House Of The Dragon Season 2 Episode 3 Explained: The House of the Dragon episode airing on Sunday night begins with an ancient rivalry. Following her departure from the show in season 1, Milly Alcock makes a welcome comeback as Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon season 2, episode 3.
Alcock, of course, created the role, but after a ten-year time leap, the cast of House of the Dragon was recast in season 1, episode 6, with Emma D’Arcy taking over in the role and Olivia Cooke replacing Emily Carey as Alicent Hightower. Although it was believed that we had seen them all, Alcock has at least returned.
After taking Harrenhal, Daemon Targaryen sees her version of Rhaenyra, but it’s not quite a happy reunion. Building on the deaths of Blood and Cheese, who may or may not have been sent by Daemon to assassinate Jaehaerys Targaryen, she appears to him in a vision and sews his head back onto his body. It’s a wonderful, dark scenario that should have an effect on Daemon going forward. I’m glad to have Alcock back.
How & Why Milly Alcock’s Rhaenyra Return
It was always a little bit of sadness that Alcock had to go so early, even while House of the Dragon’s decision to recast performers made sense and Emma D’Arcy is absurdly brilliant in the role. Fans have long hoped the show will find a way to bring her back because she was the reason they had initially invested so much in Rhaenyra.
Evidently, showrunner Ryan Condal and his group concurred, and her return is a wonderful approach to appease fans and recognise the significance of her contribution to the character and plot development.
Her return is a well-thought-out decision that goes much beyond a straightforward flashback. Even without Alys Rivers, Harrenhal is a haunted location that has the power to manipulate people’s minds, and her presence just makes it worse.
According to several descriptions in the novel, she is a witch with the ability to manipulate people’s emotions and thoughts through potions and powers, which is what she appears to be doing to Daemon.
It’s unclear why she would wish to torture him, even though he recently moved into the castle she calls home and she could not be pleased with his presence or his military activities.
She is the one who is supposedly giving him these images, and since he came with a lot of fury after his fight with Rhaenyra, his mind would be especially vulnerable. Nevertheless, his mind may be tricking him, especially in a location like Harrenhal. And who better to plague his thoughts than Rhaenyra, Alcock’s creation?
What Milly Alcock’s Rhaenyra Return Really Means
I find it very significant and revealing that Daemon now notices a younger Rhaenyra. It’s his idealised version of the lady he loves who comes to him at this moment when his marriage has reached a new low, where he’s feeling hurt and angry and his wife calls him “pathetic.”
This is not the Rhaenyra who would define him as pitiful. It’s the version of the persona that he was somewhat in control of, such as the evening he brought her to a brothel. Since a large portion of Daemon’s narrative revolves around his relationship with his brother, it’s the Rhaenyra who is bold and rebellious in the ways that he enjoys, that makes him feel good about himself, and that he exploits to exact a little revenge on Viserys.
He wants Rhaenyra back, and then she gives him a cruel twist by saying she always cleans up after him. She is also denouncing his behaviour. Given that Jaehaerys is sewing his head back on, it may be the closest proof we’ll have that Daemon did order her killing in addition to demonstrating how foolish he has been. Though this pushes him to do so, Daemon is not one to intentionally open up too much or digest emotional sorrow or regret well.
How House Of The Dragon’s Director Explained Milly Alcock’s Return
Director Geeta Vasant Patel concurred when Tatiana Hullender of Screen Rant questioned him if Rhaenyra had emerged because she had looked up to Daemon. She gave the following explanation for the choice to reinstate Alcock in House of the Dragon:
"You're 100% correct. That's what it appeared to be, at least to me. "I recognise that Rhaenyra." And as we said, she doesn't need to say anything when she looks at him in that dream. We simply focused on his appearance and the significance that stems from every moment before she stares at him and slashes him. You killed a boy, she says. That's not what you do.
"He has heard that from people all along. It's the first time he feels it, though, when young Rhaenyra says it to him. Even though he has been murdering people nonstop since the beginning, this is the first time he is thinking back on what he has done. For the first time, we witness him feeling regret. We witness his emotions. In between takes, we genuinely couldn't stop discussing how this is something we've never seen in Daemon before.
Will Milly Alcock Return Again?
Alcock’s comeback strongly implies that character comebacks are possible. Of course, seeing her again would not come as a surprise—at least not while Daemon and Alys Rivers are both present in Harrenhal.
It remains to be seen if the others will return. It’s unclear whether Sian Brooke’s Aemma Arryn will make a return in House of the Dragon season 2, despite casting announcements and teasers suggesting as much.
Though she might be more difficult to keep a secret, Viserys (Paddy Considine) makes a lot of sense; Laena (Nanna Blondel) is an additional possibility. Daemon’s visions present a variety of possibilities, and as long as they remain grounded in his character journey, as Alcock’s does, I’m interested to see what occurs in the second half of House of the Dragon.
New episodes of House of the Dragon season 2 airs on Sundays at 9 PM ET on HBO and Max.
