The third episode of House of the Dragon definitely places the “fire” in A Song of Ice and Fire. The episode begins with a tableau that’s equal elements Pirates of the Caribbean and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, as injured foot troopers loyal to Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) and Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) lie howling within the mud at low tide. A grotesque determine, masked and lumbering with a hunched gait and lengthy, greasy tufts of skinny hair, approaches certainly one of these writhing males.

That masked man’s identify is Craghas Drahar (Daniel Scott-Smith), additionally recognized as “The Crabfeeder” for his propensity to go away his enemies staked to bloodstained shores to allow them to undergo an extended, painful dying being eaten alive by sea creatures. The fallen soldier defies this monstrous form, telling him to only wait till his prince arrives with a dragon to burn all of them to ashes. And Daemon Targaryen does certainly come by in a flaming blaze of glory — however not earlier than his poor, loyal swordsman will get nailed to a chunk of driftwood and left to die.

At the chance of stating the plain, conflict and navy technique are as important to A Song of Ice and Fire as palace intrigue and pornographic descriptions of feast tables groaning with scrumptious meals. The battlefield is the place legends are born, alliances are examined, and the reputations of kings and queens are made and unmade. Game of Thrones befell throughout an period of violent upheaval, the place everybody was at all times watching their backs and the facility dynamics could possibly be upended at any time. House of the Dragon, however, takes place in a local weather that’s extra like our personal: The late days of a decaying dynasty, the place these in cost have change into complacent sufficient that they really feel they’ll merely ignore any threats to their energy, regardless of how violent, till they go away.

Photo: Ollie Upton/HBO

There’s a well-liked notion that guerrilla warfare was not practiced in medieval Europe, the premise for Westeros and A Song of Ice And Fire. And Game of Thrones, most of the time, defaulted to formal clashes with lengthy lead instances. But simply as nomadic bands of Vikings and Mongols used disorganized ways and the component of shock to raid fort cities all through Europe, Craghas and his military of mercenaries are combating a guerrilla conflict towards the Targaryen institution. They accomplish that ostensibly for the appropriate to cost tolls to service provider ships passing by this rocky sequence of islands on their method to the Free Cities past. But they struggle with a ferocity and sadism that means that there’s extra occurring right here than easy greed.

The Targaryens’ fleet of dragons make them probably the most highly effective pressure within the recognized world, and centuries of energy have made them boastful. But regardless of possessing this final trump card — to not point out extra ships, weapons, and troopers than their opponents — the conflict within the Stepstones has dragged on for 3 years. The key to the Crabfeeder’s technique is to neutralize the Targaryen forces’ most dear weapon by retreating into the caves that dot the rocky shoreline of the Stepstones, eliminating the Targaryens’ potential to wipe out his total pressure with one whispered “Dracarys.”

And but, King Viserys (Paddy Considine) refuses to interact with information concerning the conflict throughout his son’s identify day celebration, telling involved envoys that “it’s been three years. Surely this can wait three days.” He’s so positive that the Targaryens’ navy may (i.e. dragonfire) can by no means actually be challenged, he dismisses the seriousness of this risk from with out. And, to be honest, the Targaryens are fairly good at tearing themselves other than the within, too — there’s a lot to maintain a king, significantly a soft-hearted one who tries to please everybody, busy at courtroom. But if a handful of sellswords and a self-proclaimed prince with a crudely customary masks and nothing to lose might hold two of the nice homes of Westeros (to not point out a number of dragons) at bay for years, what might a much bigger and higher organized enemy do with those self same ways?

Photo: Ollie Upton/HBO

By comparability, the proud Prince Daemon has a lot to lose. His title, his wealth, his popularity, and maybe most significantly, his satisfaction are all on the road. This total conflict was spurred on by Targaryen satisfaction, the results of an alliance made out of spite (one other Targaryen character flaw) when Viserys married Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey) slightly than his 12-year-old second cousin Laena Velaryon (Nova Fouellis-Mosé). And it’s spite that pushed Daemon to finish the conflict himself earlier than his brother’s forces might arrive, ensuing within the chaotic impromptu skirmish that closes the episode. And, no less than this time, Daemon emerges the winner, propelled to victory by Valyrian metal and his fiery Targaryen blood.

But though his intestines are being dragged by the mud, the Crabfeeder and his guerrilla forces have weakened House Targaryen and House Velaryon in ways in which have but to totally manifest themselves. They’ve exacerbated current tensions inside the ruling homes, and demonstrated a way for combating what in any other case seems to be an undefeatable pressure. And the ruling homes of Old Valyria are too busy combating amongst themselves to spare a thought for the people who find themselves dying on their behalf — not an ideal technique for successful loyalty in the long run. Take the loyal soldier in the beginning of the present: Cackling with aid, he cheers on Daemon because the prince swoops over the battlefield incinerating Craghas Drahar’s allies and ships. “Save me, my prince!” he cries — solely to be crushed below the mighty foot of the prince’s dragon.

Blinded by their very own vanity and complacency, the Targaryens have handled this conflict, the boys who fought and died in it, and far of the broader world as disposable. Their solely loyalty is to their very own petty grievances and wounded satisfaction, they usually lack the creativeness to image a world the place sometime, another person may sit on the Iron Throne. Whether they tear one another other than inside, or are ambushed by enemies from with out, it doesn’t matter. Nor does it matter that the Crabfeeder could be very a lot no extra. The Targaryens themselves have sown the seeds of their final downfall on the shores of the Stepstones.