HOUSE OF THE DRAGON S3E04 BREAKDOWN: Every Detail You Missed!

The true culprits for who started. Rhaenyra's slam book will blow your. mind. And no, it's not Ormund, that. racist bond villain who hates stank. I'm. Eric Boss of the New Rockstars channel, and this is a breakdown of House of the. Dragon season 3 episode 4. Let's hold. our noses and dive deep into the sick. mind of Ormund Hightower with a. scene-by-scene analysis and explanation. of everything that's going on, details. you missed, changes from the book, and. as always for any spoilers for future. plot events from Byron Blood, we will. save that for the spoiler dungeon at the. end of the video. Thanks to Fabletics.

for sponsoring this video, more on them. in a moment. The opening tapestry. animation has actually been updated. In. the shot of Rhaenyra's Queen's Landing. with Syrax, Daemon, and Mysaria, instead. of showing Corlys, Alicent, and Helaena. to the right of Daemon, now we kind of. skip past that to the people of King's. Landing. Corlys has certainly departed. from Rhaenyra's side in this episode, and while Alicent seems to have gained. Rhaenyra's trust based on what she. revealed to the queen about Ormund, the. little hint at Helaena's concealed. pregnancy will certainly be a future. point of contention. And then after the. shot of the crowd, there's a new shot.

showing three figures. On the far right, a portly bearded dark-haired man in blue. that I'm assuming is Torrhen Manderly, Dan Fogler's noble from the north and. now Master of Coin on the HBO series. It's kind of hard to tell, you can't see. the Manderly merman sigil on his chest, but you can see these house crests on my. chest with this cool new house crest. design that's available at our merch. store nerdriot.shop. If you grab one of. these or anything from Nerd Riot or have. something already, take a picture of. yourself out in the wild wearing it, post it online, tag @newrockstars, we'll. see it and then shout you out in a. future video. Just thank you for.

supporting us. But to the left of this. Torrhen Manderly dude is a white-haired. female figure, and then to the left of. her is a bald man framed in gold. Maybe. this whole tableau are all the nobles of. King's Landing who are quietly. conspiring against Rhaenyra after the. rat banquet. And once again, we see the. rats in the embroidery here in the. swords of the Iron Throne, but now the. tapestry splits on the rat as opposed to. on the arm of a commoner. Also, last. week for episode 3, the smoke on the. final title was shaded with red light. This week for episode 4, the smoke is. shaded in a bit more green as this.

episode, as opposed to episode 3 being. mostly contained within Rhaenyra's point. of view, now we're seeing a true. rallying of the green faction of the. civil war. We open the episode on a. rabbit sniffing around across the Mander. River from Tumbleton, a town in the. Reach near the border of the Crownlands. It's actually this river that connects. Tumbleton to Highgarden that makes. Tumbleton a thriving trading post. But. about this rabbit, remember in episode 3. Rhaenyra told her petitioners that they. could hunt in the Kingswood of the. Crownlands, but. >> Neither stags nor boars. But uh rabbits, perhaps.

>> So maybe this is one of those wascally. wabbits fleeing the Kingswood from all. the new starving hunters of King's. Landing hopping all the way to the Reach. where the biggest challenge to. Rhaenyra's rule is currently making a. stand. Hightower soldiers order men from. House Footly to haul in trees and other. supplies. They are preparing for a siege. and building new watchtowers and. battlements that Lord Glendon Footly. tells Ormund that the town of Tumbleton. does not have. This Hightower occupation. of Tumbleton does not happen in George. R.R. Martin's Fire and Blood. The. character of Kat also does not even. exist in the text and George R.R. Martin.

does not expand that much on Ormund's. character or his relationship with. Daeron. So much of what we see in this. episode is a complete invention of the. HBO series. I like the detail that the. people of Tumbleton wear wide-brimmed. hats and carry these baskets that make. them look like humble merchants who. would ship things up and down the Mander. River. In general, I just appreciate the. diversity of costuming from location to. location on this show. Kat, wife of Hugh. the Hammer, is currently staying with. her brother. He's a smith just like the. guy his sister married. She just kind of. likes being around guys with anvils. But. then three Hightower soldiers are.

quartered at the house including Garrick. of Whitegrove who mentions there are. 15,000 Hightower men in total. That's. the same number of men that Lady Jane. from the Eyrie promised and then denied. Rhaenyra and Daemon. It's also. considerably less than the 40,000. rivermen that Alys Rivers told Daemon. she helped him amass back in episode 2. Though we don't know if that's a tally. after the Battle of the Lakeshore which. in Fire and Blood was the bloodiest land. battle of the war. I'm assuming it's. after considering Alicent and Daemon. were just talking after the battle. And. yeah, the Hightowers are considerably. outnumbered currently. That full river. host led by Oscar Tully and Black Ally.

and Roddy the Ruin with the Winterwolves. is currently marching south their way. Hightower banners are raised over the. castle of House Footly and Lord Glendon. Footly and his wife Lady Sherri confront. Ormund for sleeping in their bedchamber. Ormund bathes in front of them and on. his table you can see that little dish. of the scented potpourri or smelling. salts whatever it is. And on top of. that, that looks like smoldering incense. wafting from the burner next to the tub. Alicent confirms that bad odors are kind. of a trigger for Ormund and I guess even. this main room could risk a foul whiff.

