House of the Dragon Cast Relives the Gullet

filming the – The House of the Dragon Season 3 premiere “Salt and Sea, Fire and Blood” turned the Battle of the Gullet into a meticulously prepared, practical-effect spectacle—then stripped it down to pure devastation, from Sharako Lohar’s vengeance to Jacaerys’s fatal stan

The sea didn’t just get violent in House of the Dragon’s Season 3 premiere—it looked lived in, fought over, and paid for in blood.

In “Salt and Sea. Fire and Blood. ” which runs for over an hour. the long-awaited Battle of the Gullet finally arrives. built from two years of preparation and design work and months of actor training to make it appear that everyone onscreen was actually navigating the real Gullet. The sequence was also developed with an unusual scheduling decision behind it: showrunner and executive producer Ryan Condal later admitted the battle wasn’t originally meant to

serve as the Season 3 premiere. After the second season’s wrap. with Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and Aegon’s (Tom Glynn-Carney) armies advancing on the sea between Dragonstone and King’s Landing. fans might have expected one more episode to depict what many consider the bloodiest naval conflict in the Dance of the Dragons. Instead. Condal explained the team chose to push the battle to Season 3 as a way to “rebalance the season. ” pointing to a

lack of “infinite time and resources. ” while also reiterating that the creative team wanted to give the event “the time and the space that it deserves.”.

That choice becomes impossible to ignore once the camera starts tracking Corlys Velaryon’s world—because the battle is filmed with a heavy emphasis on practical effects. “in camera” for most of it. outside the obvious moments when a dragon or two is involved. When the dragons do show up. the devastation they leave behind lands with personal consequences for Rhaenyra’s side of the Targaryen civil war.

The cast talks about all of it with the same underlying theme: this wasn’t just about staging a fight. It was about building a moment that hurts, and then making sure it hurts on-screen the way it would in real life.

Corlys Velaryon gets the spotlight—and the chaos

The Battle of the Gullet is depicted in two layers: what plays out in the Gullet itself between Corlys Velaryon’s (Steve Toussaint) ships and those of the Free Cities’ Triarchy, and what transpires in the skies above.

For Toussaint. getting to play a side of Corlys he hasn’t had much chance to fully inhabit was “joyous.” He described the feeling of bringing the mariner’s element to life as “You’re a kid on the playground. but you’ve just got these incredibly expensive toys. and that’s what it felt like. All the stuff that I did when I was a child on the playground.” He also said his only regret from the filming process was not having the chance to recreate a favorite moment from Master and Commander—specifically a scene where Russell Crowe’s character is on the bow and puts his hand into the water.

Toussaint even mimed it with his hand trailing into an imaginary sea, saying “He’s sort of hanging off like that, and he puts his hand in the water.”

Admiral Sharako Lohar arrives with a plan made of vengeance

Abigail Thorn—who joined House of the Dragon last season as Admiral Sharako Lohar. a brash pirate who commands the Triarchy’s fleet—called the experience “the most fun I’ve ever had.” She tied that to the “months and months of prep and training” that went into bringing the Battle of the Gullet to life.

But her character’s mission is anything but playful. Once Sea Snake’s banner is directly in her sights. Lohar tells Tyland Lannister (Jefferson Hall) that she sailed across the Narrow Sea not to help turn the tide for Aegon. but to seek revenge on Corlys for the devastation he previously inflicted on her people. She plans to direct her fleet to sack High Tide. the official seat of House Velaryon. and she also intends to hunt down Corlys personally—even if it means throwing Tyland and other armored men overboard to make her ship light enough to close the gap.

Thorn framed Lohar’s choices as devotion to an incredibly important mission of vengeance, saying the pursuit outweighs everything else. In her words. she sees Lohar as “Captain Ahab in this episode. ” and she studied “every version of Moby-Dick” she could get her hands on. including the original novel and the Gregory Peck performance as Ahab.

She added that she also drew inspiration from Ricardo Montalbán in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. pointing to the combination of “charm and that fun” with “the brutality and the vengeance underneath it.” Thorn said she believes Corlys is Lohar’s “white whale. ” and that Lohar is willing to risk everything—sacrificing her own men. her relationship with Tyland. and ultimately her own life—just to get a chance to be close enough to look in Corlys’ eyes when he dies.

