House of the Dragon is finally back, and its premiere episode, "Sea and Salt, Fire and Blood," is easily one of its most epic and ambitious to date. Featuring the massive Battle of the Gullet, the show's season 3 premiere sees armadas belonging to Corlys Velaryon and the Triarchy clash in the waters near Driftmark, while dragons set the sky afire above.
While there's no denying the grandeur of the battle itself, as a reader of George R.R. Martin's novel Fire & Blood, I couldn't help but mull a few of the more sweeping changes this sequence made from the source material. Some worked better than others, but there are four in particular which could have far-reaching consequences on the story, rippling outward into the show's fourth and final season.
Now that the Gullet is behind us, let's take a minute to look at these most substantial changes, and discuss what they could mean for House of the Dragon. There will be MAJOR SPOILERS for Fire & Blood.
1. The Gay Abandon
Perhaps the single biggest change to the entire Battle of the Gullet sequence is the exclusion of a merchant cog named the Gay Abandon. This ship departed Westeros at the end of season 2, ferrying Rhaenyra and Daemon Targaryen's youngest two sons Aegon and Viserys across the Narrow Sea, just like in the book. However, in Fire & Blood they never make it; instead, they sail directly into the Triarchy. Aegon manages to escape on his fledgeling dragon Stormcloud, and barely makes it back to Dragonstone to warn his older brother, Jacaerys Velaryon, about what happened before his mount dies of its wounds. Viserys, meanwhile, tries to hide among the crew of the Gay Abandon, but is found out and taken captive by Sharako Lohar. He's subsequently lost in the chaos of the battle, and assumed dead.
Both Aegon and Viserys have extremely important roles to play in the ending of the Dance of the Dragons, and what comes after. The Battle of the Gullet begins Aegon's disillusionment with dragons, which only grows worse by the end of the war, to the point that when he finally ascends the Iron Throne as Aegon III he eventually becomes known by the nickname 'Dragonbane,' after the last healthy Targaryen dragon perishes under his watch. Without Stormcloud's death, his story stands to change significantly.
The same is true for Viserys. He ends up a prisoner in the Free Cities for most of his young life, only to eventually return to the Seven Kingdoms long after the war is done. He takes up a prominent position at court, serving as the Hand of the King to some of Westeros' most notable rulers, including Daeron the Young Dragon and Baelor the Blessed. He eventually rises to the Iron Throne himself, with a lifetime of experience behind him. It's through his bloodline that we get characters like Egg from A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and Daenerys from Game of Thrones.
Showrunner Ryan Condal has assured fans he still has a plan for Aegon and Viserys, and their ultimate place in the on-screen history of Westeros. But without their traumatic experiences during the Battle of the Gullet, it will be a very different version of their story.
2. Nettles and Sheepstealer
Another massive divergence in the Battle of the Gullet is Sheepstealer's involvement. In the book, this wild dragon is claimed by a lowborn girl named Nettles, who wins his trust by feeding him sheep over the course of weeks until they bond. Nettles becomes one of Rhaenyra Targaryen's dragonseeds, and fights in the battle along with Hugh, Ulf, and Addam of Hull. Sheepstealer is better trained by this point, and does not go rogue.
In the show, Daemon's daughter Rhaena Targaryen has been given Nettles' storyline with Sheepstealer, and so far it's playing out very differently. Rhaena bonds Sheepstealer right before the battle, tries to fly him back to Dragonstone to show her family, only to steer her new mount directly into the battle once she catches sight of it. Sheepstealer, being the wild animal that he is, gets startled by everything around him and begins attacking friend and foe alike. He burns Velaryon ships, nearly gobbles up Rhaena's sister Baela, and ultimately has a hand in causing Jacaerys Velaryon's death, since Jace dives low to avoid the rogue dragon and is taken down by the Triarchy while he's distracted.