Like notice how even when Glendon Footly. steps forward slightly toward Ormund, Ormund holds his nose and Glendon. doesn't even look particularly stinky. here. But I see this trait as. representative of Ormund's general. nativism, his racism, his disgust of. things he considers impure. It recalls. Ralph Fiennes' Amon Goeth in Schindler's. List being irritated by the smell of the. concentration camp city he oversaw. With. perhaps the level of attentive racist. precision of Allison Williams' character. Rose in Get Out eating Fruit Loops in. her particular way. I'm also reminded of. Agent Smith in The Matrix telling.

Morpheus, >> It's the smell. If there is such a thing. I feel saturated by it. >> I can taste your stink and every time I. do I fear that I have somehow been. infected by it. It's repulsive. Yes, I. did do that monologue for my ninth grade. drama club class and I'm not ashamed to. admit it. It's crazy to have this be. your trigger because in medieval. conditions such as these, most of the. characters we see on screen are walking. around smelling kind of foul. They don't. have indoor plumbing, they use chamber.

pots. They don't have deodorant or. antiperspirant. They're walking around. stinky people everywhere. We're just. lucky HBO doesn't have a smell function. So for anyone to be holding their nose. at anything is certainly a notable. creative choice for the character. We. can contrast Ormund Hightower's. obsession with purity with the exiled. green king Aegon having to sling poo, hug fly swarming corpses of dragons, and. even kiss a [ __ ] covered boots. And we. wonder, who's the more deserving hero. here? When Lady Sheras claims that. Rhaenyra is the queen, Orman stands and. reveals his full naked body to this lord.

and lady in their own room. >> Or is she a [ __ ] with a dragon? >> Yeah, this whole idea of restoring the. rightful line to the Iron Throne as he. shows his Hightower bits does seem to. stem from Orman's nativist ethnic. superiority of Hightower blood and the. anatomy that sustains that precious pure. bloodline. As Orman dries himself off, Lady Sheras stares at him in disgust, while Lord Glendon sweats and kind of. has to just look over at his wife. She. clearly wears the pants in this. relationship, but Glendon's awkwardness.

around Orman being naked is also telling. us something else. poor dude, later. Rhaenyra even calls him meek. And notice. how Orman opens his robe for an extra. few seconds of a view as he tells Sheras. >> Provided of course. that you remain on yours. >> So in the text, Lady Sheras is coveted. by John Roxton who ends up claiming her. as a kind of prize of war during this. period. But this HBO series seems to be. leaving out the Roxton Sheras subplot. But more on this in the spoiler dungeon. Orman makes this a teaching moment for. Darren. In fact, Orman's full taking of.

Tumbleton seems to be a big teaching. moment for Darren whom he plans to make. a king on how to rule the entire realm. Yes, this auburn haired kid is Darren. Targaryen, Alicent's fourth child with. Viserys I who has been warded in. Oldtown. We actually saw a quick in. focus shot of actor Benjamin Evan. Ainsworth as Orman's squire in the. season 3 premiere, but they've kept him. silent until now to preserve that twist. of episode 3 of the fake Darren. switcheroo. But then Roxton comes in. bringing a message from Borros. Baratheon. >> A lackwit sealed a marriage pact between. Prince Aemond and one of his.

horse-faced daughters. >> Orman reminds us of the events leading. up to the battle over Shipbreaker Bay. from season 1 when Aemond arrived first. to Storm's End in front of Lucerys in. order to secure Borros Baratheon's. support for the greens instead of for. Rhaenyra. Ever since becoming betrothed. to Lady Floris Baratheon, we have not. seen Aemond with her once. So, that plus. Rhaenyra recently reclaiming King's. Landing might have led to Borros's. hesitation now. Actually, in Fire and. Blood, it's mentioned that Borros kind. of stayed independent after Vhagar. killed Lucerys and gathered an army of.

6,000 men and just kind of marched them. into the Red Mountains to fight the. Vulture King instead. That's the excuses. that Roxton's referring to now. Rhaenyra. now has a new Queen's Guard knight. This. is Ser Adrian Redfort. She worries that. attacking this humble reach market town. would lead the realm to call her Maegor. returned, referring to her ancestor. Maegor the Cruel, the past king of this. dynasty known for his barbaric actions. Rhaenyra offers Orwyle a place in the. small council as grand maester. So, in. the text, Maester Gerardys has this. position after following Rhaenyra from. Dragonstone, but it seems like the HBO. series wants to keep actor Kurt.

Eggleston in the mix. I'll talk more. about the Orwyle plan later in this. video. Now, Orwyle reaches for the. punch-in ball that was part of the. tradition kept by Rhaenyra's father, Viserys. It's kind of like marking your. attendance at the meeting. But, remember. one of these balls was used to crush the. skull of Lyman Beesbury. by Ser Criston Cole. So, perhaps that. plus the way her father would use these. to deny certain voices at this table is. part of why Rhaenyra does away with the. balls as relics of the dead regime. It's. not like King Robert Baratheon or. Joffrey in Game of Thrones were using. these. It was Orwyle's proposal to have.

the River host march past King's Landing. to Tumbleton, and Rhaenyra orders that. in the weeks it'll take for the River. host to get there to send a dragon just. to keep watch. And, notice how you can. see Orwyle shift nervously in his seat. Mysaria recommends to name a master of. coin so that they could blame a fall guy. for the lack of public resources. And, Rhaenyra suggests Torrhen Manderly. In. the text, Barthimos Celtigar from. Rhaenyra's Black Council on Dragonstone. takes this role, while Torrhen plays a. different role at this point in history. Rhaenyra asks Alicent what she knows. about Ormund, and Alicent says her. cousin considers himself a scholar.

