House of the Dragon’s third episode swaps out Daeron Targaryen for an impostor prince delivered to Daemon Targaryen, a departure from George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood. Ormund Hightower orchestrates the deception while keeping the real Daeron, dragonrider of Tessarion, under his protection, a move that hands House Hightower unexpected leverage over Aegon II’s court.
Daemon Targaryen thinks he’s just welcomed a nephew into his camp, but George R.R. Martin’s book had other plans, and so does the show. The third episode of this new season swaps out a straightforward political alliance for something messier: a body double standing in for the real Daeron Targaryen, whisked away and hidden under Ormund Hightower’s watch instead. It’s a small deception with massive consequences, since it turns Hightower from a background lord into someone quietly playing his own game, dragon rider included. For a series already known for rewriting its own mythology, this one lands as a reminder that nobody’s alliances are quite what they seem.
A return to Westeros in season 3
Since its debut on August 21, 2022, House of the Dragon has carried the weight of following one of television’s biggest phenomenons. The prequel to Game of Thrones, drawn from George R.R. Martin’s lore, is now three episodes into its third season on HBO Max. And while the Targaryen power struggles remain the show’s beating heart, episode 3 delivers a twist that book readers never saw coming. Fair warning: spoilers follow.
A surprising shift from ‘Fire and Blood’
The series has always used Martin’s chronicle Fire and Blood as its guiding text, but this episode deliberately steps off the page. The change centers on Daeron Targaryen, the youngest son of Viserys and Alicent Hightower, who finally makes his long-awaited debut. He arrives, however, wrapped in a storyline that exists nowhere in the source material, one built around an elaborate deception targeting Daemon Targaryen (played by Matt Smith) and orchestrated by the ambitious Ormund Hightower, brought to life by James Norton.
Character intrigue with new dynamics
Here is how the ruse unfolds. After the Greens’ apparent defeat, Daemon demands that Ormund hand over Daeron as a guarantee. The lord of Oldtown seems to comply, delivering the young prince into enemy hands. The catch? The boy is an impostor, carefully coached to pass as royalty, while the real Daeron remains hidden under Ormund’s protection.
This gambit reframes Ormund as far more than a loyal bannerman to Aegon II (played by Tom Glynn-Carney). The show presents him as a calculating strategist, willing to manipulate events to grow his own power beyond the Green cause. Keeping the genuine Daeron under his control also gives him a decisive card to play: the prince is the bonded rider of the dragon Tessarion, a military asset of real consequence as the Dance of the Dragons rages on.
What this twist signals for viewers
By expanding Ormund Hightower’s role and inventing a scheme around Daeron, the writers are signaling that fidelity to the book will bend whenever the drama demands it. Whether Martin himself approves of this particular liberty is another question, and early chatter suggests the author may not be thrilled with the departure.
For viewers, though, the payoff is clear: fresh layers of intrigue that even the most devoted readers cannot predict. The first 3 episodes of season 3 are streaming now on HBO Max, and if this twist is any indication, the political unrest in Westeros is only getting started.