Three years have passed since we heard King Viserys Targaryen announce his intention of marrying Alicent Hightower — best friend to daughter Rhaenyra — and since Daemon Targaryen and Corlys Velaryon defied the king and joined hands to fight the threat of the Crabfeeder.

So where are we now? Well, Alicent has given birth to a boy, Aegon, who is now two. Rhaenyra is concerned (legitimately) about being supplanted as heir to the throne and is refusing to play happy family with her father and his new family. Daemon’s battle with the Crabfeeder is not going well despite his dragon, and defeat is imminent.

We are closer to the civil war, and there’s good reason

For all those Game of Thrones fans who are, like King Viserys, tired of the politicking and looking for some action, the episode should be a delight, opening as it does with dragons in battle. But sandwiched in between is the heart of the matter — Viserys’ inability to take the hard calls and the resulting fissures that continue to expand and bring us closer to the civil war that is central to the show.

The trope of marriage and motherhood for power is getting old

The women are integral to the politics of the game of thrones here, but only in so much as making the right marriages and their ability to bear children, which, to be honest, gets old after a while.

Viserys wants Rhaenyra to do her duty and marry a suitable lord (doesn’t matter if he is a doofus like Jason Lannister) to strengthen her claim to the throne. Otto Hightower, wanting to secure his grandson’s claim to the throne in case Viserys doesn’t change his mind, suggests Rhaenyra be married to her two-year-old half-brother Aegon (ewwwwww). Otto also wants Alicent, who made the right marriage and birthed a son, to convince Viserys to name Aegon his heir. Lyonel Strong pushes for yet another Velaryon-Targaryen betrothal, this time between Corys’ son and Rhaenyra.

But Rhaenyra is having none of it, thankfully

What about the woman who is at the centre of all this politicking? Rhaenyra is having none of it (yay, woman power! But what about heirs?!). Milly Alcock once again does a superb job in showing her sense of isolation — from her father, from her former best friend and from all the people gathered at the royal hunt (organised to celebrate the second birthday of Prince Aegon) who may not accept her as queen.

Rhaenyra has a public disagreement with Viserys, a tussle of power with Alicent in front of the court bard and is tellingly absent from her father’s side during the final hunt. While it speaks for her independence and strong will, her attitude probably doesn’t inspire confidence among the patriarchal lot she will have as subjects.

What we’re missing – the witty banter from Game of Thrones

Thank god time passes differently between weekly episodes of House of the Dragon and much happens off-screen! Imagine having to sit through three years of the same dreary politicking without any of the levity brought in by the witty banter between intriguing characters like Tyrion, and Varys, Arya and the Hound, Tyrion and Bronn or even Jaime and Brienne (shudder!) in Game of Thrones.

Finally, a bloody good battle for GoT fans

But let’s move on to the part that is like Game of Thrones, that is the battle of the Stepstones. Apart from the Stormtrooper-like skills of the Crabfeeder archers who can’t seem to land a single arrow on a lone man running on an open beach, the battle is epic. Not the Battle of the Bastards scale of epic, but a smaller scale epic. This isn’t a major battle with huge stakes after all. But it has all the close-up gore (and some spilled guts) that will make the bloody thirsty Game of Thrones fans happy. And it has dragons breathing fire and crisping people.

Daemon feels more fearsome

Blood, gore and dragons aside, the battle fleshes out the character of Daemon even more. He is volatile, bashing in the head of the messenger who arrives with a missive from King Viserys saying help was on the way to ensure victory. Clearly taking help from the King is an insult. He is also quite mad, offering himself up as bait to spring a trap for the Crabfeeder — which pays off, proving why he is one of the most feared warriors in Westeros.

A potential match for Rhaenyra

The battle and the politicking also introduce a new character who may pay a bigger part in the future — Laeron Velaryon — Corlys Velaryon and Rhaenys Targaryen’s son, who not only makes most sense as a potential match for Rhaenyra but also can ride a dragon — the new one is called Seasomke — and win a battle.

All in all, an episode that picks up pace and thickens the plot, ‘Second of His Name’ works well with the right balance of the same patriarchal politics and exciting action. Let’s see which way the balance tilts in the next episode.