Because House of the Dragon has saddled Rhaena with both Nettles' plotline and the guilt for Jace's death, this storyline is going to play out as a truly unique piece of the TV show canon that stands apart from the novel. The book already has a storyline where Rhaenyra grows to distrust Nettles — and her close relationship with Daemon. But by having Rhaena, Daemon's actual full-blood daughter, assume this role, and potentially cause Rhaenyra to justly want answers about who was flying Sheepstealer, the show sets up a totally different scenario for how the Black Queen might come to want Nettles' head.
It's still too early to tell exactly how this change will play out, but it's guaranteed to be substantial.
3. Sharako Lohar and the Triarchy
Our next change is thankfully smaller, but still stands to impact the wider world of Westeros. In "Sea and Salt, Fire and Blood," the Triarchy captain Sharako Lohar meets her end at the hands of Alyn of Hull. This ties Lohar's story off neatly after her encounter with the Sea Snake, relegating her to a small but memorable guest appearance in the story.
However, in Fire & Blood, Sharako Lohar survives the Gullet — and his duplicitous actions bring about the downfall of the Triarchy itself. Sharako (who is a man in the novel) set sail for Westeros with around 90 ships; he returns with barely more than 20, and of those surviving vessels, pretty much all of them belong to his homeland of Lys. This raises suspicion with the other two Triarchy cities, Myr and Tyrosh, that Lohar held back his own forces and let the ships from his allies take the brunt of the devastation.
This distrust eventually leads to a conflict called The Daughters' War, where Lys, Myr, and Tyrosh fight it out as the Triarchy splinters due to infighting. Even in Fire & Blood, this war is only briefly mentioned since it's beyond the purview of Westeros' history. I wouldn't expect to get more than a passing reference to it in the show with or without Sharako Lohar's survival, but with Lohar dead, the manner in which the Daughters' War kicks off won't be quite the same.
4. Tyland Lannister
Last but not least, we have Tyland Lannister, the intrepid master of ships for King Aegon II. In House of the Dragon, Tyland organizes this alliance with the Triarchy, is present at the Battle of the Gullet, and is ultimately tossed overboard by Sharako Lohar to help her vessel shed weight so it can escape the Sea Snake's trap in the Dragonstone Pass. It's not guaranteed that Tyland is dead, but given his heavy armor and the penchant of TV shows to kill characters off more frequently to free up actors for other work, it's unlikely that he made it out alive.
Tyland Lannister has a drastically different path in Fire & Blood, which extends past the Dance of the Dragons and into the following time period, when the boy king Aegon III sits the Iron Throne and the realm is effectively ruled by a council of regents. In the book, it's Otto Hightower who organizes the Triarchy alliance from afar. Tyland is not at the Gullet, and is therefore not lost at sea during the battle.
Instead he remains in King's Landing, where he serves as Aegon's master of coin. When Rhaenyra Targaryen captures the city, Tyland is given over to her torturers to discern the location of the crown's treasury, which was hidden before her arrival. Tyland spends Rhaenyra's entire stint ruling the city locked in the dungeon, undergoing horrific treatment that leaves his face permanently disfigured. He's released after she flees the city, and by the end of the war he's elevated once more to his old position as master of coin for King Aegon II.
Following the final resolution of the Dance, Tyland is pardoned for his involvement in the war and given a council seat as Aegon III's Hand of the King. He serves in this role ably until two years after the Dance of the Dragons, when he is taken ill by the Winter Fever and dies. He plays a major part in many negotiations and plans which are laid in the immediate aftermath of the war.
Unless House of the Dragon brings Tyland Lannister back somehow, his role will have to go to a different character. I doubt we'll see much of the regency period in the show anyway, but we'll undoubtedly at least get the groundwork laid before the credits roll on the series finale. And when they do, it'll have to be someone other than Tyland Lannister serving Aegon III as Hand of the King.
We'll find out how these four changes and more play out in the coming weeks. House of the Dragon premieres new episodes Sunday nights on HBO and HBO Max.
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