Season 3 of House of the Dragon has officially wrapped, and it delivered a lot of satisfying moments for fans. A lot more satisfaction than the season 2 finale gave us, at least.
From a bloody battle with several major deaths to a significant betrayal that will have massive ripple effects when the show returns for its final outing, it was a memorable way to end the season. In a lot of ways, season 3 ended on a conclusive note. But at the same time, there were a lot of storylines that didn't get paid off, and the writers have a lot of ground to cover if they want to faithfully adapt this story over the final eight episodes.
With that in mind, let's go over some of the events from Fire & Blood that I think need to happen in season 4 to properly wrap this story up. There will be FULL SPOILERS for the book.
1. Hugh's betrayal
The show has made Hugh more of a sympathetic character than he is in Fire & Blood. So far, that is. There is no mention of Hugh having a wife or child, but I'm glad that they gave Hugh a family in the show. I think his arc will be stronger and more tragic for it, especially now that both Kat and his daughter are dead.
We've seen glimpses of Hugh's sinister side, and now that he has nothing to lose, I want to see him fully embrace a heel turn. It was a bummer that Hugh did not join Ulf in burning the Blacks as he did in the book, but I think there is still time for Hugh to fully betray Rhaenyra. He already defied her orders when he snuck away to Tumbleton. Since Daemon saw Hugh in the town, he will likely tell Rhaenyra, and she will brand both Hugh and Ulf traitors.
Then Hugh will be free to complete his book arc and declare himself king of Westeros. Together with Ulf, Hugh begins rallying a group of lowborn soldiers and knights to support his insurgent claim.
2. The Second Battle of Tumbleton
The remaining Hightowers and high-born knights are not keen on Hugh and Ulf's power grab. They begin meeting to discuss how to dispatch the betrayers. In the show, these men — known as the Caltrops in Fire & Blood — will likely comprise Gwayne Hightower, John Roxton, and Daeron Targaryen.
Before the Caltrops can agree on when and how to kill Ulf and Hugh, Tumbleton is attacked by Addam of Hull and an army of Rivermen. After Ulf and Hugh's betrayals, Rhaenyra insists that Addam cannot be trusted either because he is a bastard. Intent on proving that not all bastards are treacherous, Addam raises an army of 4,000 men to kill Ulf and Hugh and prove his loyalty to Rhaenyra in what's known as the Second Battle of Tumbleton.
During the battle, John Roxton kills Hugh, Daeron dies, and the dragons Tessarion, Vermithor, and Seasmoke tear each other to death, killing Addam in the process. Ulf, who drunkenly slept through the fight, is killed the next day when Hobert Hightower offers him poisoned wine. To get Ulf to drink it, Hobert drinks the wine first, sacrificing himself to eliminate the treacherous dragonrider. It feels like Gwayne will be given Hobert's death in the show, possibly allowing him to avenge his cousin Ormund's death.
3. The Storming of the Dragonpit
Finally fed up with Rhaenyra's failures, the starving people of King's Landing revolt against the Queen. They blame her for Helaena's death and are afraid of being burned like the people of Tumbleton. A one-armed man called the Shepherd begins preaching in the streets and stoking anti-Targaryen sentiment among the people.
The Shepherd radicalizes the commoners and tells them to march on the Dragonpit to kill the "demons" within. And despite likely thousands of rioters dying in the process, they successfully kill the four dragons housed in the Dragonpit: Dreamfyre, who we got a proper look at for the first time in season 3, Morghul, Shrykos, and Tyraxes.
There are a lot of pages in Fire and Blood dedicated to this riot, so I think the show will make significant changes to this storyline and cut out a lot of the unnecessary bits and characters. But I think the seeds have been planted in the show with Rhaenyra murdering the High Septon, the people of King's Landing seeing her unhinged prophecy speech, and Tumbleton getting burned just a few miles away. I'm curious to see if Mysaria will be involved with the anti-Targaryen sentiment after Rhaenyra dismissed her from the Red Keep, as she has always tried to be a champion of low-born interests.
4. Joffrey and Syrax
As the angry mob wreaks havoc in King's Landing, Rhaenyra's son Joffrey decides to take bold action. In a desperate attempt to save his own dragon, Tyraxes, Joffrey climbs onto his mother's dragon and attempts to fly to the Dragon Pit to defend it. Because Joffrey was an unfamiliar rider flying without a saddle, Syrax bucked violently until he lost his grip and fell 200 feet to his death.
Syrax then lands near the Dragon Pit and is killed by the mob. This is one of the final blows to both Rhaenyra's rule and her sanity, losing Syrax and her heir/last son with Harwin Strong in one day.
5. Aegon the younger's return
At some point, Prince Aegon (Rhaenyra's son with Daemon) will have to return to Westeros. The last time we saw him was with Rhaena in the Vale, where he and his brother Viserys were being shipped off to Pentos so they would be safe from the war. After Joffrey's death, Prince Aegon becomes Rhaenyra's heir, so he's pretty important.
The show has already made some major changes to Aegon's story. In Fire & Blood, Aegon and Viserys's ship gets attacked by the Triarchy during the Battle of the Gullet. Although Viserys gets captured, Aegon is able to escape on his young dragon, Stormcloud. They barely make it to Dragonstone, where Stormcloud dies of his wounds soon after, and Aegon spends the rest of the war at Rhaenyra's side.
Showrunner Ryan Condal said this part of the story was changed because Aegon and Viserys are much younger in the show than they are in the books. He also implied that they will be included in season 4 in some way.
