Almost exactly two years have passed since the second season of House of the Dragon abruptly ended its second season as it built up momentum to a pivotal sequence. But after much behind-the-scenes drama, we’re finally back, picking up right where we left off. You can definitely feel that this was going to be a great finale, but it also works as a great premiere as well.

Of course, that momentous battle was the highlight of the episode. Clocking in at around twenty minutes long, this was a naval campaign between the forces of the Sea Snake and those of the Triarchy and Sharako Lohar. There’s dragons, pirates, naval combat, sneaky tactics, more dragons, betrayals, and consequences. Lohar is using the situation to get some much-needed revenge; she doesn’t care about Lannisters or Targaryens, she just wants to kill the Sea Snake for the twenty years of suffering he’s inflicted on her people. I do wish we got more context for her and the struggle when we dealt with the Crab Feeder stuff in the first season, as that would have reinforced this plot line more. As it stands, Lohar feels abruptly inserted into a pivotal plotline without much context. Likewise, Abigail Thor also struggles to deliver her lines as Lohar, making the performance feel clunky. But the battle is visceral and violent, with some great blood effects and characters like Tyland Lannister being unceremoniously killed without much fanfare (much like his twin, who was killed off-screen by the Starks near Harrenhall). I do wish we got to know what happened to the Sea Snake, as he was tossed into the water with full plate armour, with his bastard son Alin claiming the ultimate victory against Lohar in the end. Nice moment for him at least.

While the arc with the Sea Snake may have felt a little undercooked, the thread with the dragons and the Targaryens did feel more fleshed out. Rhaenyra has become fixated on the possibility that Alicent has conceded defeat and will surrender Aegon to her after opening the gates, thus ending the war. But everyone around her, including her son Jace, believes this to be a ruse like Rook’s Rest was. Unwilling to listen to any counsel, Jace locks his own mother in a room, preventing her from flying to King’s Landing and into the enemy’s supposed trap. This all just so happens to coincide with the Battle of the Gullet, something Jace believes to be the work of the Greens (which it kind of is after all), but unrelated to Alicent’s proposal. What’s worse, for Alicent, is that Aegon has fled King’s Landing and thus abdicated the throne, leaving Aemond as apparent ruler of Westeros, which is very much not what she promised Rhaenyra and the last thing she wants now, as Aemond clearly has mommy issues, bringing a whole new level of ick for the Targaryen inbreeding concept. Aegon, meanwhile, didn’t get very far in his escape before being captured by Rhaenyra’s troops, after Larys of all people sold him out in order to save their necks.

Of course, in Jace’s attempt to play the saviour of the day, he ends up paying for it by dying in combat, with the Triarchy using weighted spears to drag Vermax down to the sea and archers to pick him off from their boats. Adding insult to injury is that his cousin, Rheana, sort of unloaded a nuclear bomb onto the battle. Very curious to see how this affects Rhaenyra and what her next move will be, if she’ll indeed blame Alicent for this or not. Or if Rhaena will face the wrath of Rhaenyra as well, as Rhaena’s character seems to be consolidating the plotline of Nettles from the book. Potential drama down the line if so.

If you forgot due to waiting two years for this season, Rhaena spent ages yearning for a dragon, as her eggs never hatched, and she had to watch the rest of her family fly to the sky with their bonded dragon companions. So, she did what any desperate child would do, and sought her own fortune, so to speak. Which, in this case, is the wild dragon known as Sheepstealer. Unlike other dragons, this is a wild dragon and wasn’t raised in the castle, and thus, isn’t prone to taking orders. When it sees the battle off the shore of Dragonstone, it launches into battle mode, attacking anything and everything, including the other dragons. Be careful what you wish for. Rhaena was begging for Sheepstealer to obey her commands, but it just attacked, causing devastation. She can be partially blamed for the death of Jace, as the chaos definitely created confusion and opportunity for the Triarchy (who are way better shots than Euron’s forces in Game of Thrones).

A lot of the problems I have with House of the Dragon persist in the third season, and at this point, some of it is really not anyone’s fault except author George R.R. Martin. There are a lot of characters to keep tabs on, and many of them have similar names, looks, and/or don’t get enough screentime to have anything impress upon you. I totally forgot the names of the three dragonseed writers, who spend the episode idling, waiting to attack Aemond. I also had to double check Rhaena’s name, as she spends the episode alone with the dragon, so no one else utters her name and considering it’s been two years, it can be a struggle to remember your Rhaenas from your Rhaenyras (and your Aegons and your Aegmons, etc). I also am still not a fan of the colour grading on this show compared to Game of Thrones, as the shots looked washed out and poorly lit half the time, and the VFX backdrops often feel flat and obviously artificial. I would have hoped this issue would’ve been rectified by now, but alas, it persists. Looking back at Thrones, especially the earlier seasons, that show really popped in terms of colour and practicality.

But all in all, it was a pretty good debut. Hopefully, this season keeps the momentum going and doesn’t fall back into the biggest mistake of season two, which was to meander around while the threat of bad things happening persisted. If season three can keep the tension and stakes high, it should be able to deliver a solid season of television. Stay tuned!