House of the Dragon Season 3’s Two House Stark Replacements Explained

There may be no sign of Winter in House of the Dragon Season 3, but at the very least, House Stark is coming… in a way. The Starks were the major heroes across all eight seasons of Game of Thrones, but they’ve mostly been absent from this prequel, and they weren’t in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms at all. We did see Rickon Stark in House of the Dragon Season 1, pledging fealty to Rhaenyra Targaryen as heir to King Viserys I, and then a slightly bigger role for the family came in the second season. There, Cregan Stark met with Jacaerys Velaryon and pledged his own allegiance to Team Black.

Cregan, however, did not return after that opening scene, and isn’t expected to be back at any point in House of the Dragon Season 3 (though there will be a role for him later in the show, if it sticks to George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood). Similarly, the action is unlikely to be returning to Winterfell, but the North is very much represented in the third season.

The Winter Wolves Are The Stark Army In House Of The Dragon

When Cregan met with Jace, he promised to send an army of 2,000 grizzled Northmen to Rhaenyra’s cause, and those fighters have now arrived in House of the Dragon‘s third season. These are very different from the majority of other hosts we’ve seen in the series so far: much older, not equipped with any fine weaponry, but just a bunch of tough-as-old-boots warriors armed with axes and old swords who have marched south expecting to die for the dragon queen (and their leaving also means preserving stores for the younger people when Winter eventually comes), and they’re carrying the Stark banner while they do so.

At the head of the Winter Wolves is Lord Roderick Dustin from Barrowtown, aka Roddy the Ruin. He’s as courageous and savage as they come on the battlefield, something he proves across the Dance of the Dragons, including against the Starks’ great enemy in Game of Thrones, the Lannisters. Played by Tommy Flanagan (Sons of Anarchy) in House of the Dragon, he and the other Winter Wolves are expected to be part of some major action set pieces later in Season 3.

Black Aly Is The Closest HOTD Has To Arya Stark

Also new to the cause of the Blacks in House of the Dragon Season 3 is Alysanne Blackwood (played by Annie Shapero), aka Black Aly. In the book, at the Battle of the Burning Mill between the Blackwoods and the Brackens, Aly was supposedly the one who fired the arrow that killed Lord Amos Bracken, thus securing what was, essentially, the first real victory of the Dance of the Dragons in terms of actual on-field combat between opposing armies (though we only saw the prelude and aftermath in the show, with no sign of Alysanne herself).

She goes on to fight in several other battles, and is akin to House of the Dragon‘s version of Arya Stark: a fierce young woman who defies gender norms and is as deadly as any man. She’s also confirmed to look rather badass in the TV series, with warpaint under her eyes that instantly makes her stand out and makes it clear she’s a force to be reckoned with.

Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Fire & Blood from this point on.

It isn’t just her similarities to Arya that give Black Aly a connection to House Stark, though: she marries a member of the family. At the end of the Targaryen civil war, Cregan himself finally arrives in King’s Landing, and sets about cleaning up the mess that has been left behind, even briefly serving as Hand to the new king. Aly plays an important part in this process as well, Lord Stark becomes smitten with her and, eventually, the two are married (though it is obviously TBC whether any of this makes it into the series). She returns to Winterfell with him, and they have several children, meaning she writes herself into Game of Thrones history as one of the greatest members of the Starks.

Although this isn’t the Starks’ story, it is still great to have them involved in some capacity given their importance in Game of Thrones. There’s no doubt that both Roddy and Aly will be firm fan-favorites, and even just seeing that direwolf sigil again is a welcome sight.

House of the Dragon Season 3 releases on Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO and HBO Max.

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