this in the book Fire & Blood).

There were 4 surprises in episode 3 of House of the Dragon: here are the winks and important moments!

For this third episode, the series House of the Dragon demonstrates once again that she is well aware of the writings of George RR Martin and that she does not hesitate to manipulate them to stage them and rework them in order to give a certain originality to the show. For my part, I find it to be a rather convincing choice, and it's not the only surprise we can expect from the series.. By intertwining the different chronological events, House of the Dragon can sometimes lose us – if we have read the books – or send us little winks through certain surprises, and there were quite a few in this third episode. As we mentioned in the previous part, the departure of Rhaenyra's sons for the Vale of Arryn, alongside Rhaena, was an opportunity to slip in a reference for fans of Game Of Thrones ! A dark red egg, another with shades of green and blue and finally a third, mixing a creamy shade with golden highlights, doesn't that remind you of anything? Yes, of the four eggs that Rhaenyra's children bring to honor their promise, we find the three offered to Daenerys during her wedding with Khal Drogo (a reference confirmed by director Geeta Patel)!

When we know that House of the Dragon takes place just under 200 years before this union and it is imagined that these eggs are old enough to have turned to stone when they are offered to Daenerys, the connection seems clearly evident, even if there is no confirmation in the writings of author George RR Martin. In short, for a surprise, it was a surprise but it wasn't the only one. Facetious in its staging, the series allowed us to get to know two important characters. Today, we met Ulf the Whiteanother candidate for the Red Seed that we already mentioned last week in our article concerning episode 2. His appearance is somewhat furtive, but it is important since Ulf Blanc (or the White, even the Licher) plays a crucial role in the unfolding of this immense war for the Iron Throne. Often described as a drunkard and a coward, he is a character to be wary of… The other appearance to remember is that ofAlys Rivers ! After three episodes, we finally discover the arrival and control of Daemon over Harrenhal Castle as well as the presence of this woman with more than mysterious origins. Indeed, the books tell us multiple stories about him which, if they differ on certain points, all point to his magical predispositions. If Daemon, mostly immune to her, has the right to a taste of his powers, the series introduces Alys Rivers now because It is on another major character that she will set her sights !

To conclude, I have to say that the last two episodes – namely knowing the second and the third – keep their promises, even if the pace will not suit everyone. Once again, this second season of House of the Dragon takes me on a journey through her story and teases my knowledge as a reader by showing me that she knows the material from which she draws her plot very well and that she uses it to surprise us, offer us more context or interesting extrapolations. Above all, she takes us aback quite a bit by scattering little clues that make readers shudder, following the episodes with as much pleasure as they devoured the pages of the book. That being said, House of the Dragon don't forget to have some little attentions towards the spectators of the first hour since we had the right, during a sequence around Daemon Targaryen, to a cameo which has largely its place in the big surprises of this episode. Now we have a week to mentally prepare for what's coming…