 She does not look like a blushing bride. Very polite killing. So take that for what you wish. And she's preggers with another one. Okay, time has passed. Out of the Dragon, episode three was really, really good. I feel like there are three major things that I feel like were my takeaways from that episode that I wanna talk about. In the interest of being a little more organized about this video, I'm gonna tell you ahead of time, I'm gonna talk about the time skip, Viserie's indecision and reyneera kind of in general, but some specific stuff to do with reyneera. So, first things first, time skip. I mentioned in the previous video I did on episode two that it bothered me how quickly Allison and Viserie seem to have formed a relationship and we didn't really get to see that happen. And I said in that video that I understand the need to keep what you show on screen to a minimum because there's a lot to get through. So I appreciate very much that they're not just dragging things out and wasting a bunch of screen time. That said, I would have appreciated a larger time skip to imply that things had happened off screen and to perhaps bookend that time skip with a more awkward, reticent, distant relationship and then a time skip by which point maybe we would already have the older actresses or if not still a greater time skip at which point we would see a pretty big shift in their dynamic prior to him deciding to marry her. I went into a lot of reasons for why that bothered me in that video so if you missed it, I'll link it down below. But anyway, so we did get a time skip, a substantial time skip in episode three. And several things about this time skip, the way they handled it were excellent. I mentioned again in I think the first video I did on episode one that in general, I love seeing in House of the Dragon that they trust the audience, that they do not spoon feed things to you, that they allow, they don't have a ton of like stupid and really unnatural sounding expository dialogue or exposition or voiceover narration or stuff like that. And they've done a really good job of crafting scenes where information is delivered to you but in organic ways that feel natural to the scene where no one's talking in naturally, no one's saying, I who hold this position wish to address you who hold this position and have this history with me and is married to, you know, like people don't talk like that. So I appreciate that they don't do that. So with the time skip also, they never say that a time skip happened. I mean, like in terms of the show does not address the audience at any point with that information. There's no like title card that says two years later. It doesn't do anything like that. It doesn't have a voiceover. Say what happened in the interim? We just start the episode at which point you're like, oh, there's a baby. That baby looks two years old. And then someone's like, oh, it's his second name day. You're like, he is two years old and she's preggers with another one. Okay, time has passed. And I mean, this is a perfect example of why I hate it when they do hold your hand at other shows. Cause I'm like, it's not that hard to pick up. Like you, an audience member can see that and go, okay, two years have passed. Like I didn't need a title card to tell me that. I can work that out for myself. And it feels more engaging that way too. Cause instead of a show being like, let me hand you information that you must now remember. And you're like, oh, what is this lecture? Instead, you're watching the episode and you like wanna know what's gonna happen. And you're like, hang on, something's different. There's a child. Okay, I think it's been two years. Okay, cool. It has been two years. And now you like, you've like done the investigating. So you're like engaged to a much better way to do it. And then the same thing goes for not just how much time has passed, but what has happened in the interim, two years is a long time, especially in a political situation like this with movers and shakers. We're talking about royalty like, you know, stuff happens. And especially with the way that we left things in the second episode, there was a lot of uncertainty in the air. So two years, if two plus years have gone by, cause you know, we have to allow for them getting married, or getting pregnant, and this kid is now two years old. So that's probably closer to three years that have passed. Again, they allow the scenes that they show us to tell us what has happened in the interim. They allow conversations and not just the content of those conversations, but the dynamics between the individuals who are having those conversations do the telling for us. So we see how the relationship between Rayneera and Allison has deteriorated, not because anyone told it to us, but we have a very quick scene to show that. And all we need is to remember what the last scene we saw with them together was like, juxtapose those in our mind, and we don't need to be told anything else. We're like, yeah, okay, I have a pretty good read on this situation right now, and I have a pretty good idea of why that is the way that it is. You see similarly scenes between Rayneera and her father, and they don't talk a ton about what has passed, but the fact that she's being pushed towards a betrothal with a Lannister, you get this information very quickly and very efficiently in a very natural organic way. And you also quickly find out that this is the latest in a series. So again, we didn't need an awkward dialogue or exposition to be like, over the last three years, there have been this many suitors and blah, blah, blah, like