41 Thoughts I Had While Watching "House Of The Dragon" Episode 3, Including "BEAST MODE"

1. Hello again! If you read these regularly, you might have noticed that this recap is a week late. Blame it on Labor Day.

2. Anyway, this recap and the Episode 4 recap are both available today!

3. Opening shot is a giant burning ship. That can't mean good things for our buddies Corlys and Daemon.

4. Actually, with the way Daemon's burning them all, maybe that was one of the Crabfeeder's ships.

5. That soldier getting stomped by Caraxes was a heavy-handed metaphor, but I still loved it.

6. Welp, I guess there's only so much a large dragon can do for you when your enemy is hiding in a small cave.

7. That explains the difficulties...traditionally in Game of Thrones, a dragon meant an easy win (unless the other side also had a dragon, especially a zombie wight dragon).

8. A time jump!

9. Yep, that looks like a boy. A little blonde Targaryen boy. A little blonde Targaryen boy who is definitely going to cause problems for Rhaenyra's claim to the throne.

10. What is it with people and throwing large birthday parties for infants? They won't remember any of it.

11. LOL at Rhaenyra treating this bard like her own human Spotify.

12. So has Rhaenyra just been in a bad mood for the past two years? Is she always this mean to Alicent? Or is this a special occasion thing because it's her half-brother's birthday?

13. Is Viserys giving baby Aegon wine? He keeps feeding him something out of his goblet. Hilarious Westerosi grandparenting, if so.

14. I'm just always going to be wary of a hunt in this show. The whole of Game of Thrones could've been avoided if not for one boar hunt.

15. Apropos of nothing, here's a tiny outtake Paddy Considine posted to Insta:

16. Wow, Rhaenyra totally pulling an "I don't know her" about Daemon to that lady.

17. Good to know that the Lannisters have always been douches.

18. Also, is it me or is this actor putting on an accent that matches Tyrion's accent? If so, that's a nice touch, it makes Peter Dinklage's accent a canon dialect of Casterly Rock.

19. Oooh, a passionate ride into the woods with Ser Criston Cole...

20. "Want me to kill him?" I like this guy.

21. Which means he'll probably be dead within the next couple of episodes, of course.

22. I love how both Rhaenyra AND Viserys want this Jason Lannister guy to fuck off.

23. Also, Jason is such a strangely modern name in this setting.

24. It's like naming a character Tiffany.

25. Whoa, Otto recommending that Rhaenyra marry AEGON??

26. I mean, I know incest is popular with the Targaryens, but it's kinda wild for the Hand of the King to be suggesting it.

27. See?? Boars are dangerous! Never trust a boar hunt.

28. It's always a white stag, isn't it? For once, I want the sacred hart to be, like, neon green or something.

29. Honestly, good for Alicent for at least trying to be a good person.

30. The fact that Viserys is swearing that Rhaenyra won't be supplanted says to me that Rhaenyra will absolutely be supplanted.

31. All this talk of the hunt, I forgot that Daemon's still out there trying to burn pirates.

32. Daemon heard "don't shoot the messenger" and was like "but nobody ever said anything about beating the crap out of him."

33. What is Daemon doing? Is he actually going to go be human bait?

34. Oh my god, he is.

35. Hearing someone say "nock" gives me terrible flashbacks to Ramsay.

36. Holy shit, BEAST MODE.

37. Speaking of that same terrible flashback, this is how you dodge arrows. Zig-zag!

38. Although these archers could probably aim better, tbh.

39. Wait, who's on the dragon?? Is that Laenor?

40. Damn, Corlys is a badass too.

41. Well, that was graphic.

Want to see more House of the Dragon recaps? Here's Episode 1 and Episode 2!