5 moments from Fire & Blood we can’t wait to see in House of the Dragon

4. Tumbleton Treasons

Speaking of dragons doing battle, let’s talk about the Tumbleton Treasons. In an effort to even their odds, the Blacks send various knights and peasants in their employ to try and tame wild or riderless dragons on Dragonstone. Although many die in these efforts, a few succeed and become dragonriders. This ends up making a huge difference in the war as they are able to capture lands that they previously lost and win more battles. Dragons make all the difference in a war.

The fun part is that not all of these new dragonriders can be trusted. Two of them are charged with holding Tumbleton, a prosperous market town in the Reach that is an important stronghold for Rhaenyra Targaryen. At this time, Rhaenyra is in control of the Iron Throne and is winning battle after battle. For reasons unknown, the two dragonriders charged with guarding Tumbleton turn on the village and burn it to the ground in cooperation with Aegon’s forces. It’s the most brutal sack of any city in the history of Westeros, with Tumbleton essentially wiped from the map.

The book doesn’t detail exactly why these two did what they did, so I’m excited for the show to go into more detail. I also look forward to this moment because as many problems as I had with the final episodes of Game of Thrones, it was a thrill to watch some of our favorite characters try to survive Daenerys’ scorching of King’s Landing, which was the medieval equivalent of an atomic bomb. If they can capture even a little bit of that magic for this moment, it will be terrifying, horrible, and exhilarating.