Diksha Sundriyal
The Greens arrive in Tumbleton in the fourth episode of HBO’s ‘House of the Dragon‘ Season 3. The previous episode saw Rhaenyra struggling to rule a crumbling and bankrupt King’s Landing, only to be further incensed by the deception of Ormund Hightower. He sent a fake Daeron with dyed hair and marched on Tumbleton, which is right next door to King’s Landing. While she wonders what he is planning, the Hightower soldiers seize the locals’ homes. One of them is Hugh’s brother-in-law. Meanwhile, Ormund takes residence at the humble home of the nobles who run the town, with the real red-haired Daeron serving as his squire. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Rhaenyra Adds New Members to Her Council
As Rhaenyra sits at the head of a meager council, she wonders why Ormund took Tumbleton. The town raised her banners, which means that with her supporters in the city, she cannot march in guns blazing. She knows if dragons are sent there, it’ll be a bloodbath, and it will turn her people against her. It is decided that a dragonrider should be sent to keep watch, while the armies arriving from the Riverlands should be sent there instead of King’s Landing and get the Hightower forces out with minimal loss of life. In the background is Ser Adrian Redfort, the new Queensguard. Rhaenyra also tells Orwyle that he can remain the Maester as long as he remains loyal to her. While Mysaria starts talking about the issues at home with the commonfolk, Rhaenyra notes that her Hand is nowhere to be seen.
The Mistress of Whisperers tells the Queen to assign a new Master of Coin, who will have the charge of finding the resources to run the kingdom. And if he fails, then the commonfolk can blame him instead of the Queen. Rhaenyra likes the idea and immediately thinks of Torrhen Manderly, whom she’d met at the feast for the nobles where she served rats and raided their grain stores. Her next stop is at Godswood, where Helaena is spending time with her daughter. The Queen’s focus, however, is on Alicent, from whom she wishes to know more about Ormund, so she can understand who she is dealing with. Alicent, however, has been away from home for so long that she doesn’t really know her cousin anymore.
The conversation turns towards Daeron, and Alicent mentions that while some think Ormund cruel, he has been described as fatherly to her son, who was sent to be his ward at a young age. Rhaenyra wonders how she dealt with the separation from her youngest, but Alicent reveals that she was the one who sent him away. While her first three children were Targaryens, she wanted her last to be a Hightower. Considering how her other sons turned out, she thinks sending Daeron away was perhaps the greatest act of motherly love from her. But when she wonders whether it matters in light of the current situation, Rhaenyra tells her she would have spared Daeron. Before the Queen leaves, Alicent tells her Ormund has a peculiar sensitivity to odors.
Aegon and Larys Reach Rook’s Rest
Alyn finds Corlys to tell him he has been summoned by the Queen, but the Hand doesn’t think he is of any use in King’s Landing. He is riding out to deal with the Triarchy soldiers wreaking havoc in the kingdom and tells Alyn to take his place on the council. He worries that it might not be his place, but with his father gone, he has to take the news to Rhaenyra. She is not happy about it, but clearly, there is nothing she can do. As she looks at her father’s model of Old Valyria, she remembers how many people saw him as weak. In truth, he managed the impossible by keeping the kingdoms together under his long reign. When the rats pop up again, Alys notes that they used to keep cats to keep the rats away from the ship.
Meanwhile, Aegon and Larys reach Rook’s Rest, where they find Sunfyre’s body. Aegon is heartbroken to see his dragon, but he is convinced that Sunfyre is not dead yet, even though it looks so to everyone else. Before Aegon can make his case, Larys has to pull him before he draws any more attention. A man has already charged them for touching the dragon, and Aegon speaking High Valyrian to the dragon is making them suspicious. A while later, they arrive at the site of another dead dragon. It is Princess Rhaenys’ Meleys, whose head was cut off and paraded through King’s Landing. Instead of Cole’s garrison, they discover that a group of random people has taken over the place. Larys tries to find a place to stay in exchange for some coins.
He fends off suspicion by claiming that they hate the Greens and Aemond, whose dragon burned their village. Aegon’s scars are presented as the proof. The man in charge, who considers himself the Lord now, tells them they have to earn their keep. To keep his cover, Aegon is forced to carry piss and shit. Meanwhile, Larys tells him that a Braavosi ship is leaving in a few days. Until then, they have to keep their head down and survive. The fact that he has been declared dead by Rhaenyra has already eased their task. Aegon is surprised and angry to discover this and blames Aemond, whom he swears to kill. He gets angrier when it turns out there is no food left for him. But the Lord of the place has no appetite for his antics. He points his sword at Aegon, tells him to kneel, kiss his feet, and call him Lord. And he has no choice but to do it.
The Tide Starts to Shift in King’s Landing
Criston Cole and the army reach Harrenhal, and while there are clear signs of the destruction Vhagar caused, there is no sign of the dragon and its rider. Instead, they are greeted by Alys, who confirms Aemond was there and killed Simon Strong and his sons. But when he found out Rhaenyra has taken King’s Landing, he fled. The news comes as a shock to Gwayne, who thinks that they should go to Tumbleton and unite their forces with Ormund, who will surely be cooking up some plan. Cole refuses to believe that Aemond will desert him and decides to stay put. If Aemond doesn’t come, then they can hold the Blacks’ army marching from the Riverland. With no dragons, they can put up a good fight if they are smart about it.
