In Season 3, Episode 2 of “House of the Dragon,” Prince Aemond arrives at Harrenhal and kills Ser Simon Strong, then dispatches both of his sons. The episode also brings the brutal execution of Otto Hightower, as Rhaenyra takes the Iron Throne and Alicent is f
The night Aemond arrives at Harrenhal, the violence doesn’t pace itself. It lands fast, blade-first—starting with a man who believed he could survive by staying flexible.
“House of the Dragon” Season 3 begins with the “Battle of the Gullet. ” and the premiere on June 21 already sets the stage for what Aemond vows to do. In Episode 2. now streaming on Max. he makes good on his pledge to Alicent Hightower—leaving King’s Landing and heading to the “creepy castle at Harrenhal.”.
At Harrenhal, Aemond quickly sinks his blade into Ser Simon Strong, the smooth-talking caretaker of the fortress. Ser Simon is played by British actor Simon Russell Beale.
Mitchell, who plays Prince Aemond, described the moment as grimly intimate. “To be honest, I was dreading that day,” Ewan Mitchell says in an interview. “I even wanted to spend more time with [Beale] making that scene. It all happened so fast.”
In the show. Ser Simon Strong is not an enemy by default—he’s a survivor who has learned to work around the rules of a civil war. The episode frames him as a politically savvy ally of sorts to Prince Daemon (Matt Smith). but the man’s position shifts after Daemon lands his dragon Caraxes on haunted Harrenhal in Season 2. claiming the fortress for Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and her cause.
Once that happens, Ser Simon makes his deal clear: he says he’ll work for any side in the civil war, especially the ones that can kill him. He also tells Aemond—without softening the message—that the young prince will find a form of “satisfaction” now that Daemon has fled town.
Aemond takes that line and turns it into action. He kills Ser Simon and then “quickly dispatches both his sons.”
“Aemond means war,” Mitchell says.
But the episode doesn’t let the confrontation end cleanly. Aemond is then struck from behind through his armor. He falls in front of the just-arrived Harrenhal witch, Alys Rivers, played by Scottish actress Gayle Rankin. Aemond’s final words are “Help me.”
With Aemond gone, the episode swings to Rhaenyra. A dragon delivers her into King’s Landing—made possible through help from Alicent, described as a peace-seeking former foe and childhood bestie.
Rhaenyra arrives with a chilling kind of cheer as she speaks to anxious locals. “Don’t be afraid, I mean to make this right,” she tells them, as her dragon lurks nearby.
The new ruler of the Iron Throne then faces a simple problem: her official opposing claimant, Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), has fled town. With no symbolic opponent left, the episode turns to something far more intimate—punishment aimed at the people who supported the old order.
A long-forgotten shackled prisoner is brought from the dungeons.
That prisoner is Otto Hightower, played by Rhys Ifans. The episode places him as a familiar figure inside this world: Otto served as Hand of the King to Rhaenyra’s father, peaceful King Viserys (Paddy Considine), and he is also Alicent’s beloved father.
In prison, Otto looks broken—described in the episode as having “dungeon hair, sunken eyes and a scraggly beard.” His stance is resigned. “Just get it over with,” Otto says.
The execution is direct, and the episode emphasizes that Otto believes Rhaenyra will kill him. Before the killing, Otto tells Rhaenyra that if her father had seen what this had come to, he never would have imagined it.
Rhaenyra’s instructions then land with a cold efficiency. Otto asks for Daemon to cut off his neck, saying he won’t make a mess of it. But it has to be Rhaenyra.
Otto gives up his neck for a clean shot. Rhaenyra makes a mess of it anyway—stabbing into his back painfully. Otto groans as she pulls back, then cleaves off his head. The severed head rolls on the stone floor.
The throne sequence doesn’t hide its symbolism. Rhaenyra has to step through the blood to reach the Iron Throne, and the episode includes a shot reflecting the throne through blood.
No sooner does Rhaenyra take her seat than Alicent is ushered in by guards. Alicent is left horrified to see her father’s head on the ground, separated from his body.
Rhaenyra, meanwhile, is shown struggling to find an expression at all—staring at her former childhood friend while tears stream down her face. The episode ends with her wearing a firm look from the throne.
The sequence of deaths—first Ser Simon Strong and then both of his sons. later Alys Rivers arriving as Aemond falls. and finally Otto Hightower’s execution as Rhaenyra claims the Iron Throne—turns each political turn into a personal one. By the time Alicent walks into the room. the episode has made it hard to pretend the conflict is only about power.
House of the Dragon Season 3 Episode 2 Max Prince Aemond Alicent Hightower Harrenhal Ser Simon Strong Simon Russell Beale Otto Hightower Rhys Ifans Rhaenyra Iron Throne Daemon Alys Rivers