House of the Dragon: Ormund's madness and Daemon's lie will have big impact
James Cox
The fourth episode of House of the Dragon season three was arguably the slowest thus far, but there will still crucial moments that could have a big impact on the story.
Before you read on, there are spoilers in this piece if you are not up to date with House of the Dragon.
Lord Ormund Hightower (James Norton) is very much the star of this episode.
Episode three ended with the revelation that Ormund had sacked the market town of Tumbleton, along with the help of Daeron Targaryen's (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) dragon.
Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) had wondered what was afoot when Ormund tricked her with a fake Daeron, but it now seems clear.
We get an insight into how conquests affect the smallfolk, as one of Ormund's soldiers attempts to sexually assault one of his hosts. Ormund appears to be a just ruler, as he orders the man to be gelded when he's made aware of the incident.
However, that couldn't be further from the truth as we get a full picture of the real Ormund and his motivations as the episode progresses.
There may not be as much action in this episode, but there are plenty of subplots.
One sees Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) head out on the road despite the Rhaenyra requesting the council of her Queen's Hand.
Instead, he sends his illegitimate son Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim) who may well become a key ally to Rhaenyra.
Meanwhile, Larys Strong (Matthew Needham) and the exiled Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) continue their Westerosi adventure.
An emotional Aegon cries at the body of his dragon Sunfyre before Larys finally gets him to move on from the bandits using the dragon's corpse as a cash opportunity.
They then come to an outpost where the exiled king is forced to quite literally shovel exrement. Struggling with his new surroundings, he lashes out only to be forced to kiss the feet of a tyrannical soldier.
Another important sidequest sees Daemon (Matt Smith) dispatched to the Vale to secure gold for crown's empty coffers.
He is successful, but Caraxes leads him to a discovery he is not happy about. Rhaena Targaryen (Phoebe Campbell) has claimed the wild dragon Sheepstealer and the consequences of this soon dawn on Daemon.
With the dragon responsible for Jace's death, Daemon pleads with Rhaena to come back to King's Landing and explain the incident to Rhaenyra.
She asks her father to keep the secret, fairly pointing out that he hasn't been an attentive father. After this short father-daughter reunion, she flies off into the sunset with Sheepstealer... for now.
This leads to Daemon making an important decision. He takes the head of an innocent shepherd, which he presents to Rhaenyra as the dragon rider responsible for the death of her son.
While sceptical, Rhaenyra accepts Daemon's explanation. However, the mistress of whisperers has her suspicions.
"Whose head is that?" Lady Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) asks Daemon. Last week, we predicted she would be a central character, and this appears to support that theory.
Ormund's plotting is made clear at the end of the episode as he tells Daeron he will put him on the Iron Throne. There is an innocent quality to the young Targaryen, as is evidenced by his reaction to having to go against the brothers he barely knows.
Ormund attempts to wipe out this innocence by forcing him to commit an execution.
He's heading for an epic confrontation with the crown...
You can watch House of the Dragon on NOW (via the Entertainment membership) and Sky Atlantic.