House Of The Dragon Season 3’s Two Unexpected Romances Explained

Winter is coming, and so are spoilers. This article discusses major plot details from “House of the Dragon” Season 3 Episode 6.

Look, we might as well embrace it: “House of the Dragon” is a shipper’s show. It almost goes without saying that viewers have come to expect that from a show which has delivered a bristly central dynamic between Emma D’Arcy’s Rhaenyra Targaryen and her childhood frenemy Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke). But Season 3 alone has already given us the hilarious road-trip comedy/enemies-to-lovers vibes between Larys (Matthew Needham) and Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), Daemon (Matt Smith) and his former flame Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) engaging in lovers’ quarrels, and, of course, the never-ending tension between Ulf the White (Tom Bennett) and his booze.

Yet, what’s likely to surprise most casual fans may be two low-simmering romances that suddenly come to a boil in Episode 6. Unlike “Game of Thrones” (the earlier seasons, at least) or “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” few would mistake “House of the Dragon” for a chamber piece focused solely on character above all else. We have several compelling figures to follow and root for (and against), of course, but that’s simply not one of this show’s most pressing priorities. That probably helps explain why the abrupt developments in two specific subplots — Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) in Harrenhal, and Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim) and Baela Targaryen (Bethany Antonia) in, yes, yet another instance of incest on this series — may feel like they come out of nowhere.

The “why” behind both of these unexpected pairings is worth exploring. Certain similarities in the source material “Fire & Blood” go a long way towards explaining these storylines. But, for the most part, we’re all left with two questionable storytelling decisions.

Never change, “House of the Dragon.” By its very nature, the HBO prequel series has had the unenviable task of hitting certain mile markers on its way to telling a story with an ending that has already been spoiled by “Game of Thrones.” That inevitably means that certain twists and turns in the plot can feel somewhat … preordained, in a manner of speaking. (Less generous fans would probably call these moments “forced.”)

One such instance would have to be the Alyn/Baela romance, a pairing that even the nerdiest of book fans likely never saw coming in the show. For one thing, the two have shared maybe one real scene together throughout the entirety of “House of the Dragon” where they actually exchanged dialogue and managed to get to know each other a little. For another, uh, it’s been fairly well-established that they both have the same father in the Sea Snake, Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint). Not that this franchise has stayed away from incest before, I’ll grant you, but at least other such pairings like Rhaenyra and Daemon had some actual sparks. Alyn and Baela, by stark contrast, are giving us nothing.

Now, in all fairness, this is a relationship that comes straight out of “Fire & Blood” — but with a twist. This doesn’t actually happen until later in the story, and even then it’s done out of political need rather than romantic desire. It’s easy to see why showrunner Ryan Condal and his writing team would want to lay the groundwork for this a little earlier, but the execution of this can’t help but feel awfully random and rushed.

The Alys Rivers and Aemond Targaryen subplot, on the other hand, isn’t quite as easy to discern. At the very least, this benefits from having several episodes with the two playing off one another and learning to depend on each other (even if some might say this is mostly a retread of that divisive Daemon arc in Season 2). Ultimately, there’s some intrigue in seeing how their dynamic has grown from a protective mother/son role to something much darker and more disturbing — particularly after the reveal about her secret stash of dragon eggs and her wish to rule as the “Lady of the Water” with him by her side. At the same time, however, it’s fair to ask another question: Where the heck is this going?

This is one instance where the show actually improves on what author George R.R. Martin laid down in the book. “Fire & Blood” hardly even touches on any real relationship between Daemon and Alys, which only makes it odder when Aemond takes the castle and is reported to have immediately taken Alys into his bed, as well. She’s described as his lover from that point on, though Martin remains light on detail. The series has done some legwork to explain what each lonely character would see in the other… but with the show confirmed to end in Season 4 and this season nearly over, there isn’t exactly a ton of runway left to explore this much further.

What we’re left with are two romances that, for very different reasons, have us raising an eyebrow or two. New episodes of “House of the Dragon” air on HBO every Sunday.