studying histories, collecting. tapestries like the one every episode. opens with. And, she admits this. When. we were young, Gwyn thought him cruel, but Gwayne thought that of many. >> Ah, Alicent's brother Gwayne, currently. with Criston Cole, thought their cousin. Ormund was cruel at times. It seems like. that cruelty quietly seeped its way into. Ormund's adulthood as he got better at. hiding it. We see Helena playing with. her daughter Jaehaera in the godswood. beneath the red leaves of the weirwood. tree. This would be during one of the. scheduled visits that Rhaenyra allowed. And the young Jaehaera is now played by. young actress Ziggy Barker, the younger. sister of Lulu Barker who played her in.

season 2. And fun fact, this little. girl, Ziggy, actually played the infant. version of Helena all the way back in. season 1 episode 4. Alicent said it was. her choice to send Daeron away to. Oldtown. That she bore Viserys three. Targaryens, but for her last, she wanted. him to be raised a Hightower. And as she. mentions the madness that overtook her. other sons, she picks at her fingernails. again, yes, her ongoing nervous tick. throughout the series. Rhaenyra reminds. Alicent that she would have spared. Daeron, which is true. She was ready to. send fake Daeron to the wall. So, seeing. a chance to spare her son whatever. Rhaenyra may be planning, Alicent does.

confess one odd trait that she remembers. from her cousin. >> He has a sensitivity to odors. >> Yeah, I also like this detail. It's just. something young Alicent and Gwayne would. have remembered about their weirdo. cousin and how that always made them. side eye him. So, how will Rhaenyra use. this information? We'll see. She's. somehow coordinated 20 roasted rat. dishes to be served to nobles all at. once. She could probably get some of her. and Mysaria's food boats to float by. Tumbleton filled with Syrax's poop. Or. catapult some skunks into Tumbleton. Or. tell the Winter Wolves to continue not. showering and just stand upwind from.

Tumbleton when they get there. Hey, you. could block the sewers of Tumbleton so. all the waste would back up because a. knowledge of Casterly Rock sewers was. how Tyrion Lannister proved himself in. Game of Thrones. Aegon and Larys make. their way to the remains of Sunfyre left. in the same spot in the woods outside of. Rook's Rest where it was left in season. 2 episode 4. Aegon whispers, "My boy, I'm here." Flies buzz around. It doesn't. look good. But in Fire and Blood, Sunfyre survives, grounded and terribly. wounded, and the Greens keep a small. garrison in place to guard it after. Rook's Rest while it eats all the. corpses of the men who died and then the.

nearby sheep. But here in the HBO show, they may be going in a different. direction. The dragon seems dead, or. maybe it's just in a comatose state. Because here, Aegon claims Sunfyre is. actually alive and begins speaking the. Valyrian words of "Wake and arise." I. honestly kept waiting for Sunfyre's eye. to pop open, like Viserion's eye opened. in Game of Thrones season 7 to the Night. King. Criston Cole and Gwayne Hightower. march their hosts through the burnt. patch of land torched by Vhagar when he. and Aemond arrived at Harrenhal in. episode 2. And then there's this moment. where they react to some noise in the. castle.

That's probably damage from Vhagar. causing the masonry to shift, but in. this haunted place, it makes it sound. like the castle is alive and moving. Maybe they're hearing Vhagar in some. hidden chamber beneath the castle who's. just like moving around in his sleep. Then they hear this goat. Yeah, we hear the goats, and then we see. this area in the background, and then we. cut to Gwayne and Criston, and then we. cut back to that same spot, and Alice. Rivers is just magically standing in. that same spot. This is the third time. she's taken the form of a goat. Damon. saw a goat when he first walked through.

Harrenhal in season 2, and Ulf saw Alice. as a goat in the first episode of this. season. Now, Alice steps forward into. the natural light, giving her an. unnatural glow in this dim ruin, and she. walks toward them with almost a. zombified movement. She claims to be a. steward of sorts, and when they say. they're seeking Aemond, she gives off. this sassy confidence. >> As I'm sure do many. >> Alice claims that Aemond was here, but. he and his dragon left. But she's. probably lying because that guy was. bleeding from his kidneys the last time. we saw him. So, if Aemond was still. healing someplace in Harrenhal, Vhagar.

would not leave without him. So, it. would seem that Alice is hiding Aemond. and somehow his massive dragon. The fact. that she could do that is terrifying. Sure, Harrenhal is a huge castle, but. there would have to be some hidden. crypts unfindable by the greens when. they scoured the whole area and found. only an abandoned dragon nest as the. green soldiers tells Criston in the. following scene. So, I wonder if Alice. transported Vhagar and Aemond to the. Isle of Faces, the mysterious island in. the middle of the nearby Gods Eye lake. with a grove of weirwood trees.

maintained by the green men like that. green man that we keep seeing on the. show. That's the place where the pact. was signed between the children of the. forest and the first men. The island and. its grove would be large enough and. thick enough and mysterious enough to. hide a dragon that big and I think it's. clear that Alice is up to some spooky. [ __ ] with Amond. More on this in the. spoiler dungeon. Criston shuts down. Gwyn's thinking of this as a game and. recalls his upbringing as a member of. House Cole sworn to Lord Dondarrion. His. father was a steward at Blackhaven and. the Stormlands and he says that his. father died of sorrow and that Criston. has no home while warring against the.

