House of the Dragon's season 3 premiere gave us a little bit of everything. An epic battle, a major character's death, a classic case of weird incest, and epic dragon sequences. But one thing that I can't stop thinking about is the appearance of a Green Man, the mysterious being Addam of Hull and Hugh saw on the Isle of Faces. This character subtly confirmed the existence of a new race of beings in Westeros and called back to the very first A Song of Ice and Fire book that came out 30 years ago.
New look at the Green Men in ‘House of the Dragon’ S3 pic.twitter.com/kQHTEbg0LX
— Thrones Facts | HOTD 🐉 (@Thrones_Facts) June 22, 2026
Book fans like me live for this kind of stuff. Every time a new piece of Westeros content releases, there's a chance we get answers to one of the countless mysteries George R.R. Martin has bestowed upon us. And the Green Men are as mysterious and intriguing as it gets in this universe.
Green Men origins
The Green Men were first mentioned way back in the second chapter of A Game of Thrones. When Catelyn Stark is walking through the godswood in Winterfell, she thinks about how there are only weirwood trees in the North. All of the weirwood trees in the other kingdoms were cut down, aside from the ones on the Isle of Faces near Harrenhal, where the Green Men watch over them. The same island where Adam, Hugh, and Ulf are camping in the season 3 premiere.
Later in the first book, Maester Luwin tells Bran Stark about how the Children of the Forest were the original inhabitants of Westeros. They worshipped the weirwood trees until the First Men came from Essos and colonized the continent. After the First Men began cutting down weirwoods, the two races went to war for years.
They eventually made peace on the island near Harenhal. Part of the deal was that the order of the Green Men was established to protect the island and the last remaining weirwood trees in the south. The island seems to be one of the last centers of power for the Old Gods' magic.
What are they?
Until now, it was unclear if the Green Men were human or not. The World of Ice and Fire book suggested that they could be humans who wore green clothes and antler hats. But House of the Dragon finally confirmed that these guys are a different race of people.
The brief shot of the Green Man clearly shows that he had green skin, the legs of a deer, and antlers growing out of his head. This means that the Green Men are an ancient race of beings and definitely not human.
There have been so many theories online about the origins of the Green Men. Some people think that they are the male counterparts of the Children of the Forest, but that seems unlikely to me. There are multiple references in the books to the Children of the Forest having both male and female members of their race. Bran actually sees some of the males in Bloodraven's cave in A Dance with Dragons, and they are not described like the Green Man from House of the Dragon.
Other theorists — like YouTuber Michael Talks About Stuff — speculate that the Green Men could be the product of crossbreeding between humans and the Children of the Forest. In any case, the Green Men are ancient beings, protectors of weirwood trees, and have been around for thousands of years.
Who has met the Green Men?
This is actually the second time House of the Dragon has shown us a Green Man. In the season 2 finale, Daemon Targaryen sees one before he touches the weirwood tree at Harenhal and has a trippy Old Gods vision. But it was unclear if that Green Man was even real, since it seemingly vanished right in front of Daemon.
In the books, one of the few people we are told who made contact with the Green Men is Addam of Hull. After Hugh and Ulf betray Rhaenyra and defect to King Aegon in the book, Rhaenyra mistrusts all of the dragonseeds. Even Addam, even though he is still loyal to Rhaenyra in truth. He is determined to prove his loyalty to the Queen and face the other dragonseeds in battle. Before he does this, we are told that Addam flies his dragon to the Isle of Faces to consult with the Green Men.
If this plotline plays out in the show, we know that Addam has already seen a Green Man. Perhaps he felt a connection to the Isle of Faces and after Rhaenyra called for Addam's arrest, he had nowhere else to go. Some people theorize that dragon riding is similar to warging, which we know is an offshoot of Old Gods magic. Maybe the Green Men bestow some warging wisdom on Addam and give him an advantage before he faces Hugh and Ulf in battle.
The only other person we are told visited the Green Men is Howland Reed, Ned Stark's old war buddy and the father of Bran's companions Meera and Jojen. We're not really sure why, except that Howland was seeking additional knowledge and that he stayed on the Isle for an entire winter. Soon after, Howland meets Ned and his siblings at a tourney held at Harenhal. He later accompanies Ned during Robert's Rebellion and assists the Starks in the War of the Five Kings.
As for the Green Men in House of the Dragon, we'll see if they turn up again in the coming weeks. New episodes air Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.
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