House of the Dragon, Season 3 Premiere FULL SPOILER Review

[00:00] You've gone full Shaun Bean, man. Sorry,

[00:02] you're not coming back.

[00:03] >> Never go full Shaun Bean. I mean,

[00:04] especially in Westeros.

[00:08] >> The new season's opener finally brings

[00:10] us the action we've been waiting for

[00:12] with a naval clash for the ages. High

[00:15] stakes, high seas, high treason. This

[00:18] season's opener has everything. This is

[00:22] the Battle of the Gullet, and it is

[00:24] every bit as spectacular as we could

[00:26] have hoped. all pirate battles and

[00:28] flaming missiles and hand-to-hand

[00:30] combat. It's surrounded by the sort of

[00:33] scheming seduction confession and

[00:35] devastation that makes for good

[00:37] character drama, too. If the rest of the

[00:39] season is anything like this, this Game

[00:42] of Thrones spin-off might finally have a

[00:44] way to outfight its predecessor.

[00:54] We'll come back to the character stuff.

[00:57] The centerpiece of this episode is a

[00:59] hugely exciting air and navy clash

[01:01] between Lord Corus Valyrian's fleet and

[01:04] the Troshi fleet led by Shurako Lohar.

[01:07] For Lahar, it's a grudge match. For

[01:09] Corus, it's only part of his blockade of

[01:12] King's Landing on behalf of Rea and her

[01:14] blacks in the civil war called the dance

[01:16] of dragons against her cousins, the

[01:19] Greens. Lowhar is determined to hit the

[01:21] sea snake where it hurts, sending half

[01:23] her fleet to burn his home. Lord Corus'

[01:26] castle.

[01:28] >> We will require the full strength of

[01:30] your fleet if we avenge.

[01:31] >> My tie is a monument to the sea snake

[01:33] himself.

[01:36] >> Do you think his focus will hold when he

[01:38] sees his treasure room of flame?

[01:40] >> She's right. It's another devastating

[01:42] blow to a man who has already lost a

[01:44] wife and two children. Happily, he's

[01:46] also a badass. He lures Lohar away from

[01:49] the fleet, sinks two of her companion

[01:51] sheets thanks to some fancy pants

[01:53] sailing through a narrow channel, and

[01:54] then fights hand-to- hand against the

[01:56] ferocious Troshi captain. Abigail Thorne

[01:59] is great as Lowhar here, absolutely

[02:02] convincing as a leader of men and a

[02:03] serious threat to Corass. She's already

[02:06] come close to taking down a dragon

[02:08] before getting to this personal

[02:09] vendetta. Given that Corass begins the

[02:11] episode having a moving heart-to-heart

[02:13] with his formidable, illegitimate son

[02:15] Allen, and that he earns Allen's respect

[02:17] as a sailor and a captain during the

[02:19] battle, you have to wonder if he'll

[02:21] survive this fight. He's missing at the

[02:23] end of the episode. If this is how he

[02:25] goes out, fair play. It's an

[02:27] exceptionally wellshot, almost entirely

[02:30] practical battle. The ship tanks and

[02:32] sets were so massive at Leaveson Studios

[02:34] that they overshadowed the new Harry

[02:35] Potter's Private Drive. The battle in

[02:37] the air, however, goes less well. Yes,

[02:40] Prince Jiharis and Bala ride into the

[02:43] fight and decimate the Troshi fleet.

[02:45] Jace's dragon Vermax is almost taken

[02:47] down by Lowhar early on, and then Raina

[02:50] joins the battle to devastating effect.

[02:53] In this episode, we see that she's

[02:54] finally wooed a dragon of her own, but

[02:56] in one of those rabbit foot scenarios,

[02:59] her half feral beast refuses to obey her

[03:01] and attacks friends and foe alike in the

[03:03] heat of the moment. Her attempts to help

[03:05] contribute to the battle's biggest loss

[03:08] as Vermax is harpooned in the chest and

[03:10] drags Jace into the drink with him. It

[03:13] is a devastating finale.

[03:21] On the bright side, at least it saves

[03:23] Rea from having to confront her son's

[03:25] high treason. The reason she's not there

[03:28] on her own dragon is because he locked

[03:29] her in her room for her own protection.

[03:32] She's been on a high this episode,

[03:34] convinced by Allison's offer to

[03:36] surrender King's Landing and confident

[03:38] in her new dragon riders who are waiting

[03:40] grumpily near Harrenhal to ambush awful

[03:42] Aemon and his massive dragon Vagar. So

[03:45] oversized. What is he compensating for?

