HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Ending Explained | Season 2 Episode 3 Reaction & Review: Alicent Knows!

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Ending Explained | season 2 episode 3 reaction & review! We dive into House of the Dragon season 2 episode 3 and Alicent's moment where she realizes the Prince who was promised isn't her son!
In season 2 of HBO's House of the Dragon Rhaenyra and Alicent continue their claims for the throne. Houses will choose sides, who will rule? Starring: Emma D'Arcy, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney and Rhys Ifans
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[@islandgyal3730]

Aemond wins first place for confidence and swagger. He always gives me the creeps. Great actor!

[@MattandJessTV]

omg yes! He gives me the creeps too, he's complicated and compelling. Awesome actor, great character! - Jess

[@MercenaryX84]

Rhaenyra and Alicent continue to be the best dynamic and the life blood of this series. Such a great scene.

[@MattandJessTV]

It was excellent! That scene with the two of them made the episode. It was awesome to see them in the same room together again. - Jess

[@nadia-hopeadderley8986]

The scene with Aemond moved me, he is a very interesting character and full of anger. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the future. The show continues to contrast Allicent's distance and lack of connection with her children vs Rhaenera's bond with her children.

[@MattandJessTV]

And why is that? It's fascinating mostly because Alicent seems to be a caring person, but maybe the issue is what her kids are being forced to do at such a young age. -Matt

[@trishpetty6685]

I just love Matt and Jess. Your enthusiasm is contagious. And we usually feel the same way.😂

[@MattandJessTV]

Awww thank you so much, we appreciate hearing that :). How are you feeling about the season so far?? - Jess

[@sammi088]

‪Alicent face realizing it’s wrong Aegon. But nothing can’t be done so here comes the war 🫣‬

[@MattandJessTV]

Can she at least talk to Otto? Do something? It's a bummer since he can't even do anything now. -Matt

[@CoryGasaway]

Don't worry. We get a major battle next week, The Battle of Rook's Rest, and there are major moments in that battle. Saddle up on your dragon harness! This was the last hopeless, desperate grasp for some peace. But they know there is no stopping it now. The war begins next Sunday night.

[@MattandJessTV]

Now THAT feels exciting! Can they match the battles we've seen in the past? That is what makes it exciting. -Matt

[@CoryGasaway]

​@@MattandJessTVWe shall see. It, by no means, is not the biggest battle of the war, but it sets the tone and the stakes right away. And it's very consequential for both sides.

[@MattandJessTV]

Just that alone is worth being excited about, but I'm glad they didn't rush it! -Matt

[@BonnChnd]

You’re right about Rhaenys. And Helena had the best line of the episode: “I forgive you “. 😂😂

[@MattandJessTV]

Wasn't that surprisingly poignant? She always knows more than she says... Such a unique character! -Matt

[@justenjackson2450]

Aemond was always a bully himself and he lost his eye because Luke was trying to protect his cousin.

[@MattandJessTV]

He absolutely did some bad things, but did he also feel ganged up on at times? Absolutely. I think what we're seeing about the kids in general is that they all had their bad moments, but no one to really check them so that they could learn. Then, everything just slowly spiraled out of control. -Matt

[@justenjackson2450]

@@MattandJessTV true!

[@nadia-hopeadderley8986]

This show continues to excel wirh character development. The screen time between the Blacks and Greens was excellent. The final scene between Allicent and Rhaenera was well executed, but it is too little too late at this point. Aegon is already King, you cannot press Control Z and undo it.

[@MattandJessTV]

Ha if only, right? But can Alicent try to pull strings behind the scenes? May be her best move. -Matt

[@nadia-hopeadderley8986]

Rhaena's departure with the children made me nervous and Rhaenys' scenes were enjoyable. Her dialogue about all of the events shows her wisdom and how much she understands how this war has unfolded.

[@MattandJessTV]

And shouldn't more characters at this point go to her? A little bit of wisdom like that could go a long way, but some of these people (i.e. Aegon) are young and will dig their heels. -Matt

[@melissak8419]

What this reminds me of is that phrase "Too many Cooks in the kitchen." Only this time there are too many heirs vying for the power of the throne and it's not the little children, who are currently being sacrificed, it's the adults vying for power. We can see the look on Alicent's face, no one listens to her, just the look on her face as she tries to give her opinion to the men. The men all want war. Same thing on Rhaenyra's side. The older men are like ok sweetie, you just go away some where safe and we'll fight this war for you. Daemon was trying to take out Aemond, who killed Luke, but now after the Harrenhal episode, by himself, we can see him feeling bad that the child heir, Jaeharys was killed instead. Daemon will do what he needs himself next time to get the job done. I still wonder if he becomes one of the White walkers, because there are a lot in GoTs that look like some random Targaryen. . . But the Dance is about to begin for real next week and some of the adults are about to be truly affected, and Alicent is may not be out on the battlefield, but she is going to feel it.

