Jace’s Battle of the Gullet Choice Costs Him Life

Jace’s Battle – “House of the Dragon” Season 3, Episode 1 turns the long-awaited Battle of the Gullet into a disastrous lesson: Jace’s decision to keep Rhaenyra out of the fight ends with him dead almost instantly after Vermax is dragged under. Co-stars Harry Collett and Beth

The Battle of the Gullet arrived at last on “House of the Dragon” Season 3 — and it didn’t just come with victory for Rhaenyra’s side. It came with losses that felt instantly personal.

Team Black’s plan centered on Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) meeting The Triyarchy, a large naval presence swayed to join Aegon and Team Green, in the Gullet. The strategy seemed to click at first — until the battlefield stopped playing by anyone’s rules.

Jace (Harry Collett) and Baela (Bethany Antonia) joined the battle with their dragons, Vermax and Moondancer. From there. the episode’s tension tightened around one choice: Jace decided Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) should be held in her chambers. The reason was clear — so she wouldn’t either stop her son and heir from fighting in the battle or join herself and be killed. Then, in the hour that mattered most, Jace ended up dead.

Collett described the decision as the kind of impulsive drive only a pressured kid would mistake for certainty. “I think just everything is pushing into one moment,” he told TheWrap. “I think that it’s been a lot of pressure and a lot of buildup to this. and I feel like this is just something he feels like he has to do. I don’t really know how else to explain it. except that it’s just a kid making a silly decision. but he believes that this is what he was born to do. He feels like he has to prove himself as being the rightful heir to the Seven Kingdoms.”.

Baela’s instincts ran in the opposite direction. Antonia said Baela’s hesitation was grounded in experience — or rather, the lack of it. “She can just see so clearly that. as capable as she thinks they both are. she’s very aware that they are much younger and their dragons are much smaller than some of the dragons on the other side. ” Antonia told TheWrap. “As much as she wants to do this with him. I think she could just feel that it’s all very impulsive. and she doesn’t want to go. She knows Rhaenyra’s plan is to all go together. so she’s thinking we should just wait for the grownups and all go together and be really smart and really considered.”.

Antonia added that Baela understands she is likely “disposable to Rhaenyra. ” and that’s part of why she wanted Jace to stay behind — at least long enough to survive the decision he’d already made. “She would rather have Jace stay at home and then get to go with the grownups. and then come back and tell him what’s happened. then go the two of them. ” Antonia said. “That’s where her hesitance comes from.”.

And still, they went.

Once Jace and Baela arrived, the episode made it plain they were outmatched despite riding dragons. Jace was nearly taken out in the first few minutes — a grim foreshadowing — before Baela bailed him out. Collett framed that moment as part of what makes Jace’s fate feel so cruelly believable: it was his first major battle in the war and his “naivety of not knowing” what the real thing is like.

Then came the wildcard that changed the air on the battlefield instantly. Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) showed up riding an untrained Sheepstealer. The dragon didn’t consider sides. It flew in and started burning Trearchy and Velaryon ships alike. complicating everything for Jace and Baela as they shifted their focus to the new threat — not knowing Rhaena was the rider.

Jace got close enough to identify Rhaena, but in doing so, he lost sight of what was happening in the larger battle. Collett placed the blame for what followed directly on Rhaena and Sheepstealer.

“It’s all her fault,” Collett said.

While Jace and Vermax had a close call with Sheepstealer, The Triarchy reloaded and reaimed at the dragon. For the second time, Sheepstealer’s chaos wasn’t the main story — the harpoon was. Vermax was hit with a harpoon meant to drag the beast into the water. Baela wasn’t around to save them this time. Vermax went under, sinking to the bottom.

Jace managed to unhook from the dragon saddle and rise to the top, clutching a piece of debris. Relief didn’t last. Jace floated up in front of a Triarchy ship and was pinned with arrows, dying almost instantly.

Collett talked about the sensory hit of the scene. “The thing that surprised me when I watched the episode was the way that the music just stops. and then all you can hear is the arrows going into my body. ” he said of Jace’s death. “Then it just ends with a sort of drone shot of the whole battle, and then fades to black. I think that was so powerful, because it just felt so real. The music left the room.”.

He also explained how the timing of the episode’s placement in the season mattered to him. The Battle of the Gullet and Jace’s death were moved to Season 3 rather than ending Season 2 like originally planned. For Collett, that shift meant he could speak about Jace’s ending more openly. “If it were the Season 2 finale. I wouldn’t have been allowed to speak about it on the Season 2 press tour. ” he said. “Now I get to speak about it with all you guys. and I get to tell you all these amazing stories and say thank you for letting me be a part of this show.”.

Baela’s future is now tied up in unanswered questions. The fallout of leaving for the battle. Jace’s death. and the still unknown role that Baela’s sister and Sheepstealer played in his death means there’s tension brewing inside their bond. Antonia said Baela isn’t aware that Rhaena was part of the fight, and learning it would be devastating. “be catastrophic for them as a pair.”.

Baela’s relationship with Rhaenyra is also likely to take a serious hit after siding with Jace and going to battle without her. With the heir dead. though. the episode opens the door to new possibilities — and Antonia suggested they may come without the comfort of being tethered to the Targaryen name.

“I wouldn’t say she’s looking for power, I think purpose, definitely,” Antonia said. “I think community and family. I think from. she’s somebody who’s experienced loss from such a young age. and all she’s ever wanted is to have a family around her. and losing Jace is such a big blow. but it’s such a big blow. but it’s sort of the final blow. I think it’s the final thing that ties her to this side of her family.”.

She continued, tying Baela’s growing distance from the Targaryens to what’s been missing in her life. “And ‘Daemon has been pretty absent in most of her life. so she knows now that Rhaenyra is not going to look at her in the same way. And so her life with the Targaryens is just not going to be what it was. I think we’re going to see her this season. really remember that she is a woman of two houses and maybe look to the others for a bit of support.”.

“House of the Dragon” airs Sundays at 6 p.m ET/PT on HBO and HBO Max.

House of the Dragon Season 3 Battle of the Gullet Jace Velaryon Harry Collett Baela Targaryen Bethany Antonia Rhaena Sheepstealer Vermax Moondancer Corlys Velaryon The Triyarchy Team Black Aegon Team Green