House of the Dragon Episode 3 Recap: Rhaenyra Meets Alicent in Secret

deleciousfood | July 2, 2024 | Chocolate | No Comments

Spoiler alert: This article discusses a plot point from the June 30 episode of “House of the Dragon,” currently airing on Max.

Being buried for eternity under shovelfuls of dirt in “House of the Dragon” should never be a pleasant experience.

Yet the funeral in Episode 3 of the tragic knights Erryk and Arryk Cargyll, played by identical twins Elliott and Luke Tittensor respectively, was a kind of celebration in the HBO spin-off “Game of Thrones.”

That’s because the “dirt” thrown onto the warriors lying in their shared grave—after they died in an epic battle in Episode 2—was actually made up of a combination of dark and delicious desserts.

“They served us a chocolate cake and crushed Oreo biscuits worth about £300 (about $379),” says Luke Tittensor. “It was a really nice experience.”

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“They throw it in your face and you want to lick your lips and eat cake,” Elliott Tittensor says. “But then you’re like, ‘Oh, we’re supposed to be dead here.’”

Michael Dawson, special effects supervisor for “Dragon,” confirms that the potting mix was 70 percent Oreo cookies and 30 percent chocolate cake.

How did the Cargyll twins die in ‘House of the Dragon’?

In the June 23 episode, Arryk, allied with King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), posed as his doppelganger brother to sneak into the private quarters of Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), a rival claimant to the Iron Throne. Rhaenyra’s bodyguard Erryk intervened to thwart his brother’s plan and killed him, before throwing himself on his own sword in desperation.

Filming the funeral was even more strangely celebratory because it was the Tittensors’ last day of work on the show.

“We had finished the job and they were burying us,” Luke said. “It felt like we were having a party because they were throwing cake at us. It was a strange day.”

Both managed to keep their cool for the funeral scene. “Dragon” already saw the murder of King Aegon’s infant son in the June 16 Season 2 premiere and the death of Rhaenyra’s son, Prince Lucerys, in the Season 1 finale.

The funeral is a gruesome image that vividly illustrates the collateral damage that occurs when powerful people fight.

“There’s so much symbolism in this image,” says Episode 3 director Geeta Vasant Patel. “The brothers represent both sides. They had hearts and were loving beings. But all we see here is death. And the clock is ticking with every bit of dirt that’s thrown at them.”

A hardened Rhaenyra stands at the edge of the grave, driven to vengeance by her eldest son Jacaerys (Harry Collett). However, Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best) valiantly tries to counsel her niece Rhaenyra, pointing out that the origins of the war that is brewing are lost with every act of vengeance.

“Rhaenys knows there’s light and she’s pushing for it. She says one of my favorite lines: ‘We’re teetering on the edge where none of this will matter.’ She’s referring to where it all began,” Patel says. “But Rhaenyra is paramount in ending it. It’s not a conversation she wants to have.”

What happens in episode 3 of “House of the Dragon”?

Rhaenyra changes her mind and decides to desperately try to talk to her childhood best friend, Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), to stop the war. Rhaenyra’s plan is a bold mirror of Arryk’s: she will sneak into King’s Landing in disguise and approach Alicent as she prays in the sept outside the castle gates. Rhaenyra risks her life in hostile territory to demand peace.

The scene takes place in the exact candlelit spot where young Alicent and Rhaenyra prayed together in Season 1. Adult Rhaenyra approaches shot by shot in the same manner to meet Alicent kneeling and very surprised.

“This moment tells the story of Rhaenyra reaching out to Alicent in a time of war and using their friendship as a mechanism to change her mind,” Patel explains. “The setting evokes the time when they were young girls and best friends, and they trusted each other.”

In this breathtaking whispered conversation, Alicent reveals the final words of her husband, King Viserys, that caused her to push her son Aegon to the throne instead of Rhaenyra, Viserys’ daughter and longtime heir to the throne.

By candlelight, the two realize that Viserys was actually referring to the legendary Aegon the Conqueror on his deathbed, not his unstable grandson, who now sits on the Iron Throne.

Alicent realizes she is about to go to war because of a misunderstood statement. But it is too late. Alicent flees the meeting; Rhaenyra lets her go, looking beyond the candles. The last chance for peace is gone.

“It’s a wonderful episodic arc. At the tomb, the doors are closed to Rhaenyra; there’s no way she’s going to talk to Alicent. Yet Rhaenyra still comes to see Alicent,” Patel says. “But at the end, Rhaenyra comes right back to where she was at the tomb. She acts like it’s Alicent’s fault. But it takes two.”

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