[03:47] Of course, this follows two seasons of

[03:49] dithering on Rea's part, so you can

[03:51] understand why her team aren't so

[03:53] convinced. It's a bit late for her to

[03:54] start quoting Elizabeth the First now.

[03:57] Rea's line,

[03:58] >> "I may appear to have the weak and

[03:59] feeble body of a woman, but I possess

[04:01] the heart and spirit of a king," is a

[04:04] historical lift from a speech that also

[04:06] preceded a major naval encounter.

[04:08] Anyway, she sends her husband, Damon,

[04:10] who's just destroyed a green aligned

[04:11] Lannister army at Redfork with the help

[04:13] of the Riverlords. And enjoying the

[04:15] blood splattered look, the late arriving

[04:18] Starks bring Damon ahead of Lord Jason

[04:20] Lannister while his fully armored twin,

[04:22] Thailand, tries to keep control of his

[04:24] Tyroi allies on the Gullet. So much for

[04:26] one green army, but the spoiled and

[04:29] rather prissy Orund High Tower has

[04:31] another on the way, including the Dragon

[04:33] Tarion. Oh, and Sir Christristen Cole is

[04:36] out there with his forces alongside Sir

[04:38] Gane High Tower, who's increasingly

[04:40] horrified by Cole's nihilism and his

[04:42] lack of control of his thuggish men.

[04:44] That is a lot of potential fighting men

[04:47] still on the board. Then there are the

[04:49] main members of the Green Royal family.

[04:51] Allison is horrified on her return to

[04:53] King's Landing to find Aegon missing and

[04:55] Amond all too present when she had

[04:58] promised Renea precisely the opposite.

[05:00] Aegon's run for it is interrupted by

[05:02] Rea's troops and Lord Laris' scheming

[05:05] unbeknownst to his mother, but it takes

[05:07] all of Allison's considerable powers of

[05:09] persuasion and a hint of something

[05:11] closer to seduction on Aean's part, ew,

[05:14] to send her son off to Harrenhal and

[05:16] clear the way for the deal she has made.

[05:18] As for that kiss he gives her, we needed

[05:21] something to really turn the stomach

[05:22] this episode, right? In summary, we've

[05:25] got dragons in action, ships burning and

[05:28] sinking and firing, armies clashing,

[05:30] Laris and Aemon and Aegon and Cole being

[05:32] awful, and Allan and Corus and Damon

[05:35] being badass. If the show were always

[05:38] like this, it wouldn't just match Game

[05:40] of Thrones. It would outshine all but a

[05:42] handful of episodes. Two years ago,

[05:44] rounding up season two, I speculated

[05:46] that showrunner Ryan Condell had held

[05:48] back on the action last season to build

[05:50] a war chest for this time. I thought I

[05:53] was joking, but this episode makes me

[05:55] wonder if this signals the path for

[05:58] season 3. It is going to be a feast.

[06:01] >> You'll all join me as I sit the

[06:02] Driftwood throne and dine on the sea

[06:05] snakes.

[06:11] Last season was talky to a fault, but

[06:14] this feels like the show we hoped to see

[06:16] all along. Thrillingly dramatic,

[06:18] action-packed, and full of Targaryians

[06:20] causing chaos in Westeros. Dragons fill

[06:23] the skies and ships fill the seas, and

[06:25] every one of them aims to cause maximum

[06:27] destruction to the other side. That's

[06:30] obviously very sad for the people

[06:31] involved. Sorry that happened or

[06:33] whatever, but it's bloody great as a

[06:35] viewer. Score 10 out of 10. Pirates,

[06:39] dragons ships fire betrayal chaos

[06:41] death, and destruction. It's honestly

[06:44] hard to imagine what more you could ask

[06:45] of a season opener.

[06:52] >> Hey everybody, that is IGN's review of

[06:54] House of the Dragons season 3 premiere.

[06:56] And joining me to talk about the 10 she

[06:59] just gave it, Helen O'Hara. How's it

[07:01] going Helen?

[07:02] >> I'm good. How are you?

[07:03] >> I'm good. I'm good. First of all, thank

[07:05] you for taking on House of the Dragon

[07:08] for us. This show is is is a real one,

[07:12] right? Like it's it's a rangy show that

[07:14] sort of requires, you know, knowing some

[07:16] of Game of Thrones, some of the books,

[07:17] but also it stands on its own pretty

[07:19] well. So, before we get too into the

[07:21] weeds with this episode and your review

[07:22] of it, um I guess to to just bluntly ask

[07:26] it, what kind of Game of Thrones fan are

[07:28] you?