throne. So Criston's plan for now, attack the southbound river hosts with. surprise guerrilla attacks and slow them. down the best they can. Ha, hope it. works out for you dude. Rhaenyra. uncovers Viserys' dusty model of old. Valyria and inside she and Allen. discover a writhing nest of rats which. feeds my interpretation that this whole. series is truly a song of dragons and. rats. And I like how this conveys that. it was the same type of rat corruption. and scrambling that marked the final. days before the doom of Valyria. Allen. proposes the first practical solution. for all these rats, cats. In Fire and. Blood it's mentioned that Otto Hightower.

brought in 100 cats to take the place of. the hung rat catchers but until now no. one on the HBO series has suggested this. easy easy fix. We need cats on House of. the Dragon. Give me my red keep jellicle. ball. We need to meet Sir Pounce's. ancestor. And mayhaps Rhaenyra could. even use these kitties to chase the rats. into nearby tumbleton to drive Lord No. Stinky insane. Aegon has kept a single. golden scale picked off Sunfyre. Inside. the walls of Rook's Rest they find the. corpse of Meleys, the dragon of Rhaenys. Notice it's decapitated because as we. saw in season 2 episode 5 the greens.

paraded Meleys' head through King's. Landing cited as a grotesque bad omen by. the low folk. Commanding the ruins of. Rook's Rest is Jonos played by Oliver. Coppersmith with Tom Tangletongue played. by Lewis McDougall, a stutterer who. cleans the latrines. We should keep our. eye on Tom Tangletongue because he has a. bigger role in Fire and Blood than it. seems from this episode. In Cats. Brothers place in Tumbleton Garick. mentions having more fun here than in. Honeyholt. Honeyholt is the seat of. House Beesbury, which would have been. their first stop on the road from. Oldtown after these greens killed off. poor Sir Lyman Beesbury. Next they.

insult his house. Dear me. And now. Garick assaults Kat. He breaks her. sister-in-law's arm and then wallops her. brother. Hey, this is why we have a. Third Amendment in America against. quartering troops. Sir Hugh volunteers. to watch over Tumbleton with Vermithor, but Rhaenyra knows Hugh's wife Kat is in. that city, so she charges both of the. dragonseeds to keep watch over the town. and each other in order to keep an eye. on each other. She says it's almost in a. way to get Sir Hugh to leave her alone, which makes this an overall hasty. decision to escalate a response to this. conflict with two dragons on site at. certain times. The exact opposite of.

what Rhaenyra seemed to want to do at. the beginning of this episode. Ulf joins. folks in King's Landing reacting to. anti-Rhaenyra graffiti, "Queen of. Bastards" with a blue, red, and green. sigil. That's the heraldry of House. Strong, as in Harwin Strong, the. suspected actual father of Jace, Luke, and Joff. This observer attributes this. to Hightower loyalists spreading. propaganda to fight a war that they. lost. Indeed, it must have been someone. literate who even wrote this. And most. of the lowfolk of King's Landing are. illiterate as this scene demonstrates by. having the younger guy ask what it even.

says. Throughout season 2, most of the. people in King's Landing seemed opposed. to the Hightowers and wanted Rhaenyra to. return. So, it really does seem like the. HBO series is making the pro-green. sentiment in King's Landing come from. the rich nobles that Rhaenyra had. antagonized, plus the faith, two groups. of people who would be literate. Both. working together to make it seem like. the commoners are split on Rhaenyra when. they're actually not. They did this in a. neighborhood where poor people live. Actually, I have a theory for what. learned, literate conspirator might have. actually written this. Summers in Los. Angeles are brutal. It can be over 100°.

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In his old tavern, Ulf reunites with his. friends Clay and Mudge, returning from. season 2, and he gets tricked into. buying drinks for everyone, which must. sting because as a knight, not a lord, it's not like Ulf gets an allotment of. gold. But among the crowd in this tavern. is this dog. I really hope this is. Cheese the Ratcatcher's dog because I. think we all need him to be okay. Ormond. hears the complaints of Cass family with. Lyman and Eustace there advocating for. them. They're such good lords. The words. of House Hightower are, "Tread lightly. here." Notice Ormond has his little. potpourri orb hanging from his belt.

Based on their testimonies, Ormond rules. that Garrick be gelded, which you know, means snip snip, and have his arm. broken. Garrick yells that he has a. wife, just like Jasper Wylde brought up. his wife as a way to draw sympathy as he. was being punished after assaulting a. woman. Ormond leans into Darin to. whisper that tensions are high. Yeah, it's clear that he issued these orders. because this dispute was happening out. loud in broad daylight in view of the. public. He just gave this order to avoid. a riot in Tumbleton. If this was brought. to his attention in a closed room, he. probably would have ruled in favor of. Garrick. Ormund explains to Rhaenyra the. history between the Hightower family and.

the Faith of the Seven, both. headquartered in Oldtown, along with the. Citadel. How it was the Hightowers who. paid for the construction of the Starry. Sept, and how the Faith is truly woven. in the tapestry of the Hightowers as. dragons are for Targaryens. There's that. motive of tapestries again. The season 3. intro shows that it's literally firing. blood that embroider the Targaryen. family tapestry from below. Whereas I. suspect it would be the stars from above. that would embroider the High Garden. one. Orwyle suggests the Hightowers. derive their magic from the faith, making the Targaryens who get their. magic from dragons kind of unnatural. threat. Yes, truly before the Targaryen.

