The Burning Mill

"The Burning Mill" is the third episode of the second season of the HBO fantasy drama television series House of the Dragon. Written by David Hancock and directed by Geeta Vasant Patel, it first aired on June 30, 2024.

In the episode, a verbal conflict between the Riverland houses Bracken and Blackwood escalates into the deadly Battle of the Burning Mill. Daemon claims Harrenhal for Rhaenyra, securing the support of its castellan Ser Simon Strong. Rhaenyra, disguised as a septa, sneaks into King's Landing to secretly meet with Alicent.

"The Burning Mill" introduced new cast members, including Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower, Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers, and Simon Russell Beale as Ser Simon Strong. It received mostly positive reviews from critics, with praising towards the direction, character development, Alicent and Rhaenyra's reunion, Aemond and Aegon's brothel scene, Milly Alcock's return as young Rhaenyra in Daemon's vision, and the performances of the cast, particularly Emma D'Arcy and Olivia Cooke.

Plot

In the Riverlands

A small territorial dispute between long-time enemies, Houses Bracken and Blackwood, who support Aegon and Rhaenyra, respectively, escalates into a deadly battle resulting in ruination and many casualties.

In King's Landing

Helaena forgives Alicent and empathizes with the smallfolk about losing children. Criston proposes a bold plan to take Harrenhal, the largest castle in Westeros albeit the ruins, to utilize it as a strategic military base. As Criston is about to depart for Harrenhal with a military detachment, Gwayne Hightower, Alicent's brother, unexpectedly joins them. Aegon also wants to accompany the campaign on his dragon Sunfyre, but Lord Larys Strong diplomatically persuades him to remain in King's Landing. Aegon then appoints Larys as his Master of Whisperers.

In a brothel, a white-haired man claims to be a Dragonseed, a bastard of Valyrian blood, and the half-brother of the late King Viserys Targaryen and Prince Daemon. When Aegon and his retinue bring a new squire to the brothel to lose his virginity, they encounter a naked Aemond with Sylvi. Aegon mocks his brother until Aemond leaves.

At Harrenhal

Daemon arrives at Harrenhal on Caraxes before Criston's party reaches it. Ser Simon Strong, the castellan, instantly pledges his allegiance to Rhaenyra. He denounces his grand-nephew, Larys, claiming he had his own father, Lord Lyonel, and his brother, Ser Harwin, killed in the fire at Harrenhal. Later that night, an unseen force beckons Daemon to a weirwood tree. There, he experiences a vision of a young Rhaenyra sewing Jaehaerys' head back onto his decapitated body. He awakens and a young woman standing nearby declares Harrenhal will be his demise.

At Dragonstone

Erryk and Arryk Cargyll are buried together. Rhaenys suggests to Rhaenyra that Alicent might be persuaded against war. Rhaenyra sends sons Joffrey, Aegon, and Viserys away to the Eyrie to continue House Targaryen should the Blacks fail, with the Lady Jeyne Arryn taking Joffrey to ward. Rhaena is instructed to accompany them, but feels demotivated as she believes the reason to be her lack of a dragon. She is mollified when Rhaenyra entrusts four dragon eggs in her care.

En route to Harrenhal, Gwayne and a few soldiers recklessly head to a small village seeking amusement; Criston angrily races after them. Baela, patrolling the area on Moondancer, charges towards them, but they escape into a nearby forest. Baela reports this to Rhaenyra's council, who propose a war using their dragons. For her warning about Arryk, Rhaenyra rewards Mysaria with a place at court. Mysaria advises Rhaenyra on how to find Alicent in King's Landing. After reading Alicent's recent message, Rhaenyra decides to try and meet with her.

In King's Landing, cont.

Rhaenyra and a guardsman sneak into King's Landing on a fishing boat. Disguised as a septa, Rhaenyra speaks to Alicent, who is at prayer in a sept. Discussing the recent events leading to the conflict, Rhaenyra realizes that Alicent misunderstood Viserys' dying words about the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy, mistaking her son for Aegon the Conqueror. Alicent dismisses Rhaenyra's proposal, saying war can no longer be avoided.

