House of the Dragon Season 3 has officially begun production, which means that somewhere out there, the Battle of the Gullet is coming to life. This is one of the most gruesome battles in the A Song of Ice and Fire series — perhaps the bloodiest ever fought at sea — and it’s likely to be a spectacle unlike anything we’ve seen from HBO’s adaptations so far. This was originally planned as the climax of Season 2, but when HBO abruptly dropped the episode count for the series, it was moved to Season 3 to ensure it could still be as large in scale as intended. Read on for a bit about this battle in George R.R. Martin’s book, but fair warning: there are spoilers for Fire & Blood ahead!
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House of the Dragon confused some fans by setting up the Battle of the Gullet in Season 2 without paying it off. You may recall that the finale followed Aegon’s Aegon’s Master of Coin, Tyland Lannister, across the Narrow Sea where he negotiated with the Triarchy for naval support in the war. Tyland met the eccentric Admiral Sharako Lohar, and needed to win him over before they could finally set sail with a massive fleet.
Aegon’s side hopes this fleet will allow them to break the blockade on Blackwater Bay, which is maintained chiefly by Rhaenyra’s Hand of the Queen, Corlys Velaryon. The Triarchy has reason to hate House Velaryon and Rhanyra’s husband Prince Daemon for the war they fought over the Stepstone islands back in Season 1. This also means they have experience fighting dragon-riders. Now, these two massive naval forces will converge within sight of Dragonstone, where Rhaenyra currently rules.
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In Martin’s book, the battle looks for for Rhaenyra’s side at first because Prince Jacaerys Velaryon flies straight into the fray on his dragon Vermax. The prince is able to set the front line of Triarchy ships on fire while evading arrows and spears,and he is eventually joined by the Dragonseeds on their dragons as well. However, eventually Vermax is pulled down into the water by one of the sinking ships. Jace manages to get free, but he is almost immediately killed by a crossbow bolt.
Meanwhile, the attackers take the fight straight to House Velaryon’s stronghold, Driftmark, sacking the town, killing its inhabitants, and burning the castle. The battle rages on for over a day, and in the end both sides suffered incalculable losses. More than two thirds of the Triarchy’s ships are destroyed, leading to the dissolution of their alliance altogether, and thousands of people died in total.
Bringing It to TV
Showrunner Ryan Condal has been building up House of the Dragon‘s take on the Battle of the Gullet for months now, and he discussed it again in an interview with Entertainment Weekly published on Monday. “In many ways, the Gullet has been on the minds of the production for about three years now and trying to figure out how we were going to mount it in a way that was both producible and exciting, thrilling,” he said. “The planning that has gone into this… basically all departments working in concert to really make a thing that nobody has ever done before.”
Condal also noted that executive producer Kevin de la Noy was invaluable to this process, as he was a production manager on Titanic. All this hints that the battle is a major setpiece for the season, which will be exciting as naval battles were generally downplayed on Game of Thrones. Condal’s comments seemed to indicate that a lot of this will be achieved with practical effects.
“I would like to think that this is probably the most complex sequence that’s ever been done for television,” he said, “not necessarily the most expensive or the longest shoot or anything like that, but just based on the number of moving pieces, the amount of different disciplines, media that have to be blended together to achieve success because you’re talking about sea and ships and dragons and action.”
The Battle of the Gullet is expected to kick off House of the Dragon Season 3, which is filming now and is slated for release sometime in 2026. The newest show in the franchise, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, will air first sometime this year on HBO and Max. Martin’s books, including Fire & Blood, are available now in print, digital, and audiobook formats.