In Tumbleton, Hugh’s wife, Kat, and her brother’s family face danger when a Hightower soldier tries to sexually assault her, and her brother hits him in return. They are presented before Ormund, who is surprisingly just. He punishes the soldier, telling Daeron that they need to maintain law and order. Later, when he receives Gwayne’s letter telling him neither Aemond nor Cole’s army is coming to Tumbleton, he loses his cool. There has also been no word from Borros Baratheon, whose daughter was betrothed to Aemond to form an alliance back in Season 1, which was followed by Luke’s death. Meanwhile, Hugh discovers that Ulf has been tasked with keeping an eye on Tumbleton, so he asks Rhaenyra to give him that responsibility instead.
She tells them to take turns and let Ulf know about it. Ulf returns to his haunting grounds and reunites with his friends, who hail him as a dragonrider and newly minted knight. He buys drinks for everyone, and things go rather well, until, on his return, he sees “Queen of Bastards” graffiti on the wall. Later, he visits the Queen and asks her for favors for his friends. Instead, she tells him not to go to taverns anymore because if he dies, the war could begin anew. He tells her about the graffiti, leaving her shocked and rattled. She tells Ser Redfort to get the Gold Cloaks to remove the graffiti and find who made it. She also has an interesting conversation with Orwyle, wondering what influence the Hightowers have over the Faith and the Septon.
He says the Faith is to Hightowers what dragons are to Targaryens. When she mentions that the Septon has refused to anoint her, he wonders why she needs that ceremony in the first place. When she thinks about replacing the Septon, he wonders if she is considering permanently removing him. She is surprised and somewhat impressed by his sudden display of bloodthirst. But that’s not what she is going to do. She asks him for all the correspondence between the Red Keep and Ormund since her father’s death. It turns out Otto wrote to his nephew frequently, but Ormund never wrote back. It seems he had been running Oldtown as his own kingdom all this while.
Daemon Makes a Shocking Discovery
Daemon arrives in the Vale, years after he killed his first wife. When he points out that Lady Arryn never sent any soldiers, she points out that technically, she didn’t receive a dragon either, which was the main part of the deal. When he asks for gold in return, she agrees, just so he can leave as soon as possible. He is ready to go back to King’s Landing, but Caraxes has other plans. His dragon takes him to the cave where Rhaena has been hiding with Sheepstealer. Daemon is shocked to see his daughter, who has cut off her hair and doesn’t seem to be doing too well. He is horrified to discover that she is responsible for Jace’s death. He asks her to come to King’s Landing so they can explain everything to Rhaenyra. But they both know that’s not a good option.
He tells her to take the next ship to Pentos, and none would be the wiser. But she cannot leave Sheepstealer behind. She asks him to keep his mouth shut about it and rides away. When Daemon notes a man grazing his sheep, he comes up with a plan. He returns to King’s Landing with the man’s charred head and tells Rhaenyra he has killed Sheepstealer’s rider. While the Queen is shocked and confused, Daemon is introduced to the new Master of Coin. He argues with Mysaria about where the gold from the Vale should be used, while Torrhen wonders if anyone has considered taxing people. Rhaenyra tells everyone to leave the room and asks Daemon about the head in front of her. She has many questions, but Daemon assures her that it is done and that they must move on now.
Rhaenyra decides that the gold should go towards helping the people of King’s Landing, which irks Daemon, who thinks it should be used to pay the Gold Cloaks. Before he leaves in anger, telling Mysaria the Queen will break out of her spell soon, she asks him whose head it really is. Rhaenyra pays another visit to Alicent, telling her Otto’s remains have been sent to Oldtown. She gives her father’s ring and leaves, which is fortunate because, right after that, Alicent discovers that Heleana’s clothes no longer fit her. She is pregnant! As Hugh’s dragon soars over Tumbleton and a curfew is imposed, things take a turn in King’s Landing as well, where the Gold Cloaks begin their brutal search for the graffiti maker.
Daeron calms down Tessarion, who has been chained up in the Sept. Ormund warns him not to get too close to the dragons, calling them and Targaryens an abomination. He talks about how the Hightowers would have ruled the kingdom if it weren’t for the Targaryens and their blood magic. But now, they have a chance to do it. Like Alicent, Ormund sees Daeron as a Hightower and thinks he should be king. Daeron is not so sure about it, but Ormund convinces him otherwise. To prove that he is ready to become king, he tells him to kill Hugh’s brother-in-law, whom he’d supposedly let go earlier. It turns out that was all for show. While Daeron doesn’t want to, he is forced to stab the man, who is then burned down by Tessarion’s fire. Now, Ormund says, they can begin.
Read More: What Happened to the Gold in House of the Dragon?
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