“It's not to say that those characters are out of the show or anything," Condal said in June. "We all realize what an important role they play as Rhaenyra's sons with Daemon and the heirs to their particular bloodline and where they sit in the history. So we haven't forgotten about any of that. It just requires changes and adaptations to make it safe and practical. When we are going to tell a story with those kids, to be able to do so in a way that we can actually do.”
It's a bummer that the show already cut Aegon and Viserys from the Battle of the Gullet, so I hope we get some kind of satisfying resolution that leads to Aegon becoming King as he does in the book.
6. The fall of Dragonstone
When King Aegon flees King's Landing in the book, Larys Strong smuggles him out on a fishing boat. Aegon lands on Dragonstone, where he hides out with Sunfyre and convinces several Black supporters to defect. Among them was Ser Alfred Broome, who was absent from season 3 but was the guy who tried to convince Daemon to usurp Rhaenyra in season 2.
At this time, Baela and Moondancer are living at Dragonstone, and they fight Aegon when he arrives on Sunfyre. The dragons crash into the ground, killing Moondancer and severely injuring Sunfyre (again). Baela survives, but Aegon jumps off at the last minute and shatters both of his legs, deforming him even more.
7. The end of Rhaenyra
After Syrax and Joffrey's deaths, Rhaenyra flees from King's Landing with her son Prince Aegon and a small group of supporters. Unaware that King Aegon retook Dragonstone, Rhaenyra's group makes their way to the castle, where Alfred Broome and the Green loyalists kill Rhaenyra's men.
King Aegon then feeds Rhaenyra to Sunfyre while Prince Aegon watches in horror. This is another iconic moment that book fans have been waiting a long time to see. It's also why I was so confused when the show seemingly killed off Sunfyre, and so relieved when they revealed he was still alive in season 3.
8. The Battle Above the Gods Eye
Perhaps the most anticipated moment in this whole story will be the Battle Above the Gods Eye, which has the potential to be one of the most impressive and iconic scenes in Game of Thrones (and dare I say, Television) history. After Ulf and Hugh's betrayals, Rhaenyra also labels another dragonseed, Nettles, an enemy. At the time, Nettles is traveling with Daemon, so Rhaenyra also thinks he can't be trusted.
I don't know how they will handle this in the show since Nettles has been merged with Rhaena, but somehow I don't think it will be hard to come up with a reason for Daemon to leave Rhaenyra. There's a good chance he'll be forced to, with the riots happening in King's Landing. Maybe Daemon will just lose his faith in Rhaenyra once he returns to King's Landing and sees how far she's gone. After all, she killed the pope and drove Helaena to suicide.
In any case, Daemon will fly Caraxes to Harrenhal and have a 1v1 with Aemond. According to Fire & Blood, Caraxes and Vhagar claw and bite each other in the sky above the Gods Eye lake. During the struggle, Daemon leaps onto Vhagar and drives his sword into Aemond's face, just before the dragons crash into the water. Although nobody survives, the book makes a point to say that Daemon's body was never found.
9. Aegon's restoration
In Fire & Blood, Aegon returns to the King's Landing after Rhaenyra's death. Borros Baratheon finally arrives with his army and helps quell the riots. Unable to climb the steps of the Iron Throne, Aegon sits on a padded seat at the bottom with a blanket over his broken legs. There, he issues punishments to the false kings who were propped up during the King's Landing riots, including ripping out the Shepherd's tongue.
But the war was not over, as the Riverlands, the North, and the Vale all had armies heading to King's Landing loyal to the Black cause. Borros Baratheon marched to meet the Rivermen in the field, but his army was destroyed in the Battle of the Kingsroad. Corlys, who had received a pardon from the Greens, urged Aegon to abdicate the throne to Rhaenyra's son, Prince Aegon. After the king refused, Corlys and Larys hatched a plot.
They murdered Aegon's loyal men, imprisoned Alicent in the Red Keep, poisoned King Aegon, and named Prince Aegon the new King.
10. The Hour of the Wolf
With so much ground to cover, I'm not even sure we will get to see the Hour of the Wolf in the show. But the writers made it a point to introduce Cregan Stark back in season 2, so I'm holding out hope we get to see him kick some heads. During a Black Council meeting in season 3, we are also told that Cregan Stark's full Northern army is making its way south, so this has to come into play by the end of season 4.
Since the Tullys will likely be active in both Battles of Tumbleton, it probably makes more sense for the Stark army to defeat the Baratheons in the Battle of the Kingsroad. Either way, the Hour of the Wolf involves Cregan taking over King's Landing and forcing Aegon III to name him Hand of the King.
Cregan is angry that his men were not able to see combat after such a long march, so he uses the opportunity to bring justice to whom he sees fit. Being the honorable Stark that he is, Cregan is salty that King Aegon was killed with poison instead of in battle, so he chops off Larys' head. He attempts to do the same to Corlys until Aegon, Baela, and Rhaena stop him. The rest of the condemned join the Night's Watch.
With the war finally over, Cregan returns to the North and a group of regents, including Corlys and Tyland Lannister, help Aegon III rule until he comes of age. The Targaryen dynasty then continues through Rhaenyra and Daemon's bloodline.
House of the Dragon season 4 is slated to begin filming in early 2027, and premiere on HBO sometime in 2028. All three previous seasons of the series are available to stream now on HBO Max.
Add us as a preferred source on Google