House of the Dragon season 3 premieres on HBO Max — and the high fantasy show’s latest entry has already highlighted that no one will be safe from this point on.
Titled ‘Salt and Sea, Fire and Blood’, this season’s opener ends up being a bloody and deadly chapter by virtue of one of the series’ most brutal conflicts to date. It is the naval clash known as The Battle of the Gullet.
Will Jace die in House of the Dragon’s season 3 premiere?
Yes. Jace – or to give him his full name, Jacaerys Targaryen – is the most notable casualty of this season’s first installment.
With the exception of a few significant changes to how his death plays out Fire and Bloodaka George RR Martin written book that House of the Dragon is based on, Jace’s demise is a direct adaptation of events that also occur in said novel.
In the aforementioned book and TV remake, Jace is actually killed after being shot multiple times by crossbowmen aboard one of the Triarchy’s ships. It happens after his dragon Vermax crashes into the sea and drowns, and Jace – freeing himself from the Vermax before it sinks beneath the waves – finds some driftwood to cling to.
the way i screamed when the first arrow hit him even though i knew it was coming… oh jace 💔 #HOTD pic.twitter.com/83GzSuPhtdJune 22, 2026
The changes in Martin’s lyrics come in how the build-up to Jace’s death is portrayed.
Initially, Fire and Blood does not explicitly state how or why the Vermax topples into the sea. It says the Vermax is seen flying too close to the waves and may have flown into the water below after being wounded by a ballista bolt or pulled down by a grapnel. In the HBO Max version of The Battle of the Gullet, a combination of the two—a giant crossbow bolt with a heavy stone weight attached to it by a chain—is ultimately what pulls Vermax out to sea.
Events that led to that moment are also the root cause of Jace and Vermax’s death, because the arrival of Rhaena Targaryen and the Sheepstealer, also known as the wide dragon, she has tried to tame.
IN Fire and BloodSheepstealer is part of The Battle of the Gullet, but it is ridden by a mysterious person known as Nettles. Incidentally, it appears that showrunner Ryan Condal has combined Rhaena and Nettles into a single person for the purpose of House of the Dragons narrative.
But I digress. After Rhaena finally appears to tame the Sheepstealer earlier in the HBO Max series’ Season 3 premiere, the pair stumble upon The Battle of the Gullet. Seeing this as a chance to prove herself, Rhaena instructs Sheepstealer to join the fight. Unfortunately, the actually still untamed Sheepstealer takes a bilateral approach to the matter and begins to rain fire on the Triarchy – aka the enemy – and the Velaryon ships they are supposed to protect.
Mistaking Rhaena and Sheepstealer for enemies, Jace/Vermax moves in with Baela Targaryen and her dragon Moondancer to intercept and take them out. Long story short: Jace/Vermax get so caught up in the ensuing sky-based skirmish that they are oblivious to the upcoming weighted attack that will soon claim their lives.
Is the Triarchy commander Sharako Lohar dead in the House of the Dragon?
Yes – and this represents another departure from Fire and Blood‘s depiction of the Battle of Gullet.
‘Sea and Salt, Fire and Blood’ sees Lohar lose his life after a duel with Alyn of Hull, who seeks her out after what Lohar is doing to her estranged father and head of the Velaryon fleet, Corlys Velaryon (more on him later). After a frantic brawl aboard a sinking ship, Alyn eventually wins the day by fatally stabbing Lohar and letting his body sink into the depths.
But in Fire and Blood, Lohar not only survives The Battle of the Gullet, but is said to have won it. In the literature, Lohar is eventually assassinated by a rival some years later after The Daughters’ War, aka a civil war between factions of the Triarchy. With House of the Dragon is not expected to cover this event as part of its overall story, but it makes sense to Game of Thrones prequel to killing Lohar during The Battle of the Gullet.
Is Corlys Velaryon, aka the Sea Serpent, dead in the House of the Dragon?
We don’t know yet, because the fate of the Corlys is left unknown when Season 3 Episode 1 ends. In fact, after he is thrown overboard during his own clash with Lohar, we never see him again.
So, is Corlys alive or dead? I’d rather not spoil the surprise, dear reader. All I want to refer you to is the age-old phrase from the entertainment business “no body, no death” – that if we don’t physically see someone’s body on screen, chances are their time hasn’t come yet…
What happens to Tyland Lannister and Jason Lannister in House of the Dragon Season 3 Episode 1?
The same principle applies to one of the Lannister twins in Tyland.
In fact, after Lohar’s flagship – also called the Bitchfist – pursues the Corlys’ vessel through a dangerous, extremely narrow rocky passage at low tide, the former comes close to crashing onto the rocks. In an attempt to reduce the Bitchfist’s weight and help it float better to avoid the jagged rocks below, Lohar pushes a heavily armored Tyland overboard. Like Corly’s, Tyland’s fate is unclear.
However, we cannot say the same about his brother Jason. At the end of a Riverlands-based battle where Daemon Targaryen’s forces are victorious over Jason’s, we learn that the latter has been killed and beheaded by Roderick Dustin. He is the leader of the Winter Wolves who swear their allegiance to Team Black, also known as those who have sided with Rhaenyra Targaryen in the midst of the Targaryen Civil War, otherwise known as the Dance of Dragons.
Enjoy yourself House of the Dragon Season 3’s opening episode? And do you think the Corlys and/or Tyland are still alive or not? Tell me in the comments.
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