‘House of the Dragon’ Season 3’s Penultimate Episode Delivers a Major Resurrection That Changes the War

Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 3 Episode 7.

Season 3 of HBO’s first Game of Thrones spin-off, House of the Dragon, has been pretty one-sided when it comes to the ongoing conflict for Westeros’ very soul. Despite some apprehension and chaos after becoming King’s Landing’s queen and losing her beloved eldest son Jace (Harry Collett), Rhaenyra’s (Emma D’Arcy) Team Black has clearly had the upper hand. Their victory at the Battle of the Gullet and their reclamation of the Red Keep proved key to not only reclaiming Rhaenyra’s birthright, but also in securing victory in the ongoing conflict.

Alicent’s (Olivia Cooke) Team Green, on the other hand, has had much less success this season, with the three possible heirs to the throne all being scattered across the realm, Helaena (Phia Saban) being in Rhaenyra’s custody, and the “realm’s greatest warrior” Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) dead. With Rhaenyra now on the Iron Throne, one would think that would practically be the end of the war; Season 3’s penultimate episode proves that it is anything but.

Alicent and Aemond Reunite in ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 3 (and It Gets Weird)

The penultimate episode of House of the Dragon Season 3 begins on an existential note, with Helaena having another wacky dream in a show that is absolutely full of them. The overthrown and imprisoned queen dreams of riding her trusty dragon Dreamfyre, setting an entire horde of attackers ablaze after uttering the oh-so-iconic “dracarys.” Helaena is awoken from her slumber by Rhaenyra, who tries to find some common ground with her estranged half-sister. It doesn’t exactly go great, because, despite Rhaenyra trying to convince Helaena to switch sides, Helaena’s fear and mistrust of dragons as a concept prevent her from being a truly useful ally.

Back at Harrenhal, Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) seemingly reunites with his mother, and it doesn’t take long for things to get weird. If you thought the brief kiss between the mother and son was off-putting in Episode 1, the two start to engage in full-on intercourse — but before the audience at home can say “ew,” this is revealed to be another one of Harrenhal’s strange visions, this time for Aemond.

Very shortly afterward, he encounters Alicent again — only this time, she’s really there, in the flesh. The previous episode concluded with Rhaenyra sending Alicent to Harrenhal as bait, hoping she’ll be able to lure the one-eyed prince out of hiding. Alicent is accompanied by Rhaenyra’s faithful servant, Ser Adrian Redfort (Barry Sloane), who maybe should’ve gotten a bit more intel on Aemond’s homicidal tendencies, as the noble knight is killed by the prince almost instantly. After hearing about Aemond and Alys Rivers’ (Gayle Rankin) plans for Westeros domination over a very awkward dinner, Alicent is in her most precarious spot yet. Does she stay true to her word and kill her son herself, or does she turn heel and follow Aemond in his pursuit of reclaiming the throne?

Sheepstealer Returns To Cause More Chaos in ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 3 Episode 7

While Alicent ponders her next steps at Harrenhal, Daemon (Matt Smith) returns to the Vale to find Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) and Sheepstealer before they do even more damage. He returns to the Eyrie, where Lady Jeyne Arryn (Amanda Collin) informs him that Rhaena is looking for Vhagar. Hunting the world’s largest dragon alone is a true suicide mission, so Daemon sets off to try and find her first.

Not much further away, Baela (Bethany Antonia) and Addam of Hull (Clinton Liberty) are trying to track down Vhagar as well. There’s an awkward moment between the two when Addam starts to court Baela, not yet realizing that his brother Alyn (Abubakar Salim) has already sparked a romance with her. Before they can resolve this love triangle, a dragon in the distance catches their attention — only, it’s not Vhagar.

After learning that Sheepstealer still has a rider, Rhaenyra rides out to confront them, accompanied by Addam. Daemon gets there first and attempts to convince his daughter to flee, but it’s already too late, as Sheepstealer gets into an all-out brawl with Syrax, Caraxes, and Seasmoke. It’s a very visually impressive battle, and honestly nice to see a full-on duel between dragons on this scale, particularly one on the ground rather than in the air. Inevitably, the dragon fight ends with an injured Sheepstealer fleeing and Rhaena held under guard in the Red Keep, but Rhaenyra isn’t willing to hear Daemon’s excuses this time. At least she has Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) to comfort her.

The Greens Gain Two More Dragons in ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 3 Episode 7

Image via HBO Max

On the other side of the continent, Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) is at his wits’ end, tired of being on the run in Westeros when he’s supposed to be ruling over it as king. It almost looks like he’s about to meet a similar fate to Criston when he deliberately confronts a small army, until something truly miraculous happens. Turns out, Aegon was onto something when he said his beloved dragon, Sunfyre, was still breathing, who, like a zombie rising from the grave, returns to lay waste to the soldiers, all while Aegon cackles like a madman.

Sunfyre’s resurrection isn’t the only major development in the penultimate episode’s final moments. After capturing Lord Corlys (Steve Toussaint) — and sending his finger to Alyn as proof, no less — Ormund Hightower (James Norton) also secretly meets with none other than Ulf the White (Tom Bennett), whom we last saw with Daemon’s boot on his neck. The disrespect he’s received from the Targaryens has led Ulf to switch sides, resulting in another dragon now under the enemy’s control.

New episodes of House of the Dragon Season 3 premiere Sundays on HBO Max.

Release Date

August 21, 2022

Network

HBO

Showrunner

George R.R. Martin

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  Fabien Frankel

  Ser Criston Cole

Pros & Cons

• The dragon fight is truly awesome.
• Sunfyre’s return is a true WTF moment.
• Ulf turning heel is bound to set up a fascinating finale.