The eighth and final episode of Season 3 of House of the Dragon is shaping up to feature the biggest land battle in the Game of Thrones spinoff.
The Battle of the Gullet already raised the stakes in the season premiere. Now, another major conflict is approaching.
The 20,000-strong Winter Wolves and the rivermen march toward Tumbleton. Meanwhile, the Hightower army has fortified the market town.
The winner could gain a major advantage in the Targaryen civil war. Victory could help one faction rebuild its military strength or strengthen its control of King’s Landing.
First Battle of Tumbleton
HBO based House of the Dragon on George R.R. Martin’s book Fire and Blood.
The book covers around 300 years of Targaryen rule in Westeros. It follows the family from its escape from Valyria to the end of its dynasty after Robert’s Rebellion.
However, the television series takes a different approach in several areas. Producers Sarah Hess and Ryan Condal have changed some events and character arcs.
The book features two major battles at Tumbleton.
The First Battle of Tumbleton ends with a surprise Green victory. Two dragonseeds, Hugh the Hammer and Ulf the White, betray the Blacks.
Hugh rides Vermithor into battle. He also believes a prophecy has chosen him to become king.
Ulf joins Hugh on Silverwing. Together, the two dragonriders turn against their former allies.
Their betrayal gives the Hightower army another chance to continue the war. It also leaves Rhaenyra Targaryen in a dangerous position.
The Greens can now consider another attempt to retake King’s Landing.
The people of Tumbleton also suffer badly. Thousands of civilians die as the Hightower army attacks the town.
Prince Daeron, Aegon II’s younger brother, also becomes disturbed by the violence.
The battle therefore creates consequences far beyond the battlefield.
Second Battle of Tumbleton
With fear and paranoia gripping Rhaenyra’s rule after the defeat, she made the unfortunate decision to alienate her close supporters, including Addam of Hull, who was the first dragonseed to join her cause.
Rhaenyra named him a traitor to the realm, exiling the dragonseed from the capital.
Instead of defecting to the Greens to correct this insult, Addam rode his dragon Seasmoke and assembled a ragtag army in the Riverlands to reclaim Tumbleton in Rhaenyra’s name.
In his mind, this would be the price to bring himself back in favour with Rhaenyra and clear his name.
What followed next was one of the most tragic events in the history of Westeros.
At first, it appeared Addam was at a disadvantage considering he had one dragon against the Greens’ three. But conspirators within the Green faction successfully killed Hugh and Ulf.
Prince Daeron also went missing in the thick of the battle.
Without their dragon riders, the Hightower army was overwhelmed by the besieging Riverlands troops, opting to retreat to Oldtown.
However, it was a pyrrhic victory for the Blacks as Addam also met his demise in the battle. He directed his dragon Seasmoke against the dragon Tessarion, who was riderless following the disappearance of Prince Daeron.
The two dragons fought in the sky, but Vermithor suddenly appeared and joined the fray, resulting in the deaths of three.
The aftermath
Aside from the horrifying civilian casualties, these battles at Tumbleton weakened the Targaryen dynasty forever.
They officially lost four dragons as Silverwing also disappeared, never to be seen again.
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