conquest, it was really Oldtown of the. other western end of the continent that. was kind of the headquarter of power. with the Hightowers, the faith and the. Citadel. That's why Orwyle says this. goes back centuries before the conquest. That's because the whole faith of the. Seven religion was brought to Westeros. by the arrival of the Andals from Essos. 6,000 years prior, replacing the. previous religion of the Old Gods. Well, almost. And the Targaryens arrived from. Dragonstone only about 130 years before. this. Orwyle tells Rhaenyra that it. doesn't really matter if the High Septon. refuses to anoint her and that while. removal of the High Septon would spark.

an uprising from the faithful, a. permanent removal. To which Rhaenyra. expresses surprise at Orwyle's. bloodlust. It's worth remembering that. Orwyle, as a maester, would have trained. at the Citadel, which is also. headquartered in Oldtown along with the. Starry Sept and Hightowers. I still. believe in the theory that the maesters. of the Citadel, the septons of the faith. and the noble old houses like the. Hightowers are all part of a conspiracy. to rid Westeros of dragons. But Orwyle. so far seems to be somewhat anomalistic. among the maesters with his experimental. treatments that kept Viserys alive well. past the king's expiration date and.

giving Aegon a miraculously speedy. recovery. Notice how throughout this. scene with Rhaenyra, you can hear the. frogs of his critter-filled lab table. ribbeting. I think Orwyle suggesting. these things to Rhaenyra hoping to. encourage her to start an open war with. the faith with his ultimate goal being. to remove all dragons from the game. board. So yes, my theory is that Orwyle. or someone he conspired with was the one. who wrote Queen of the Bastards graffiti. with the House Strong sigil knowing that. Rhaenyra would overreact against the. innocent low folk for that. This is a.

rumor that only literate educated people. in King's Landing would know about, care. about and know how to transcribe and. mark specifically with the heraldry of. House Strong. We're talking about less. than 5% of people who live in King's. Landing. And I also think Orwyle is. actually covering up actual. correspondence that existed between. Ormund and Otto, which is why Rhaenyra. was so surprised later to find him. empty-handed on that query. Orwyle tells. Rhaenyra Ormund never responded to Otto. while avoiding eye contact. And he. smiling knows that Ulf was waiting right. outside the room. And Ulf would. immediately after this tell Rhaenyra. that the small folk were talking [ __ ].

about her. When in fact, they were. actually defending her. Now, this theory. of mine is not based on anything in Fire. and Blood, and I might be completely. wrong. Ultimately, I really like the. character of Orwyle. I want him to try. to pull some crazy [ __ ] Either way, I'm. just saying to keep an eye on Orwyle. I. think this HBO series kept this maester. in the position instead of Gerardys for. a reason. And it might just be because. the actor's great. Then in the Eyrie of. the Vale, we see Caraxes on the bridge. leading to the castle. Inside, Lady Jane. brings up the tragic death of Damon's. first wife, referring to Rhea Royce, whom Damon straight-up murdered in. season 1. They reconstructed the Eyrie.

main hall with its iconic moon door that. we last saw in Game of Thrones season 4. episode 7 when Little Finger pushed Lysa. Arryn through this hatch. I love the. little gust of wind we hear on this. line. >> You could have failed to be charmed by. your. womb. >> Damon confronts Jane on the 15,000 men. she promised, to which she says were. withheld because Rhaenyra gave her only. Joffrey's small dragon of Tyraxes. She. actually indicates in this scene that. Joff and Tyraxes have already left to. return to King's Landing. >> Prince Joffrey's dragon was years away. from being large enough to defend the. Vale, and Rhaenyra took even that away.

>> This transaction is hilariously simple. as Jane, after petting her dog, agrees. to give gold instead, which Matt Smith. has to heave onto Caraxes' saddle, disturbing the dragon so much that Damon. has to go and smack Caraxes WITH HIS. GLOVE. BUT AS we've seen with most of the. dragons and their riders on the series, Damon now loses control of Caraxes, who. ignores all of Damon's commands. But. here it's because Caraxes senses another. dragon in the Vale, sheep stealer. Of. all the dragons on this show, the sound. design of Caraxes is really the best and. most specific, a high-pitched [laughter].

whistle and cry with breathing. specifically designed to sound like it's. from a deviated septum. In the murk of the cave, a fiery glow. from Sheepstealer's mouth illuminates. the figure walking toward him, his. daughter Rhaena. Rhaena looks even more. rough than when we saw her in episode. two with her hair having either been cut. off or burnt off from proximity to. Sheepstealer. With shorter hair, she. actually looks more distinguished from. her sister Baela and closer to how. Nettles from Fire and Blood is depicted.

