Diksha Sundriyal
The penultimate episode of HBO’s ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 3 begins with Helaena’s dream of leaving the confines of her room, going outside the castle, and through the open door. She is brought out of it, Rhaenyra, who has become interested in her since her last chat with Alicent. The conversation begins with Rhaenyra approving of her decision not to ride into battle with Sunfyre. Then it shifts towards how both Helaena and Viserys gave up dragonriding and how it alters people. Rhaenyra brings up the point of her being a Dreamer and asks her what she knows of Daemon’s whereabouts, of the Winter Wolves, and Tumbleton, and whether she will win this war eventually. When Helaena doesn’t answer, she gets angry and realizes she is changing after all. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Aemond’s Assassination Attempt Goes Awry
In Harrenhal, Aemond is surprised to find Alicent entering his room. She embraces him and reveals that she ran away when Rhaenyra took over and remained in hiding. She calls him her truest son, talks a bit about Aegon, and then they kiss and take things to bed. But halfway through this, Aemond breaks out of his mind and realizes he is in bed with Alys, who is talking about giving him sons. He runs out of the room, leaving her confused, and then sees his mother standing in the distance. He is confused, still believing her to be a hallucination, and is further unnerved when she says the same things she said in his dream. She reveals she ran away with Ser Adrian’s help, who was kind enough to accompany her through the treacherous kingsroad.
Aemond is brought out of the castle to meet Ser Adrian, who was clearly sent to kill the One-Eyed Prince. The knight doesn’t do anything particularly suspicious, but Aemond is too paranoid to let a stranger near him, so he kills the guy while his mother watches in horror. Back in the castle, a still shocked Alicent has dinner with Aemond and Alys, and struggles to understand who exactly Alys is. Meanwhile, her son reveals plans to make Harrenhal his seat while biding his time, waiting for Rhaenyra to fail so he can restart the Targaryen line with his children. He tells Alicent to stay with him in the castle, but even as Alys immediately objects, he insists his mother is not going anywhere.
Later, Alys tries to warn him that Alicent has come to do him harm. Of course, he doesn’t believe it at the time. Meanwhile, Alicent, further disturbed by the prospect of being trapped in Harrenhal with her Aemond and Alys, gets the knife from Ser Adrian, who is still lying outside the castle, and hides it. She goes to Aemond’s room with drinks, the spiced wine that she knows he liked. She says she doesn’t want to stay in Harrenhal and mess up whatever Aemond has going with Alys. He says he tried to kill Aegon, she says she knows, then hands him the wine. Later, a poisoned Aemond makes his way to Alys and falls unconscious, while Alicent runs out of the castle.
Ormund Has a Chat With Corlys
The Rivermen and the Winter Wolves march on towards Tumbleton with Criston Cole’s severed head on a pike. Gwayne relays this information to Ormund, revealing that their enemy is just a day or so away from their gates. However, his cousin doesn’t seem too perturbed by this information. He says he has a piece on the board, but doesn’t reveal what that is. Later, he has Lord Corlys, now his prisoner, for a meal. He tries to turn the Hand to his cause, pointing out that with his gone and no Velaryon fleet, King’s Landing will crumble soon enough. When Daeron wonders how that will help with the enemy’s army so close to them, he gives his nephew a sharp look. Ormund keeps talking about why Corlys is still tied up with the Targaryens.
When the conversation reaches his late wife, Corlys decides to go back to the cell instead. Ormund lets him go, but not before he cuts off his finger and sends it to Alyn in a box. Meanwhile, Daeron and Gwayne consider their options, wondering what crazy Ormund is up to. Daeron talks about surrendering, but that’ll just get them killed earlier. Gwayne tells him he could fly away on his dragon, but Daeron knows it will just make him look like a coward and won’t change Ormund’s plans. Daeron says he doesn’t want to be king, but there is nothing he can do about it. Meanwhile, Daemon flies to the Vale, angry with Lady Arryn for letting Rhaena leave so easily, who counters that she can’t really control a dragonrider.
She also points out that it’s time to tell the Queen about it, but Daemon asks her to give him some time, even saying “please” in the process. Apparently, Rhaena has been searching for Vhagar, and she was last seen on his trail. Daemon immediately flies to find her. Meanwhile, Addam and Baela are also on Vhagar’s trail. He asks her to ask Daemon to let Rhaenyra legitimize him and Alyn, so they would be eligible to marry her. Baela thinks Alyn broached this subject with his brother, but it turns out Addam has been thinking about marrying her himself. This awkward realization is interrupted by the sight of Sheepstealer. So, they immediately fly back to King’s Landing and tell Rhaenyra about it.