Production

Writing and filming

"The Burning Mill" was written by David Hancock and directed by Geeta Vasant Patel, marking Hancock's first time as writer for the series and Patel's second directorial credit, following "The Lord of the Tides".^[1] The name of the episode refers to the Battle of the Burning Mill depicted in episode's opener and the first armed conflict of the war between the Greens and the Blacks.

Casting

Freddie Fox and Simon Russell Beale made their first appearances as Gwayne Hightower and Simon Strong.

The episode stars Matt Smith, Emma D'Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Matthew Needham, Sonoya Mizuno, Tom Glynn-Carney, Ewan Mitchell, Phia Saban, Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Jefferson Hall, Freddie Fox, Gayle Rankin, Tom Bennett, and Simon Russell Beale. It marks the first appearance of Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower, Rankin as Alys Rivers, and Beale as Ser Simon Strong. Their casting was announced in April 2023.^[2] Gwayne Hightower previously appeared in the series premiere, portrayed by an uncredited actor.^[3]

The episode also marks the final appearance of Elliott and Luke Tittensor as recurring characters Ser Erryk and Arryk Cargyll. Although their characters died in the previous episode, they made a brief appearance in this episode as their corpses. Additionally, Milly Alcock guest-starred to reprise her role as young Rhaenyra Targaryen.^[4]

Reception

Critical response

The performances of (top, L to R) Emma D'Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Matt Smith, and Tom Glynn-Carney received praise from critics.

The episode was met with mostly positive critical reviews. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the episode holds an approval rating of 95% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10.^[5]

The episode received a rating of 4.75 out of 5 stars from Haley Whitmire White of TV Fanatic,^[6] and 4 out of 5 stars from Alec Bojalad of Den of Geek and James Hunt of Screen Rant.^[7][8] Bojalad noted that the episode was "narratively chaotic" with a "logistically challenging ending," but praised the Battle of The Burning Mill at the beginning of the episode for keeping a strong thematic track,^[7] while Hunt declared it the best episode of the season so far.^[8] Carly Lane of Collider and Helen O'Hara of IGN both scored it 8 out of 10, with O'Hara stating that "Episode 3 feels more like the sort of high fantasy drama we came to House of the Dragon for than the two previous episodes – and one that offers far more promise for the future."^[9][10] Katie Doll of CBR gave it 7 out of 10, saying that the episode "experiments with the boundaries of television in good and bad ways, resulting in a perplexing outing."^[11] Grading the episode with an "A-", The A.V. Club's Kayleigh Dray wrote in her review, "All in all, it's an excellent installment of House of the Dragon, and it builds incredibly well on the slow-burning tensions that have been exposed in the first two installments of this season."^[12]

Critics praised the performances of D'Arcy,^[8][13][14] Cooke,^[8][14] Smith,^[7] Glynn-Carney, Mitchell,^[8] and Campbell.^[11] Specific scenes singled out by critics included Alicent and Rhaenyra's reunion,^{[6][8][9][10][11]} Aemond and Aegon's brothel scene (noted for rising tensions between the brothers),^[8][9][14] the scenes in Harrenhal,^[8][9] and Baela and Moondancer's scene.^[11] The chemistry between Cooke and D'Arcy was also regarded one of the episode's highlights.^[8][12][15] James Hunt commented, "They play off one another brilliantly, and you really get a sense of a wide range of emotions: how much they care for one another, still; their shared hurt, regret, and anger over what's happened since they last saw one another; stubbornness and ego that gets in the way of a true resolution."^[8] Additionally, critics also lauded Patel's direction,^[8] Alcock's return as young Rhaenyra,^[8][11] and the character development of Daemon and Aegon.^[8]

However, some aspects received criticism, specifically the pacing,^[11] a frontal sexually explicit scene,^[11] the omission of the Battle of the Burning Mill despite it being used as the episode title,^[8] and the lack of screentime for Helaena and Rhaena.^[8][11]

References

Notes

External links

• "The Burning Mill" at HBO
• "The Burning Mill" at IMDb