there's the very natural moments when this information is delivered to us. So those are just a couple of examples of when it did that. But basically what I'm saying is they handled the time skip really, really well. Now, there's some things that are quite different from the book. And I said before, you know, again, in my conversation or in my video about episode one, that this is a great opportunity for writers to stretch their creative legs because the book is written like a history book. And so there's a lot of detail to fill in that you have to fill in because the book does not give it to you. But beyond just filling in the details and therefore adding things to the story, they all have also changed some things, which if you have a good reason for it, if there's a legitimate narrative reason for doing this, like, I'm all for it. I won't be mad at something being different just because of the different. So the fact that Allison and Raniera were friends before is a new addition. And so them not getting along early on in this marriage with her father, it's kind of a reversal of what goes on in the book where she's a stranger and she marries her Raniera's father and at first they get along. And it's only later that they, you know, to be, I don't want to say anything spoilery for what happens later, but even now we're seeing the seeds of discord being sown. So it's no surprise that they don't, they already don't get along. And so another, so moving on now to Viseria's indecision. Again, this is something that, I guess I would say a change from the book, at least insofar as this is not something that we are told in the book. So since it's like a history book and we kind of like skip over anything that's not a big event, I suppose the day to day where somebody might harbor doubts would not necessarily be included in a history text like that. So it's not contradicting the book, but it's definitely a new thing that we wouldn't be like, oh, just like the book is having doubts. The way the show handled that, I thought was so interesting for the show itself the way it is right now and also just knowing what I know about what's to come and I don't want to say what's to come. Like you probably already can guess a lot of what's to come but I don't want to say because if you haven't read the book, I don't want to spoil it for you. But given what is what I know about what, if it's gonna follow the book, which I have no reason to believe for the most part follow the book, given what I know about what's to come, the inclusion of Viserys indecision, not only that he has this indecision and this doubt and the way that they show that I'll get, I'll talk about how they show it so cleverly, but the fact that he shares doubts with Alison and certainty with Reynira and he doesn't share with either of them the other version of things, so that makes sense. Alison only hears about his doubts and Reynira only hears about his certainty. Neither of them has a whole picture about where his mind is about this right now and each of course is biased and has reason to want to believe he feels a certain kind of way about things. But I love the way that the show has in these three episodes established that Viserys is definitely one for dreams, for portents, for signs, like this is like in the very first episode he tells Emma that he's had a dream about their kid. Like this is a big thing for him specifically. And so the idea that the white heart being a symbol of royalty, when he's heard that there's going to be a white heart, that it's one's been cited, one is around, it's most likely going to be caught for this hunt, which is a big, it's a royal sign for his royal son. Then did he make a mistake naming Reynira his heir? And these are the, this is what creates the doubt and this is what when he's sharing those doubts. And then after he finds that the stag is just a brown stag, it's not a white heart like had been told to him. He looks a little disappointed slash relieved and it's after that that he then goes to Reynira and is like, you're my heir, done and done, that's not changing. You see him grappling with the, it's not that he's purely motivated by signs and symbols and dreams, because you can see how much he also cares about the people in his life, cares about his son, he cares about his daughter, he cares about his wife. If there aren't just pawns on a Omen-filled chessboard to him, but he's sort of looking for signs to confirm things for him and either way is a hard path because he doesn't want to disappoint the realm or his wife, he would like for a sign to show him that it would be right to give the crown to his son because he kind of dreamed it before and he'd kind of like that to happen, but he does not want to disappoint Reynira. So he also would like for a sign to show him that he was right to break with tradition and give Reynira the crown. So either way he's kind of like looking for a sign, he's like, I don't know what to do. I kind of like and hate both. So the show does a very good job of kind of showing how conflicted he is, how it wore with himself, he is about this. So for a show about a civil war, a familial civil war, the civil war begins in the mind of a series warring with itself. So it's no surprise that there's a ripple effect to that core of indecision. So I'm moving on to Reynira, the symbolism of the white heart, fact that it appears to Reynira, this again is not really something that's in the book, but I feel like by showing us this, it both kind of like closes the loop on the fact that this was introduced as pertains to Viserys and his son. So it's not just like