To be so close to the Iron Throne yet feel so far away is what Rhaenyra is feeling right now in HBO’s House of the Dragon season 3 episode 4. Although Rhaenyra has taken King’s Landing, she still has a long way to go before she can take a moment to celebrate her victory. The previous episode ended with Ormund Hightower capturing Tumbleton, a densely populated market town located in the Reach. Now, Rhaenyra has an arduous task to take back the market town, but without burning it to the ground or much bloodshed.  

However, Ormund has his own schemes in place, which mainly depend on Aemond showing up on Vhagar. And of course, he has with him Daeron Targaryen, Alicent’s youngest son and his ward. It appears that Ormund has a special role for Daeron in mind in this battle to meet his own ulterior motives. There are more players involved in the game, like Aegon, who has fled with Lord Larys, and Ser Criston Cole, who plans to march ahead despite knowing that Aemond has fled as well. 

A lot happens in this episode, and everyone seems busy plotting their next moves, especially Ormund Hightower.

House of the Dragon season 3 episode 4 recap: Ormund Hightower takes control of Tumbleton

Episode 4 starts with the Hightower army taking the town and its resources for their own needs while the Lord of the market town negotiates for fair treatment of their people. Ormund makes things clear to them, assuring them that he will play nice until they do so too. While dealing with the Lord and Lady of Tumbleton, he makes sure that his ward, Daeron, understands the rationale behind his every action and takes the time to teach him the way to deal with lesser folks.

While he is awaiting word on Aemond and Vhagar, Ser Criston Cole is leading his army to Harrenhal, looking for Aemond. However, he could only find Alys there, who informed him that Aemond had fled on Vhagar after slaying everyone there, and that Rhaenyra had taken over King’s Landing. The last news hit him and Ser Gwayne hard as they were oblivious of this development. 

Ser Gwayne rightly suggested meeting up with his cousin’s garrison and joining him in his plan. Ser Criston, however, remained firm on blocking River men from marching toward King’s Landing to give Ormund time to swell his ranks. Ser Gwayne immediately informed his cousin of the recent developments, specifically Aemond abandoning the fight, which aggravates him, and the viewers for the first time see a rather calm and composed Ormund Hightower losing his cool. After all, Aemond and Vhagar were key to their resistance, and without them their defences would not hold for long. 

However, he has an alternative already planned, which involves Prince Daeron. We also get to know that Ormund has raised Daeron in such a way that suppresses all his Targaryen instincts, making him a Hightower through and through. He sees the Targaryen blood in him as a stain to an otherwise perfect archetype of a true King – one who was originally meant to rule the Seven Kingdoms before the Targaryen savages took it all on the might of the fire-breathing beasts.

It remains hidden what Ormund actually plans to do with Daeron, but Rhaenyra is trying her best in the episode to find a clue to uncover what he is actually up to.

Rhaenyra navigating her way to Ormund’s challenge

Rhaenyra is finding it difficult to root out Ormund’s motive behind Tumbleton’s capture – something that has no strategic advantage whatsoever. She asks her Small Council the same question, but they are as dumbfounded as Rhaenyra. The only possible reason that came out of the discussion was if Ormund wanted her to attack Tumbleton, sending her dragons. This would leave the town that was once loyal to her cause to turn against her.         

As a fix to this problem, former Grand Maester Orwyle suggests turning Daemon’s River host, who are currently marching toward King’s Landing, to Tumbleton, which is not that far away from their path. Rhaenyra is impressed with the intelligent proposition and invites him to be the Grand Maester in her Small Council. 

Rhaenyra turned to Alicent for information on Ormund, but she did not have much to tell Rhaenyra, as she had known him for just a little while when they were kids. However, she tells him that he is a scholar and studies history. He despises the ignorant and uncouth. Another piece of information that comes to light is that he has a strong sensitivity to smells. The information seems significant as it comes at the very last moment, but how it will benefit Rhaenyra remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, the Queen asks Orwyle to go through all the letters Ormund might have sent to the Red Keep after her father’s passing in order to find something about his plans. However, he did not find anything in the letters. To keep a close watch on Tumbleton and Ormund’s movements, she appoints Ulf and Hugh the Hammer to take their dragons and keep watch on the town.

However, the one threat she has forgotten about is still out there, trying to flee from her reach with Larys Strong. 

Aegon finds it hard to conceal his identity

When you are used to living like a King literally, it can be hard to pretend to be a small folk who has to fight every moment for his survival. The episode sees Aegon visiting a dead Sunfire and breaking down, seeing his carcass. This might be the first time we see him emotionally vulnerable and showing some genuine care for another living being. He was so consumed with grief that Larys had to tear him away from the dead beast, or else they would be risking their identities being revealed to the small folks present there.

