House of the Dragon 3×08 “The Treasons of Tumbleton” review

    Daenerys did nothing wrong. This is one of those controversial hot takes that I’m sure a bunch of fans will shout is wrong but until the 20th century, if you did not surrender when under siege, then you forfeited the right to be treated with quarter. The people of Kings Landing would know this and certainly so would Cersei (who wouldn’t care).

    Throw in the fact that until several days into filming that Daenerys didn’t deliberately burn the city to the ground but it ignited all of the wildfire stores throughout the city (which you can still see the green plumbs of in the special effects). Daenerys saved the world and was murdered by a deranged traumatized soldier that was probably suffering from the effects of black magic.

    I bring this up because it’s interesting to see how “The Treasons of Tumbleton” contrast her with Rhaenyra the Cruel. For many years, Fire and Blood fans have taken the attitude Rhaenyra was RightTM and were Team Black. Aegon the Second was a scheming villain and usurper that just happened to have been named the true heir of Viserys by a misogynist society. Like the Brackens versus Blackwoods, the narrative is very clear that while both sides are flawed, the author’s sympathy is with the Blacks. The show, to my surprise, has taken the narrative risk of making it clear Rhaenyra was utterly unfit to rule. Aegon II is a spoiled, horrible manchild, and much worse but our one scene of him ruling showed he actually cared about the Smallfolk in at least a vague sense. Rhaenyra just wants to be worshiped by them.

    This episode has Rhaenyra drive her sister Helaena to suicide, abandon Mysaria (who at least nominally was on the side of the peasantry), murder the High Septon while claiming the Targaryens are not beholden to Andal gods, and claim the status of the Prince who was Promised. This despite the only people on Earth who know of the prophecy are Rhaenyra and Daemon themselves. Her journey from hero to villain even has a cool costume switch despite the fact the Queen Who Ever Was never bothered to enter battle despite having a dragon of her own.

    The sacking of Tumbleton is the centerpiece for this episode and meant to be our version of the Battle of the Gullet. Ultimately, it’s more a comedy of errors and if I don’t appreciate his changes to George R.R. Martin’s story, I understand Ryan Condall’s thesis. There’s no heroic epic fantasy heroes in the Dance of the Dragon. There’s just a bunch of scheming not very competent people fighting over a chair. Ormund Hightower’s evil plots all come to naught because his traitor is a drunk and fool.

    My heart goes out most to the character of Helaena who never wanted to play the Game of Thrones and resisted every time someone tried to make her a murderer or a gamepiece. Here, she takes herself off the board in a dramatic way and I have to say that it is well done. Aegon and Aemond reunite themselves, which makes no sense but one of the major flaws of HotD is that the characters go wildly off script then have to return to the script in order for the plot to make sense. It was the same thing that happened to The Witcher season three on Netflix where they had to make massive character changes once audiences rejected their attempted veering from the books.

    In conclusion, this is a fairly decent climax for the penultimate season. Rhaenyra falling to evil while Aegon becomes a far more capable leader after his ordeal (or perhaps just powered by hate) makes the climax of the Dance far more interesting. Still, a lot of the characters had to do nonsensical busywork to give them something to do like Alicent’s plotting against her sons. Was it an improvement over season two, though? Absolutely. I’m also looking forward to the Aegon the Conqueror movie and the next season of Ser Duke’s adventures.

8/10