This post contains major spoilers for House of the Dragon‘s season three finale. If you want to avoid them for now you can instead check out our coverage of episode seven.
House of the Dragon greatly changed the story of Tumbleton when Ormund Hightower easily sacked the unoccupied market town loyal to Rhaenyra. In Fire & Blood, the Blacks already controlled the city before it was fought over in two major events. Those two infamous moments changed the outcome of the Dance of the Dragons and Westeros forever. And what we know about what happened after the First Battle of Tumbleton might reveal what awaits after House of the Dragon‘s very different version.
What Major Changes Did House of the Dragon Make to the Battle of Tumbleton?
In Fire & Blood, Tumbleton was originally controlled by Rhaenyra’s forces. The river lords and Northern graybeards had taken up residence in the market town not far from King’s Landing. Rhaenyra’s dragonriders Ulf and Hugh were also on hand to defend it from a potential attack. (On the show, they kept an eye on it only after Ormund claimed it.)
Book Ormund was marching to King’s Landing, and Tumbleton was the last town along the path to the capital the Queen controlled. It was far more significant in Fire & Blood‘s story than it was on House of the Dragon. On the show, Rhaenyra could not understand why Ormund wanted it, though she suspected it was a trap.
The First Battle of Tumbleton in Fire & Blood did not involve Daemon Targaryen and Caraxes, Corlys Velaryon, or Gwayne Hightower, all of whom played major roles on the show’s version. It did heavily involve Ormund Hightower. He commanded the much larger green force and led the attack on the town.
Despite the big advantage in numbers, the Northerners and riverlords held the day at first. Even the presence of Daeron—already named the Daring after turning the tide of a previous battle House of the Dragon cut—and his dragon Tessarion did nothing to slow down the Blacks. Betrayal by Ulf and High did that.
On House of the Dragon, only Ulf turned against Rhaenyra. In Fire & Blood both dragonseeds did. They burned the Black forces before turning their dragonflame on the town. Ulf also did that on the show, but he did it out of anger for Ormund’s abuse minutes earlier. One important thing that remained the same in both versions is that Ormund died during the First Battle of Tumbleton.
The Two Betrayors’ actions were both similar and different to Ulf’s solo act on the show. The traitors intentionally burned Tumbleton on behalf of the greens. They were burning the Blacks and their loyalists who controlled the town. Ulf only attacked the green-held city out of anger. Dragonflame doesn’t care about “why” something is done. Both motivations resulted in the same horror. Soldiers and citizens died screaming in agony as fire and blood consumed Tumbleton.
When the Greens took control of the city after the Betrayors’ treason, things got even worse. Soldiers began a sack so terrible it was still spoken of centuries later. It was written, “Seldom has any town or city in the history of the Seven Kingdoms been subject to as long or as cruel or as savage a sack as Tumbleton after the Treasons.”
It really was that awful despite Daeron’s efforts pleas to the new green commander, the ineffectual Hobart Hightower. Hobart couldn’t stop the atrocities. The Green forces raped women, tortured anyone they wanted to find hidden coin, and slaughtered people of all ages and sexes. House of the Dragon showed some of this heinous behavior prior to the Battle, but it was nothing compared to Fire & Blood‘s retelling.
We might still see just how bad things got on the show now that Tumbleton is a smoking ruin. The series might also show how the Greens’ monstrous behavior resulted in them losing both discipline and men. Many soldiers deserted with their newly looted treasures long before the war was over.
The Greens own horrible behavior and lack of leadership left them vulnerable for the Second Battle of Tumbleton. But while we won’t spoil that conflict—not even who led it and fought in it, let alone who won and who died—we do need to talk about what happened between the two events. Because House of the Dragon‘s biggest change to the First Battle also portends another major change.
Warning: If you want to remain completely ignorant of all future events in the story, both from Fire & Blood and how House of the Dragon might potentially adapt them, stop now. We’re definitely getting into major spoiler territory.
History does not remember Ulf and Hugh’s actions at Tumbleton well. It remembers what they did after the first battle even worse. The two Betrayors refused to march on King’s Landing, which was the entire point of claiming the market town. Hugh then said he should be King and even crowned himself. Meanwhile, the stories about Ulf—furious he wasn’t getting Highgarden as a reward—are so terrible they must surely be exaggerations. He’s said to have started sexually assaulting multiple women every night before feeding some of the women to his dragon.
Whatever is true or not, the Greens had enough of both. Prince Daeron signed a secret order to have each dragonrider killed. They were both set to die right before a surprise attack on Tumbleton.
Hugh never made it to the field. The caltrops’ plan was already in action when the bells warned of the invasion. Bold Jon Roxton, last seen on House of the Dragon nearly killing Daemon during Tumbleton’s burning, executed Hugh. As for Ulf, he slept through the Second Battle of Tumbleton. The show adapted this to have him miss most of the First Battle while passed out drunk on the privy.
Ulf easily survived the Second Tumbleton because he didn’t fight in it. That didn’t stop him afterwards from claiming he should be King since Hugh was dead. Instead, the caltrops continued on with their plan to eliminate the dragonseed. The otherwise useless Hobart brought the wine-loving Ulf some of the greens’ best casks. A skeptical Ulf refused to drink the fatal offering, so Hobart found bravery he had never before displayed. Not wanting to betray his fellow conspirators, he downed a cup of the poisoned drink. When he asked for a second Ulf happily took three himself. Neither men survived, as Hobart was unable to throw up the poison before it peacefully claimed his life along with Ulf.
On House of the Dragon Hugh did not betray Rhaenyra, he only abandoned his post and dragon at Tumbleton to save his wife Kat. He failed. Ulf the White’s actions caused Kat’s death.
How will the show handle its two dragonseeds when only one’s story has remained (mostly) true to Fire & Blood? Both seemingly still have to die before the Dance of the Dragons comes to an end. These changes hint at how that might still happen: a vengeful Hugh with nothing left to lose could replace Hobart. If he delivers the poisoned wine to the turncloak, Hugh might be willing to down a fatal cup himself to make sure Ulf dies too.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. Yes, yes, he is obviously mad we’re probably not getting Hobart’s amazing death. You can follow Mikey on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
The post HOUSE OF THE DRAGON’S Biggest Changes to the Battle of Tumbleton appeared first on Nerdist.
0 Comments