House of the Dragon 3x02 "Queen's Landing" review

    This should have been the finale for the second season of House of the Dragon. It was originally meant to be the finale for the second season but the cuts to the budget meant what was going to be a ten-episode season became just an eight-episode season. This was something that almost caused me to drop the show in its entirety. However, I turned around my opinion and gave the first episode a shot to my considerable delight.

    The episode opens with the body of Jace being brought back to Queen Rhaenyra by her followers, only for this to trigger a mental breakdown from the Queen that Ever Was. Daemon Targaryen can persuade her to leave her fugue before it removes the opportunity they have to invade King's Landing, however. With the Triarchy defeated, at horrific cost, they have a chance to seize the capital from their enemies.

    Meanwhile, Queen Alicent is doing her best to cripple the defenses of King's Landing in hopes of saving the lives of her family. Unfortunately, for her, her treason doesn't go smoothly. Her son Aemond mistakes her concern for sexual attraction (eww, even by Game of Thrones standards) before departing. Aegon Targaryen has already fled the city as well, meaning the war will go on despite her efforts. There is also a gross scene where Master of Laws, Jasper Wylde, attempts to sexually assault her. Really, House of the Dragon? You had to go there.

    Rhaenyra proceeds to get written as an idiot and I have to say that with all due respect to the character. Basically, Rhaenyra leads her and Daemon's dragons to King's Landing and proceeds to invade the palace...by themselves. It's a thing that almost results in the war being won by Aegon's forces by the sheer stupidity of putting them in the clutches of their non-dragon forces. They're not the protagonist of Skyrim and can't slaughter armies by themselves.

    The ending is good, though, and I have to say that I appreciated the episode despite its flaws. It is an excellent finale to season two and an okay episode of season three. Rhaenyra manages to achieve her supposed goal of becoming Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and acquiring the Iron Throne but at horrific cost. Two of her children are dead and the difficulty of executing Otto Hightower shows she might not have the temperament for the violence necessary. Certainly, executing Otto Hightower destroys whatever reproachment that Alicent and he gets.

    Aemond is a character that I feel was done dirty by this episode as while he had mommy issues, I don't think they should have gone full Oedipus here. We also see him single handedly take Harrenhal in a way that is significantly more believable, both in the fact he burns down most of the garrison and then is stabbed to near-death by the Strong suns. Because, you know, it's stupid to invade a castle by yourself.

    In conclusion, "Queen's Landing" isn't nearly as good an episode as its predecessor, but it was an improvement on the majority of season two's episode. A lot of things happen, and we've started to see some serious analysis of while Rhaenyra may become queen, she's not necessarily qualified to become monarch of the Seven Kingdoms. Neither was Aegon, mind you, but that just makes the war even more fascinating.

8/10