House of the Dragon Episode 3 Recap: The Birth of Aegon II Targaryen Puts the Pressure on Rhaenyra

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for Episode 3 of House of the Dragon. Read at your own risk!]

House of the Dragon Episode 2 was all about finding King Viserys Targaryen's (Paddy Considine) a new wife, followed by Episode 3 heavily focusing on finding a husband for Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock) even though Rhaenyra does not want to marry at all. House of the Dragon Episode 3 shows much of the fallout in her relationships with her father and his new wife, Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey). The episode also introduces Aegon Targaryen — Viserys and Alicent's son — whose birth threatens Rhaenyra's position as heir to the Iron Throne.

Rhaenyra does not want to wed

Roughly three years have passed since Episode 2, and things have been difficult for Rhaenyra. Her father married her former BFF, and their son Aegon is turning two. One of the first scenes in the episode is a birthday party for Aegon, and Rhaenyra isn't present. She would much rather be spending her time reading under a tree, but the king commands that she joins on a hunting trip. At this point, Rhaenyra's relationships with both Alicent and Viserys are strained. She does not look Alicent in the eye when the now-Queen speaks to her, and mutters under her breath as her father talks about Targaryen duties. On the way to the hunt, Viserys tells Rhaenyra she should start thinking about having kids (this is a good time to mention that Alicent is pregnant with her second child). 

On this hunting trip, Rhaenyra learns some upsetting information. She is approached by Jason Lannister (Jefferson Hall)— the twin of Tyland Lannister, who serves on Viserys' Small Council. Jason hits on her — calling Rhaenyra his "Lady wife" — and she walks away. She finds out that Viserys had intended to set the pair up, and is mad that her father seems to be using her as a political pawn now that he has a son. The two have a yelling match, and Viserys says Rhaenyra, especially since she's now 17, must marry to strengthen House Targaryen. 

Rhaenyra angrily leaves the camp on a horse, and Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) follows her. He seems to be one of the very few people whose company Rhaenyra can tolerate, and she shares her frustrations about the marriage proposals with him. Criston also explains his loyalty to Rhaenyra. She is the one who selected him to be in the Kingsguard, and "all that I have I owe it to you."

Viserys experiences serious inner turmoil

Viserys has been having a hard time, too. He remains firm in his selection of Rhaenyra as heir to the Iron Throne, though he is not oblivious to how the Realm is now questioning the pick due to Aegon's birth. In a conversation with Jason Lannister, Viserys is distressed by the knight's suggestion that he will name Aegon as heir. He is even more distressed by his Hand, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), proposing that Aegon be betrothed to Rhaenyra. Otto suggests this because Rhaenyra marrying Aegon would keep the Targaryons strong — and because he is of course doing whatever he can to ensure that his grandson is named heir. In perhaps the best line of the episode, Viserys tells Otto, "I came here to hunt. Not to be suffocated by all this f--king politicking." He then tries to drink his sorrows away (in fact, most of the Viserys scenes in this episode are of him drinking). 

Small Council member Lyonel Strong (Gavin Spokes) also makes a pitch for Rhaenyra's match: Laenor Velaryon (Theo Nate), the son of Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) and Princess Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best). Yes, this is also the brother of Laena, who Viserys rejected as a potential wife. Lyonel says a union between House Targaryen and House Velaryon would be a strategic feat — but first, Laenor has to make it through the fighting in the Stepstones (more on this later).

In a conversation between Viserys and Alicent, we see that Viserys is quite heartbroken about the emotional distance with Rhaenyra and that he just wants his daughter to be happy. Alicent is understanding. It seems that she also laments the end of her friendship with the princess, but she faces her own internal conflict. Alicent told her father Otto that she thinks Rhaenyra would be a good Queen. But Otto said it does not matter because Rhaenyra is a woman and that Alicent should "guide" Viserys toward naming Aegon as heir. 

Viserys is also thinking about the White Hart, a rare stag that was spotted during the hunting trip and that would have been "a regal portend for Prince Aegon's name day" if hunted. But after tracking the animal, his men were only able to capture a normal stag, which the king killed. The White Hart actually appears to Rhaenyra, who chooses not to hunt it.  

The battle at the Stepstones rages on 

All of this is happening while a war takes place in the Stepstones. For three years, the Crabfeeder, a.k.a Craghas Drahar, has been fighting Corlys and Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), plus his dragon Ceraxes. Corlys' men have not been doing well, and the Sea Snake's brother Vaemon Velaryon (Wil Johnson) sent a plea to the crown to help. Though he has sat out on this battle for years, Viserys now decides to send aid — something he knows his brother Daemon is too proud to ask for. Sure enough, when Daemon finds out that Viserys has sent 10 ships and 2,000 men to the Stepstones, he loses it. It seems like Daemon would rather be defeated on his own accord than win with the help of his brother who spurned him. He decides to enter the enemy's territory on his own. 

Daemon pretends to surrender, but when the Crabfeeder's men approach, he begins to kill them. There's no other way to describe the fight than a one-man show, since Daemon single-handedly takes down dozens and forces the Crabfeeder to send more of his people from inside of the caves. This actually fits into the Velaryons' strategy of luring the Crabfeeder's men out into the open where they are vulnerable. Just as things start to look grim for Daemon, a dragon appears and breathes fire onto the enemies. Laenor is riding this dragon, and his father storms the land with his men. As the two sides battle, Daemon follows the Crabfeeder into the cave and comes out with, yuck, just the top half of the Crabfeeder's body. It's a little disappointing that the villain of two episodes was killed off-camera, but there's no denying that the final shot of Daemon's face after this victory was epic. 

House of the Dragon continues Sundays at 9/8c on HBO, with episodes premiering simultaneously on HBO Max.