Most fans viewed House of the Dragon’s season 2 finale as a monumental failure. There’s really no skirting around it. After seven episodes of setup that promised a massive battle between the two warring Targaryen families, House of the Dragon’s sophomore effort ended with our main characters staring each other down and promising that something big is still waiting around the corner if you continue to stick it out.
Production blamed the awkward pacing on limited resources, time, budget restraints, and all the real-world stopgaps that prevent creative freedom. It might have cost them everything. But the one saving grace of such an incredibly low point for HBO’s fantasy drama is that the House of the Dragon team did eventually turn in their homework—and it rules.
Showrunner Ryan Condal is damn near spot-on in calling the season 3 premiere the “craziest episode of TV ever made,” even if it feels more like the displaced season 2 finale that fans deserved two years ago. So, if you’re fine shrugging the wait off as better late than never, this first episode will likely win everyone back within the first few minutes of the battle.
Before we jump right into it though, let’s take a moment to remember just what’s going on here. After all, House of the Dragon set up an awful lot of broken alliances and moving armies just to take off for two years. So, if you can’t exactly remember who’s on Rhaenyra’s (Emma D’Arcy) side or who fights for King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), your confusion is entirely understandable.
By way of a quick explanation, the Battle of the Gullet is the second major confrontation in the series following the Battle of Rook’s Rest in season 2, episode 4. If you recall, that dragon dogfight between King Aegon II, Prince Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), and Rhaenys (Eve Best), resulted in Rhaenys’s death and Aemond’s ascension to power after purposefully crippling his own brother. Then, Aemond twisted the blade by murdering one of Rhaenyra’s sons, Lucerys (Elliot Grihault).
The Battle of the Gullet marks the crown’s next attempt to weaken Rhaenyra’s forces by going after her Hand, the “Sea Snake” Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint). He possesses the greatest naval fleet in Westeros, rivaled only by the free cities’ Triarchy and their crab-armed leader—whom Daemon (Matt Smith) beheaded in season 1. The Triarchy have a new leader now, Sharako Lohar (Abigail Thorn), and they’ve agreed to fight for the crown purely out of revenge.
That means we’re looking at a massive naval battle to open season 3, and one that incorporates the two sides’ many dragons as well. So, you can guess why Game of Thrones fans were rightfully disappointed that it took so long. But here it is, and it’s well worth the wait.
