Jul 20, 2026 2:52pm IST
‘House of the Dragon’ Season 3 Episode 5 Review: A Well-Written Episode Building Up a Great Payoff
HBO’s “House of the Dragon” Season 3 is past its halfway mark and doing that thing “Game of Thrones” did to get in position for making major moves in its penultimate episode. Some might call them filler episodes and frown at their slower pace. And slow it is, but also full of those little details and exchanges that add nuance to the actual game of thrones being played amidst all the battles and deaths.
Episode 5, titled “Unbowed and Unbent,” is a well-written one that steadily brings all the different storylines being cooked this season to a boiling point, ultimately poised to give a great payoff in the upcoming First Battle of Tumbleton. Currently, all the chess pieces are scattered across the board and dealing with small tussles of their own. But the rising tensions on every front act like small fires ready to converge into a massive inferno towards the end of the season.
The episode begins in the Riverlands, where the Stark and Tully forces are attacked by Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) and Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox), leading a guerrilla attack. They burn the camp and bridges that would help the Rivermen cross, and later in the episode, fall prey to the same strategy. Despite being a hated character, Criston Cole has had one of the best arcs on “House of the Dragon”—from a handsome knight to a misogynistic hypocrite to a man who questioned his loyalties and has finally decided to submit to his death wish. Even Gwayne Hightower can't help but develop a soft spot for the man!
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In King’s Landing, where Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) presides, there’s unrest from a lack of basic resources. It’s making everyone a tad antsy, which doesn’t bode well for the Queen, whose crown is already so precariously perched on her head. In an echo of “Game of Thrones,” a promise to House Frey has once again been broken; the late Prince Jacaerys (Harry Collett) had promised Lady Sabitha Frey (Sarah Woodward) Harrenhal and a seat at the Queen’s Small Council. And this episode sees a mildly disgruntled Lady Frey get utterly bamboozled by all the bickering and the chaotic inner workings of the Crown.
By design, this season is meant to have major battles and dragon-on-dragon action. But it’s great that the actual job of a ruler and the consequences of not performing it well are being highlighted through episodes like these. Take Daemon’s Gold Cloaks, for example, who aren’t getting paid for their work. On top of that, they are being picked off and brutally killed by an unknown entity. Daemon (Matt Smith) rallies them to fight for House Targaryen’s glory and future riches in another rousing display of dynamism. But the episode’s haunting final scene highlights just how the workers and the smallfolk will always pay the higher price in wars of the rich and royal.
The bloodbath is eventually revealed to be the machinations of Lord Ormund Hightower. He may be in Tumbleton but is marshalling covert mercenaries in the name of King Daeron Targaryen (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth), his ward. The series takes liberties here from George R.R. Martin’s writings, but makes an interesting choice to bring in the faith militant as a long arm of House Hightower of Oldtown. They are not really fighting for the Greens, but for anyone who upholds their faith, and Ormund knows how to use it to his advantage.
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Despite his limited screen time, James Norton remains a treat to watch. In a scene that further highlights the terror Ormund holds over his nephew, Prince Daeron, we get some lore drop about Princess Meria Martell of Dorne and how Ormund is using the cunning tactics she deployed to keep Aegon the Conqueror’s efforts to invade Dorne at bay. The episode's title is a nod to the words of House Martell—"Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken."
"Unbowed and Unbent" finds time to drop interesting parallels, lore and humor, like the cats that have been brought in to hunt the rat infestation. Or Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) is forced to drink a dose of her own medicine when Heleana refuses to drink the morning tea and abort her child. Phia Saban has been fantastic so far, but Helaena's arc is still the hardest to guess. She reveals to her mother that she has "seen" Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) at Harrenhal. And indeed, much like his Uncle Daemon before him, Aemond is undergoing his fate-mandated therapy session at Harrenhal, with the Weirwood bed showing him visions of his family and a burning, scarred Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney). While he recuperates, Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) has been fending off Aemond's bounty hunters. And the real Aegon gets his hands bloody, a sign that despite no dragon or crown, he remains King Aegon II, unbowed and unbent.
With only three episodes remaining, it looks like "House of the Dragon" Season 3 might end with the First Battle of Tumbleton and save the Battle Above the God's Eye for its final season. The teaser for Episode 6 has Ormund advocating patience to Gwayne, while his efforts to portray Rhaenyra as a bad ruler bear fruit. We are in the Season 3 endgame now.
"House of the Dragon" Season 3 is streaming on JioHotstar, with new episodes airing weekly on Mondays.
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