[@MattandJessTV]

Will Alicent's damage largely be psychological? What is so hard for now is that she may be realizing the truth and second guessing her every move ... if only she realized things sooner... -Matt

[@Ets638]

Excellent review spot on!

[@MattandJessTV]

Thank you so much! How are you enjoying the season? - Jess

[@MikaBeeeeee]

Yay! I enjoyed y’all last summer for BB. Excited to get caught up on your HoT D takes. 😊

[@MattandJessTV]

House of the Dragon is so good this season!!!! Are you team green or team black? :) - Jess

[@MikaBeeeeee]

@@MattandJessTV Team Black all the way!🖤

[@MattandJessTV]

Matt too! He's totally Team Black! :) - Jess

[@idacrow7694]

Next week will be epic

[@MattandJessTV]

I can't wait! The trailer with Aemond on the dragon... the battle looks like it'll be crazy! - Jess

[@chaz5489]

Yes Matt!! The shame shame shame outfit lol that’s totally what it was

[@MattandJessTV]

It was honestly hard for me to think of anything else lol -Matt

[@candacedonald4087]

I got more of a lord Corlys is gonna die vibe that Rhaneys

[@MattandJessTV]

I don't want him to die either lol. I'm team green but at the same time I love love LOVE those two. - Jess

[@BlueJayFromDa9]

Hey Matt and Jess I know you guys probably been asked this already but why did you guys stop reviewing the Power shows?

[@MattandJessTV]

Hey Hey! We have answered this question a lot over the years, but we don't mind answering it again :) At the time that we dropped Power we dropped a few shows like Power, NCIS, Grey's Anatomy etc because we had too much happening all at once and we couldn't keep up. by the time things settled down more that a year had passed and we didn't have time to catch back up and now it's been a long while, I think over two years and we just can't catch up with all the seasons we've missed to cover it so we had to let go all those shows we cut and move forward. - Jess

[@mandolyn]

Aemonds brother was his main bully and his mother refused to see it

[@MattandJessTV]

Doesn't matter if someone is a "main" bully or a secondary bully. if you are bullying someone you are responsible for what you are doing to that person and Jace and Luke and Aegon are all responsible for what they did to Aemond when they were younger. - Jess

[@mandolyn]

@@MattandJessTV It absolutely matters it all matters Aegon and Aemond were raised to hate Jace and Luce.. It matters that Aegon was the ringleader but that was pushed aside and Luce and Jace were blamed it absolutely shaped what happened.

[@MattandJessTV]

Bullying is bullying, Jace and Luke do not get a pass for what they did to him. All three participated in bullying Aemond, all three are take their blame. No one is saying aemond or aegon are innocent angels Aegon and Aemond have done awful things too, but Luke and Jace are not innocent angels either. - Jess

[@mandolyn]

@@MattandJessTV none of them are innocent. None of them get free pass for what happened the night Aemond lost his eye,Aemond included. There are no excuses for what happened to Luce either.

[@MattandJessTV]

@@mandolyn 100%, everyone has blame in all of it. - Jess

[@deljs6]

Hopefully Raenyera puts the white worm on her counsul !

[@MattandJessTV]

I could see it happening, but the problem with white worm is will she be loyal? - Jess

[@chaz5489]

The only thing I heard going into this season is that episode 4 is comparable to Battle of the Bastards. That’s a pretty high bar to reach but if it’s even close to that it’ll be incredible!! I am so fricken excited!!

[@MattandJessTV]

I know!! We previewed it earlier and honestly, isn't it high time? The bar is RAISED lol -Matt

[@giodarcangelo1087]

The buildup for this war has been crazy, can’t wait to see it unfold. Episode 1 I was house black, ep 2 house green, this episode put me back towards house black but I can’t make my mind up lmao

[@MattandJessTV]

Haha and could it change again next week? How things shift here could be a part of the fun? -Matt

[@giodarcangelo1087]

@@MattandJessTV for sure

[@chaz5489]

I must say, I am very very nervous for my boy Daemon! I’m so not ready to see him die but the girl telling him he’s gonna die there screams bad news for Daemon. It gave me Red woman telling Varys he’s gonna die in Westeros and we know what happened with that.

