After spending the first three episodes following Team Black and Rhaenyra’s struggles, Episode 4 of House of the Dragon Season 3 brings the show’s focus to the Greens.
As we’ve learned from the end of Episode 3, Alicent’s cousin, Ormund Hightower (James Norton), has taken over Tumbleton. At the Footly estate, we meet the real Daeron (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth), whose hair has been dyed red to make him look like a Hightower. We also find out that it was Ormund who had Not Daeron’s hair bleached last episode, which raises the question: Is Ormund moonlighting as a parlorist?
In King’s Landing, Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) says Ormund might be daring her to torch Tumbleton, which is a market town, not a stronghold, and therefore has poor defenses. She also laments having a truly small Small Council, or body of advisors. All she has is Grand Maester Orwyle (Kurt Egyiawan) and her spymaster-situationship Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno). Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim) replaces his father, Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), as the queen’s Hand. Ser Torrhen Manderly (Dan Fogler), the lord who taunted Rhaenyra after last episode’s rat banquet, is made the new Master of Coin, only after Mysaria suggests that the queen name a Master of Coin to take the blame for the city’s financial crisis.
Rhaenyra goes to Alicent and asks her to tell her more about Ormund and what his motives might be. Alicent reveals that she sent Daeron away to be raised by her cousin because she had already given her late husband, Viserys, three Targaryens, but she wanted her last child to be a Hightower. Seeing how her sons, Aegon and Aemond, became, she says that sending Daeron away was her “truest act of motherhood.” She also said that Ormund was sensitive to smells.
Meanwhile, Aemond’s Hand, Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), and Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox), Alicent’s brother, arrive at Harrenhal and meet Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin). In Episode 2, she watched Aemond bleed after he killed all of the garrison at Harrenhal. If there’s anyone who knows what happened to the missing king, it’s her, but she doesn’t tell the Greens.
With King’s Landing out of the Greens’ control, Aegon assumed dead, and Aemond missing, Criston and Gwayne think about how they’re going to move on the Black territories now. Gwayne says it’s time to phone a friend — or send a raven to cousin Ormund, who has 20 times as many soldiers as they do — but Criston thinks the small numbers are a better strategy.
Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) is still very much alive. He and his Hand, Larys (Matthew Needham), find the spot where he and his dragon Sunfyre had crashed last season (after getting attacked by Aemond). Sunfyre’s corpse has been turned into a tourist attraction of sorts, with Aegon having to pay a fee for touching his dragon.
After mourning (and insisting that Sunfyre’s still alive), Aegon heads to the citadel of Rook’s Rest, which has been impoverished in the war. Though Rook’s Rest is Green territory, Larys advises the ex-king to lay low. Aegon is given a job taking care of latrines.
Rhaenyra Takes Desperate Measures
Back in King’s Landing, someone has painted “Queen of Bastards” on a wall. Rhaenyra receives news of this and sends the Gold Cloaks to remove other seditious markings around the city and the people responsible for them. In true cop fashion, the Gold Cloaks resort to violence, hurting the smallfolk during the raid.
Meanwhile, Daemon (Matt Smith) visits Lady Jeyne Arryn (Amanda Collin) in the Vale to ask for her support in the war. On the way back to the city, his dragon Caraxes takes him to a cave where he finds his daughter Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) and Sheepstealer. He tries to convince her to leave the dragon and come home, but she insists on remaining in exile, afraid of getting punished for Jace’s death.
Daemon returns to King’s Landing with the head of a person he claims rode Sheepstealer, and gold from Jeyne. Rhaenyra is frustrated and suspicious as she wasn’t able to face Sheepstealer’s rider, but she promises that the gold will be used for the smallfolk.
What’s Ormund’s Plan with Daeron?
In Tumbleton, a Hightower soldier assaults a peasant family and is brought to Ormund. He orders the soldier to be castrated and have his arm broken, and tells Daeron that they must be firm.
Later on, they receive a letter from Gwayne, who tells him that Aemond is not at Harrenhal. To make things worse for the Greens, the Dragonseed Hugh (Kieran Bew) flies over Tumbleton on Vermithor as a warning: the Blacks still have dragons, and the Greens don’t even have Vhagar.
The Greens still have Daeron’s dragon, Tessarion, but she’s younger and smaller than the other dragons. Ormund warns Daeron against being so friendly with Tessarion, as he considers the Targaryens’ relationship with dragons ungodly. He also compares Daeron to his other brothers, who have so far failed to guide the Greens through the war, and says he should be king instead.
Daeron is appalled by the idea of betraying Aegon and Aemond, who are both already at odds with one another. Ormund then brings in the man whose family was assaulted by a Hightower soldier earlier, and makes Daemon kill him as a test of his will. When he kills the man with a sword, Ormund bows to him, and Tessarion burns the body.
House of the Dragon Season 3 is streaming on HBO Max.
Frequently Asked Questions
Daeron Targaryen, Alicent’s youngest son raised in Oldtown by her cousin Ormund Hightower. Ormund tells Daeron he should rule instead of his brothers Aegon and Aemond, then tests his resolve by making him execute a man — and bows to him afterward.
Yes, Aegon survived last season’s dragon attack. He visits the site where Sunfyre crashed, then travels with his Hand Larys Strong to Rook’s Rest, where he hides his identity by working as a latrine keeper.
Alicent tells Rhaenyra she had already given Viserys three Targaryen children and wanted her last child raised as a Hightower, away from court. Seeing how Aegon and Aemond turned out, she calls sending Daeron away her “truest act of motherhood.”
Daemon secures gold and support from Lady Jeyne Arryn in the Vale, then discovers his daughter Rhaena living in exile with the dragon Sheepstealer. She refuses to return, fearing punishment for Jace’s death, and Daemon presents a stranger’s head as the dragon’s rider to Rhaenyra.
The dragonseed Hugh flies Vermithor over Tumbleton as a warning. The Greens have lost Vhagar, with Aemond missing, leaving the Greens with Daeron’s dragon Tessarion, which is younger and smaller than the Blacks’ dragons.
Recommended Video
