House of the Dragon Episode 3 of Season 2 is titled “The Burning Mill.” It’s a reference to the Battle of the Burning Mill, a brutal raid that pitted House Blackwood against House Bracken and marked the first official offensive of the civil war between Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) and Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney). Yet we never see this battle onscreen. The HBO show opens with an argument between teenagers that immediately cuts to a vast field strewn with corpses. The mill in the background has been burned to a crisp. This is the gruesome aftermath of what Rhaenyra and Aegon have unleashed on Westeros: a civil war that will not only pit brother against brother, as with the doomed Cargyll twins, but will fuel centuries-old feuds across the realm.
So who exactly are the Blackwoods? Why do they hate the Brackens? Was the teenage Blackwood who accosts the young knight Bracken supposed to be beloved book character Benjicot “Bloody Ben” Blackwood? Wither Alysanne Blackwood? And why is she? House of the Dragon Is Season 2 Episode 3 named after a battle we don’t even see on screen?
Let’s pe into the Blackwoods, Brackens and what exactly… House of the Dragon is trying to say by opening this week’s episode about their conflict…
House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 3 “The Windmill Burning”: Who Are the Blackwoods and the Brackens?
House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 3, “The Burning Mill,” opens with a minor argument between teenagers. Newly knighted Ser Aeron Bracken (Ryan Kopel) is showing off his new sword to his fellow Brackens when he’s approached by young Davos Blackwood (Kieran Butler). The boys begin arguing over the location of the cairns. Davos insists the Brackens moved them to steal land, while Ser Aeron is dubious about a new “assize” granted to them by their liege lord, Grover Tully.
However, the feud soon escalates when Ser Aeron calls the Blackwood boy a “baby-killer.” Davos realizes that the Brackens have declared for Aegon, while the Blackwoods remain loyal to Rhaenyra. Insults are hurled about Team Black versus Team Green and Ser Aeron finally draws his sword against Davos. The Blackwood boy says, “You wouldn’t dare.” We then hear the sounds of a battle and see Ser Aeron dead on the same field, a sword stuck in his neck.
The camera pans up and back to reveal the once green land covered with the corpses of the Blackwoods and Brackens. The victims of the Battle of Burning Mill.
Okay, so why do the Brackens and Blackwoods hate each other? Is it just because of the feud between Aegon and Rhaenyra? Hardly.
The Brackens and Blackwoods are, like the Starks and Strongs, the First Men. Meaning they belong to the oldest houses of Westeros and existed in tandem with the Children of the Forest and all that magic that seeps into George R.R. Martin’s narrative. According to Martin, the Blackwoods once lived in the North, but were then driven south by the Starks to the Riverlands, where they ruled as kings during the Age of Heroes. It was also around this time that the Blackwoods and the Brackens became bitter enemies. The Blackwoods allege that the Brackens were petty horse thieves who hired mercenaries to kill and usurp the Blackwoods, while the Brackens maintain that they were the kings of the Riverlands who were betrayed by their vassals, the Blackwoods.
Basically, the Brackens and Blackwoods are the Hatfields and McCoys of Westeros. We already saw them in House of the Dragon Season 1 where they’ll take every opportunity to fight each other. Remember when little Willem Blackwood (Alfie Todd) killed Jerrel Bracken (Gabriel Scott) during young Rhaenyra’s (Milly Alcock) tour? (Note: In the books, it’s Samwell Blackwood and Amos Bracken, but the difference is the same.)
As the Greens reflect during the following Small Council scene, the Blackwoods and Brackens are always fighting. However, it is even more bloody and brutal now because they are doing it in the name of Rhaenyra and Aegon. “The Burning Mill” represents the bloodshed that is now being spilled over the Targaryen infighting. The common people are the ones who suffer the most from this royal “Game of Thrones.”
(Oh, and if you’re having trouble telling the Brackens and Blackwoods apart, remember that the Blackwoods are Team Black, aka Rhaenyra. Which means the Brackens are Team Green.)
Did we meet Ben Blackwood in? House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 3 “The Burning Mill”?
George R.R. Martin fans Fire and blood Know that as the war heats up, two young Blackwoods take center stage. Benjicot “Bloody Ben” Blackwood and his sister Alysanne “Black Aly” Blackwood are involved in some of the most heated battles in the Riverlands. So is the young Blackwood who starts the fight with Ser Aeron supposed to be Ben Blackwood? No.
House of the Dragon has yet to cast or introduce Ben or Alysanne to HBO viewers. That was Davos Blackwood in House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 3 “The Burning Mill,” and he’s probably dead, like Ser Aeron.
Interestingly, Lord Samwell Blackwood is mentioned as having died during the battle. In the books, this happens and his young son and heir, Benjicot, takes over. So perhaps we will see Benjicot in House of the DragonIn fact, perhaps it was for the best that he and Alysanne missed the Battle of the Burning Mill.
