(Warning: Spoilers for season 3 of industry.)

Kit Harington is no stranger to playing a character who carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, having spent eight seasons navigating the treacherous terrain of Westeros in game of ThronesBut Sir Henry Muck’s fancy title for HBO’s fast-paced financial drama industry opens many more doors without the same branding issues as the bastard Jon Snow. Despite some disastrous events during his company’s spectacular IPO, Sir Henry lives to see another day as king of his eco-energy-based Lumi Castle.

It continues where the premiere ended. industry proves that even at this early stage, season three has no interest in slowing down. Sir Henry was only introduced last week, but his “doing it for the people” gimmick is already boring to everyone around him. “You’re just like any other over-educated, under-developed, parent-supported child. Your victories are yourAnd your losses? Well, that’s someone else’s problem,” says Robert Spearing (Harry Lawtey).

Working for investment bank Pierpoint may make Robert the “parasite of parasites,” but Robert is more than willing to kiss Sir Henry’s perfectly pert bum. Suffice it to say, Eric Tao’s (Ken Leung) spirited speech from the previous episode has had an effect. With Sir Henry seemingly incapable of listening to sensible advice, it is inevitable that the two men from very People of different backgrounds come to blows in the middle of the study.

The power outage that sparked the Lumi stock trading panic is being downplayed as a “minor technical issue.” Pure coincidence or not, anyone can see that this issue with National Grid paints a terrible picture and serves the green energy company on a ready-made platter for critics. In the high-pressure, do-or-die environment, it’s up to the traders at Pierpoint to spin the story in Lumi’s favor with varying degrees of success and maximum stress.

Phrases like “perception is reality” and “fake it till you make it” are used repeatedly in Smoke and Mirrors. One rumor can ruin a business, another can save it. Ultimately, upper-class men like Sir Henry want to prove they can build something from scratch, even if the house is already paid off. Hubris is evident when Sir Henry thinks he can talk to reporters from “friendly” newspapers, when an impromptu pleasure trip only adds fuel to the fire of an already burning building.

To turn a negative into a positive, everyone has to be on the same side, but Sir Henry hasn’t even looked at the rule book. Instead, he thinks he’s got Jonno (Ojan Genc) out of the FT (The Financial Times) and Ed Cumming from “The Tele” (The Telegraph) will succumb to his schoolboy charm. I watched this car crash interaction through my fingers while Robert frantically scribbled for Sir Henry to end this conversation (which he doesn’t) and Jonno got the scoop of the day.

Phrases like “closing above 40” and “trading at 400” may sound unfamiliar (I’m a media person, not a stock market person), but you don’t need a translator to understand the panic at Pierpoint. Heavy dialogue adds to the already frenetic atmosphere, peppered with Rishi Ramdani’s (Sagar Radia) less flattering phrases that would cost him his job. So while Sir Henry thinks he can talk his way out of the disaster, things like the Bank of England freezing interest rates and a guest appearance on the trading floor by Pierpoint bigwig Bill Adler (Trevor White) cause the stock to start to rise.

As the stock rises, traders breathe a sigh of relief, barely savoring this small victory before it starts to fall – watching this chart is akin to watching a heartbeat monitor on a medical show. As predicted, as soon as Jonno reports Sir Henry’s comments online, the market swings the other way. Thankfully, none of the Lumi employees filmed the ball pit brawl where Robert “hit” Sir Henry with a sunflower plushie, because no amount of “intelligent triage” could have revived that body.

“Why does the CEO always make himself the main character?” Bill asks twice. Well, his deep-rooted entitlement has a lot to do with his inability to look within. But Harington makes sure there’s more to Sir Henry than just being a dorky fine guy. Sure, he literally runs out of the board meeting after saying, “None of this is true,” and then locks himself in the office bathroom after taking a three-day dose of medical psilocybin given to him by his buddy Pierre—a chef-kissing specialist.

Harington’s game of Thrones His groundbreaking role was played by his physical strength, but only in the tennis comedy 7 days in hell to Andy Samberg that he was able to demonstrate his clever comedic timing. Almost a decade after the sports mockumentary premiered on HBO, I immediately think of Harington when someone uses the word “undoubtedly.” Now industry Creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay make use of this underrated weapon in Harington’s acting arsenal. Sir Henry’s attempts at making jokes often miss their mark, but his incredulous “why?” when Robert says he studied geography at Oxford and his running out of the board meeting prove that Sir Henry is (intentionally or not) hilarious.

Sure, Harington’s physique took center stage during a shirtless handball match last week, but when he’s battling Robert, it doesn’t do the entrepreneur’s image any good. Sir Henry can’t even find a jacket to cover the rip in his Lumi shirt, and has to make do with a finance-style vest because he instituted a “no jackets” rule in the office. With all of these details in mind, it would be easy to paint Sir Henry as a stereotypical aristocratic figure. However, Harington’s candid nature gives this character more than just the “posh asshole” label behind his back.

That insult is only slightly less derogatory than the barrage of notifications Sir Henry receives from friends, family and angry investors. News alerts never stop beeping, and the media is already more prominent in Season 3. Last week, Yasmin Kara-Hanani (Marisa Abela) was chased by paparazzi trying to photograph the embezzlement heiress; now she’s using her notoriety to turn the tide on Lumi stock. By changing the narrative by constructing a rumor of his own, Sir Henry is giving the ingredients to tell a new story that benefits Pierpoint. And that Yas is doing all this while suffering from a severe hangover (“I’m hanging my butt out,” she tells Robert) is a testament to her ability to pull herself together.

Later, Yas uses the knowledge of her colleague Sweetpea Golightly (Miriam Petche), which she learned from her friend Treacle (nobody makes character names like the industry Authors) that Sir Henry has a penchant for water sports. In a power play, Yasmin informs Sir Henry at a fancy restaurant that this will never happen, but lets him hear the sound of her peeing.

Speaking of names: The line of the episode goes to Elena Saurel, who plays Anna Gearing. “You are the godmother to the damn Boudicca,” she screams stressed at Petra Koenig (Sarah Goldberg). As with Harington, it is the seriousness that makes it funnier. Instead of appeasing Anna – who is freaking out because Petra has invested in gas and they are a sustainable company – Petra tells Anna coolly that this friendship is not what she was looking for. In BarryGoldberg’s Sally Reed was a tightly packed ball of emotions just waiting to bubble out, and Petra drips with self-pity when it comes to building meaningful relationships in the workplace.

So while Yas can’t help but clash with her colleagues and Pierpoint customers, Harper has found someone who wants to build something with them but isn’t comfortable with the problems and baggage. Perhaps that’s a lesson Sir Henry needs to learn, but for now, Pierpoint has made a safe start for the brand. Unfortunately, for anyone who puts time and money into this venture, it’s only a cosmetic win, and realizing one’s reality isn’t limitless – even for a man with connections in high places.