‘House of the Dragon’ Season 3 Bids Farewell With Plenty of Brutal Chaos

We’ve reached the end of House of the Dragon season three, and we have just one question: who’s joining our write-in campaign to make HBO create a Roddy the Ruin prequel series?

All joking aside, the season finale featured a battle even more thrilling than the one in the season premiere and brought endings for some crucial characters. And there’s still plenty for the show’s upcoming fourth and final season to gnaw on as the Dance of the Dragons continues.

Grand Maester Orwyle has some urgent news for Queen Rhaenyra: Aegon is alive and so is Sunfyre. She runs to find Daemon and sobs as she realizes the implications. There are still plenty of smallfolk loyal to King Aegon. And if his miraculous resurrection paves his way back to the Iron Throne, what does that say about Rhaenyra’s increasingly desperate belief that the gods chose her to rule?

Daemon, of course, firmly believes in the prophecy. Their conversation switches to High Valyrian, as it always does when they’re discussing Rhaenyra’s destiny. “The only quality the realm understands is strength,” he advises her.

So she lays down the plan. Keep a watch for Aegon and any affiliated dragons. Tell Ser Hugh to guard the dragonpit with Vermithor. Attack Tumbleton, but go door-to-door killing all the Hightower loyalists; as was previously discussed, simply burning the town to the ground would wipe out Rhaenyra’s own supporters too, and she doesn’t want to be accused (again) of being cruel.

The goal: kill Ormund and Daeron. Then she’ll go on a hunt to kill Aegon too.

In this bloodthirsty state of mind, Rhaenyra’s in no mood to hear Baela’s questions about when they’re going to rescue Lord Corlys. She’s still ticked off at the Sea Snake for avoiding her. And she’s still furious at Baela (for supporting Jace’s ill-fated plan for the Battle of the Gullet) and Rhaena (one word: Sheepstealer).

Her anger gets hotter when Baela articulates an uncomfortable truth: “If a person is useful to you, you wield them. But if not, you abandon them.”

As expected, the matter of the Sea Snake being a hostage also impacts the Velaryon host’s willingness to defend King’s Landing. Though Alyn makes it clear he’s Lord Corlys’ son and heir, and he’s giving the orders here, the men seem less than convinced.

As Daemon rides off toward Tumbleton, we see Ser Hugh watch him go—then promptly slink away from his post.

At Tumbleton, battle preparations are at a fever pitch, and Ormund tells Daeron that “all of it is for you.” But before he can be crowned king, he has to be made a knight, so we get to see another knighting ceremony—featuring an oath Ormund himself barely follows—as Daeron Targaryen becomes Ser Daeron the Daring.

Speaking of dubious knights, we next see Ser Ulf, blissfully drunk and talking all kinds of shit about Rhaenyra and Daemon. If there was any doubt in last week’s episode that he was planning to switch sides, we know exactly where he stands now.

In King’s Landing, Rhaenyra learns Helaena is on a hunger strike. It’s an irritation she’ll put off for now, since first on her agenda is going to the Grand Sept and forcing the High Septon to properly anoint her. That way, “there will be no doubt who the gods have chosen to rule.”

Second on her list is… kicking a shocked Mysaria out of the Red Keep and putting her on a ship to Pentos. Rhaenyra has chosen Daemon’s way, and Mysaria’s counsel is no longer needed.

We see a tearful Helaena is getting a rare moment of outside time. She’s following her guard back toward the Red Keep when she realizes the scene exactly mimics part of her dream last week: there’s the cart, and there’s the grey mare.

On the stairs, she passes a disgruntled Mysaria, who hisses a warning: “Do not trust the queen … she will never release you.”

At Harrenhal, Aemond has mostly recovered from Alicent’s poison plot, at least physically. Alys regales him with her startling backstory: she’s been at Harrenhal since it was burned by Balerion, Aegon the Conqueror’s dragon.

She had a child with Lord Harren; it’s implied she was Lord Harren’s wife. She and her boy survived the disaster, but he was so badly burned that Alys tried everything she could to heal him—including otherworldly methods that held unforeseen consequences. When her son died, she tried to follow him. Instead, she’s been chained to the castle, seemingly immortal, ever since. No wonder she’s so lonely. No wonder she’s so desperate to keep Aemond there with her. And he does seem to sympathize.

Back at King’s Landing, Rhaenyra orders a miserable Helaena to eat. In an echo of the earlier scene with Baela, the queen is once again made to face some uncomfortable truths. “All the things you care about are ugly,” Helaena says, and that includes Rhaenyra herself. Rhaenyra’s response is to have her guards hold Helaena down and pour slop down her throat.