[@MattandJessTV]

Yeah, there's a good reason to be concerned ... but can he just die there decades down the road? We need him for Team Black so I'm sticking to that lol -Matt

[@loiscobb687]

Excellent episode 👍👏 with the women characters. And is the other depraved son any better than current depraved king? Did Eric unalive himself because he didn't want to live with knowledge of unaliving his brother or some other reason ? The way that scene was shot was amazing, i really watched each frame trying to figure out which brother was who. How many years will it take to rebuild Harrenhal Castle lol😂? Okay Matt and Jess I have on my hard and tin foil hats and still have lots of questions. 😊

[@MattandJessTV]

Hahaha and there are some good ones! So, who is be working on Harrelhal? It didn't feel like there were that many people there! I just felt like this was the most believable episode of the season when it comes to how some of the characters acted. -Matt

[@loiscobb687]

@@MattandJessTV I agree, the characters were flushed out very well.

[@jasonsadowski1070]

Last season when they made the decision to go with a misunderstood deathbed fever dream as the reason that lead to the Dance of the Dragons, I said in comments & conversations the only way it really works is at some point this reveal had to occur. Now my original hope had been that this moment between the two characters would happen in a final conversation between the two. To avoid spoilers I won't be more specific. I enjoyed the moment it was a brilliant decision by the showrunners. I love the way they are giving us little pieces & hints about the Dragon Seeds and the unclaimed dragons. This is not a spoiler because in the books Laenor is actually dead but I am really wondering how they are going to handle the dragon SeaSmoke who has appeared in all 3 episodes in season 2. What I mean is according to lore a dragon is bonding with a single dragon mount until the person dies. Meaning no other person can claim a dragon that has a bond even if that mount is separated from the dragon. I am extremely nervous that Seasmoke is going to end up somewhere that Rhaenea is. I am worried she is going to try to claim her Uncle's dragon not realizing that it is impossible since her uncle's death was faked. A lot like the deathbed prophecy they have to have some idea of what they were going to in order to make such a major change from the books. I think Rhaenea's lack of a dragon and frustration with that reality is going to be her demise in what will be another tragic accident that occurs because of a lie, omission, or inconvenient truth.

[@MattandJessTV]

That is an interesting thought! It certainly feels like a reason for concern -- is it possible that Laenor could come back in some capacity as well? I know he faked his own death, but still. -Matt

[@CoryGasaway]

They brought up "dragonseeds" in this episode. A dragonseed is a bastard or person who has Targaryen blood who can also ride these dragons. They have introduced them all this season right in front of your face. Seasmoke will be ridden by one of them. You'll have to find out who that is. I won't spoil it.

[@MattandJessTV]

Thank you! Love having a few mysteries to look forward to... -Matt

[@jasonsadowski1070]

@@MattandJessTV I have to think the plan has to be bringing him back at some point otherwise keeping him alive to have him never return or die offscreen really doesnt make sense. I dont know if you read any of the first five (and seemingly only 5) books in the Song of Ice & Fire series but there was a significant number of characters who would pretend to be someone else or hide by taking a new identity for one reason or another. Had the show gone that route they would have needed 5 more seasons just include those stories, a lot of it in the books was overkill. In the show really the only case of dual identities was with Theon/ Reek although that wasn't necessarily a choice he made for himself. I suppose you can count how briefly Sansa pretended to be someone else when traveling with LittleFinger and Arya pretended to be a boy to escape Kingslanding & avoid the Lannisters hunting her. I bring that up because I dont think that Laenor is going to return publicly. I think some event (again to avoid spoilers I won't mention any of the potential book events) will get back to him wherever he is and he will have so much guilt, anger, sadness or all three that he feels like he needs to get involved. I think HOTD has done a much better job of showing the scale of this world compared to GOT. What I mean by that is tonight episode had Alicent's brother explain it took 3 months to travel from Oldtown to Kingslanding GOT's fast travel in addition to be distracting never allowed us to appreciate great distances to better understand the setbacks & complexity of a failed strategy. I bring this up to say Laenor could very easily return to Westeros as someone else and not have to worry about people finding out who he really is. I dont think it will be a Dragon Seed because he couldn't claim another dragon and if he returned as Seasmoke's mount but pretending to be someone else both Rhaenera & Daemon would instantly know the truth. I also don't think he would return to serve in his father's fleet because he was too prominent & recognizable so that ruse would only lead to more problems. I think if he returns it could be tied to working for the Stark army or as a saboteur of sort pretending to be working in service of team Green. I have seen some people suggest that Seasmoke's restlessness in the past 2 episodes might be an emotional response to Laenor dying offscreen because as we have seen in the finale of GOT and episode 1 this season dragons understand the pain of deaths. My theory is far more likely to be dead wrong but I think there is a possibility that Larys Strong possesses the ability to warg like Bran and he might be able to briefly control Seasmoke but is unable to maintain control for very long. So when we hear Seasmoke cry out it could be after he leaves Seasmoke's mind and the cry is simply him unsure of what is going on or wondering what happened. I think there have been a bunch of clues suggesting Larys has this ability (to be clear the book never suggests this) . I think Helena 's scared of the rats prophecy was not about a rat catcher or the vermin but a hint at this possibility. I think why he is so knowledgeable is because he wargs into Red Keep rats. While we have seen extremely capable masters of the whispers in this franchise it feels different with him. In the scene right before Blood is killed by the King curiously Larys who in episode 1 claimed he hired and vetted all of the staff including the rat catchers never bothers to ask for a description or suggests they round up the rat catchers for a "police lineup" of sorts so Blood can point him out. Instead all the rat catchers are killed and let's face it I doubt anyone new will be applying for those openings after what happened anytime soon. There is only really one reason for not wanting to narrow down who that rat catcher is which is if he is a warg his spy network needs rats around. Only killing one specific rat catcher leaves his network vulnerable whereas if you leave it up to the King to punish the guilty party he might kill them all to ensure the guilty person didn't get away with it. Suddenly without any rat catchers employed his network is stronger than ever.