[07:29] >> I'm uh I'm a an old school Game of

[07:32] Thrones fan, I guess. I think I read the

[07:34] first book in not quite very first

[07:36] publication. It was probably like 2003 I

[07:39] think but pretty early. Um certainly

[07:42] before the show. So I was there very

[07:44] excited when the show was being made.

[07:46] And I think like everyone else I thought

[07:47] the last two seasons were less good. But

[07:50] I I do feel like there is I this is my

[07:54] grand unified theory of Game of Thrones.

[07:56] Do you want to hear it?

[07:56] >> Yes, please.

[07:57] >> Okay. So, I think as soon as you start

[08:00] trying to bring that show to an ending,

[08:01] it stopped feeling like Game of Thrones.

[08:03] And I think even if they'd had more time

[08:05] to develop some of the stuff that they

[08:07] were trying to do, I don't know that

[08:09] they could have dealt with that because

[08:10] I think the whole show was about

[08:12] somebody making a plan and then

[08:14] something they didn't foresee would turn

[08:16] up and knock their plans for a loop. But

[08:18] you have to stop doing that if you're

[08:19] trying to get to a conclusion. And as

[08:21] soon as you stop doing that, it stops

[08:23] feeling like Game of Thrones. So, I

[08:25] think they were always going to have

[08:28] trouble. And I wonder I I have other

[08:30] issues with House of the Dragon, but I

[08:32] wonder if the fact that because this is

[08:34] a history because they can kind of

[08:35] choose their end point, maybe they can

[08:38] work around some of those issues. Maybe

[08:41] >> it puts me in mind of was it

[08:42] Littlefinger's quote from there is only

[08:44] the climb like the the idea that that

[08:47] you know it's it's just this non-stop

[08:49] thing and then to the idea of making

[08:52] that stop is sort of counter to what the

[08:54] whole show is about.

[08:55] >> There is a possibility that you know

[08:57] through several years of essentially

[08:59] low-grade civil war in the Game of

[09:01] Thrones timeline maybe everybody's

[09:03] exhausted and you do get one of those

[09:05] periods of relative peace for Bran's you

[09:07] know uh time as king. I don't know. But

[09:10] I think it's interesting seeing House of

[09:13] the Dragon because here we have had that

[09:15] peaceful period. We have had a king who

[09:17] was I mean he was a bit of a you know

[09:20] Egypt but but people liked him. He

[09:22] didn't do anything too terrible.

[09:23] Everybody kind of got on with their

[09:25] lives.

[09:25] >> Life expectancy started to creep up a

[09:27] little bit.

[09:28] >> Maybe too high for Westeros. So now

[09:30] we're bringing it down again. Yeah. One

[09:32] of the lines from your review I enjoyed

[09:34] hearing you say was, you know, if this

[09:36] was the whole series, if the whole

[09:38] series was as good as this episode, it

[09:41] would have outshined all but just a few

[09:43] episodes of Game of Thrones. So, I guess

[09:45] the first question is what do we think

[09:47] has been holding the show back from

[09:49] being this all the time?

[09:51] >> First of all, the fact that they are

[09:53] going from a history book, right? And

[09:55] it's the history of Westeros. book, if

[09:57] if anybody out there hasn't read it, uh

[09:59] the book that this one's based on or or

[10:00] it's based on part of the book is

[10:02] essentially a kind of faux historical

[10:05] chronicle of what's been happening for

[10:07] the several hundred years before Game of

[10:09] Thrones starts. Um from Aegon's conquest

[10:12] right up to it will, you know, he hasn't

[10:14] actually written the second volume yet

[10:15] because he's George RR Martin, but you

[10:18] know, um but the idea is that he's got a

[10:20] whole history of Westeros mapped out and

[10:22] that this is just part of that history.

[10:24] Um, and that does mean that they're not

[10:26] very free to completely deviate from

[10:29] cannon. There there have been things

[10:30] that they have changed for the show.

[10:32] They're not being slavish to the book.

[10:34] Um, there have been, as well as sort of

[10:37] adding things in that simply aren't

[10:38] discussed in the book, they're also, you

[10:40] know, finding ways to maybe change a

[10:42] certain things, to maybe combine

[10:45] characters to make it a little bit,

[10:46] believe it or not, the there are fewer

[10:48] characters than there could be in this

[10:50] show. It seems impossible.