How the fight was approached: “Captain Ahab moment”

As the Lohar-and-Corlys confrontation comes to a head, Thorn explained how she and director Loni Peristere approached the characters’ knockdown, drag-out fight, which she describes as the “Captain Ahab moment,” referencing “From hell’s heart, I stab at thee. For hate’s sake, I spit my last breath.”

Thorn said one version of the scene ended up on the cutting room floor: she described a take where she did, in fact, spit at Steve Toussaint. She recalled asking Steve, “Steve, would you mind if I spit at you?” and Toussaint replying, “You do what you got to do.”

When Corlys goes down, the fight shifts instantly

Both sides land several devastating hits, but what takes Corlys out occurs “completely by chance.” One moment, he’s standing on the deck ready to deliver a final blow; the next, he falls into the sea as the ship runs aground. The episode’s conclusion leaves his fate unknown.

The violence doesn’t stop there. Corlys’ right-hand sailor and secret bastard son, Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim), steps in. After previously stripping off armor that was weighing him down. Alyn launches himself at Lohar. believing her responsible for Corlys’ death. The two tumble off the ship into waist-deep water.

Salim said the original version of Alyn and Lohar’s fight to the death was intended to be “flashy. ” but once cameras started rolling. a choreographed idea shifted into something harsher and more visceral. He said that on the day—while they were actually in the water—consideration of everything that had happened. the sheer brutality. and the fact that these people were “absolutely exhausted” made the fight become “brutal and just horrible.” He added that he felt the fight took “two or three days” because. in his view. it wasn’t complicated in its intention: “just to kill or be killed.”.

Thorn. meanwhile. found nuance in what viewers might miss at first glance: the smaller reactions that show Lohar’s emotional range while she fights for her life. She said that on the page it is “very simple. ” just “two sentences. ” like “They’re fighting. and she’s killed.” Thorn described choosing how Lohar feels throughout the fight. including the exact moment she realizes she’s going to die.

Lohar’s death: pinned under water and finished with a knife

Thorn and Salim describe a grim turn from uncertainty to finality. At first. it isn’t clear who will triumph. but Alyn holds Lohar underneath the water. never allowing her a full breath. Then he hoists her above the surface and finishes the job with a literal twist of a knife he plucks right off her belt.

Thorn said Lohar’s death is likely her most illuminating scene. but she doesn’t want to spell out everything behind her character’s past. She said. “This isn’t Sharako the Storm. the fighter — I know in my head what her real name is.” In the final moment. Thorn said. Lohar is “just this scared little girl.”.

Salim praised Thorn’s commitment. calling her “such a trooper” who gave “her all in every single take. ” and said it pushed him to do the same. He described the sequence as something that evolved—and he emphasized that it matters because it reveals so much about both characters: “just what these two characters have been through the whole time.”.

The moment is also framed as part of a broader cost

Thorn said the version of Lohar’s death that made it into the final cut connects to House of the Dragon’s biggest themes—especially the reminder that this battle is only one of many that exact a terrible toll.

She recalled an “amazing. lucky moment” during the scene when. as Alyn lifts her out of the water. “all the blood and grime washes off her face. ” and viewers see “the woman she could have been were it not for Corlys.” In Thorn’s words. if Corlys hadn’t done what he did. “we see what she could have been. ” and it’s “this beautiful moment that says so much about the whole season. actually. and the cost of war and of vengeance.”.

Dragons arrive—then create a different kind of danger

While the Battle of the Gullet rages. dragons initially seem like an advantage for Rhaenyra’s side. since their riders are on Team Black. But the episode is already shaped by what viewers know: Rhaenyra’s oldest son. Jacaerys (Harry Collett). takes her place at the Gullet against her objections. locking her in her room to keep her from the fight.

Jace appears to have things under control—especially because he and his dragon. Vermax. are reluctantly accompanied by his betrothed. Baela Targaryen (Bethany Antonia). riding her dragon. Moondancer. Then the battle is complicated by an event viewers learn about in advance: Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell). Baela’s sister. has successfully bonded with a wild dragon in the Vale named Sheepstealer. Rhaena is already flying to High Tide.

