WARNING: The following contains spoilers of House of the Dragon season 3.
House of the Dragon debuts its newest season with a huge bang. Not only does the season three premiere depict a major battle of the Dance of the Dragons known as the Battle of the Gullet, but it wastes no time in killing its first round of heroes and villains.
Fans of George R. R. Martin’s Fire & Blood already know which major characters are set to die during this battle. But the TV adaptation surprisingly kills off characters who originally made it out alive in the source material. In the latter case, these deviations from Martin’s book could significantly impact future events (for better or worse), like the fate of Rhaenyra Targaryen’s youngest surviving sons. So who does die in House of the Dragon’s season three premiere, and how will these deaths impact the story moving forward? Let’s count them.
Jason Lannister Is Killed By Roderick Dustin
Courtesy of Theo Whiteman and HBO.
The first casualty of House of the Dragon’s season three premiere is also the most unceremonious: the death of Jason Lannister at the hands of Lord Roderick Dustin. Prior to his death, Jason Lannister was seen amassing a large army on land for the Greens to take on Daemon Targaryen at Harrenhal. His brother Tyland went to Essos to get the alliance of Sharako Lohar of Lys and the Triarchy to take out Lord Corlys Velaryon. The Greens also needed to break up the Sea Snake’s stranglehold on the Gullet and shipping routes to get trade flowing again.
Despite all of this preparation, however, fans never see the actual battle itself. Instead, the season three premiere opens with the aftermath of this battle, with a good portion of Jason Lannister’s army decimated by Daemon. Jason himself also flees the scene offscreen until Lord Roderick Dustin appears with his severed head – which he then offers to Daemon as part of pledging his allegiance to the Black Queen, Rhaenyra Targaryen. Fans will never know if he ever actually got to fight Daemon before fleeing or if he was even a good fighter at all. The fact that he fled and was easily killed by Rodercik seems to suggest otherwise.
Sharako Lohar’s Early Death Is a Major Change
Courtesy of Ollie Upton and HBO.
One of the more surprising casualties of House of the Dragon’s season three premiere is that of Sharako Lohar herself. In fact, much of her storyline in House of the Dragon is changed from the source material – namely, her motivation for joining the fight and how she gets taken out. In the source material (where the character is male), it was actually Otto Hightower and not Tyland Lannister who succeeded in getting his alliance – namely, due to Lohar’s hatred of Daemon over the Battle for the Stepstones (which was depicted in season one).
In House of the Dragon season three, Lohar is driven by hatred for Corlys instead, which also informs how the character dies in the story. Whereas in the source material, Lohar escaped the Battle of the Gullet with Rhaenyra’s youngest son Viserys as a hostage, the character dies in battle with Corlys in the season three premiere instead. Another reason she’s quickly taken out is her laser focus on killing Corlys, which gets her killed by the latter’s son, Alyn of Hull. In the source material, Lohar was killed much later over a sex worker named Johanna Swann (aka Black Swan) by a rival.
Since Princes Aegon and Viserys were not shown to be onboard the Gay Abandon in the season three premiere, it’s unknown if Lohar ever captured one or both of them prior to the Battle of the Gullet. All that’s known is that Aegon never made it back to Dragonstone with his dragon Stormcloud to inform his mother on the Triarchy’s attack. This role was instead taken up by Baela Targaryen, who scouted the Gullet on behalf of her stepmother.
Jacaerys Velaryon’s Death Mirrors His Fire & Blood Death
Courtesy of Theo Whiteman and HBO.
The one death most fans of Fire & Blood expect to see during the Battle of the Gullet is that of Jacaerys “Jace” Velaryon and his dragon, Vermax. His death in the season three premiere plays out almost exactly the same way as in the book with a few key differences. In this case, only he and Baela attack the Triarchy on their dragons, Vermax and Moondancer, respectively. They are later joined by Baela’s sister Rhaena, who managed to claim the wild dragon, Sheepstealer. Unfortunately, her involvement yielded catastrophic results for both the Triarchy and Corlys’ fleet.
In the source material, Jace was actually joined by Nettles on Sheepstealer, Addam of Hull on Seasmoke, Hugh Hammer on Vermithor, and Ulf the White on Silverwing. Since the latter three were at Harrenhal to ambush Aemond Targaryen and Vhagar in the season three premiere, they were not present for the Battle of the Gullet, which lessened the Blacks’ strength as a force. Despite these changes, however, Jace and Vermax are still killed in this battle when the Triarchy manages to wound the dragon and causes him to crash into the sea and drown. Jace manages to swim to the surface, but like in the source material, he is killed with arrows from the Triarchy’s bowmen.
Is Corlys Velaryon Really Dead?
Courtesy of Ollie Upton and HBO.
Another possible casualty of the Battle of the Gullet is that of Corlys himself. The season three premiere sees Corlys fight Lohar to the death, with Corlys severely injuring the latter. Corlys himself ends up falling into the sea when his and Lohar’s ships crash into a large rock. Though the episode ends without a confirmation that Corlys drowned or died from sustained injuries when he fell into rocky waters, at the same time, it is strongly implied that he may not have survived.
This potential loss is what motivates Alyn of Hull to attack Lohar and kill her before the battle ends. Beyond that, Corlys’ fate is left in the air, and fans will have to wait until episode two to find out if he survives or not. If it is confirmed that he died in this battle, this will constitute another major change from the source material. Killing Corlys this early on will remove a crucial player who helps Rhaenyra reclaim the Iron Throne from Aegon the Usurper and will especially remove all future conflicts with the Black Queen herself. Even more so when she makes controversial decisions that cause her to lose support from the other houses.
House of the Dragon Season 3 debuts new episodes on HBO and HBO Max every Sunday night at 09:00 PM EST.
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