Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for the Season 3 premiere of House of the Dragon, now streaming on HBO Max.
“House of the Dragon” is back and another main character is killed off in epic fashion. In the Season 3 premiere of Game of Thrones, Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma Darcy) loses another child. After the death of her young son Luceris in the season 1 finale, her eldest son Jace (Harry Collett) was also killed along with his dragon Vermax at the Battle of Garrett.
The season premiere quickly returns to the action as Rhaenyra’s forces, aka Brax, are still at war with King’s Landing’s loyalists, the Green Party, led by King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) and his mother Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke). Rhaenyra’s forces, led by her uncle and husband Daemon (Matt Smith), are joining forces with a grizzled group of northern House Starks known as the Winter Wolves, and they are growing in power. Additionally, they have more dragonriders than the Greens after increasing their numbers with some dragonseeds, Targaryen bastards who can control fire-breathing beasts. Veteran seaman Cory Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) and his illegitimate son Adam of Hal (Abubakar Salim) lead a black navy against the Triarchy, a group of pirates led by Shalako Lohar (Abigail Thorne), who have pledged allegiance to the Green Party. (Read Variety’s interview with this episode’s director, Roni Peristaire.)
Things aren’t going so well in King’s Landing. Burned and crippled in Season 2, Aegon flees with Rally Strong (Matthew Needham), leaving his brutal one-eyed brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) on the Iron Throne. After a very awkward father-son kiss, Aristo convinces Aemond to fly to Harrenhal and hunt down the demon. Therefore, the Iron Throne is vacant and Rhaenyra can take it. This was something she had secretly planned with Aristo last season. However, before Rhaenyra can destroy the invading Triarchy ship and fly to King’s Landing, her son Jace locks her in a chamber in Dragonstone to protect her. Surely this will work for him!
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Jace, the demon’s daughter Baela (Bethany Antonia), and their dragons take part in the Battle of Garet, which turns into a full-scale massacre. Both sides lost ships and suffered heavy casualties. Lohar boards Corey’s ship and nearly kills him, but Adam saves his father’s life and kills the pirate in a waterlogged battle. Up above, Jace and Baela are unexpectedly joined by Baela’s sister Layena (Phoebe Campbell), who has formed a bond with the rogue dragon Sheepstealer, but is unable to control the monster. The Sheep Thief attacks his dragon allies, forcing them to leave the fight and evade its giant claws. Jace’s dragon Vermax is then hit with a ballista bolt, pulling Jace underwater. As Vermax struggles to stay above the water and begins to drown, Jace frees himself from the vehicle and reaches the surface. However, he was casually hit by three arrows from a nearby ship and died.
“It was really hard to play the dead. In fact, it was one of the most difficult performances I’ve ever performed in my life,” Colette said of the watery death scene. “It was really fun, but it was really hard to keep my eyes open and floating in the water and not get it in my nose. If I didn’t do that, I’d end up coughing, and of course coughing doesn’t kill you, so it was quite difficult.”
Showrunner Ryan Condal had to cut “The Battle of Garrett” from Season 2 due to budget constraints, but the team is pulling out all the stops for the Season 3 premiere. Collette revealed that during season 1, she was told that she would only be on the show for two seasons.
“I already knew my destiny, and was just enjoying each day that came and being grateful to have been on this show in the first place,” he says. “When I was reading Season 2, Ryan would usually call me to let me know what’s going on this season. But I didn’t get a call, so I thought, ‘Maybe he’s just waiting until the script reading starts.'” But no, it was skipped in season two. I’m very grateful for that. It’s great that it’s the first episode people will see this season. ”
With Jace dead, Rhaenyra only has her sons Joffrey, Aegon III, and Viserys II, who are too young to take part in the war. With his navy destroyed, he needs all the help he can get to capture King’s Landing and begin ruling Westeros.
