Kristian Harloff: House of the Dragon Episode 3 Proves the Show Is Getting Better and Better

House of the Dragon's third episode left me more impressed than ever, and I said flat out that the show is getting better and better. Even with big battle scenes and other spectacle in the mix, the writing is what stood out to me most this time, and I think those bigger moments still deliver very much so.

Matt Smith's Daemon still stands out, but the rest of the cast is winning me over

Matt Smith definitely still stands out as Daemon inside of this show. But I also said I'm becoming more and more of a fan of the other actors I wasn't familiar with going in. Rhaenyra in particular is really developing as a character, and I said I'm understanding her more and more and what she's going through, especially now that she's been named heir but there's a wrinkle, something else going on.

The king isn't a bad person, in my view, just trapped in impossible positions

I don't think the king is a bad dude, and I said that twice to make the point clear. I think he's being put in impossible positions and doubting a lot of the choices he makes, while trying to do right by his family. Whether or not you agree with his decisions is one thing, but I think the king, Rhaenyra, and Daemon all have to grow inside of this episode to get to whatever comes next, because things go down in this episode.

One event drives most of the episode, packed with symbolism

What I also liked is that one particular event takes up the majority of the episode, and there's so much symbolism and so much happening inside of it. It shows the strength of each character and how they're feeling since the last episode, while also leaning into what the story is about to become. Each episode strengthens the characters, the story, and the drive, and I think the politics are the strongest thing in this show.

My one gripe: the archers at the end couldn't hit anything

There were a couple of things at the end of the episode that, even though I thought they were really cool, made me joke, "storm troopers up there they can't hit nothing." That was just a minor gripe on my part and nothing more. Outside of that, I called this a fantastic show that I am loving, and said it is my favorite show on television at the moment among the three or four shows I'm currently watching.

Do you dig it, did you like this episode less or more, and how do you feel about the overall series?