We’ve hit the halfway mark on House of the Dragon season 3, and things are getting more complicated for our Queen Rhaenyra Targayren (Emma D’Arcy). Though she’s taken King’s Landing and sits the Iron Throne, not everyone is ready to accept her as their queen. The whereabouts of both Aegon Targayren (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) are widely unknown, but the Greens aren’t going to give up just yet.
As we learned from tonight’s new episode, Ormund Hightower (James Norton) has a scheme of his own. Not only is he fighting a war against Rhaenyra, but he’s also trying to sit Daeron Targaryen (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) on the throne. The Dance of the Dragons is starting to heat back up, and we can’t wait to see what happens next. Catch a glimpse of what to expect from season 3 episode 5 with the trailer below:
In the weeks ahead on House of the Dragon
Heyyyyyy, Aemond is alive! Of course we knew it, but it’s nice to see him reappear in the previews. It’s an all-out war in the second half of season 3, with fire, blood, and battles filling the 1-minute trailer. Rhaenyra is seen yelling “This is finished!” and it seems everyone has that same mindset. The characters are giving it their all as they fight to the finish line, but it’s not going to be easy for anyone involved.
Now that we’re entering the back-half of the season, we have a lot of unanswered questions. Daemon (Matt Smith) and Rhaenyra’s relationship is full of tension after he brings back the man who allegedly rode Sheepstealer into the Battle of the Gullet—dead—and Rhaenyra is upset she didn’t get to see him alive. Of course, we know Daemon is lying for his daughter Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell), but is it worth it? He’s definitely in a difficult situation right now, but lying will only make it worse. Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) doesn’t believe him, so how long will Rhaenyra, if she even does now?
But Rhaenyra might be a bit too distracted to deal with her marriage right now. The season is setting up the highly anticipated First Battle of Tumbleton from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, though it’s going very differently from the source material right now. Tonight’s episode makes many additions to the story, fleshing out characters like Ormund more and making changes to the start of the battle.
Speaking of book changes, we’ve finally (seemingly) learned what’s happened with Helaena (Phia Saban) and Aegon’s youngest child, Maelor, who we believed had been cut completely from the show. However, season 3 episode 4 teased Helaena’s pregnancy, though we still don’t know where this storyline is headed. Martin famously took issue with this book change, expressing his frustrations in a 2024 blog post. Could this be the House of the Dragon writers doing damage control? It’s possible.
Another question I have is where Daeron’s storyline is headed. As we learn in tonight’s episode, his relationship with Ormund isn’t as innocent as we may have believed. Is Daeron really headed for the throne? He doesn’t want to betray his siblings, but with Ormund in charge, will he have any choice?
There’s never a shortage of drama in Westeros. New episodes of House of the Dragon season 3 release every Sunday night on HBO and HBO Max. Keep checking in with us at Winter Is Coming for our latest analysis and opinions.
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