House of the Dragon Season 3 Episode 2 seems to see the creation of a new family unit coalescing around each other during the height of the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons.
While the HBO show has been primarily focused on the tensions between Rhaenyra’s (Emma D’Arcy) nuclear family and the Hightower wing of the Targaryen family tree, this week’s episode featured several key moments for House Velaryon.
**Spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 3 Episode 2, now streaming on HBO Max**
Baela Targaryen (Bethany Antonia) finds herself bonding with Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim) as they search for their shared patriarch, Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint). The Sea Snake went missing during the Battle of the Gullet, and now his granddaughter is teaming up with his bastard sons Alyn and Addam (Clinton Liberty) to find him.
Eventually Addam of Hull spots his father with the help of Seasmoke, bringing the family together on the banks of the Gullet. Seeing these four characters together for the first time, taking in the fallout of the brutal battle, marks the start of a new chapter for the Velaryons. Corlys has to rebuild everything after the sacking of High Tide and Baela no longer has her engagement to Jace (Harry Collett) to offer her seniority in Rhaenyra’s camp. It seems that maybe both are willing to accept the lowborn Alyn and Addam as their family now.
Interestingly, the scene in which Baela recognizes Alyn as her family might have deeper meaning. In the George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, Baela eventually marries Alyn. While we’re not saying that’s where House of the Dragon is going to take the characters, both Abubakar Salim and Bethany Antonia were fully aware of what might be being set up.
“It was funny, we were both kind of giggling like little kids knowing, like, what’s happening,” Abubakar Salim told DECIDER. “We’re also giggling at the fact that, you know — I mean spoilers — that Jace wasn’t even cold, but that’s the reality of it.”
“That scene on the beach was so wonderful to film because we didn’t need to actually talk a lot about what that meant,” Bethany Antonia said. “We both just knew instinctively and, yeah, it was wonderful. I’m really excited for people to see that and to see what they make of it.”
Of course, the scene was also about a deeper connection being forged between the two characters. They are able to bond with each other in the wake of an intensely traumatic episode.
“I think with Alyn and seeing Baela, I think, she caught him in such a raw state, an emotional state,” Salim said. “The fact that he’s looking for his father and that she calls him out on it as well, and he has to talk about it.”
“What’s interesting about Baela and Alyn is that they’ve both lost their mothers,” Antonia said. “They really recognize each other in that like eldest sibling responsibility of always having to be put together, always having to do the right thing. They’ve both got these younger siblings who just like do what they want, it seems.”
“And I think it’s so funny, actually, the dynamic between like Addam and Rhaena,” she added. “Like if you compare the four and I think they just really see each other.”
Most importantly, though, it seems the remaining Velaryons are really seeing each other. (Well, maybe not Rhaena, who’s run away with Sheepstealer to the Vale.)
House of the Dragon returns this Sunday, July 5 at 9 PM ET on HBO and HBO Max.