"The Burning Mill" is the third episode of the second season of the fantasy drama television series House of the Dragon, a prequel to Game of Thrones.
In the episode, a verbal conflict between the Riverland houses Bracken and Blackwood escalates into the deadly Battle of the Burning Mill.
A small territorial dispute between long-time enemies, Houses Bracken and Blackwood, who support Aegon and Rhaenyra, respectively, escalates into a deadly battle resulting in ruination and many casualties.
Aegon also wants to accompany the campaign on his dragon Sunfyre, but Lord Larys Strong diplomatically persuades him to remain in King's Landing.
In a brothel, a man named Ulf claims to a group of men to be a Dragonseed, a bastard of Valyrian blood, and the half-brother of the late King Viserys Targaryen and Prince Daemon.
Daemon arrives at Harrenhal on Caraxes and, after entering the castle, encounters Ser Simon Strong, the castellan, who immediately pledges his allegiance to Rhaenyra.
Simon denounces his grand-nephew, Larys, claiming he had his own father, Lord Lyonel, and his brother, Ser Harwin, killed in the fire at Harrenhal.
Disguised as a septa, Rhaenyra approaches Alicent while she is at prayer in a sept and they discuss recent events leading to the conflict.
Rhaenyra realizes that Alicent misunderstood Viserys' dying words about the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy, mistaking her son for Aegon the Conqueror.
[4] The episode also marks the final appearances of Elliott and Luke Tittensor as recurring characters Ser Erryk and Arryk Cargyll.
The site's critical consensus says, "Underscoring the pains Rhaenyra takes to avert war, 'The Burning Mill' is an agonizing trudge towards inevitable catastrophe.
"[11][12] Katie Doll of CBR gave it 7 out of 10, saying that the episode "experiments with the boundaries of television in good and bad ways, resulting in a perplexing outing.
[10][14][17] James Hunt commented, "They play off one another brilliantly, and you really get a sense of a wide range of emotions: how much they care for one another, still; their shared hurt, regret, and anger over what's happened since they last saw one another; stubbornness and ego that gets in the way of a true resolution.
[10] However, some aspects received criticism, specifically the pacing, a frontal sexually explicit scene,[13] the omission of the Battle of the Burning Mill despite it being used as the episode title,[10] and the lack of screentime for its secondary characters, especially Helaena and Rhaena.