The intricate tapestry of the Game of Thrones universe never fails to capture attention, punctuated by the sweeping narratives of George R.R. Martin’s epic Song of Ice and Fire series. This richness is especially palpable in the third season of HBO’s House of the Dragon. As dragons clash and destinies intertwine, every nuance and character decision seems to echo toward the eventual chaos to come. Episode 5 shifts its focus to characters who have previously been on the sidelines, but whose actions are now becoming pivotal.
In a captivating development, Alys and Aemond’s paths cross under the ancient boughs of a weirwood tree. Enthusiasts familiar with the books will find cause for excitement here. Recently, we witnessed the one-eyed prince soar to Harrenhal, make a misstep with Vhagar, and land injured at the mercy of the keep’s mistress. Alys Rivers, in a strategic move, sheltered him. As mercenaries creep through Harrenhal’s shadowy corridors, eager to claim Rhaenyra’s bounty on “Aemond Kinslayer,” Alys deftly manipulates the scene, sending them fleeing. As Aemond stirs from his nightmarish slumber—haunted by Helaena’s premonitions of his fiery demise, his brother Aegon’s taunts, and visions of his burning face—he finds solace in Alys’s arms. The imposing warrior, who once claimed self-reliance, seems strangely at ease in this newfound relationship. Their bond hints at an unanticipated harmony.
While Alys and Aemond forge their connection amid his intense dreams, Aegon is busy clashing with Larys Strong, who is at his wit’s end. Plagued by tantrums and incessant complaints aimed at his brother, Aegon grapples with the fallout of squandering his own advantages. Larys, who’s seen it all, points out these failures, leaving the powerless usurper to stew in his discontent. Their alliance retreats to the dirt-strewn encampment, falling back to Larys’s earlier plan: a boat to Essos to wait out this grueling conflict. But just as the plan appears settled, a twist unfolds with the reappearance of Tyland Lannister. Once thrown overboard in a siege, he resurfaces, still aligned with Team Green and ready to reclaim the hidden wealth of King’s Landing.
The storyline also provides an extended glimpse into the tumultuous Riverlands, where Criston Cole’s guerrilla fighters have been disrupting the Rivermen’s southern advance. However, the Rivermen have their own strategies. Young Oscar Tully, seasoned prematurely by war, teams up with Roddy the Ruin to scatter deadly traps in the damp, leech-infested woods, unseating Cole and Gwayne from their injured mounts. As the Greens’ spirits and supplies dwindle, their position at Stoney Sept falls apart. The Rivermen escape ahead of them, destroying the bridge as they go. Cole broods, while Gwayne prepares to depart. Despite the notion of noble retreat, Cole is singular in his resolve. A warrior to the end, he muses of a legendary death in battle and songs sung by minstrels in his honor, reaching even Queen Alicent. May fortune be on his side.
The narrative momentum shifts yet again to Tumbleton, where Ormund “Smell-O-Vision” Hightower seems intent on shaping Daeron Targaryen. Their dialogue, laced with historical allusions, recalls the fierce defense led by Dornish ruler Meria Martell against a Targaryen-Hightower alliance. When Daeron queries whether Martell was a hero or villain for her resistance, the question visibly missteps. Ormund’s grip on his shoulders tightens, and the unease is palpable. Though Daeron is on board with their schemes, a shadow of fear over his father’s intentions and the implications of his role looms. Yet, Ormund’s elation at the sight of coins bearing Daeron’s royal visage makes clear his ambitions for this young Targaryen’s future.
Episode 5 also reveals Ormund, Mr. “Now We Begin,” as the brains behind the sabotage of Rhaenyra’s hearts and minds campaign. It’s his agents in King’s Landing tagging the anti-crown graffiti, stoking sentiment against the “Queen of Bastards.” Not that Rhaenyra’s impulsive orders to Luthor Largent and his gold cloaks made anything better; those guys took their cue from Daemon and applied force without reason. The smallfolk will remember. And in the meantime, Ormund has assassins dismembering GC soldiers in the streets. As the cunning Hightower lord fortifies Tumbleton for battle, he is displacing Rhaenyra’s support in King’s Landing.
For all the tense and meaningful and dangerous and bloody moments in this season of House of the Dragon, it remains also quite funny. Like, everything Alys Rivers says is a meme. But get a load too of this sequence in the thousand-candle Grand Sept, as Daemon chuckles at Rhaenyra praying, and she’s like “Don’t!” Their relationship! So often it’s heads thrown on tables and dragonflights and what they also discuss here, in High Valyrian, as something nefarious stirs against Rhaenyra’s rule. But every now and again, HOTD finds time to highlight the voices they use with each other, and Emma D’Arcy and Matt Smith make it come alive.
But the bad shit still goes on. Daemon and Luthor uncovered a smallfolk conspirator, and under torture he burps up a Daeron Targaryen king coin. So the Red Keep is closer to knowing the reach of Ormund’s arm. But Rhaenyra’s right, they are still blind. They have no intel on Aemond at Harrenhal, even less on Aegon’s whereabouts, and are beset with financial woe and unhappy constituents. Little fires everywhere turning into an inferno. When Daemon tosses the coin onto Rhaenyra’s desk, he says they should have burned Daeron when they had the chance.
The entirety of Episode 5 comes to fore with Ser Criston Cole delivering a speech to his damned. As he declares all who stand with him will die for his last shot at legend status, we see Alicent and a definitely pregnant Helaena try to escape the Red Keep. At first thwarted by the Queen Whisperer — will Mysaria keep the secret of a potential new heir from Rhaenyra? — they discover a secret passage in their house arrest chamber. Into the walls they go, Alicent and her dearest, only to find the exit bricked over. Their lantern falls, and they are stuck in the dark interior.
Cole’s voice is still heard, seeming to gather all the peripheral moments into strength as this season’s narrative drives forward with haste. And Daemon, almost gloating over his Daeron Coin discovery, is knocked back in terror. “Luthor!” he calls in the gold cloak chamber. But there is no answer. The City Watch commander and his men have been murdered in a tableau of the Last Supper. “A feast for traitors” is scrawled in their blood.
Hot D’s for House of the Dragon Season 3 Episode 5 “Unbowed and Unbent”:
- Are Baela Targaryen and Ser Addam of Hull a thing? While she laments becoming persona non grata with Rhaenyra after the Gullet and Jace’s death, Addam says he’d follow her anywhere, and they’d make a new future together.
- The crown is a weight that crushes. Rhaenyra can’t even bring herself to greet her little son and heir Joffrey Velaryon (Oscar Eskinazi), who has been returned to the Keep from the Vale. It is as if she cannot face what he represents to her own fretting over legitimacy.
Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a Chicago-based writer. A veteran of the alternative weekly trenches, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.