“House of the Dragon” Season 3, Episode 7, “The Dragon in Winter,” begins with a bit of a head fake. Helaena is caressing a gray mare in a sunlit courtyard as the gates swing open before her. It looks peaceful. It is only a dream.
When Helaena awakens, Rhaenyra is standing beside her bed. The queen has not heard from Alicent, and her first question is whether Aemond ever asked Helaena to ride into battle with him. The pair discuss Helaena’s dreams and her old relationship with Dreamfyre, which Helaena admits was “too much” for her. Rhaenyra tells her she is convinced Helaena has the gift of prophecy. Helaena doesn’t deny it, but the only vision she offers is that gray mare, and she cannot explain what it means. This scene ends in a conflict between the two, with Rhaenyra demanding to know whether she will prevail and Helaena refusing to answer. Can you imagine a stranger opening scene?
Helaena isn’t done dreaming, either. Late in the hour, she sees herself giving birth to a third child, only for the Queensguard to take the newborn from her. Then she’s astride Dreamfyre, shouting “Dracarys!” at a crowd below. Her visions end on a peaceful scene with her children that turns dark when an eclipse rolls in and snow begins to fall.
House of the Dragon Season 3 Episode 7 Summary
The penultimate episode of Season 3 aired Aug. 2 on HBO and HBO Max, and it juggles a lot. The two storylines that matter most are Aemond’s twisted reunion with his mother at Harrenhal and the seeming re-emergence of King Aegon. Along the way, we also get the biggest dragon brawl of the season and some ugly scheming at Tumbleton.
Aemond at Harrenhal
This all starts with Aemond practicing his swordsmanship in his room in the castle. He sees his mother, Alicent, standing nearby. She tells him she escaped Rhaenyra, calls him her best and truest son and says Aegon is probably dead. They embrace, and it turns into intercourse. But it is really Alys, using her magic to wear Alicent’s face. Aemond leaps out of bed, walks out and is surprised to see none other than the real Alicent standing there.
After the episode cuts away to Daemon confronting Lady Jeyne Arryn in the Vale, Alicent tells Aemond that Ser Adrian Redfort helped her survive the dangerous journey. He is waiting outside, and they go to him. Aemond says he owes Ser Adrian a debt, then kills him seconds later. He insists he can’t trust strangers. What Aemond doesn’t know is that Adrian is one of Rhaenyra’s Queensguard, sent along with Alicent to see Aemond dead.
Alys interrupts to call them to supper. Over the meal, Alys asks Alicent about her journey from King’s Landing, and Alicent dodges, asking instead about Alys’ relationship with her son. Aemond tells his mother he has decided to make Harrenhal his new seat. He wants to stay there with Alys, raise a new line of kings and have Alicent wait it out with them. Alicent wants to go back to Helaena, but Aemond won’t let her leave.
Aemond and Alys step out to chop wood, and Alys warns him that Alicent has come to do him harm. Aemond writes it off as jealousy. Meanwhile, Alicent slips outside, takes a knife off the body of Ser Adrian and spots nightshade growing nearby. Later, she brings Aemond a cup of spiced wine. He confesses he tried to kill Aegon. She already knows. He drinks, and he collapses at the feet of Alys as Alicent flees Harrenhal. Only in “House of the Dragon” can a mother try to kill her son with a cup of wine. Whether Aemond survives is a question the episode leaves for the finale.
Four Dragons in the Riverlands
While all that is happening, Daemon tracks down Rhaena, who has been flying Sheepstealer in search of Vhagar. She wants to kill Aemond’s dragon to make up for Jace’s death, and Daemon offers to help her do it. Then Rhaenyra and Addam arrive on Syrax and Seasmoke. Rhaenyra realizes Rhaena is Sheepstealer’s rider and that Daemon lied to protect her.
Sheepstealer attacks, gets Syrax in his jaws and takes on Caraxes and Seasmoke before limping away badly wounded. Rhaena ends up in a room at the Red Keep, and Rhaenyra wants nothing to do with her. It’s the biggest dragon fight of the season, and it leaves the queen’s marriage in worse shape than her dragon.
King Aegon Gets His Dragon
Partway through “House of the Dragon” Season 3, Episode 7, we see Lord Larys, Aegon and Ser Tyland Lannister riding on horseback in the strong sun. Larys wants to sail for Braavos, while Tyland still argues for Casterly Rock. They are swamped by people fleeing in the opposite direction. Lord Mooton’s army, sworn to Rhaenyra, is on the march toward them. There are a lot of armies in “House of the Dragon” Season 3.
The road becomes too crowded for them, and they leave it to hide. Then they learn the army is hunting Tyland and the queen’s missing gold. They have a conversation about surrendering, but Aegon does not want to. He refuses to go down in history as the king his brother killed. Ser Tyland volunteers to stay with him, and Lord Larys leaves, promising to make sure Aegon’s last stand is remembered in song. They have been companions for a long time, but it ends here.
It is nighttime when the Mooton army finds Aegon and Tyland by their fire. The commander orders them to throw down their swords and swear fealty to Rhaenyra. Aegon refuses and reveals himself as King Aegon. The soldiers start backing away, but not because of his speech. Sunfyre shows up behind him. He is not dead after all, and Aegon is defiant. Sunfyre burns the army at Aegon’s command. It’s the perfect way to end an episode, though the episode actually ends with Ormund and Ulf drinking together.
A Prisoner at Tumbleton
Lord Corlys survived last week’s ambush and is being held at Tumbleton by Ormund Hightower. Ormund says that Lord Corlys will be useful to them. As long as Ormund holds him, the men of Driftmark won’t fight for the queen at King’s Landing. To drive that point home, Ormund cuts off Corlys’ finger. The finger, with Corlys’ ring still on it, is sent to Alyn of Hull. It shows how brutal war is and just how depraved Ormund is.
In fact, Daeron, the boy king Ormund is supposedly fighting for, grows increasingly frustrated. He and Ser Gwayne agree in private that Ormund is a madman. Gwayne urges Daeron to fly to safety on Tessarion, but Daeron refuses to desert his men.
Ormund’s real move comes in that final scene. Over drinks, he reminds Ulf that Daemon struck him in the street for everyone to see, then offers him Driftmark and the title Lord of the Tides. Ulf drinks to it. That puts Silverwing on the Hightower side, and it gives the Greens a second dragon at Tumbleton heading into the finale.
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