House of the Dragon Episodes 2 and 3 Time Skip Explained
Time skips are set to be a feature of the first series of House of the Dragon, and this is simply because there is so much to fit in.
While the entirety of Game of Thrones took place over a period of eight years, House of Dragon spans thirty years of lead up to the Dance of the Dragons. Not that is a lot of ground to cover.
With this in mind, let's take a look at what happened in the gap between the end of episode 2 and the start of episode 3. Just how much time has passed exactly between these two episodes?
The period between the two episodes is not explicitly stated, but it's indicated to be around three years. And as you might expect, it's been a time of brewing tension and growing frustration.
Episode 2, of course, ended with King Viserys Targaryen marrying his daughter's one-time friend, Alicent Hightower. And if her dad getting together with her mate wasn't enough to infuriate Rhaenyra, she's even more enraged by the birth of a half-brother, Aegon.
And with good reason. The Hightowers, along with other lords of the realm, are now pushing for Aegon to be named heir to the throne. And this, coupled with the feeling that her father has no further need for her, has left Rhaenyra pretty bitter about her life as we enter episode 3.
King Viserys and Alicent are, by this time, expecting a second child. But that doesn't mean it's all happy families. Because Viserys has also upset his brother, Daemon.
This is due to Daemon's alliance with Corlys Velaryon not being quite the success they had envisaged. Indeed, it's fair to say they have spent three years losing the War for the Stepstones. And Daemon's plea for support from Viserys had fallen on deaf ears for much of that time. Support from King's Landing did eventually arrive, but Daemon is another family member now harbouring resentment towards the King.
And things aren't much better for Corlys. His brother Vaemond had been on the verge of inciting a mutiny when their army was just weeks away from surrender, with a significant number of their fighters incensed with the way Daemon and Corlys were running things.
All in all, it's been a tumultuous three years that has created something of a pressure cooker situation across Westeros. And while episode 3 kicks off with the celebrations of Aegon's nameday, it looks like that pressure is about to explode!