‘House of the Dragon’ Season 3 begins with Battle of the Gullet
“House of the Dragon” star Abigail Thorn explains the grueling process behind filming the Battle of the Gullet and how it all came together.
Spoiler alert! We’re discussing the Season 3 “House of the Dragon” finale.
HBO’s “House of the Dragon” launched Season 3 with the stirring Battle of the Gullet in June and put an exclamation point on a critics-silencing season with the Battle of Tumbleton in an enthralling season finale. With the Dance of the Dragons in full swing, Team Blacks leader, Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), seeks to hold onto power with the might of six dragons backing her armies in the bitter succession battle.
With Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) leading the Blacks against Greens leader Ormund Hightower (James Norton) at the strategic market town of Tumbleton, the finale brings major developments for all the main characters still on the chessboard – and many gruesome deaths by dragon fire, boiling oil and spikes.
Here’s where the key characters ended up after the 75-minute Season 3 finale (now streaming on HBO Max), heading into what the creators promise will be the fourth and final season of the “Game of Thrones” prequel, expected in 2028.
Drunken dragonrider Ulf the White’s rage proves pivotal
Debaucherous, rightfully overlooked dragonrider Ulf White (Tom Bennett) proves to be a major force in the final battle with his dragon Silverwing. After being publicly humiliated by Daemon Targaryen and lured to switch sides with his dragon to the Greens by Ormund Hightower, party animal Ulf is still drunk when the battle starts. Ormund hunts Ulf down and pulls him out of the public latrine with his pants down. After receiving his final kicking, Ulf breaks and goes dragon-rogue. Flying over the battle, Ulf directs Silverwing’s fire on both armies seemingly indiscriminately.
Finale status: Ulf is a temporary player, venting a lifetime of fury. But he will likely pay for his recklessness in Season 4.
Ormund Hightower meets his ‘Ruin,’ takes a knife up the backside and more
Ormund gets his comeuppance for his plotting and evildoing, with his final act being lining innocent children around the Tumbleton city gates to prevent dragon attacks.
Ensnared in a solo battle against “Roddy the Ruin,” Ser Roderick Dustin (Tommy Flanagan), Ormund slices off his foe’s arm, spraying blood on his own face like the dickens. However, Ormund is sickened by the blood spurting in his eyes, and Roddy turns the tables, using his remaining hand to stick a knife well into Ormund’s backside.
Both wounded warriors are unceremoniously taken out by Silverwing fire, as Ulf screams past on his dragon. It’s the ultimate rebuke for Ormund’s humiliation. Roddy raises his remaining hand in victory just before the dragon flames hit, embracing his end. Ormund, the snooty, temperamental head of House Hightower, is shown charred beyond recognition in the episode’s final moments.
Finale status: Ormund Hightower gets dragon-fried, Roddy the Ruin likely ruined.
Daemon and Sea Snake are back together
Lord Corlys Velaryon has been held captive by Ormund, who viscously cut off his finger with his ring as proof of life. Chained, the Lord of the Tides is used as a bargaining chip in an attempt to stop the battle before it starts. However, the peace plan fails, and Daemon is the first through the city walls on horseback for the fierce battle.
Daemon narrowly avoids death by dragon as Silverwing’s fury brings down nearby stone walls, leaving him nearly senseless. Shell-shocked, Daemon appears ready to woozily charge into his final battle, death with his sword swinging. Corlys pulls him out, saying, “Ulf has turned; the town is lost. We are leaving.” The two escape together.
Finale status: Both Corlys and Daemon are alive, with Corlys missing one key finger.
Brothers Aemond and Aegon are back together again
After Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) charred and nearly killed his king brother Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) in a Season 2 dragon fight, Aegon has spent Season 3 on a low-key resurrection tour, with many believing the claimant to the Iron Throne is actually dead. Reunited with his still-alive dragon Sunfyre, the rejuvenated but still-scarred Aegon surprises his brother Aemond in his Harrenhal stronghold, hissing, “I’m alive, imbecile.”
Aemond, who has just survived a poisoning attempt from his mother Alicent Hightower, is ready to accept his death as retribution for trying to kill his brother, but Aegon holds off strategically, vowing to use him to help bring down Rhaenyra.
Finale status: Feuding brothers are somehow both alive, and ready to wreak havoc together in Season 4
Rhaenyra continues to hold power at any cost
Queen Rhaenyra continues to be negatively affected by power and the deadly pull of the Iron Throne. The increasingly dictatorial ruler proclaims herself as the Chosen One to the people of King’s Landing.
“I am the shield of the people, I am Rhaenyra the Chosen,” Rhaenyra proclaims as the townspeople seem cowed into agreeing. One sign of Rhaenyra’s power play is her expulsion of adviser and one-time lover Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), who served as the queen’s conscience. Mysaria is instructed to leave town immediately, but takes her time, even urgently warning pregnant Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban), whose existence and future child are viable threats to Rhaenyra, not to trust her half-sister queen.
Rhaenyra has been keeping Helaena prisoner in her Red Keep bedchamber, trying to pry information about the future from the Dragon Dreamer, whose prophetic visions sometimes find their way into her elaborate embroidery.
But Helaena put an end to it all with a fatal leap from captivity. Rhaenyra is called into her chambers to find the window open, and Helaena impaled dead on the spikes below, one spike garrishly sticking out of her neck.
The queen looks away to inspect Helaena’s final, elaborate embroidery. The stitched panels foretell Helaena’s own suicide and depict Rhaenyra still clinging to the Iron Throne, powerful but brutal. Blood streams from her crown as dragons and humans die chaotically around her.
Rhaenyra, seemingly unperturbed, even emboldened by the images, closes the open windows.
Finale status: Helaena gives a final warning in death, but Rhaenyra is consumed by the Iron Throne.
Alicent Hightower gets a final sign from daughter Helaena
Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), unaware that the attempt to poison her son Aemond has failed, receives a spiritual warning that something terrible has happened to Helaena. On her way back to King’s Landing, Alicent is suddenly surrounded by wondrous blue butterflies. She knows the beautiful spectacle is anything but a good sign.
Finale status: Alicent will not be pleased by the death of her innocent daughter.