On their way to find a ship to escape Westeros, they found themselves at a small garrison that had been hit by a dragon attack. They seek out food and shelter there, but the man in charge of running things there does not like their presence much and gives them a hard time. First, he takes all their money and then orders them to earn food and shelter by hard work and menial jobs. Aegon protests but to no avail as he cannot reveal who he truly is. Even if he does, no one would believe him given the circumstances.

However, when things become unbearable for the former King of the Seven Kingdoms, he raises his voice against the unjust treatment he has been receiving, only to find himself in even bigger trouble. Now, the pretend lord of the garrison wants him to kiss his feet, or he will gut him out with his knife. The choice is simple: Aegon must swallow his pride in order to save his life, and so he sticks his lips to his muddy boots. The future episodes will show how this affects him and whether he will be able to leave that place unscathed.

Like Aegon, who is currently faced with the tough reality of his situation, Daemon also gets a taste of the reality of what really happened in the Battle of Gullet.

Daemon learns about Rhaena’s part in Jacerys’s death

As Rhaenyra instructs him in House of the Dragon season 3 episode 3, Daemon flies to Vale to remind Lady Jeyne Arryn of her fealty to her. Daemon does as asked and reaches the Eyrie to negotiate with Lady Jaeyne for some gold as tribute. Lady Jeyne obviously resisted, furious about the promise that was broken by Rhaenyra when she recalled the dragons stationed for Vale’s safety back to the war. 

Daemon, however, antagonized a reluctant Lady of the Eyrie into submission and freed up some gold from Vale’s treasury for the Red Keep. He was happily on his way to King’s Landing, loading all the gold on Caraxes, when suddenly the beast became rebellious and started disobeying Daemon’s orders. He sensed something not too far off the Eyrie and took Daemon to what looked like a dragon nest, and it was indeed one, as it was where Sheepstealer and Rhaena were hiding. 

Daemon was shocked to see Rhaena with Sheepstealer, almost dreading Rhaenyra’s reaction already. He asked Rhaena just to be sure if she was the one riding Sheepstealer in the Gullet. She did not deny it but was mostly concerned about Rhaenyra and her grief at Jacerys’ death. She explained that she wanted to help, to prove to Rhaenyra and, most importantly, her father that she can also be useful in this war. 

Daemon, however, is not at all concerned about her reasoning but about what his next moves should be. He suggests that she abandon the dragon and get on a ship to Pentos as soon as possible. His plan was to secretly put Rhaena back in Pentos, where she was supposed to be before the Battle of Gullet. But Rhaena declined, as she would never Sheepstealer, who has now become a part of her. She details what she has been feeling all along, being a dragonless Targaryen who is always pitied and is never given a second thought, even by her own father. 

She does not want to feel like that anymore, and abandoning Sheepstealer would mean going back to her old life. However, Daemon then tries to persuade her to come back to King’s Landing, suggesting they will both explain things together to Rhaenyra and that she might forgive her for her honest mistake. But Rhaena does not have the courage to face Rhaenyra, not after the emotional damage she has caused her. 

Daemon tries his best to reason with her daughter and get her to come with him, but it is of no use as Rhaena has made up her mind to live in exile forever with Sheepstealer. She just asked her father for one favor: that if he cared enough for her, then he would not say a word of this to Rhaenyra. After that, she hurried off on the dragon, and Daemon was left standing looking at her. 

But there was something else he noticed, or rather someone. Just below the hill he was standing on was this shepherd with his sheep. And he had a devious idea to cover up the truth. He took his head back to King’s Landing along with the gold. He presented them both to Rhaenyra, expecting her to believe his lie that the head belonged to the rider of Sheepstealer – the same one responsible for her son’s death in the Battle of Gullet.

Rhaenyra obviously had a million questions about the head of the person it belonged to, but most importantly, she wanted to kill him herself. She is distraught at the lost opportunity, but Daemon convinces her to find solace in the fact that justice has been served and the man who killed her son is dead now. Rhaenyra, of course, not even for a moment questions the legitimacy of his claim, and instead thanks him for taking her revenge.

However, Lady Mysaria is not convinced by Daemon’s elaborate scheme and immediately questions him as soon as he exits the small council about the real owner of the head and his identity. Daemon does not indulge her queries and goes on his way. Amidst all this, Rhaena’s fate still remains undetermined, and whether she will make an appearance again or keep flying into oblivion is the real question here.

With some new players on the board making their moves, it has now become more intriguing how the existing players will adjust to the shifting tides of the game. Both Blacks and Greens suffer setbacks in this one, with Rhaenyra still figuring out her game plan against Ormund Hightower. Ormund, on the other hand, has quickly recovered from the Aemond and Vhagar sabotaging his plan. It almost seems like he has a spare one on standby, and it is now time that he deployed it. Whatever happens in the next episode will be big, and we might finally see Daeron in action.   

What do you think Ormund plans on doing with Daeron? Do let us know.