forgotten about, you're like, no, it is around and it didn't show himself to Viserys or a sign it showed itself to Reynira. So take that for what you wish. That doesn't, there's a lot of stuff in Game of Thrones, you know, we had in the very first episode, was it the first episode or was it in the very beginning? We had the dire wolves and the dead stag and you're like, you know, is it just dead animals or is it a portent? You know, you decide. But I feel like it's also, it's pretty clear in how it's showing us this, that the show has decided who it thinks you will root for or who it wants you to root for. We've already been shown that she was named heir in terms of what's sort of officially on record, she has the right to claim the throne. And now if you're into portents and signs, nature has also shown the sign that she's the rightful heir. So if there comes a time when this is contested, the audience has been primed to be like, no, Reynira's in the right. Anytime a character is suggesting that, well, this is a break with tradition or it should be a boy or it will be a boy or whatever, anyone who's questioning the idea that Reynira will inherit the throne, it's usually voiced by a character that we've already been primed not to like or been shown reason to be suspicious of. That is never suggested by a character that we have been prepped to like. In fact, Allison is a complicated character that we at first are made to like and then kind of feel mixed about because of she's pushed into this by her father to like get the king's eye. So it's kind of seems shady, but also she herself has appeared to be kind of an unwilling participant or a similarity of a series. You know, she's of two minds about this. She also harbors doubts. So she's not been made a character that we hate at all. She's painted quite sympathetically ultimately. So when we see Otto Hightower who has been painted as quite a sort of conniving, scheming little finger type, again, he's the one talking to Allison and saying, you know, that, oh, it should be a son and you should fight for it to be your own son. And she herself is like questioning that and being like, I don't quite see it that way and if it is my son. So again, anytime the idea that Viserys son and not Rainier should inherit the throne, it's told to us by a character that we dislike. Further symbolism with Rainier, which has now become a trend across all the episodes and it's sort of, I don't know if it comes to a head, but it's certainly continued in this third episode. I mentioned again in my video on the first episode that the very first time you see a lot of characters you're giving your first impression of who they are and the show runners have been very careful about how they dress with the characters, how they position the characters the first time you met them. And I pointed out that Rainier, the first time you see her is on dragonback and is wearing, not armor, but she's wearing, you know, her dragon riding gear. So she's dressed for action. In episode two, when the small council learned about the problem with the stepstones and the fact that there is the potential need for armed conflict, she is the one that speaks up and suggests that they use dragons, that they use force, that they take action. This is shot down, but that's, she's been silent in that room up until that point. And when she chooses to speak up, it's to suggest action. And when she is dismissed from the room, it's to choose one from among the candidates for to be added to the king's guard. And again, when she's shown the candidates, her question about them all is, which of them has seen action? Which of them has actual battle experience? Where again, that is the, pretty much the only criteria that she voices an interest in. When Damon causes a problem, she takes action. She gets on her dragon and goes to take care of it herself. It is to prevent violent conflict, but she is taking action. And so in this third episode, when they were going on a hunt that she says she doesn't wanna go on, but she has to go, and a hunt is, you know, this masculine thing which involves violence, it involves the killing of an animal. We have, again, the sort of juxtaposition of the controlled environment of the servants and the guards and whoever who have corralled the stag so and have it, you know, held by ropes and ready for the king to make his like ceremonial killing. And it's all very neat and tidy and viscerious. If he gets any blood on him, it is not much. It's very, very controlled and very polite killing versus Rainiera who is out in the woods by herself and is almost mauled by a boar which she, with the help of Kristen Cole, kills and stabs to death and gets covered in blood. So when she marches into the encampment where everyone is there for the hunt out of all those dudes that are there for the hunt that are dressed in armor, that are ostensibly there to engage in action, she's the one marching through there who has seen blood and seen action and is still covered in blood. So at every turn she is kind of positioned as somebody who takes action, is interested in taking action, is capable of taking action, and that is how she is always framed and now not only framed in private because a lot of those instances before were in the privacy of the small council of the Targaryen family, those would be the people aware of this. Now this is in public. So she's been publicly paraded around as an eligible match for betrothal but now she is publicly covered in blood and wearing clothes for action. She does not look like a blushing bride. Now across these three episodes, the show