House of the Dragon has finally returned, and its season 3 premiere, “Sea and Salt, Fire and Blood,” stands out as one of the series' most spectacular and ambitious episodes so far. Centered on the long-awaited Battle of the Gullet, the episode depicts the fleets of Corlys Velaryon and the Triarchy colliding in the waters surrounding Driftmark, while dragons wage war overhead in a display of fire and destruction.
But, as impressive as the battle is on screen, I couldn’t help but focus my attention on the several questionable narrative decisions. Four in particular struck me as particularly alarming because of the potential impact they could have on the story going forward, especially on the show’s fourth and final season.
Generally speaking, I feel like the showrunners of House of the Dragon have not been considering one very fundamental thing: the actual Dance of the Dragons might have been quick, lasting only two years, but its aftermath definitely wasn’t. Side characters that barely get their moment during the Dance are actually key players in the years after the war.
Many are the departures from George R.R. Martin’s source material. In the first season, several additions and expansions felt justified as they helped flesh out the reign of Viserys I, his family dynamics, and the political tensions that ultimately drive the story. The premiere episode of season 3, however, takes far greater liberties with the book, and many of those alterations are now much harder — almost impossible — to defend.
Here are the worst “mistakes” House of the Dragon season 3 has made so far, in my opinion.
Be warned: there will be major spoilers for Fire & Blood and House of the Dragon ahead.
- Making Rhaena a dragonrider (and cutting Nettles)
- Removing Aegon and Viserys from the Gullet
- Jace dying for nothing
- Rhaenyra still trusting Alicent
- What does all this mean for the future of House of the Dragon?
Making Rhaena a dragonrider (and cutting Nettles)
The decision to completely cut the fan-favorite, lower-class dragonseed Nettles from the books and merging her character arc into Rhaena's felt peculiar two years ago. After watching this episode, it actually feels disappointing.
Making Rhaena fly the feral Sheepstealer before she had any control over him is, simply put, a shortsighted decision. Entering the battle and accidentally attacking Triarchy and Velaryon ships alike — while targeting Vermax and Moondancer in the chaos — is even worse.
Making Rhaena Targaryen a dragonrider so early undermined the source material. In Fire & Blood, her bond with Morning is, amongst other symbolic things, a personal moment of growth and perseverance. In House of the Dragon, Rhaena has lost the unique personal arc that made her distinctive in the first place.
The change also weakens the symbolism of Rhaena’s eventual success. Her character is symbolically relevant during Aegon III’s reign as she’s the last dragonrider before the Mother of Dragons herself. In season 3 of House of the Dragon, she’s an inexperienced dragonrider who indirectly causes the death of the heir to the Iron Throne.
Removing Aegon and Viserys from the Gullet
Simply put, by removing Viserys and Aegon the Younger from the Battle of the Gullet, the show has also compromised the future of House Targaryen as we know it. When Viserys is taken, he’s brought to Lys, where he is held hostage by the Rogare family. He ends up marrying Larra Rogare, and when he comes back to Westeros, he brings her with him. They have three children together, their firstborn son Aegon IV.
But what happens now? In House of the Dragon, Viserys and Aegon the Younger are safe and sound sailing towards Pentos, and Joffrey Velaryon is still being warded in the Vale. Are they going to address this elephant in the room? And if yes, how? Once again, in changing the source material, the show suffers and has to come up with a “good-enough” solution that comes off as hurried and messy. But we can only hope that won’t be the case this time.
Jace dying for nothing
In removing Rhaenyra’s youngest sons and inserting Rhaena as the wild card during the battle, Jace dies for no reason. His death is a mistake, an accident, and most of all pointless. Instead of saving his brothers and subsequently ensuring the continuation of the Targaryen line, he spends his last moments trying to outrun Sheepstealer, leading him to become distracted and flying too low, too close to the Triarchy’s archers.
Once again, a Targaryen dragonrider isn’t able to control their dragon and causes the death of a Velaryon prince. The show is getting really repetitive — and not even by using a tested and appreciated storytelling device.
Rhaenyra still trusting Alicent
At this point of the show, it feels ridiculous that Rhaenyra Targaryen still trusts Alicent Hightower. By the season 3 premiere, Rhaenyra has lost family members, endured betrayal, and has every reason to doubt any promise coming from King’s Landing. Yet she continues to act on faith in Alicent’s intentions. The episode explicitly frames her strategy as being driven by that trust, despite the obvious risks (and what actually happens at the Battle of the Gullet as a consequence).
The problem is that good intentions no longer matter. Even if Alicent wants peace, she cannot fully control figures like Aemond Targaryen or the wider Green faction. Trusting Alicent after everything that has happened makes Rhaenyra seem naïve rather than cautious.
I can accept lingering affection from their childhood friendship, but trusting her political judgment at this stage of the war stretches credibility. After so much bloodshed, suspicion would feel far more believable than faith.
What does all this mean for the future of House of the Dragon?
All of these departures and “mistakes” raise my concern. It doesn’t seem like the showrunners have any intentions of adapting the aftermath of the Dance of the Dragons. In Fire & Blood, the reign of Aegon II, the Hour of the Wolf, and the regency period that encompasses the first few years of Aegon III’s reign are more than half of the chapters dedicated to the Dance of the Dragons. So it’s very possible that season 4 of House of the Dragon won’t be able to tell this side of the story in depth.
Is this a reason for all these cuts and readaptations? If the show won’t deal with the regency and the real ultimate defeat of the Greens, then it is “justifiable” to potentially kill off Tyland Lannister at the Battle of the Gullet, remove Viserys’ Essosi storyline, and, most of all, make Rhaena a dragonrider earlier than necessary?
All these changes inevitably take out pieces of what makes the Dance such a fundamental part of Fire & Blood. Yes, it’s the war that brings the dying of the dragons and the start of the decline of the Targaryens, but the “how” and “why” that take the story there have been changed again and again. Making the show voluntarily distant and different from its source material has inevitably made the quality of the story itself substandard.
Still, House of the Dragon is a great TV show, with a huge production and a talented cast. We still tune in every week to watch dragons flying in the sky, see what Rhaenyra and Daemon are up to, and feel hate, love, and pity for every character that shows up on our screens.
There is still plenty of time for House of the Dragon to justify these choices and, hopefully, prove me wrong. But after the season 3 premiere, it is becoming increasingly difficult to see how many of them improve upon the story George R.R. Martin originally told.
Add us as a preferred source on Google