One Line Ruins the "House of the Dragon" Season 3 Premiere from Start to Finish
According to Kotaku writer Ash Parrish, the "House of the Dragon" season 3 premiere delivers one of the show's best battle sequences with the Battle of the Gullet, but a botched reference to Elizabeth I from Queen Rhaenyra collapses her entire characterization.
HBO's 'Game of Thrones' prequel 'House of the Dragon' returned for season 3 with an emotionally loaded premiere. According to Ash Parrish, the Battle of the Gullet — the show's sprawling naval-and-dragon battle — belongs in the same league as 'Battle of the Bastards' and 'Hardhome,' a franchise-defining scene led by Admiral Sharako Lohar (Abigail Thorn) and her ship, the 'Bitchfist.'
But in the middle of the episode, Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, barred from joining the battle, locks herself in her chambers and tears her dress while tearfully declaring: "I may seem to have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king." This is a botched copy of Queen Elizabeth I's legendary Tilbury speech, delivered on horseback in armor before her troops against the Spanish Armada in 1588.
Parrish writes that she appreciates the writers wanting to align Rhaenyra with one of history's most powerful female rulers, but by giving the line to a character who tearfully whispers it to an advisor, they kill all of its power. In her view, if this line had come from Admiral Lohar's mouth, "we would have stood up and applauded" — instead, Rhaenyra's character arc has taken an irreversible hit with this episode.