[10:51] >> I believe it. But they, you know, they

[10:54] are changing a few things, but generally

[10:55] speaking, the sort of broad outline of

[10:57] the book they are kind of tied to

[10:58] because that is the story of Westeros.

[11:00] And because of things like A Night of

[11:02] the Seven Kingdoms and other spin-offs

[11:04] that they're discussing, they can't

[11:05] hugely deviate from what's supposed to

[11:08] kind of happen. So, um, so that's kind

[11:11] of an interesting thing here, but I

[11:14] think that the the sort of slowdown of

[11:16] season two, and it was slower. I think

[11:19] season one was a bit faster. It had some

[11:21] time jumps that that people struggled

[11:23] with, including myself. But uh but

[11:25] season two had stopped with the time

[11:27] jumps and still struggled with just

[11:29] telling this much story and and moving

[11:32] all of these pieces into the right

[11:33] place. And I'm hoping now that we can

[11:36] just get to the good stuff. I hope

[11:38] >> it's an interesting dilemma for for the

[11:40] show because so much of like you say the

[11:43] broadstrokes of this history are so

[11:45] dialed in in in the canon and and in the

[11:48] text but like within that you know you

[11:51] can you know who's who dies on which day

[11:54] and in which way and how emotionally

[11:56] resonant is that for the show like

[11:58] there's there's actually oddly a lot of

[11:59] freedom there um in some ways because I

[12:02] mean the history a history is so dry

[12:04] sort of by its nature that that you can

[12:06] kind of get away with a lot of that

[12:08] stuff.

[12:08] >> Exactly. And we're seeing that they're

[12:10] making some characters more sympathetic

[12:11] or less sympathetic as they go. And

[12:14] that's I hope that will pay off

[12:16] dramatically. I'm I'm slightly worried

[12:18] and I wrote a piece that people if

[12:19] they're not worried about spoilers,

[12:20] people can go back and read the piece I

[12:21] wrote at the end of season 2. But I do

[12:23] worry that some of that some of making

[12:26] certain people more sympathetic or less

[12:28] sympathetic will mitigate at the end.

[12:30] Again, that will be a problem for the

[12:32] history that they are kind of tied into.

[12:35] And I hope they have a way through that.

[12:36] I I they seem smart, you know. I'm

[12:38] hoping that they've got something

[12:39] figured out.

[12:40] >> Is there some degree of excitement

[12:42] around this particular episode uh that

[12:45] is sort of more typically reserved for a

[12:47] finale rather than a premiere?

[12:49] >> I'd love to know why this is the

[12:50] premiere and not the finale of last

[12:52] season, you know. Um I think last season

[12:54] was eight episodes, not the 10 episodes

[12:56] of season 1. So, you know, maybe we

[12:59] could have had nine and done this last

[13:01] time. I think that would have sent

[13:02] everybody away on a very very high kind

[13:04] of a a feeling. It's also just like I

[13:08] think physically the the amount of time

[13:10] and preparation physical set building

[13:12] that they put into this was I think off

[13:14] the chart. This this one episode took

[13:17] months and months of planning. So I

[13:20] guess that might have been a reason for

[13:21] it.

[13:21] >> And obviously you know talking about

[13:23] things that have to be immediately dealt

[13:25] with. Uh, this episode obviously

[13:27] features a pretty major death. Um, which

[13:29] is almost a requirement for a Game of

[13:32] Thrones show.

[13:34] >> Yeah.

[13:34] >> How does this one fair in terms of its

[13:36] placement right here in the premiere

[13:37] episode? Because sometimes these big

[13:38] deaths can can feel a little gratuitous,

[13:41] you know, and I think I think part of

[13:42] that is like the the sputtering out of

[13:45] the last two seasons of of Game of

[13:47] Thrones, you know, like it got to be a

[13:50] little bit like come on guys. Um, and so

[13:53] there is a certain amount, this is maybe

[13:55] just me, there's a certain amount of eye

[13:56] rolling that comes with with these big

[13:58] deaths in in Game of Thrones, but but

[14:00] how did this one land for you?

[14:02] >> I was really struck the second time I

[14:03] watched it by just the timing of the

[14:05] death. So, you know, yes, his dragon is

[14:08] taken down and you're sitting there

[14:09] thinking, "Oh my goodness, that's awful.