As father and daughter approach, Caraxes. and Sheepstealer both roar and their. riders have to turn back to calm them. There's something interesting about old. Underbite and old deviated septum. snapping at each other like this. Daemon. deduces that Rhaena was riding the. dragon that Rhaenyra blames for causing. Jace's death in the gullet. Rhaena says. she was only trying to help and asks if. her cousin suffers, to which Daemon. shouts something in Valyrian that is not. captioned. >> Don't break any tears. >> Yeah, I don't know why this didn't come. with subtitles, but based on the. context, it kind of sounds like some. sort of reprimand or maybe a word. translating to kinslayer. Daemon wonders. if they can hide this from Rhaenyra and.

still send Rhaena to Pentos. >> Leave the dragon behind. I will not leave him. >> I like that Sheepstealer knows what he's. saying here and roars and Caraxes just. roars in defense. Phoebe Campbell is. just so great in this scene. >> He is mine. He is a part of me. >> Yes, she gets that same wide-eyed look. of dragon lord insanity that Jace had. when he was talking to Baela right. before flying into the gullet. And she. really makes this a personal referendum. on Daemon as an absent father. >> Rhaena, at least among [music] your. children. >> Oof, Baela has Moondancer, Aegon the. Younger, and Viserys are children that.

he bore with Rhaenyra, so she tells. Daemon to just tell Rhaenyra that she. was lost at sea. And Daemon says that he. can't deceive his wife, but he did just. moments earlier suggest lying to. Rhaenyra that Rhaena was on the ship to. Pentos the whole time. Daemon in this. scene gives off some Glinda vibes trying. to get his Elphaba to come back with him. to say she's sorry, but Rhaena's very, "I don't want it. No, I can't want it. anymore.". Before she leaps off to defy GRAVITY AND. >> [screaming]. >> HER WAY OUT OF THERE. Sheepstealer. charges out of the cave, nearly running.

over Damon, and its pronged tail lashes. past the camera as it dives off the. cliff. Whereas in episode one of this. season, Rhaena screamed in a dive like. this, now she's confidently silent. Caraxes roars its stuttery scream. Why did Damon search Caraxes? Maybe to. hear what Sheepstealer sounds like from. a distance so that he can one day find. his daughter or know when she's coming. Damon looks down at a goat herder and. gets an idea. This poor goat herder,

it'll be his head Damon plops on the. small council table as the culprit who. rode Sheepstealer, trying to pull a fake. Darin-style switcheroo on Rhaenyra. We. see Ormund take a big whiff from this. orb. The sound design on that inhale was. rather transcendent. Maybe in addition. to protecting him from that Tumbleton. stank, whatever he's huffing is also. putting him in a hot tea racist state of. mind. You know, kind of like Rosanne. when she took Ambien. As Ormund reads. the bad news from cousin Gwayne, Darin. knows when his psycho lord is about to.

lose it and warns the steward. >> My friends? No. No. >> Ormund hacks away at the table. Actually, in Fire and Blood, his sword. is Vigilance, a Valyrian steel sword. So, it's surprising he didn't slice. cleanly through this wood. But, the. sword still must be swung true. Rhaenyra. swinging the Valyrian steel sword Dark. Sister still wedged in Otto's back on. the first try. So, we're really seeing. Valyrian power fail in the wrong hands. Ulf petitions Rhaenyra for favors for. his drinking buddies Mud and Clay. For. Mud, a holding outside Rosby and no. taxes. For Clay, a pardon for various.

crimes and passage to the free city of. Lys. Yes, Lys, the free city that makes. up a third of the Triarchy that. Rhaenyra's forces were just at war with. that Ulf helped clean up the end of in. the Gullet. I wonder what Mud and Clay. had over Ulf for him to feel compelled. to ask this of Rhaenyra because it comes. off like a list of demands of Harry's. crew of oil drillers in Armageddon. >> Yeah, one more thing. Um none of them. want to. pay taxes again. Ever. >> Rhaenyra warns a Hightower agent could. knife Ulf in his belly and bring down. her forces by one full dragon. Ulf's.

response? >> It's my belly. >> Rhaenyra effectively grounds Ulf in the. Red Keep, prohibiting him from drinking. in taverns and telling him he'll be. escorted to the Dragon Pit for his. service to Tumbleton. Seems like you can. take a lot away from a guy like Ulf, but. this? Yeah, dude's going to snap. Loras. tells Aegon that Rhaenyra declaring him. dead, slain by Aemond, actually did them. a favor because now it gives Aegon. anonymity and one hell of a comeback. narrative. >> that your eventual. resurrection becomes the stuff of song. and legend. >> Aegon stiffens on food and ends up. slapping at Janos, and Janos makes him. kiss his shit-covered boots, a shot that.

we stay in for way too long in a very. slow take. Daemon returns to the Small. Council Chamber to find Allen sitting in. Corlys's hand seat and Tyland Manderly. sitting in the Master of Coin seat, along with Mysaria as Master of Whispers. and Orwyle as Grand Maester. These are. all appointments that Rhaenyra made. without checking in with Daemon. I love. Dan Fogler's timing as he slides his. mind away from the charred and severed. human head on the table. I don't fully. understand why Daemon brought back any. fake culprit head at all, just to lie. and say sheep stealers never going to be. seen again when that's impossible to.

predict where Rhaena might go on that. dragon. Like, he could have just come. back from the Vale and not at all. mentioned seeing Rhaena or sheep stealer. at all, and then just acted surprised if. she ever turned up again. But now he's. got to live with this extra unnecessary. lie. But based on the context of. Rhaenyra's reaction to it, it seems like. Daemon wanted the leverage of the small. victory in order to get Rhaenyra to fund. what he wants her to spend the gold on. More Gold Cloak funding. As the camera. turns around Alicent, we see Helaena in. the background struggling to get her. nightgown on. As we see at the end of. the scene, it's because her body shape. has changed. >> Helaena.

