House of the Dragon's Season 2 Episode 3: Old Enmities and Bad Blood

Remarkably, Daemon sees a bizarre vision of a young Rhaenyra-Milly Alcock's first appearance on the show since the first part of Season 1-sewing the young prince Jaehaerys's head back on. This is all happening at this terrible castle.
As an aside, George R.R. Martin, although I like you, you could have completed Winds of Winter by now if you had made these names simpler to spell. Ahh.
This isn't your typical, everyday vision; rather, a witch gives it to the reserved prince-er, excuse me, your Grace-and trust me when I say that this specific witch will play a far bigger role in the plot as it develops. She informs Daemon, "In this castle, you will perish." In Westeros, witches are known for foretelling the most terrible events.
I don't think the program does a good job of explaining this, but Daemon essentially just took Harrenhal for Team Black without losing a single blood drop. It surely helped that Caraxes, his dragon, landed on the roof. It doesn't hurt that Strong despises his relative Larys Strong (Matthew Needham). On the other hand, Larys gains the title of Master of Whispers in the same episode as a result of his unending guidance for young Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney).
We also get to know two more noteworthy new characters. The first is Gwayne Hightower, the brother of Alicent who has reportedly spent all this time in Old Town rather than at court (Freddie Fox of Slow Horses plays this kind of character too well). He may have had an off-screen appearance in the past, but as this episode marks his introduction to Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), I assume he hasn't visited King's Landing previously. Even the Lord Commander is annoyed with him since he comes out as conceited and spoilt-and I detest agreeing with the Dornishman on anything!
Cole, incidentally, is heading to the Riverlands and Harrenhal with an army. He is fed up with the constant chatter and hand wringing. He acts because he wants to do something. He is accompanied by Ser Gwayne, and as they move west, Gwayne and his henchmen depart from the army's corps in search of a nearby inn. Cole follows, getting irritated with the young knight's careless banter, and it's in an open field that he sees the dragon perched high overhead.
He commands the others to gallop hard towards the trees while urging his horse ahead. Baela (Bethany Antonia) is riding her dragon, Moondancer, high in the sky. When she sees the flash of armor, she falls as the knights charge for their lives. Though the Hand and his men manage to escape into the forest before any damage can come to them, Gwayne shows his appreciation, winning the Lord Commander another loyalist. Later on, we find out that she was close enough to identify Criston Cole.
This episode introduces us to another new individual who calls himself a Dragonseed, a Targaryen or Valyrian (including House Velaryon) bastard who was fathered in the Blackwater Bay area. These can be found in both this series and Martin's Fire and Blood (yeah, this contains spoilers, but I think it will make things clearer)
Even though they are bastards, the people on this list-some of whom we haven't met yet-will all play crucial roles as the battle develops because of their distinctive ancestry. Additionally, the story of young Daeron and his dragon Tessarion is repeated. Although he hasn't yet revealed his cherubic face on House of the Dragon, Alicent's youngest is almost there.
Two brothers pay a visit that same evening in the same tavern. One is annoying and loud-mouthed, while the other as calm as a cucumber. In all honesty, neither should be there.
We already know that Aegon, possessing all the intelligence and forethought of a lump of coal, has substituted his lackeys for the deceased Kingsguard. The fact that none of these slouching ingrates seem to have much discipline or training irritates Criston Cole, who I'm almost beginning to feel sorry for (yuck). While preparing him for combat-he refuses to follow Cole's army against the Small Council's wishes-they talk about taking him out to the brothels with a squire who hasn't yet lost his virginity. "Yet you made chaste vows," Aegon admonishes them. They chuckle at first, then grow silent as their ruler appears to be taking things very seriously.This occurs shortly after Larys, using a series of deceptive small lies that perfectly suit Aegon's lack of confidence, persuades the king not to go to war.