[14:11] He's lost his dragon." But, you know, he

[14:13] he manages to get the the clasp of his

[14:16] harness loose and he swims for the

[14:18] surface and you're like, "Okay, things

[14:19] are still bad, but he's got to the

[14:21] surface. He's not drowning. He must be

[14:22] very upset. Poor boy." And then boom,

[14:25] hit by an arrow. And then, just in case

[14:27] you were wondering, boom, boom, hit by

[14:29] two more arrows. Full Boramir style. I

[14:31] mean, they're not leaving anything to

[14:32] chance.

[14:33] >> You've gone full Shaun Bean, man. Sorry.

[14:35] You're not coming back.

[14:36] >> Never go full Shaun Bean. I mean,

[14:38] especially in Westeros. So, uh, so yeah,

[14:41] I I thought it was I thought it was

[14:43] really well well laid out, well played

[14:45] as a piece of drama. Um, per Jace

[14:48] though, I mean, he kind of never really

[14:50] got going.

[14:50] >> As impactful deaths go, this was maybe

[14:54] maybe a mid-tier.

[14:55] >> It wasn't the Red Wedding. Um, but but

[14:58] it did hit, I think, like it needed to.

[15:00] I think the the problem is that there

[15:01] are not that many characters yet in this

[15:04] show who would have that impact. I don't

[15:06] know if we've glombmed on to some of

[15:09] them in the same way because I think you

[15:10] do have a there is a difference

[15:12] fundamentally between the Targaryenss

[15:14] and the Starks. The Starks were

[15:16] immediately a likable loving semi-normal

[15:20] family. I mean, okay, yes, the first

[15:23] episode has their dad teaching them how

[15:24] to execute a guy, but he but he's

[15:27] talking about recognizable and moral

[15:30] code that we we somewhat respect. We may

[15:32] not understand it completely, but we

[15:33] kind of were with it. this royal family

[15:36] come from a completely different world

[15:39] and they are far more bizarre to us than

[15:43] I think the Starks were in episode one.

[15:45] >> Do you think this is the season where we

[15:46] finally start to care about some of

[15:48] these characters in in a sense that

[15:50] their deaths would would move us more

[15:52] than poor Jesus?

[15:53] >> There are certainly some characters here

[15:55] who I really care about in this episode.

[15:57] I'm really worried for Corass. Like he's

[16:00] just had a heartto-heart with his son.

[16:02] he might as well have shown him a

[16:04] picture of his sweetheart back home. Do

[16:05] you know what I mean?

[16:06] >> Yeah, it's the it's the dangerous thing

[16:08] to do.

[16:09] >> Yeah, it's a very dangerous thing to do

[16:10] right before a battle. So, that seemed

[16:12] like a really worrying thing to set up.

[16:14] And I do care about Corass and not just

[16:16] because I keep wanging on about how

[16:18] great his wig is. I just think he's he's

[16:20] an awesome character. Um I think there

[16:22] are people here who have, you know, who

[16:25] are clearly acting from a good place. I

[16:27] think Allison, for all her ambition and

[16:30] all of her manipulation, loves her kids

[16:33] and is trying to do her best to, you

[16:36] know, rescue at least some of her

[16:38] family. And she's quite cleareyed about

[16:40] the fact that some of her family are

[16:42] psychos. Um, and she is willing to

[16:44] sacrifice those ones if it will mean

[16:45] that she can, you know, hold on to the

[16:47] rest. I I think that's a really a really

[16:50] interesting place to be coming from and

[16:52] that's a character that you can sort of

[16:53] get behind a little bit more at this

[16:55] point. Maybe not in earlier seasons, but

[16:58] this Allison, I think, is someone who we

[17:00] can maybe recognize a little bit more.

[17:03] And then I think Rene almost to a fault

[17:05] is is acting from often quite a good

[17:08] place, but she also has her moments of

[17:11] arrogance and temper and intrigence and

[17:15] everything else. So, it's an she's an

[17:18] interesting one. I'm not sure how how

[17:20] things are going to go for her.

[17:21] >> Helen, again, thank you so much for

[17:23] tackling House of the Dragons season 3

[17:25] for us. Uh really enjoyed this review.

[17:27] Looking forward to to reading the rest

[17:28] of the reviews this season.

[17:29] >> I think it's shaping up to be a good

[17:30] one.

[17:31] >> And thank you for watching this review.

[17:32] Let us know what you think of it in the

[17:34] comments. And for more TV reviews,

[17:36] Dragon related and otherwise, you're

[17:37] already here. Be sure to subscribe to

[17:39] IGN wherever you like to watch.