>> Okay. It seems like the HBO series is. now making Helaena pregnant with her and. Aegon's third child, Maelor, a character. we previously assumed would be written. out of the series based on statements. from the writers. I assume this is what. was foreshadowed by Helaena in episode. two finding the caterpillar in the. butterfly of not in the gods wood and. saying that it wasn't the right season. It seemed like a portent of her own. untimely pregnancy. In Fire and Blood, Maegor was actually alive at the time of. Viserys I's death along with his two. older siblings, Jaehaerys and Jaehaera. And he was also present on the dreaded.

night of blood and cheese. Actually, those assassins made Helaena choose. which of her sons would die, the older. Jaehaerys or the younger Maegor. And. Helaena chose Maegor because she was. thinking as a two-year-old, he would be. too young to understand what was. happening. But then Cheese leans over to. Maegor and says, "Hey, that little boy, your mama wants you dead." And then they. just killed Jaehaerys. Yeah, it's way. worse in the book. At first I thought. the show removed Maegor just to lessen. the blow. But now it seems like they're. delaying Helaena's pregnancy with Maegor. to give her and Alicent some tension to. their storyline at this point of the. season. I'll go more into this in the.

spoiler dungeon. The people of Tumbleton. are shocked to see Vermithor flying low. overhead, the strong gusts from its wing. flaps blowing all of these goods and. wide-brimmed hats. Hugh lands on the. other side of the Mander River. I think. that's where the rabbit was. Meanwhile, Luthor Largent leads his gold cloaks to. raid nearby homes of these poor low folk. in King's Landing seeking a forced. confession for the graffiti. I'm. guessing the guy they pinned it on and. clubbed to death did not do it. That. dude's probably illiterate. And it would. be pretty stupid to do this right. outside your own home. They're searching. in the wrong neighborhood. It must have. been some literate highborn like or wild. who did this and chose a poor.

neighborhood to do it in. We end the. episode in the Sept of Tumbleton where. Darren keeps to Sarion beside this. candlelit seven-pointed star altar. Already we're seeing a desecration on. the seven-pointed star that the high. septon protested Rhaenyra about. These. dragons are abominations. But it's. interesting that this whole ceremony. happens in a house of worship. The way. Ormund describes his disgust with the. Targaryen bloodline is fully coded in. white supremacist phrasing. >> But there is a taint in your blood. The. Targaryens are a savage race, poor in.

intellect but rich in cunning. >> I do not mean to equate the fictional. Targaryens with any real-world group. white supremacist antagonize at all. Nor. nor I mean to overly defend all. Targaryen traditions in George R.R. Martin's lore. Like obviously incest is. abhorrent and despite its normalization. on these shows and how this series. expects us to keep rooting for Rhaenyra. and Daemon as some kind of sexy power. couple, it's something that I've never. really been okay with. And the show has. made it clear that dragons and any human. attempt to control them leads only to. madness and mass casualties. Yes, for.

the Westerosi natives of this world, it. is expected that a self-styled scholar. and snob from a very old family would. view the Targaryens as foreign. interlopers with unnatural customs. relying on an unfair advantage in order. to steal their power. But at the same. time, there's nothing subtle about. Ormand Hightower's word choice in his. shit-eating didactic tone here using the. exact language of nativists and white. supremacists and proponents of the great. replacement theory. >> With dark spells, they created. abominations to subdue what was rightly. ours. We are the superior men.

>> Yes, the whole [clears throat] idea of. superior men comes from Friedrich. Nietzsche's whole idea of the. Ubermensch, which informed both the. eugenics movement of the early 20th. century and all of Nazi ideology that as. superior men, they were morally. justified in exterminating some races. And specifically in his next words, he. calls the Targaryens the brutes for. raising a woman to the Iron Throne. Yeah, that wasn't just Rhaenyra's. faction. Viserys the First made that. decision. And calling them the brutes. recalls one of the earliest examples in. literature of this kind of language. Joseph Conrad in 1899's Heart of.

Darkness, Mr. Kurtz's postscript of. "Exterminate the brutes" to his report. of civilizing African natives, something. that Francis Ford Coppola would adapt to. Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now. Ormand. considers it a miracle ordained by the. seven that Daeron was raised in Old Town. as a Hightower and that it's Daeron's. destiny to ascend to the Iron Throne. This is a wild plan. It's one thing to. assume Aegon is dead, but to even plot. this, he would have to kill Aemond, which would involve some treachery to. get one eye away from Vhagar. And I. guess to complete this tutelage of. future Hightower King Daeron, Ormand did.

actually arrest Kat's blacksmith brother. for laying his hands on a Hightower. soldier, whatever the context, and. Ormand gives Daeron his Valyrian steel. sword, Vigilance, just like Daemon gave. Rhaenyra his Valyrian steel sword, Dark. Sister, to forge her ascent with blood. Though there, Daemon and Rhaenyra did it. for the eyes of the court. Here, it. happens in a sept, a house of worship, in the eyes of the Seven Gods. Daeron. stabs this man in the heart, and Ormund. wipes the blood on the body before. returning the sword to its sheath. And. now, Ormund turns his back on the. Targaryen and Valyrian right of passage. Tysha stomps over the several candles of.