has also constantly made an effort to pair Rainiera with Daemon and not necessarily, when I say pair, I don't necessarily mean like that they are working together on things but it constantly draws parallels between them, either visually or even in having characters comment upon it. So again in my review of the first episode, again I talked about how they were all presented when you first saw them, what they were wearing and what impression that gave and how Daemon was almost invariably dressed in armor, dressed for action, shown taking action and Rainiera is also frequently shown this way. The series comments out loud on the fact that they are similar. I think he does this twice. I know he does it in episode three. I believe he did it before as well, putting voice to it, saying that they remind him of each other or that they're birds of a feather or that they're very similar. And he refers to her as a thorn or to Daemon as a thorn in his side and asks if his daughter must insist on being one as well but it's still linking Daemon and Rainiera. Daemon and Rainiera are both perspective heirs to the throne. Daemon was the heir until Viserys decided to name Rainiera the heir so this would in theory put them at odds with each other, put them in opposition with each other. And yet when Daemon created a conflict in episode two, the person who was able to quell that conflict was Rainiera. So even though politics would have them be at odds, they keep being paired. They keep being kindred spirits. She's the one that talks him down. She's the one that's able to get through to him. And really they have more in common than they have at odds because neither of them feels that they have a strong unshakable claim to the throne. Obviously Daemon was booted out in favor of Rainiera but Rainiera feels no more certain about her position than he does. It's by the end of the third episode that she gets some reason to feel somewhat certain but she's like, okay, you named me heir but like for how long until your son gets to be here instead. So both Rainiera and Daemon have reason to think, okay, I was named heir but I still have to earn it. I still have to prove myself worthy of it. I still have to claim it. I still have to seize it. It's not actually been given to me. So again, they are quite similar in their positions in that regard. And then again, as I mentioned Rainiera is the one that ends up blooded on the hunt after her encounter with the boar. And again, Daemon is shown in this episode being the one to go out by himself on his sort of suicide mission at the Stepstones. And he's the one that gets shot at and gets blooded in his action. So they both take reckless action and they both get bloodied and they both end up like, I don't know, victorious is the word I'd want to apply to either situation but they come out alive. So the way that the episode kind of frames both of them, again, there's a great deal of parallel in how they are being depicted. Like out of everybody who was a main character whose name we know who we're following in episode three, it is Daemon and it is Rainiera who have gone and taken action and seen violence and have been bloodied. So episode three was extremely interesting. Again, a lot of their choices in how they frame things and how they make conversations unfold, the way that they convey information continues to have this excellent subtlety that makes it feel more realistic, that gives you actually a lot more information than if they just told it to you. Because if you just spoon feed information then the only information that the audience is receiving is the piece of information that you were handing them as opposed to when you convey information through implication, then not only are you getting this piece of information that you wanted conveyed, but you get the full context of that information. You get other pieces of information to come with it as concerns like an attitude about that or a problem to do with that. You just, there's so many more layers that are conveyed when information is delivered to you in that way. It's the comparison that just pops into my mind for it is like the difference between taking a multivitamin and eating the food that the vitamin was derived from. So like you can get the vitamin but then you're literally just getting this vitamin as opposed to eating, like if it's a vitamin C tablet then you're just getting vitamin C. But if you eat an orange then you're getting vitamin C and also all the other vitamins and minerals that an orange has, you're getting fiber, you're getting some sugar and some carbohydrates. So you get so much more out of an orange than you do out of a vitamin C tablet. So that's my comparison for spoon feeding exposition versus organically implying information in a way that the audience can pick it up for themselves. So it's just a lot better all around. You're able to utilize screen time more efficiently and effectively. It's a more enjoyable experience for the audience and you will just convey a lot more information that way. So yeah, those are my thoughts on episode three. All in all, I have no complaints. I'm sure I could find one if I looked, but you know, why try to be unhappy? So let me know your thoughts in the comments down below about episode three. Did you think it was great? Did you actually have some problems with it? If you agree or disagree with my assessment of the pieces that I analyzed about it, whatever you let me know. episode videos on Saturdays, other random houses will be out on Saturdays so like and subscribe. Join my Patreon if you feel so inclined and I'll see you when I see you.