This week we discuss the Season 3 finale of House of the Dragon, "The Treasons at Tumbleton." And we need to tell you something up front: we don't think we like Rhaenyra anymore.
She sucks. Baela was right about her, "if a person is useful to you, you wield them, if not, you abandon them," and then Rhaenyra proved the point by dismissing Mysaria one episode after sleeping with her. She killed the Pope, gave a speech about ancient demons in the north that made the Grand Maester and Manderly exchange the greatest side-eye in television history, and delivered the High Valyrian line she'd clearly rehearsed in her head to complete crickets. The smallfolk don't care about the Song of Ice and Fire. They want food.
Meanwhile Helaena breaks our hearts one last time. "Do you think life is nothing more than not being dead?" "Our father would hate you for this." "Everything you love is ugly." Emma D'Arcy's fake interest during the beetle conversation is some of the best acting of the season, and Helaena catches it immediately. We also think we cracked the horse in her vision, and it's not good news for Rhaenyra.
But let's talk about the battle. Twenty-plus minutes of it and it delivered. Ormund putting the children on the battlements is monstrous and tactically brilliant at the same time, and we go back and forth on whether you can see past the monster to appreciate the move. The Winter Wolves' haka gave us chills (Viking berserker energy, and the cut to the terrified kids is brutal). Ser Roderick Dustin is the shooting star of the season, "gates open, then we die," arms wide open laughing at his own death, and one of the most iconic exits this show has ever done. Daemon charges headfirst into a burning gate with no idea what's on the other side and the man's armor actually WORKS. Captain Aura Farm saved it all for the finale, even if he kind of lost that fight with Roxton.
Plus: Aegon returns doing a full Heath Ledger Joker ("no no no, I'm supposed to ENJOY this"), Ulf gets found on the toilet, Alys and Harrenhal continue to bore us to tears, and the aftermath of the battle is genuinely haunting. Daemon on the ground in the middle of a dragon attack, seeing the cost up close for the first time.
Season verdict: solid B+. First three episodes great, finale really good, the middle was fine. Josh wanted more sugar and finally got his ice cream.
Two years until season four. But A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is back next year — and next week, we're doing something completely different. Ted Lasso.
