In a few short months, HBO will premiere the third season of House of the Dragon, its epic Game of Thrones spinoff which depicts the Dance of the Dragons civil war. This clash is one of the most brutal in Westerosi history, spelling the beginning of the end for House Targaryen and leaving most of their dragons dead in its wake. It’s been a bit of a slow start on the show, but that’s about to change in season 3 when dragons and their riders begin dropping like flies.
With the show’s June premiere window right around the corner, HBO is ramping up the marketing to get fans hyped. Today they released a new still of Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) and her daughter, Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban), and this one is notable because it seems to reveal some things about the upcoming season. Image first, then SPOILERS beyond.
Alicent and Helaena will seemingly try to flee King’s Landing
The image above shows Alicent leading Helaena through a darkened corridor, lantern in hand. Both women are dressed in heavy traveling clothes. The caption is an abbreviation of the House Hightower words, “We Light the Way.”
One of the next major events that House of the Dragon has teed up is that Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) is going to capture King’s Landing, finally claiming the Iron Throne as her own. This lines up with the source material, George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood, and is even hinted at in the season’s first poster (which shows Rhaenyra on the Iron Throne) and trailer, which features a haunting voiceover of Daemon Targaryen saying “This is the moment you become queen” as the camera focuses on Rhaenyra.
Season 2 ended with the cliffhanger that Alicent Hightower promises to open the gates of King’s Landing for Rhaenyra and sells out her eldest son, Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), in exchange for a bloodless transfer of power — and a promise that she and her daughter Helaena can escape and go live out their lives in peace. The teaser trailer picks up this thread, with Rhaenyra proudly proclaiming to her advisors that her deal with Alicent will secure them King’s Landing.
Of course, given that the Battle of the Gullet is going to kick off the season and result in major casualties for the Blacks — and Rhaenyra, personally — that plan is going to go sideways in spectacular fashion. Rhaenyra will still capture King’s Landing, but it’s doubtful she’ll have as kind a view toward Alicent as expected.
My guess is that the image above shows Alicent and Helaena as they’re trying to escape King’s Landing through the tunnels of the Red Keep before it falls to the Blacks. It’s uncertain how urgent this flight is, since that would largely depend on whether Alicent thinks her deal with Rhaenyra still stands. Either way, it looks like Alicent and Helaena are on the run here — though they surely won’t get far.
Olivia Cooke is scheduled to appear at CCXP this weekend along with Matt Smith (Daemon Targaryen) and Fabien Frankel (Criston Cole), so we’ll most likely be hearing more about House of the Dragon season 3 then. We’ll be on watch for more updates.