First battlefield, reunion, prophecy… What to remember from episode 3

This season 2 of House Of The Dragon made no secret that the opposing Targaryen factions were marching toward a total and destructive war. The dragons served as a metaphor for nuclear fire. Entitled “Moulin Brûlé”, the third episode, available since Monday on Max, is crossed by a single question: what triggers a conflict? Does this spark enter history or is it forgotten in the blaze it lit and the warlike madness of men? Under its deceptive appearance of a vigil of arms, “Moulin Brûlé” sows many thrilling seeds. Attention spoilers.

First blood spilled

It is no coincidence that the first battle of this fratricidal war between Targaryens and their vassals takes place off-screen. The Brackens and Nesbocs, the nobles of the Riverlands, have been picking fights for ages. Some now support Alicent’s Greens, others Rhaenyra’s Blacks. This is the perfect opportunity to draw their swords from their scabbards. But what begins as a boast by young patrollers ends in a bloodbath. Hundreds of corpses of soldiers litter the marshy banks. The mud and surrounding water holes can only bring to mind the trenches of the First World War. This confrontation is quickly dubbed the “Battle of the Burnt Mill”. The Greens claim victory, but the losses are such that it is doubtful that there really is one.

This convinces King Aegon II and his Hand Criston Cole that the war will be fought in the Riverlands and that an army must be amassed there. It does not matter that it is only embryonic. Alicent’s reservations are hardly heard. The advisors simply obtain that the king and his brother, and their dragons, do not participate in the campaign to protect the capital King’s Landing. All Alicent can do to keep the upper hand is to throw her knight brother Gwayne Hightower into Cole’s clutches. The cohabitation between the two men will prove stormy. Gwayne despises Cole for his commoner origins and Cole reproaches him for a certain nonchalance. But Cole wins her trust when he saves the day of their squad flown over by one of the Black dragons by making them leave the plain that exposed them for the protection of the forest.

On the Black side, the battle of the Mill, like the assassination attempt of the previous episode on Rhaenyra, is astounding. Her mother-in-law Rhaenys (Eve Best, magnificent) senses that this chaos is a sign that “The hot-headed young princes prevailed over the reasonable adults who had supervised them until then.”. “Soon no one will remember why they went to war: the murder of a baby, the Eye of Aemmond, the fight over who will occupy the Iron Throne.”warns the one who still preaches conciliation. Prophetic words.

A Mother’s Heartbreaking Choice

Following the assassination attempt on her and with no news from her husband Daemon, Rhaenyra decides to send away her sons who are still children, as well as their young dragons and unhatched eggs that will give birth to Daenerys Targaryen’s dragons nearly two centuries later. She entrusts this mission to one of her husband’s twins Rhaena. The young girl does not appreciate being winged and playing babysitter. A form of punishment for what she perceives to be her weakness. Unlike her sister Baela, she does not have a dragon and is therefore not useful in the war. But out of loyalty to the cause of the Blacks, she ends up accepting. The farewells between the sisters and between Rhaenyra and her young children are all the more painful since, in the universe of Game Of Throneshappy reunions are rare.

Returning to her navigator husband Corlys Velaryon, Rhaenys urges him to ensure her succession: “Time is running out, we are at war“With both of their children dead, they are left with Rhaenyra’s son Joffrey or Rhaena. But the sailor has little faith in offspring who have never seen the sea.

Haunted Castle

Having stormed out of Dragonstone after his loyalty was questioned by his wife Rhaenyra, Daemon (Matt Smith) has kept his promise and travels to the fortress of Harrenhal to demand that his castellan swear allegiance to the cause of the Blacks. Imagining that he would come across a castle defended by a garrison of fearsome soldiers, Daemon instead discovers an abandoned place, sodden, in ruins, almost ghostly even if he ends up locating his castellan, an aging member of the Fort family who offers him no resistance. Sir Simon Strong despises his obsequious nephew Larys the clubfoot, rallied to the cause of the Greens, whom he holds responsible for the death of his father and older brother.

Sir Simon Strong’s hospitality leaves something to be desired. He reminds Daemon that if Harrenhal is in such a pitiful state, it is because the stronghold was reduced to ashes by his Targaryen ancestor. Worse, Strong calls Daemon “prince” and not “your grace” (which confirms that he has not given up his views on the throne) and serves him questionable and unpalatable peas. The damp room where Daemon is staying is similar. He is quickly haunted by voices and ventures sword in hand into deserted corridors. In the midst of a hallucination crisis, he comes face to face with a young teenage Rhaenyra (played by Milly Alcock from season 1, not Emma D’Arcy). The young girl is at the bedside of the decapitated little prince Jaehaerys, whose head she sews back onto his body. “Why do I always have to clean up after you?”she laments.

This vision says a lot about Daemon’s psyche. He knows that he has manipulated and played with the feelings of young Rhaenyra, practicing on her a corruption of a minor and stealing a part of her innocence. The prince’s strange ramblings do not stop there. In the courtyard, he meets a young woman named Alys Rivers. the healer of bastard origins, whose appearance and mystery recall that of Melisandre predicts that he will die at Harrenhal, contributing to its reputation as a cursed place. Clearly, Alys the witch is not just passing through House Of The Dragon.

Secret infiltration and meeting

Despite the hostility of her advisors, who accuse her of indecision, Rhaenyra gives diplomacy one last chance and opens the message of condolences that Alicent had sent her after the death of her youngest son Luke. She decides to go incognito to King’s Landing to meet her former childhood friend and urge the Dowager Queen to wisdom. The only way to do this is to surprise Alicent in one of her prayer sessions. Rhaenyra disguises herself as a priestess and accosts her enemy at the Great Sept of Baelor. After a tense greeting, where they exchange death threats (thanks to Emma D’Arcy, we are almost in the tone of comedy and dark humor), Rhaenyra asks Alicent what King Viserys’ last words were. Did he really disavow her as heir on his deathbed?

The truth is even more terrible than imagined. Viserys did mention Aegon’s name. Except he wasn’t thinking of his son, but of the legendary figure of Aegon the Conqueror and the duty to unite the kingdom against supernatural threats. The entire War of Succession therefore began with a misunderstanding and Alicent’s ignorance of Westeros’ history! We find the common thread of this episode, which explores the importance and unreliability of collective memory.

The fear is written all over her face (Olivia Cooke ambiguous and hesitant as desired) before it closes. It is too late to disavow herself. Alicent freezes in denial and it is an overwhelmed Rhaenyra who understands that there is no other way out than to go into battle. The bloodbath cannot be avoided. Resignation and then determination shine through in Emma D’Arcy’s gaze.

The next days are all the more discouraging because Alicent has lost control of her sons. Visiting a brothel where he finds his one-eyed brother, King Aegon once again mocks Aemond and insults his virility. The outrage promises to have serious consequences.