Rhaenyra Finds Sheepstealer’s Rider
At the council meeting, Lord Torrhen Manderly confronts Rhaenyra about making him a scapegoat. Since she has turned the commonfolk against him, he and his family have faced serious threats. Meanwhile, there has been no news of Corlys, Alicent, or Daemon, who seems to have flown away on an unknown errand. Alyn assures Rhaenyra that the Velaryon army is on its way. Lady Frey starts talking about how, with Aemond gone, Harrenhal is empty, so Rhaenyra tells her to get her armies there and take it. It is then that Baela and Alyn show up with news of Sheepstealer, accompanied by a rider. This gives Mysaria the chance to talk about the possibility of Daemon’s betrayal, and how he may have allied with the dragonrider for his own purposes.
Rhaenyra tries to defend her husband, but at the end of the day, the only way to clear the doubts is to see it for herself. So she gets Addam to join her and flies to find Sheepstealer. Meanwhile, Daemon finds Rhaena and is almost attacked by Sheepstealer. After calming down the dragons, Daemon reproaches Rhaena for leaving her hiding spot. She confesses she cannot live like that anymore, so she has decided to find Vhagar and kill it so she can absolve herself in Rhaenyra’s eyes or die in the process. Knowing he cannot change her mind, he asks her to fight together. But before they can discuss it further, Rhaenyra and Addam arrive. The Queen confronts her husband for his treachery, but is shocked to discover that the person he was hiding is his daughter.
With the tempers already rising, the dragons get fighting with Sheepstealer being their target. Rhaenyra gets Rhaena onto Syrax and flies away, with Addam following. Daemon commands Caraxes to kill Sheepstealer, but fails as an injured Sheepstealer flies away. In King’s Landing, Mysaria meets Sylvie, who tells her that things are getting worse in the city. Mysaria reveals that the Queen will not see any more petitioners, acknowledging it’s a mistake. And then she offers to be her proxy, which doesn’t sit well with Sylvie. She notes how much power has changed her, while also reminding her that she will never be able to leave her roots behind.
Aegon is Reunited With an Old Friend
Aegon and Larys are on their way to the ship to Braavos, as Tyland asks him to reconsider. They still have a couple of days until they reach the port, but the journey won’t be as easy since the Mootons’ army, loyal to Rhaenyra, is headed their way. One of the men running away from Rook’s Rest reveals that the Mootons have taken over, and they are looking for Tyland because of the gold. Larys tells Tyland he should give himself up so no one comes looking for them, but Aegon says he is done. He refuses to run away anymore and will take his last stand at Rook’s Rest and die there with his dragon if he has to. Tyland decides to stay with him, while his hired hands run away. Larys says he must leave, too, but will stay if the King commands it.
Aegon, however, doesn’t see any point in keeping him around any longer, so Larys leaves. Later that evening, Aegon and Tyland camp in the woods when the Mootons arrive. They ask the two men to bend the knee in Rhaenyra’s name, and Tyland briefly wonders if Aegon is considering running after all. But then, Aegon pulls out his sword and declares his identity. Tyland is also recognized, and all seems lost for a minute. Aegon begins a speech asserting that he is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne. Meanwhile, the Mootons look behind him in fear. It turns out Sunfyre has finally woken from its slumber. It is burned and injured, much like its rider, but Aegon’s return has brought it back from the brink of death. And now it’s returning the favor.
Will Ulf Betray Rhaenyra?
Ecstatic about his dragon’s return, Aegon tells Sunfyre to burn all its enemies, and just like that, he is back in the game. Meanwhile, Rhaenyra and Rhaena return to King’s Landing, with Rhaena getting sent to a room because the Queen doesn’t want to see her anymore. Baela, however, visits her sister and tries to console her. Daemon tries to explain his actions to Rhaenyra, but she is offended that he thought she would hurt Rhaena and gave her a stranger’s head instead. She tells him to leave. Later at night, when she cannot sleep, she goes to Mysaria’s room. She tells her about Rhaena, but also confronts her for trying to turn her against Daemon. When she starts to wonder if it was a mistake for her to follow her father’s way of peace, Mysaria assures her that things will turn out fine.
And then they sleep together. Meanwhile, Helaena is plagued by visions. First, she sees the birth of her child, who will be taken away from her immediately. Then, she sees herself riding Dreamfyre and burning the people advancing towards her. Her last vision takes her to a place where she is with her twins and chickens. But then the darkness arrives with an eclipse, along with which come the winds of winter. Ormund, meanwhile, is busy with the piece he had told Gwayne about. It turns out that he has been having tea with Ulf for several nights now. Their friendship has sustained long enough for Ormund to offer him a castle of his own, something like Driftmark, since its owner will soon be gone. And it sounds perfectly fine to Ulf.
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