House of the Dragon, HBO’s original Game of Thrones spin-off, has killed off a major original character in its third season.
Set two centuries before the events of the smash-hit fantasy series based on George RR Martin’s books, House of the Dragon follows the Targaryen family and the battle for the Iron Throne.
Major spoilers for House of the Dragon season three episode two ahead – you have been warned!
Like Game of Thrones, the big budget spin-off is no stranger to killing off its characters, with the season three premiere (21 June) seeing the explosive Battle of the Gullet and the death of Jace Targaryen (Harry Collett), the eldest son of Rhaenyra Targaryan (Emma D’Arcy).
Episode two (28 June) picked up in the wake of Jace’s death, with Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) finally putting into action the plan she and Rhaenyra cooked up last season.
After Alicent convinces Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) to fly dragon Vhagar to Harrenhal, Rhaenyra and her uncle Daemon (Matt Smith) take King’s Landing and the Red Keep.
But things go wrong when, in attempting to flee the city with her daughter Helaena (Phia Saban) and grandchild Jaehaera, Alicent is captured and taken back to the Red Keep.
The Red Keep is where Alicent’s father Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) has been held as a prisoner; Ifans’ character was a mainstay of the first season but featured far less in season two, until it was revealed in the finale that he was alive and being kept captive (although where and by who was unclear).
Otto is presented to Daemon as a “gift” upon his arrival in King’s Landing, with Daemon pressuring Rhaenyra into tearfully and violently beheading Otto (although her lack of swordsmanship means it takes a number of hacks) to assert herself as a merciless ruler.
Alicent then arrives and is greeted by the sight of her murdered father and her former friend on the Iron Throne, Otto’s blood having been dragged across the floor as Rhaenyra took her place.
Otto’s dramatic and bloody end comes after the character’s future felt uncertain, with Ifans saying in an interview in 2024 that he had no idea what would happen.
“I'm an actor, so we'll be the last people to know what's going on in our characters,” he told Inverse. “I haven't been told by anyone with any kind of conviction or authority where exactly he is at that point. All we know is that he’s still alive somewhere in that world, and that's as much as I know too. I know as much as the fans.”
Speaking about Rhaenyra being forced to behead Otto in the accompanying featurette, D’Arcy explained: “I’ve had to wait, and an audience has had to wait, three seasons for this moment of ascension. I wanted the final steps on that journey to feel incredibly hard to take, to feel the weight of four years of walking in those last steps.”
First airing in 2022, House of the Dragon was the original Game of Thrones spin-off to air on HBO. The more comedic A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premiered earlier this year, while multiple other spin-offs are currently in development.
