Harold Rabbit 3: The House of Mysteries

Review: Pirates! Dragons! Ships! Fire! Betrayal, chaos, death and destruction... House of the Dragon's Season 3 premiere has it all.

The Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon is back on June 21 on HBO, with a new trailer promising fire, blood, and dragons.

Seasoned Westeros watchers will see potential problems arising with each scene of this episode. Everywhere Rhaenyra turns there’s someone looking for a piece of her (rodent bites both literal and figurative). Any one of these requests could be key to her undoing, and it’s very clear that she’s navigating a dangerous path. From the impossibly cool pre-opening credits scene to Rhaenyra ultimately swearing to burn all who stand against her, this episode moves almost too fast to track; no wonder Rhaenyra dissociates as she sits on her uncomfortable throne.

2026's Masters of the Universe makes the smart choice to play up the dumb parts of He-Man and not take anything seriously. It’s part Flash Gordon, part Deadpool, and almost officially a parody of itself. These are all good things, by the way.

At the three-quarter mark, this season of House of the Dragon is easily the best in the show’s history. It’s nuanced and complex, but doesn’t feel like it’s being artificially complicated all the time for no real reason.