House of the Dragon fans find humour in the tragedy of episode 3

What did you miss?

War is coming in House of the Dragon, and episode 3 was the calm before the storm as the last chance to avoid conflict came and went over the course of this week's narrative.

Viewers were besides themselves with both amusement and shock at the turn of events that the episode took, with many pointing to a key scene featuring Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) as the highlight of this week's narrative. With tensions rising in Westeros and blood already being spilled for their respective causes, there was one conversation that stood out.

But before we explore how and why viewers reacted to the episode, be warned that this article contains spoilers for episode 3 of season 2.

What, how and why?

The series has always prided itself on its ability to surprise people, this usually happens through gore or shock factor but it did so in episode 3 in a different way — it did so through a conversation. This might not seem believable, but it's true.

Rhaenyra has done her best to try and avoid all out war between her supporters in Team Black and Team Green, Prince Aegon loyalists led by his mother Alicent. To do this, Rhaenyra decided to sneak into King's Landing to speak with Alicent about what has passed between them, finally learning exactly why she felt so compelled to put her son on the throne and challenge Rhaenyra's claim.

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Alicent tells Rhaenyra of King Viserys' final words about the Prince Who Was Promised and mentioning Aegon's name, which she incorrectly believed meant that Viserys wanted their son on the throne. Rhaenyra then told her of the prophecy and how she misunderstood her father's words, but in the end it proved no use as Alicent refused to undo her mistake.

Viewers were surprised by the scene, but turned the heartfelt moment into something of a joke. Sharing their thoughts on X, one person shared a clip of a woman 'oh' in surprise and wrote: "alicent realising she was wrong and started a war because she couldn't tell the aegons apart"

Another viewer shared a still of Rhaenyra looking shocked, and said: "RHAENYRA'S FACE WHEN SHE REALIZED THAT ALICENT MADE HER SON KING BECAUSE SHE MIXED UP HER AEGONS!!! I'M WHEEZING!!!". One person also said: "Alicent realising she started this entire war because Targaryens have a bad habit of naming all their sons Aegon".

Another viewer complained about how the Prince Who Was Promised phrophecy was fumbled in Game of Thrones, by writing: "Please do not bring up the prince who was promised prophecy I’m still not over the fact that Jon snow was revealed to be a Targaryen for Z-E-R-O reason".

There were other viewers who shared memes to represent the conversation between Alicent and Rhaenyra, one shared a short clip of Sydney Sweeney's Euphoria character Cassie being at a loss for words and wrote: "rhaenyra: 'that was aegon the conqueror', alicent:"

What else happened on House of the Dragon?

The episode also saw Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) heading to Harrenhal to conquer it in Rhaenyra's name, and staying at the decrepit castle. There he begins to be plagued by strange visions, including a young Rhaenyra who jibes him at every turn.

This episode marked the return of Milly Alcock in the role of Rhaenyra, the actor played the part for the first four episodes of season 1. Her return, albeit brief, was celebrated by viewers who enjoyed seeing the actor reprise her role.

House of the Dragon airs every Monday on Sky Atlantic.