House of the Dragon’s third-season finale makes major changes to the Tumbleton storyline from George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood, replacing key book events and keeping characters in different places. The article argues that, despite likely objections from book-focused viewers, the altered Tumbleton plot was the season’s strongest because it brought humour, rivalry and energy to the Hightower characters.

The storyline centres on Daeron Targaryen, Gwayne Hightower and Ormund Hightower, played by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Freddie Fox and James Norton. In the finale, Gwayne prevents Daeron from making a dramatic dragon move that occurs in the book, while Ormund is killed after being stabbed and caught in dragon-fire; Daeron is missing and Gwayne remains alive, meaning the trio’s dynamic is unlikely to return in season four.