Campbell. who became a card-carrying member of House of the Dragon’s “most unique club” this season. compared filming the dragon riding scenes to “the best kept secret on-set.” She said Rhaena’s bond with Sheepstealer includes a scene where Sheepstealer spits up and barbecues a goat to feed his hungry rider. But what follows isn’t heartwarming.

Once Sheepstealer is part of the battle, the dragon’s untrained and unpredictable nature becomes the threat. Campbell said Sheepstealer can’t tell the difference between friend and foe. When Jace and Baela notice another dragon burning ships. they act fast—but Antonia pointed out the detail that blocks real recognition. She said, “All they can see in the war is this huge beast of a thing in the air. The size comparison is so hard to even describe, but Rhaena looks like the tiniest little figure in the distance.”.

Sheepstealer targets Baela and Moondancer instead, sending Jace to help—and changing everything

Sheepstealer shifts tactics and goes after Baela and Moondancer, which horrifies Rhaena. Jace and Vermax fly to intervene. That brings Jace close enough to make out his cousin as the rider—but it also turns them into Sheepstealer’s new target.

When Jace directs Vermax to fly lower in an effort to evade the wild dragon, the consequences turn fatal. Campbell noted that Rhaena’s earlier survival so far—like when she and Sheepstealer were able to survive an attack thanks to Baela’s quick action—doesn’t protect her this time. A second strike ultimately proves fatal.

As Vermax slowly sinks toward the water, Rhaena is left gasping out Jace’s name while Sheepstealer retreats.

Campbell said this will shape how Rhaena handles what’s coming next. “I think she feels the entire weight of responsibility of Jace,” she said. “I think. rightly so. she feels dreadful. and she knows that because of her appearance into the fight. that is the reason that has caused all this. and that doesn’t pass her by.”.

Vermax’s end: changed from Fire & Blood and made more tense

The episode’s conclusion differs from what’s recorded in Fire & Blood. In the book, Vermax is hit by a grappling hook and crashes into a burning ship. In the show’s version, viewers watch Vermax slowly dragged down into the sea while Jace tries—through sheer effort—to get Vermax up in the air again.

Collett said Jace isn’t necessarily considering his own end in the moment. He explained, “In Jace’s mind, there’s always a way out of everything. He is quite smart. so to speak.” He also said the change is intended to keep survival feeling possible. describing how it makes the scene “10 times more tense.” Collett said viewers see Jace try to “unbuckle everything” and try to free himself while he works to raise the dragon—something that makes people scream at their TVs like “Just get up!”.

Even after Jace manages to unbuckle himself from Vermax’s saddle, Collett said there’s still no sign that this is truly the end. “Because even before he gets hit, he grabs onto a piece of wood in the sea. There are boats around. He can wave someone down.”

Hope ends fast—arrows land, and the losses land hard

The show then extinguishes the remaining hope immediately. A nearby ship carrying Triarchy pirates fires arrows. and the first arrow hits its mark. followed by a second and then a third—delivering a major blow both to the series and to Rhaenyra herself. who currently has no knowledge that she has just lost another son.

Collett said Jace understood the danger he was stepping into when he chose to fly to the Gullet so that his mother wouldn’t have to. “I think it was a true shock when he got hit by that first arrow, and it’s sad, really. But he knew he was going into battle.”

House of the Dragon Season 3 premiere episodes air Sundays on HBO.

House of the Dragon Season 3 premiere Salt and Sea Fire and Blood Battle of the Gullet Ryan Condal Ryan Condal interview Rhaenyra Emma D'Arcy Aegon Tom Glynn-Carney Corlys Velaryon Steve Toussaint Sharako Lohar Abigail Thorn Tyland Lannister Jefferson Hall Alyn of Hull Abubakar Salim Jacaerys Harry Collett Baela Targaryen Bethany Antonia Rhaena Phoebe Campbell Sheepstealer Vermax Moondancer Loni Peristere spoilers