After that agonizing scene between sisters, we get one between brothers. “News of Aegon’s return has set the queen on a dark path,” a worried Addam tells Alyn.

But Alyn’s not here to question Rhaenyra’s actions, even when they involve grounding Baela or leaving Lord Corlys in the clutches of the Hightowers. And no, he insists, he’s not doing it out of ambition. He’s just doing his duty. And today, that duty is escorting a determined Rhaenyra, with the pint-sized Prince Joffrey in tow, to the Grand Sept.

At Tumbleton, a concerned Daeron and a morose Gwayne gaze at the massive Team Black army. They notice their own Team Green has rounded up local children to stand atop the castle walls as a manipulation tactic against the enemy. Charming.

Nearby, they catch sight of Roxton giving Ormund some news that makes him furious. They don’t know his plan yet, but we can guess, since the news is that Ser Ulf, Ormund’s secret puzzle piece, has somehow gone missing.

The frantic search is on for Ulf in Tumbleton as Daemon does a fly-over on Caraxes, to the delight of Lord Oscar Tully and Roddy the Ruin.

Working on a plan B—something that might end all this without everyone being needlessly slaughtered—Gwayne and Daeron visit the imprisoned Lord Corlys. First they try to buy his loyalty, but he’s too honorable, of course. So Gwayne says, “The hard road, then.”

In King’s Landing, the streets are so packed that the cart escorting Mysaria on her forced exit grinds to a halt. Seizing the moment, she jumps off and blends into the crowd. Meanwhile, a solemn Alyn leads Rhaenyra into the Grand Sept, passing some fresh “Queen of Bastards” graffiti.

Outside Tumbleton, Daemon, Roddy, and Tully approach the city (chuckling over how Cole died “badly”) when they learn a Hightower is waiting to meet them. It’s Gwayne, with Lord Corlys in tow, going behind Ormund’s back to try to come to a peaceful solution. But Daemon doesn’t go for Ormund’s idea of dividing the realm between Daeron and Rhaenyra.

Nor does he appreciate Corlys’ spontaneous and honestly rather reasonable-sounding suggestion that Daeron could instead be named “Lord Paramount of the Reach.” Nope. Daemon is here to fight it out and put traitorous heads on spikes. End of story. Pretty much the only thing that comes out of this ill-fated parley is that Corlys is no longer a Hightower captive—he’s now Daemon’s prisoner instead.

At Harrenhal, Aemond awakens from a nightmare, storms outside, and finds a real nightmare waiting for him: Aegon, back from the dead (the line reading of “I’m alive!” by Tom Glynn-Carney is so perfectly unhinged), with Sunfyre behind him. Aegon is disappointed that a repentant Aemond won’t fight him.

A nervous Alys appears in the background and explains that Aemond can’t fly with his brother to Tumbleton because Vhagar has abandoned him. Fine, Aegon says. First, they’ll go look for Vhagar. Then they’ll fly to Tumbleton and remind their younger brother Daeron and “that shitheel Ormund” who’s actually in charge.

“Then, we’re all going to march on King’s Landing under my banner, and maybe, when Rhaenyra’s head is on a spike and I’m back on the Iron Throne, maybe, then, I’ll forgive you for trying to fucking kill me,” Aegon says, shushing Alys’ attempts to intervene.

Back at Tumbleton, the Blacks are firming up their strategy, which requires an adjustment when they learn that Ormund has lined the battlements with children.

“Lord Roderick, are you still prepared to die for our queen?” Daemon asks.

“Can’t fucking wait” is the reply, and the Northman is instructed to take his men over the wall and make sure they survive long enough to open the gate from within.

Back in King’s Landing, Rhaenyra’s arrival at the High Sept is as ill-received as you’d expect. She orders the High Sept to anoint her, and he refuses; now that Aegon and his dragon are resurrected, he says, there’s no doubt whose rule is supported by the gods.

That’s jabbing Rhaenyra right where it hurts, and she tells him he’s just outed himself as a traitor. It falls on a dutiful Alyn to deliver the death sentence for this offense.

Without an anointing to show off to the people of King’s Landing, Rhaenyra instead decides to regale them with a family secret: the story that Viserys told her, of Aegon the Conqueror’s vision for the Song of Ice and Fire and why it all means that she’s supposed to reign. It’s all part of a plan stretching back hundreds of years, you see, and “If your world is to survive, I must light the way.”

