House of the Dragon Season 3 Finale Recap and Review

Full spoilers travel for House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 8, “The Traitors of Tumbleton.”

Back successful the day, Game of Thrones typically delivered its large enactment beats successful a season’s penultimate occurrence and spent the finale wrapping up escaped ends and mounting the stakes for the pursuing year. House of the Dragon is simply a antithetic beast: this play began and ended with all-out war, and if anything, this finale leaves excessively galore escaped ends dangling. If it’s little punch-the-air satisfying than the play opener, it whitethorn person much consequential revelations for what’s to come.

In King’s Landing, Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) continues to marque 1 unforced mistake aft another. Driven to adjacent hysteria by the quality that Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) has survived, she exiles 1 of her much clear-eyed advisers, Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) and baffles her subjects, speaking to them astir prophecies – occasionally successful High Valyrian – erstwhile they’re disquieted astir putting nutrient connected the table.

More troublingly, she makes a classical Henry II of England mistake and has the caput of her religion assassinated successful his cathedral. That didn’t spell good for Henry, who sparked wide unrest and had to marque important concessions to the Pope to settee things down, and doesn’t look apt to spell good for Rhaenyra either. Perhaps significantly, Rhaenyra has the mostly likeable Alyn (Abubakar Salim) onslaught the fatal blow. His member Addam (Clinton Liberty) accused him of being overly ambitious and nether Rhaenyra’s thumb; helium whitethorn person had a point. Rhaenyra is nary longer arsenic hesitant arsenic she erstwhile was, but fearfulness has besides made her vicious. The pistillate who hisses commands to Alyn successful the Sept is not the aforesaid 1 who wrung her hands implicit unit past season. Something has breached successful her; she whitethorn nary longer beryllium 1 of the Targaryens susceptible of greatness.

Daemon (Matt Smith) and Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy)

We besides bade farewell this week to Queen Helaena (Phia Saban), who has fixed 1 of the astir softly and consistently compelling performances this play arsenic a pistillate who knows however tragically it’s each going to play out. The mode of her decease – she threw herself retired a model – was the aforesaid arsenic the book, but determination are immoderate differences: her youngest son, Maelor, was calved earlier her decease connected the page, and met his ain tragic end. This is little horrible than the execution of an babe mightiness person been, but it’s plentifulness disturbing. Her last scenes with Rhaenyra are besides superbly done: ticker however Viserys’ older daughter, erstwhile she tries to unit Helaena to eat, impatiently puts speech the precise tapestry that mightiness person fixed her the answers she truthful desperately sought.

At Harrenhal, Aegon arrives connected Sunfyre and resolves to enactment unneurotic with his wayward member Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) for possibly the archetypal clip successful their lives – albeit not earlier slapping him astir a spot and threatening to termination him for, successful fairness, his effort connected Aegon’s life. But Aemond’s evident guilt and existent repentance saves him; the brace acceptable disconnected to find the still-missing Vhagar and instrumentality the combat to Rhaenyra. We besides learn, by the way, that Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) is the erstwhile Lady of Harrenhal. She was the woman of Black Harren, its builder, and was cursed to stay successful the limits of its lands and ne'er dice erstwhile she sought acheronian powers successful the wood to prevention the beingness of her badly-burned son. Alys’ inheritance was ne'er established afloat successful the book, truthful this is simply a caller and perchance beauteous potent wrinkle. In fact, Aegon and Aemond’s reconciliation is besides caller territory, and it’s going to beryllium absorbing to spot however overmuch occupation that unspeakable twosome get into arsenic a agreed front.

The bulk of the episode, however, concerns the onslaught connected Tumbleton. Despite the efforts of the precocious Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), the Rivermen person arrived en masse and Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) has flown down connected Caraxes to instrumentality bid and, ohio yes, occurrence anyone who needs flamed. Ser Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox), 1 of the astir likeable characters connected the committee and truthful astir apt doomed, tries to marque bid by offering the instrumentality of the imprisoned Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), but nary dice. He and Daeron (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) are near trying to past successful the besieged city; it’s not wide by the extremity of the occurrence that Daeron is OK.

The Battle of Tumbleton is – astatine champion – a gully for the Blacks, and if it’s a triumph for the Greens it mightiness beryllium to beryllium a Pyrrhic one.“

Meanwhile, Ormund is searching desperately for his ace successful the hole, the dragonrider Ulf (Tom Bennett), who is truthful excited astir his bottommost crook that he’s drunk himself into a stupor. Here, Ormund makes an yet fatal mistake. He’s truthful flooded by the stink of the privy wherever helium yet discovers Ulf that helium wholly loses his temper and whales connected the different man. Ulf inactive does his bidding agelong capable to occurrence fractional the service of Rivermen – but helium past turns his fury, and Silverwing, connected Tumbleton itself and Ormund successful particular. So long, you prissy small manbaby bully.

Ulf is not the lone dragonrider who’s successful occupation this week: Hugh (Kieran Bew) besides near his station successful King’s Landing to look for his woman successful Tumbleton, moving successful with the crushed forces, portion Baela (Bethany Antonia) is grounded successful the Keep aft daring to criticise Rhaenyra. As for the episode’s title, determination are immoderate fig of candidates. Ulf obviously, but Hugh besides disobeys orders to spell to Tumbleton. Daeron and Gwayne some betray Ormund successful attempting to writer for peace; Ormund has arguably betrayed Aegon successful elevating Daeron. And Daemon accuses Corlys of treachery erstwhile helium argues for peace. There’s a batch of it going around.

The extremity effect is shellshocked troops stumbling astir a charred battlefield, trying to cod corpses, portion Caraxes and Hugh’s Vermithor pursuit disconnected Ulf’s Silverwing. The Battle of Tumbleton is – astatine champion – a gully for the Blacks, and if it’s a triumph for the Greens it mightiness beryllium to beryllium a Pyrrhic one, what with the nonaccomplishment of Ormund, their champion strategist, and the uncertain destiny of Ulf and Silverwing afterwards.

At this constituent it’s a affirmative disadvantage to person work the books; immoderate of america person been waiting for 1 face-off for astir fractional a decennary now, since that could plausibly person happened astatine the extremity of Season 1 oregon the commencement of Season 2. Now we volition person to hold 2 much years if it’s adjacent going to hap arsenic written. The wide signifier of the amusement is besides becoming much evident, and thing that I wrote astir past play seems to beryllium taking signifier (read that present if you’re not frightened of large spoilers). Whether showrunner Ryan Condal and his squad tin instrumentality the landing for the finale amended than Game of Thrones did remains to beryllium seen, but they person made a large instauration for it this year.