House of the Dragon closed out its third season with the Battle of Tumbleton, a massive set piece that combined a military siege with some serious dragon firepower.
The first of these dragons is Daemon Targaryen’s (Matt Smith) Caraxes, who busts through Tumbleton’s gate. The second of these dragons is Silverwing, ridden by traitorous dragonseed Ulf the White (Tom Bennett). Once an ally of Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), Ulf defected to Team Green when Ormund Hightower (James Norton) offered him Driftmark. (Daeron Targaryen‘s (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) small dragon Tessarion also makes a brief appearance, though he remains confined to his stable.)
In the battle’s aftermath, as Caraxes chases Silverwing over Tumbleton, another dragon flies into view. Given its size, viewers were quick to believe it was Vhagar, who has been missing since she dropped Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) off for his vision quest at Harrenhal.
Was Vhagar at the Battle of Tumbleton?
However, that dragon is not Vhagar. It’s actually Vermithor, aka “the Bronze Fury,” Hugh Hammer’s (Kieran Bew) dragon.
In George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, Hugh also betrays Rhaenyra at the Battle of Tumbleton. In the show, he shows up for the fight in a different way, charging through the Tumbleton streets in search of his estranged wife Kat (Ellora Torchia). That leaves Vermithor up to his own devices.
Vermithor and Silverwing are actually a bonded pair of dragons. So when Vermithor pops up in that dragon-heavy shot, he’s likely not coming to Caraxes’s aid in taking down Silverwing and her turncoat rider. Instead, he’s probably coming to his beloved Silverwing’s defense.
House of the Dragon cuts away from that sequence before we can see yet another dragon dogfight. But unless Season 4 picks up seconds after the end of Season 3, it’s likely all three dragons make it out of this situation alive. However, given Hugh’s grief over Kat’s death and Silverwing and Vermithor’s bond, we may see yet another dragonrider switch sides in the coming conflict.