Review of Episode 2 of Season 3 of House of the Dragon

Warning: This review contains full spoilers for Episode 2 of Season 3 of House of the Dragon. Episode two of Season three begins in a way that reminds us from the very first moment that House of the Dragon does not want to celebrate wars, but their consequences. And if the previous episode ended with the epic battle of "Guleit", this episode starts from where it left off, but from a completely different perspective. Instead of the aerial shot that concluded the previous episode, the camera dives this time into the depths of the sea, where Jisiris is floating dead as the flames of the dragons reflect above him, then continues to descend revealing more bodies swallowed by the waters. It's a silent and painful opening, directly reminding us that everything we've witnessed was not a victory as much as a tragedy. Even the opening credits follow this approach. Blue embellishments have been added to symbolize the sea waters, and Corlys is shown facing Lohar while blood surrounds Lohar alone, an early hint that Corlys is still alive. Immediately after, the embroidery of Jisiris's death is added, making the credits themselves narrate the developments of the war with each new episode, as if history is being sewn before our eyes stitch by stitch. I really appreciated that the episode continues to focus more on the ramifications of war than the war itself, a style that has become a hallmark of the series. Just as we did not see the battles of Red Fork and Burning Mill, but only what they left behind in destruction, the episode focuses on the victims rather than the victors. This is seen again when Jisiris's body is brought to Dragonstone, and then when Layana responds to Ser Laurent in a tone devoid of any sense of victory, before Corlys summarizes everything with his painful words: "If this is a victory, I hope I never witness another victory." Perhaps what I liked most about the episode is that this idea extends to almost all characters. Each character achieves something they were striving for but pays a heavy price for it. Corlys triumphs at sea but loses his castle and a large part of his fleet, Rhaenyra finally enters the capital but pays for it with her son's death, while Alicent successfully avoids a slaughter inside King's Landing, but loses her father before her eyes. But the greatest manifestations of this tragedy appear with Rhaenyra herself, and one cannot help but commend Emma D'Arcy's performance upon discovering Jisiris's death, where she succeeds in conveying all the stages of shock, grief, and breakdown with a performance worthy of awards. Even the sense of shock when she asks, "What have I done?" initially seems directed at Layana or Ser Laurent, but the magnitude of the tragedy becomes clear when we realize she is speaking to the dead Jisiris in front of her. What increases the impact of this scene is that the episode gives it the time it deserves. It does not rush to move to the next event but allows silence to play its role. The music nearly fades away at the beginning of the episode, leaving the sounds of waves, footsteps, and breaths to lead the viewer. This calm makes the grief feel more real and gives Jisiris's death significantly more weight than if the episode had rushed directly to the next events. And Ser Laurent in turn hands his sword to Rhaenyra, submitting to his fate that he already knows he will reach as a consequence of her imprisoning him in her chambers; he realized this since the last episode when Jisiris told him "Your life or hers." While she initially refuses to kill him in the throes of her tragedy because she has had enough of all the death, blood, and losses, later in the episode when she regains herself and her strength, she orders his death. Here we specifically feel that Rhaenyra is no longer who she was, but has been reborn. This is not the queen who was still looking for one last chance for peace, but a woman who has lost the last connection to that hope. Jisiris's death clearly changes her character and constitutes the moment in which she transforms from a queen trying to avoid war to a queen who has nothing left to lose, even if she throws herself into the heart of death. On the other hand, Reyna's reaction when she rushed to Lady Jane Arryn, who refused to help her, was one of the plots I did not expect. This entire plot is outside the lore, so I have no idea where the show intends to take it, especially after it became clear that Reyna is still paying the price for her rashness during the battle of Guleit, and owning a dragon...