“House of the Dragon” Season 2 offered up a lot of promises for the third season.
The finale’s closing moments laid out a number of teases we won’t see pay off until 2026 most likely. Virtually every army marched to war against one another, the Triarchy was recruited by Team Green to take out the Velaryon blockade of the Gullet, and the newly-bonded dragonriders are prepping for their first bout of combat.
If you just can’t wait two years to know what will happen next, here’s what you can likely expect in the opening episodes of Season 3 — and without too many spoilers for our non-book readers.
Meeting Prince Daeron Targaryen
For quite a while, it seemed like “House of the Dragon” was going to erase Viserys and Alicent’s youngest son Daeron despite his prominence later in the story. By the grace of the gods, the show began name-dropping Daeron early in Season 2 — mentioning he’s been squiring in Oldtown with his growing dragon.
The Season 2 finale gave us our first (distant) glimpse at Daeron. In the finale’s closing montage, we quickly see the young prince and his blue dragon Tessarion flying over the Hightower forces as they march to war. Expect much more face time with Daeron the Daring in Season 3.
Why Otto Hightower Is Imprisoned
That Season 2 finale montage was a wealth of cliffhangers, and book and show-exclusive fans alike were probably shocked to see a quick scene of Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) locked up in a jail cell. Otto has been MIA since Aegon fired him as Hand of the King early in Season 2.
At the time of his sacking, Otto mentioned to his daughter, “I’ll return to Oldtown. The Hightowers still have strength, and you have a son there who’ll take more kindly to instruction. Daeron may yet help us in the weeks to come.”
Alicent responds that he should go to Highgarden to ensure their allies the Tyrells remain in line. It’s never confirmed where he ends up going only that he left, and in later episodes Alicent mentions that letters she’s written to her father have gone unanswered. Aemond also asks Larys to track his grandfather down to return as Hand of the King.
Who actually captured Otto is anyone’s guess but there are a couple top contenders. There’s mention in the penultimate episode that House Beesbury is at war with the Hightowers, so it’s possible he was captured in that dust-up. Let’s also not rule out the possibility that Larys did find Otto and instead of telling him to report to Aemond for duty he locked him up in a cell. Larys has been climbing the ladder fast since Viserys’ death and Otto back in the mix might impede that.
The Battle of the Gullet
The Battle of the Gullet is one of the bloodiest sea battles in Westerosi history and it certainly seemed like that’s where things were heading based on all those troop movements in the closing moments of Season 2.
The biggest clue that the Battle of the Gullet is right around the corner is the reintroduction of the Triarchy in the finale. Otto pushed hard at the beginning of Season 2 — and Tyland Lannister brought it home in the finale — that Team Green should ally themselves with the Triarchy to help break Corlys Velaryon’s naval blockade of the Gullet that’s stopping food and supplies from easily reaching King’s Landing.
Showrunner Ryan Condal addressed the choice to hold Battle of the Gullet for Season 3 in a post-Season 2 finale interview: “We were trying to give the Gullet, which is arguably the most anticipated – well, I would say maybe the second most anticipated action event of “Fire & Blood,” – trying to give it the time and the space that it deserved.”
Throne Swap
The finale also reveals Alicent has been thinking about the quickest, least bloody way to end the war. Her plea to Rhaenyra in the final moments of Season 2 has her agreeing to help Team Black into King’s Landing and onto the Iron Throne in three days time, because Aemond plans to convene with Criston Cole in the Riverlands to take Harrenhal from Daemon. All it’s going to cost her is her eldest son’s head.
If it’s anything like the books — which, who knows at this point — expect a pretty harmless throne swap. Aemond, Cole and their army are going to get to Harrenhal just in time to realize the Rogue Prince and his forces are gone and have taken the weakened King’s Landing for Team Black alongside Rhaenyra. All that’s there to welcome Aemond to his new home are four spooky walls and a witch known for messing with unhinged princes. Ominous stuff.
All episodes of “House of the Dragon” are now streaming on Max.