Then she switches to High Valyrion: “I am the Prince Who Was Promised!”

While she’s speaking, we cut to Tumbleton, where Ormund’s search for Ulf has gotten more frenzied. The battle’s about to begin—where is he?

Daemon gives a rousing battlefield speech (“I don’t want the best of you; I want the worst!”), and the Winter Wolves make their move. The Battle of Tumbleton begins!

It’s immediate carnage—arrows, siege machines, boiling oil, burning trenches, and many blows landed by bladed weapons. (While this is happening, Ormund learns Daeron and Gwayne went behind his back to try and broker peace; there’s so much going on he doesn’t really have time to react, but we can tell he’s aghast that they’d go against him.) It’s a frenzy of violence in broad daylight, a blessing given those many murky Game of Thrones battles we suffered through over the years.

On the fringes, waiting for his moment, it’s Daemon’s turn to learn that Ulf—who he still thinks is fighting for Rhaenyra—is nowhere to be found. He is just as displeased as Ormund was. He’s also displeased when Vermithor suddenly appears, since Ser Hugh is meant to be guarding King’s Landing. What’s he doing at Tumbleton?

Caraxes is the first dragon to enter the battle, helping out Daemon’s forces by blasting a path into the city. (A group of kids forced into place by the Hightowers scamper out of the way just in time.) We see Hugh on foot at the back of the charge.

Inside the walls, Roddy and company make short work of the Hightower forces who dare to get in their way; with the gate open, Roddy sets off in search of Ormund… who has just found Ulf, snoozing off the booze, pants down, completely unaware that he’s the most wanted man in Tumbleton.

Ormund is furious, and not just because of Ulf’s disgraceful personal hygiene. He drags him out into the open and kicks him and hits him, calling him a “useless baseborn stump” and ordering him to “do as you’ve been told.” Suddenly Daemon Targeryen’s snobbish cruelty doesn’t seem so bad, does it?

Speaking of Daemon, he’s slashing everyone in his path when he spots Hugh running through the town, desperately searching for his wife. Daemon’s attention soon shifts when Roxton comes up behind him, calling him “Kinslayer” and “babe killer” (a reference to Blood and Cheese). The two well-matched opponents immediately go at it.

Ulf finally makes his way to Silverwing. In the Tumbleton sept, Gwayne finds Daeron readying Tessarion for battle. “I won’t be remembered a craven,” he says, even as Gwayne pleads with him not to die for Ormund’s vanity.

Rhaenyra’s army cheers as Silverwing flies overhead—but Ulf turns his dragon on them. Countless men are torched in an instant. Watching this unfold, Gwayne remarks, “Perhaps we’ll survive the day,” his glum mood suddenly turning.

Nearby, Roddy has caught up with Ormund, and their clash is epic. After Ormund lops off Roddy’s arm, the blood sprays directly onto Ormund’s disgusted face. But even down a limb, the aging warrior prevails, jabbing a blade into Hightower’s backside and crowing, “That’s a proper fucking… by the North!”

Just then they look up. Silverwing has reappeared over the city. We realize Ulf’s no longer loyal to anybody at this point—“Fuck you, too,” he mutters at the Hightowers—and Tumbleton erupts in flames. The two men below face their imminent deaths in very different ways; Ormund yells in horror, Roddy looks like the happiest man in Westeros. But they meet their ends together, swallowed by dragonfire.

The brawl between Daemon and Roxton only stops when the city starts crumbling around them. A stunned Daemon rises to his feet, wildly waving his sword before slowly realizing the absolutely hellish scene that surrounds him. Corlys appears out of the smoke and tells him Ulf has turned, the town is lost, and it’s time for them to GTFO.

Gwayne struggles to revive himself and calls out for Daeron. Roxton discovers Ormund’s charred corpse. Hugh finally finds his wife, but he’s too late to save her.

Rhaenyra is returning from her “triumph” at the Grand Sept when she hears the news: Helaena is dead. She’s jumped from the window of her room.

We get our only shot of Alicent in this episode at that moment. She’s in the woods, looking worried, as butterflies swirl around her. A very Helaena way to say good-bye.

And when Rhaenyra takes a close look at the embroidered tapestry that Helaena’s been adding to all season, we see she’s stitched a macabre prediction of her own death.

The next panel over is a grim depiction of a wild-looking Rhaenyra sitting on the Iron Throne, surrounded by flames. The queen lets that sink in for just a moment, and then she closes the window. The season ends.

You can watch all three seasons of House of the Dragon on HBO now.

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