7 Biggest Questions After ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 3, Episode 4

Warning: This includes SPOILERS for House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 4, but will not include any further book spoilers!

House of the Dragon isn’t an easy show to follow along with. It’s got time jumps, casting changes, and a ton of characters, not to mention two-year gaps between seasons that aren’t helping anyone. If you’re a diehard Thrones fan who hasn’t read the books in years, or a casual enjoyer who wants to learn more, there’s no shame. In case you missed them, I’ve also done lists of questions for House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 1, Episode 2, and Episode 3.

Why You Should Trust Me: I’ve covered House of the Dragon since the first season premiered, and have written hundreds of articles on the series, as well as Game of Thrones, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and the books they’re all based on. I’ve spent an extensive amount of time (possibly too much) researching George R.R. Martin’s lore, so you don’t have to.

Ormund’s “Sensitivity to Odors,” Explained

James Norton as Ormund and Joplin Sibtain as Jon in 'House of the Dragon' Season 3 Episode 3

When asking Alicent about her cousin, Ormund Hightower, Rhaenyra learns that the lord has a “sensitivity to odors.” In the season 3 premiere, we saw Ormund sniffing at an unknown substance while meeting with Alicent’s delegate, but many took this to be some sort of drug addiction subplot. Either way, it’s a pretty big leap from the source material. Fire & Blood never gives Ormund much characterization, so the show’s effort to make him a conniving and seemingly unstable man with a sensitive nose is entirely original. For that reason, your guess is as good as mine, and we’ll have to wait for the coming weeks.

Where Are Aemond & Vhagar?

In Episode 2, we watched Aemond kill Ser Simon Strong after capturing Harrenhal. After devastating the castle Daemon spent a whole season rebuilding Aemond has fled the scene, leaving Alys Rivers behind to answer for him. Now, Gwayne Hightower begs Criston Cole to turn their forces around and rejoin Lord Ormund, but Cole believes his options are to keep pressing forward or call everything a loss. Aemond’s location is unknown, but in the novel, he learns of Rhaenyra’s capture of King’s Landing and decides to angrily fly around the Riverlands, torching everything he can in hopes of drawing out Daemon for a fight.

Is Aegon’s Dragon Sunfyre Alive?

This question is difficult to answer without book spoilers, but I believe there’s enough already revealed in the TV show to indicate that Aegon II’s dragon survived the Battle of Rook’s Rest, if barely. In the novel, Sunfyre is never believed to be dead after the battle, but is just gruesomely wounded by Rhaenys and Meleys. This led many fans to question the decision to “kill” the dragon in Season 2, as it still has a role to play in the war.

That said, until it actually happens on screen, I’ll say it’s still possible the TV series could throw readers for a loop and keep the dragon dead. It would be a strange choice at this point, but the TV series has already made enough book deviations that it’s not impossible.

What’s Up With Helaena Targaryen?

Helaena and Alicent walking in the Godswood in House of the Dragon

If you don’t love Helaena Targaryen, we have a problem. In all seriousness, Alicent’s daughter is simply too gentle and innocent for Westeros, and she’s always a source of speculation, given her cryptic dialogue. In Episode 4, we see her try to cover herself when speaking to Alicent, hinting that she’s pregnant again and was trying to keep it a secret. One of her two children was already slain at the start of Season 2, but much to the dismay of readers, as she had three children at the time in the books, and all of them play a crucial role in the story.

Just like with Daeron, who was introduced to the series late in the game, Helaena’s final child is here. In Fire & Blood, her third child is named Maelor, and the TV series will likely follow suit. At this point in House of the Dragon, it’s only been a few months since King Viserys died, so it’s definitely possible that she conceived the child with Aegon before his departure for Rook’s Rest, but it’s hard to say if she’ll give birth in the next few episodes, as events are going to be moving along quite rapidly. While some might suspect she had the child with Aemond, given the popular theory, I suspect not.

What’s Up With Rhaena Targaryen?

Following the Battle of the Gullet, Rhaena is struck with guilt and grief and has found a nest for her and her dragon, Sheepstealer, in the Vale. When Daemon travels to the Eyrie to collect gold for the crown, Caraxes smells a fellow dragon and takes the Rogue Prince to his daughter. He tries to tell her to lie to Rhaenyra and return to King’s Landing with him, but she decides to stay put, basically telling her cold, unattentive father to keep treating her as he always has.

If you’ve followed along with House of the Dragon discourse at all, you may have heard of a character named Nettles. In the book, Nettles is one of the dragonseeds who becomes the rider of Sheepstealer and flies on Rhaenyra’s side at the Battle of the Gullet. As with many cases in the TV series, Nettles was omitted from the show, and at this point seems to have been fully merged with Rhaena’s storyline. Nettles is described as an unkempt woman whom Daemon takes interest in. Now that Rhaena has taken the risk of taming her own dragon, she seems to have finally piqued Daemon’s interest, further fulfilling the Nettles book arc.

Why Daemon Lies To Rhaenyra

Daemon brings back a burnt head, handing it to Rhaenyra and claiming that he’s delivered justice for Jace’s murder. While no one really seems to believe him, it’s hard to prove otherwise, and Daemon has at least persuaded his niece/wife to end any pursuit of Sheepstealer. Why, though? I can only speculate about Daemon’s decision with context from the books and from what we know about his character.

While Daemon’s interest in Nettles is romantic in the book, the TV series seems to have replaced it with a fatherly interest, where he’s now willing to lie to protect Rhaena, respecting her decision not to settle for what she’s been given, but rather summon the willpower to carve her own place in the world, much like he did. Without spoiling, if Daemon and Rhaena continue to follow the books’ Nettles arc, she may become a dragonriding companion to her father.

Why Ormund Makes Daeron Kill That Man

Ormund Hightower isn’t the most friendly guy. Despite taking a merciful stance earlier in the episode, he goes back on his word and has the man (Hugh Hammer’s brother-in-law) executed, but forces the young Prince Daeron to do the deed. Daeron is a kindly young man and has no interest in killing a civilian who did nothing but stand up for his family, but he’s impressionable and looks up to Ormund as a leader. Having been sent to Oldtown as a ward, the young Targaryen essentially considers Ormund his father.

Therein lies the conflict, as Daeron’s actual father was King Viserys, a man known for being (possibly too) gentle and fair. Ormund, who seems to hate all Targaryens, considers Viserys a weak king and wants to instill more rigid virtues in Daeron. This is because he views Daeron as more of a Hightower, and wants him to become king rather than Aegon, Aemond, or Rhaenyra. Ormund is a supporter of the Greens, but his true motivation is to see a Hightower on the Iron Throne.