Our burning questions before House Of The Dragon season 3

Our watch has ended (for the time being, at least) as House Of The Dragon wrapped up its second season on Sunday night with a divisive finale (depending on whether or not you prefer fast-paced action to careful character development). Unlike the show’s first run of episodes, which rocketed forward at a dangerously rapid velocity thanks to its multiple time jumps and recast characters, this sophomore season opted for a more leisurely trot. Which begs a big question that goes back to the beginning of season two, actually: How much time passed since Luce plummeted from the sky and into the unfriendly seas below in the season-one finale? A year? A few short months? Less than that? We need a SpongeBob-style “several hours later” voiceover at the beginning of each episode, damnit.  

While nothing has been confirmed about the show’s upcoming third season (let’s assume Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke will be back in Westeros as Rhaenyra and Alicent, respectively, alongside Aegon’s Tom Glynn-Carney, Ewen Mitchell as Aemond, and Matt Smith as Daemon), it seems safe to bet that we’ll have to wait until at least 2026 to find out what happens next. In the meantime, there’s plenty worth mulling over.  

What’s been going on with Otto?

Rhys Ifans (Photo: Ollie Upton/HBO)

The last we saw of Otto Hightower before the season-two finale, he was skulking out of King’s Landing after being stripped of his duties as Hand by his grandson, Aegon. The last we heard of Otto Hightower, Aemond was ordering Larys Strong to bring his grandfather back to the Red Keep and get him back on the Council (all while Alicent lamented the fact that her dad is ignoring all her letters). And now? Well, that little montage to end the finale showed us that Otto is locked up somewhere and in serious trouble. Could it be that Larys, sore about Aemond dubbing him a greedy and grasping toad, has decided to take his ire out on Otto? Could one of the more unscrupulous members of Team Black have him in their clutches? Could Otto have come back to King’s Landing, gotten in a fight with Aemond already, and been chucked into a cell without anyone ever realizing he was there? Or has someone else entirely taken him prisoner?

How will the show’s unexpected love triangle get resolved?

Daemon doesn’t know that Rhaenyra and Mysaria made out during his absence. And, sure, the two women are acting as if nothing ever happened between them, but that heat was undeniable. Will they continue an affair behind his back? Will Rhaenyra drop Mysaria now that her husband-uncle is finally bending the knee like a good King Consort? Will Daemon find out and lose his temper in a terrifying and characteristically reckless way? Or might he find out and be weirdly cool with it? Hey, this is the guy with an incest kink, after all. And he has slept with both Rhaenyra and Mysaria in the past. A power throuple might be brewing. 

Did Rhaena mount that wild dragon?

Phoebe Campbell (Photo: Theo Whiteman/HBO)

This was one storyline we felt sure would be tied up before the credits rolled, but we were wrong: Did Rhaena manage to woo that sheep-stealing dragon and become the airborne warrior she’s always dreamed of? She has, of course, a history of failing to bond with dragons in the past, in spite of her heritage. And let’s just say that should she prove successful in her mission, it may leave bookworms more than a little surprised. Plus, let’s not forget that Rhaena has abandoned her cousin-stepmother’s children (god, Targaryens are so complicated) to make nice with this Vale-trotting beast. We dread to think how nettled Rhaenyra might be if she finds out about this. 

Is that the last we’ll see of Alys Rivers?

Ah, Alys Rivers. She was a major part of this season, largely because of Daemon’s isolation at Harrenhal. She drugged him, shared her weird—sorry, weirwood—powers with him, presumably killed off the ailing Lord Tully, and taught Daemon a handful of important lessons about love, loyalty, and heavy crowns. So, is that it for her? Surely not. Surely not. We need to find out what drove the so-called witch queen to make all of these decisions in the first place, for starters, not to mention how she trained that owl to fly to her wrist at the exact right moment. 

Will Alicent betray Rhaenyra?

Olivia Cooke (Photo: Theo Whiteman/HBO)

Alicent hopped in the secret portal that links King’s Landing and Dragonstone to tell her ex-best friend/possible first crush/stepdaughter that she had a transformative experience in the wilderness: She’s done with royal politics, and she wants Rhaenyra to take the Iron Throne. She wants it so much, in fact, that she’ll throw open the doors to Rhaenyra and her armies (while Aemond is out wreaking havoc), offer her up Aegon’s head for the taking, and all in exchange for hers and Helaena’s freedom. Rhaenyra seemed up for it, but are we really supposed to believe that Alicent would sacrifice her poor burnt son like that? That the epic war, which is already in motion, is all a red herring, and we’re destined for a very different third season, after all. We suppose that, even if she doesn’t intend to betray Rhaenyra, she’s going to wind up doing so: Aegon isn’t in King’s Landing anymore, so the promise of that head for the block is an empty one. Fight, fight, fight….

Is Daeron the son of Criston Cole?

Alicent and Viserys’ youngest son has been notably absent from our screens so far, and some fans have a theory about that: The kid has been sent away from King’s Landing to Oldtown because of his (wait for it) cole-black hair. That’s right: Daeron and his dragon, Tessarion, might be poised and ready to join Team Green, but there are a significant number of Reddit threads dedicated to the possibility that Daeron is, in fact, the bastard of Alicent’s lover, Criston Cole. We’ll have to wait and see what the boy—so different to his brothers, so “kind”—looks like. Bring on the drama.

Who will Corlys name as his heir?

Emma D’Arcy, Steve Toussaint (Photo: Ollie Upton/HBO)

Speaking of kin, Corlys is spoilt for choices when it comes to naming his heir. Baela may have rejected him, but he still has Jace, Alyn, and Addam on the table. We all know he has some strong opinions about the former, and Alyn basically did the whole “you will never be my father” speech down at the docks these characters frequent so often. So perhaps Addam might see his star rise all the higher, now that he has a dragon of his own. (On the topic of kids, we’re itching to find out if Tyland Lannister’s sperm-donation deal with Sharako Lohar results in a whole bunch of pirate babies.)

Can Rhaenyra trust her new dragonriders?

Ulf White (who proved particularly good at grinding Jace’s gears in the finale), Hugh Hammer, and Addam di Hull might have sworn their allegiance to Rhaenyra in exchange for dragons, but all of them have smallfolk they know and love away from Dragonstone. All, too, looked aghast at her suggestion that they begin burning innocents to end this war before it begins. Might it be that one or two (or even all three) could be swayed to join Team Green before too long? This is, indeed, a backstab-filled show, so….

And lastly, can Aegon get out of this alive?  

Tom Glynn-Carney, Matthew Needham (Photo: Liam Daniel/HBO)

Aegon has been through a lot this season. He’s been bullied and berated by his mother and ignored by his council. He’s still grieving over his beloved son, who was horrifically murdered by Daemon’s hired thugs. He was lured into battle by Larys Strong—and then was blasted out of the sky by his own brother’s dragon, Vhagar. For an indiscernible amount of time, the King hung somewhere between life and death as the maesters worked tirelessly on his burnt and broken body. (His penis split like a sausage on the spit, people.) And, last we saw of him, he was hightailing it out of the Citadel so that he might avoid being unceremoniously bumped off by a seething and bloodthirsty Aemond—or, as discussed above, Rhaenyra, now that Alicent has promised her “a son for a son” in exchange for Helaena’s freedom. So how much stock should we put in Helaena’s prophecy, which states that her husband-brother will win the dance of dragons…albeit only to sit upon a wooden throne? Would showrunners really have allowed her to spoil the ending to the whole damn show? And what on earth does she mean by a wooden throne, anyway?