the altar for the Faith of the Seven. Yes, fully uncaring about the new gods. of this continent that the Hightowers. hold so dear, and torches the body for. food. >> And now, we begin. >> Yes, over black, we hear the sounds of. Tysha crunching the corpse. Ormund truly. believes that this is the first step to. purifying these invasive bloodlines and. traditions from Westeros. Plotting for. Daeron to be king by killing Aegon and. Aemond? Sure. But from a purely military.

position, how would Ormund vanquish. Rhaenyra's six dragons, especially if. Aemond and Vhagar wouldn't be. cooperating? This guy is just nuts. But. let's end in the spoiler dungeon. The. theories I've shared up until this point. are truly just me flying blind based on. nothing from Fire & Blood. But now, my. theorization is going to reference. future events from the book, so stop. watching if you don't want to know. anything about future events. So, Sunfyre must still be alive, right? Because in Fire & Blood, Sunfyre has so. much left to do in Aegon's redemption. plot and for the ultimate fate of. Rhaenyra. After she flees King's Landing.

following the storming of the Dragonpit, she ends up on Dragonstone, where she's. burned and eaten by Sunfyre. Now, that. is just how her death is described by. the unreliable narrators of Fire &. Blood. It would be a pretty gnarly way. for Emma D'Arcy to end things at the end. of season 4. So, I've long wondered if. the HBO series is somehow going to alter. her fate to either keep her alive, or. more likely, make her death just. something less barbaric. But yes, I'm. pretty thrilled that the show brought in. Tom Tangletongue as a latrine co-worker. of Aegon here in Rook's Rest, considering how long Tangletongue is.

going to stay with Aegon in his quest to. Dragonstone. It sounds like at some. point in the second half of the season, Sunfyre will awaken and Aegon will mount. the dragon and use him to get vengeance. on Janos and the rest. I actually think. Aegon will first stab Janos with that. scale from Sunfyre. Was it a tooth? I. think it was a scale. But let's talk. Maelor. Uh poor Maelor does not have a. happy life in Fire and Blood. He's. smuggled out of King's Landing along. with Princess Jaehaera, but the toddler. Maelor doesn't get very far before he's. killed at Bitterbridge in disputing. accounts involving a mob attack in the. arms of his protector Ser Rickard.

Thorne. Now Ser Rickard was last seen. being taken away in episode two of the. season, but I also worry that Helena. won't even survive long enough to. deliver Maelor. And this pregnancy arc. could just be introduced to create. tension between Alicent and Rhaenyra as. a still alive Aegon would now have a new. male heir and this could lead to a. rushed escape from King's Landing that. could just end up in that trailer shot. of Helena looking like she's about to be. consumed in dragon fire's dragon fire. And all this could just amount to more. pregnancy trauma porn. But the sighting. of young Jaehaera in this episode. reminded me of that casting report.

before the season that 10-year-old. actress Pearl Clark was cast as a. slightly older version of Princess. Jaehaera for this season. So maybe we're. going to see Helena have a vision of her. daughter's future life. Now the fact. that it could still be a bit before we. get to the first battle of Tumbleton and. Criston Cole is aiming to intersect with. the River host before Tumbleton. It. sounds like that's where we're going to. get our Butcher's Ball. But something. about the directions of all these. characters makes this idea of the HBO. show's version of the Butcher's Ball. less climactic of an end for Criston. Cole. It kind of feels like he's being. swatted off by Roddy the Ruin as they.

just continue on their path to. Tumbleton. I don't know, we'll just see. how the show adapts it. So let's talk. about Lady Sharra Footly. In Fire and. Blood, Lady Sharra from Tumbleton is. said to bear John Roxton's bastard. child. I wonder if it's going to be. Ormund's bastard child on this show. But. Lady Sharra is awesome. She's one of the. noble women of the Reach and Westerlands. who rebuilds the realm after the civil. war comes to an end. And you kind of get. a sense of that here with how much she's. advocating for her people. Actually the. detail of the locals by Rook's Rest. charging Larys and Aegon a penny to. touch Sunfyre is actually detail that. comes from Lady Sherri and Fire and.

Blood charging travelers a penny to look. at the heads of the dragons he smoked. Vermithor and a star to touch them. Yeah, they definitely gave Lady Sherri a. lot of agency in this episode. So, I'm. just curious if the writers are going to. make room for her in the second half of. season 3 and season 4. And we'll end on. Aemond and Vhagar. They got to be on the. Isle of Faces, right? Where else could. they be? Now, I'm going to share a. theory that I have not indulged in. It's. not my theory. It's something other. people are saying, but I am starting to. open my mind to this possibility. That. since the Night King was able to mount. the dragon Viserion, that the Night King.

might have to have come from Valyrian. descent. And that in this show, we might. find out that the human that turned into. the Night King by the Children of the. Forest, the guy that Bran saw in the. flashback vision with the Three-Eyed. Raven in Game of Thrones season 6. episode 5, was either Daemon Targaryen. or Aemond on the Isle of Faces. It would. have been a fate that the text of Fire. and Blood never knew enough to fully. document. Comment down below with your. thoughts on all this and a special. thanks to one of our In Our Underground. subscribers, Michael Horwitz, for. supporting us at the executive producer. level. You can get all of our exclusive. bonus content by clicking the link in.

the description below or going to. inourunderground.supercast.com. Big thanks to studio tech Brian Kim, New. Rockstar editors Joshua Steven Hurd and. Abby Friel, and all of our supporting. editors for their work on this video. Follow me at EA Bross and hit that. subscribe button. Thanks for watching. and I'll see you next time. Bye.