Third mixed bag is the charm huh.
So... again an episode with good and bad things. I must say I overall found it compelling and entertaining despite it's lack of action.
We are done with the "Rhaenyra would be a good/bad ruler" potentials, and we are finally seeing her in action. They are basically playing Mysaria as the angel in her shoulder and Daemon as the devil, kind of like I expected and in the latter's case, wanted.
Alicent and Helaena give some very appreciated if very limited sass at Rhaenyra, though they still kinda forget about Jaehaerys, and my hope of them ever acknowledging the poor boy's murder decreases with every episode.
Corlys pulls his inner Vaemond and oh boy, I could almost hear the seething rage in some TB fans when this happened. Needless to say, Corlys is right. Why do Rhaenyra's bastards deserve more than Corlys's?
Daemon is pulling a S8 Daenerys and daydreaming with, um... "expanding Targaryen glory to the world" or some shit and I love how much of an elitist and barely repressed violent maniac he is, dismissing the smallfolk's suffering and repeatedly goading Rhaenyra to murder her innocent half brother and his own nephew, the son of the brother he supposedly loved so much. "If the Greens hadn't usurped Daemon would have never hurt them, he only hurts those who deserve it, he loved his family so much" my ass. He's a wildcard and a menace. And I love to hate him. And no, this isn't the show "making him worse to both sides everything". This IS Daemon. He's called the Rogue Prince, not the Kind and Reasonable Prince.
Rhaenyra is basically dealing with what Aegon dealt at the beginning of S2, and like him, find herself conditioned by her enemies's actions. The Greens had to deal with the Blacks's blockade, the Blacks now have to deal with the Greens's taking away of the treasury.
I felt so sorry for the fake Daeron. Just a teenage boy caught in the games of ruthless nobles and royals.
Overall, Rhaenyra is trying to balance her good intentions, rage, self centeredness, love for her remaining family and pragmatism when dealing with increasingly tight pressure. It is admittedly interesting to see.
The Blacks being finally shown to be conflicted between each other and it's members being distinct from one another was a very welcome change from their S2 selves.