[@Gemstar_70]

Happy Canada Day, fellow Canadians! ☺🇨🇦

[@MattandJessTV]

Happy Canada day!!!! What are you planning for a celebration??? - Jess

[@Gemstar_70]

@@MattandJessTV I'm planning to just relax after a long week of work which will continue when I return. Plus, too many fireworks to see & hear from where I reside. What are your plans?

[@MattandJessTV]

Sounds nice! Always nice to have some relaxing time! I had to work all day so I had some burgers to celebrate after work. :) - Jess

[@Gemstar_70]

@@MattandJessTV Sounds lovely! 👍

[@MattandJessTV]

it was great! nice and relaxing and tomorrow I get to do it again for the 4th! Benefits of being a dual citizen hahahaha. I get to celebrate all the holidays :) - Jess

[@dansdollar8318]

G.O.T. Mother of Dragons is from what house? From the house where the child was beheaded in episode two or the other?

[@MattandJessTV]

I'm honestly afraid to really know in fear of spoiling the end! My guess is that she's from Rhaenyra's line but book readers will know. -Matt

[@mandolyn]

It was a good episode Got had such great characters and dialog ,this was needled. I think Alicent knew Viserys never changes his mind. It wouldnt change anything but Alicent held on to her hypocrisy for so long and held others to this piousness she couldnt hold to. This will eat Alicent alive and it should .Alicent was awful to Rhaenyra and her children, this was always going to happen the only change now is Alicent can no longer tell herself it was the right thing.

[@MattandJessTV]

Will she allow the guilt to drive her towards some better things? I honestly hope so. Don't sit by while the world suffers! -Matt

[@mandolyn]

@@MattandJessTV I think she may but there's little she ever had the power to do aside from in the beginning she shouldn't have raised her kids to hate Rhaenyras, that mistake has been made well before she heard what she wanted in Viserys death bed words. This will drive her mad.

[@mandolyn]

I dont believe its as Jess is saying it is ,its un fact the same as the greens. The men want Rhaenyra gone so they can loose the dragons same as te greens want war. Rhaenyra is level headed and doesnt want pure destruction.

[@MattandJessTV]

The Blacks have a queen, and they want her to sit out while they plan the war because she hasn't wanted war. On team green they have a king and he hasn't been told to sit out and his whole council including him want war. There are differnet mindsets on the two sides so far which is what makes it interesting. The only two people that haven't wanted war are rhaenyra and Alicent - rhaenyra is a queen in charge or everything, alicent is not in charge of anything. - Jess

[@mandolyn]

​@@MattandJessTV it's not about Alicent, she has no faith Aegon either. They see him as weak. He said he was as strong and fearsome asbany.of them and everyone side eyed it. He's not respected. They were making plans without him,they be happy to do what they wanted and say it's in his name=same. The difference is Rhaenyra is level headed and doing the right thing. Aegon isnt.