‘House of the Dragon’ Season 3 Just Contradicted a Fan-Favorite Scene From ‘Game of Thrones’

For the most part, House of the Dragon has deepened and enriched the depiction of Westeros on screen, showing us things that were left out of Game of Thrones for one reason or another. However, the prequel has had a few continuity issues along the way, and the Season 3 premiere was no exception. On Sunday, we caught up with Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) fighting alongside Oscar Tully (Archie Barnes) after they formed an uneasy alliance in Season 2. The tension is still there between them, as we saw when they briefly disagreed over funeral rights. Oscar claims that the men of the Riverlands need to stop and bury their dead rather than burn them, but we know that’s not the case. One of the most memorable scenes from Game of Thrones Season 3 was a Riverlord’s fiery funeral.

Game of Thrones Season 3, Episode 3, “Walk of Punishment” starts with a funeral for Lord Hoster Tully (Christopher Newman.) It’s an unforgettable scene for its blend of grief and grim humor. Hoster’s remains are loaded onto a canoe full of kindling and set adrift on the river, while his son Edmure (Tobias Menzies) fires a flaming arrow at it from the dock. The result should look like an old Viking funeral rite, with Hoster’s remains burning on the water and sinking down into the river. However, Edmure can’t make the shot — whether due to grief or a lack of skill — and he eventually hands the bow to his uncle, Brynden (Clive Russell,) who hits the boat on his first try.

How Important Is The Tully Funeral Rite in ‘Game of Thrones?’

Image via HBO

To be clear, this isn’t a major break in the lore that’s going to throw the whole Game of Thrones franchise off — probably. The Riverlands is a diverse region of Westeros with many different customs, and it makes perfect sense that there would be some people who insist their fallen “must be returned to the mud,” as Oscar puts it. Ironically, this line probably stood out most to fans who have only watched the TV shows and not read the books, since Hoster’s funeral is such a memorable moment from the main series.

That said, Oscar Tully would definitely expect to be cremated in the same way as Hoster, not buried on a battlefield. In George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, we get a bit more background on House Tully’s customs, and perhaps even hints of the religion they practiced before the Andals brought the new gods to their castle. During Hoster’s funeral in A Storm of Swords, Brynden mentions that his father was laid to rest the same way, and consoles Edmure by telling him that Hoster missed his first shot as well.

Of course, even if the Riverlands had a more homogonous culture with standardized funeral rites, the common soldiers who fell in House of the Dragon this week probably wouldn’t have gotten a funeral as grand as the Lord of Riverrun. The point of this scene, really, is to remind viewers of the tension between Daemon and the Riverlords. It accomplishes that very well, and even shows us their dynamic from a new angle. As arrogant and cruel as Daemon can be, he’s right in this case. Not only would cremation be faster in this case, it would be more sanitary. As Daemon points out, “burnt flesh carries no plague.”

Daemon’s real motivation is clear — he wants the funerals handled quickly so they can pursue the remaining Lannister soldiers and continue the fight while they have an advantage. Meanwhile, Oscar could have an unspoken agenda as well: keeping up morale. The people of the Riverlands don’t trust Daemon, and it might be difficult for them to see their loved ones burnt by his dragon, Caraxes. It could be that Oscar is exaggerating the importance of burial to spare them from that traumatic sight.

‘House of the Dragon’ Has a Mixed Track Record on Continuity

Image via HBO

Fans may be forgiven for being oversensitive about continuity on House of the Dragon, as there have already been some other big missteps. The show prominently features a Weirwood tree in the Red Keep of King’s Landing, where there shouldn’t be one. More significantly, the show may have played it too fast and loose with the dragons themselves, according to Martin. The series has now introduced us to a wild, roaming dragon named Sheepstealer, who was hunting in the Vale when Rhaena Targaryen (Phoebe Campbell) became his rider. However, when the show first started to set up this plotline, Martin pointedly wrote a blog post about dragons in Westeros and why they are not nomadic, preferring to stick to volcanic habitats such as Dragonstone.

On the other hand, House of the Dragon has handled a lot of things better than Game of Thrones — from deepening the in-world lore and magic to simply resetting the linguistic quirks of the setting. Season 2 was a treasure trove of dreams and visions, all hinting at the involvement of the old gods and the Weirwood trees in a way that Game of Thrones never quiet managed. Based on the appearance of a Green Man in the Season 3 premiere, it seems like we can expect this trend to continue.

Fans will inevitably pick and choose which bits of lore to focus on and which contradictory moments to obsess over. The funeral customs of the Riverlands already have some commenters in an uproar, while others seem to think it’s overblown. Hopefully moments like these will be overshadowed as dragons fly overhead in the episodes to come. House of the Dragon Season 3 continues on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.

Release Date

August 21, 2022

Network

HBO

Showrunner

George R.R. Martin

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  Fabien Frankel

  Ser Criston Cole