House of the Dragon season 3’s barbaric feast for traitors has one ‘annoying’ problem

*Warning: Spoilers ahead for House of the Dragon season three episode five*

House of the Dragon went full horror in season three episode five, culminating in “a feast for traitors” – a horrifying recreation of the Last Supper. But amid the blood and barbarity, there’s a flaw you may have missed. 

Up until this point, the Game of Thrones prequel sees Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) still struggling with her new position on the Iron Throne, as evidenced by a council where she’s inundated with problems: Ser Criston Cole’s men, Aemond’s disappearance, the dwindling coin. 

But Daemon’s (Matt Smith) got what he considers to be a more pressing matter: King’s Landing’s police force, the City Watch, have started being mysteriously bumped off in truly gruesome ways. 

Daemon overrides Rhaenyra and goes to deal with the Gold Cloaks who were killed in Flea Bottom. City Watch head Ser Luthor Largent (Tom Cullen) gives Daemon a warning, “They cut their bowels as well as their throat… Good men dying in agony in their own sh*t.”

This hits the morale of the City Watch even more given the fact that the crown’s dwindling resources means their pay is being withheld for the time being. Daemon later gives them a pep talk, promising they’ll be paid “twice over for the sacrifices” they make for the queen. 

Next, Daemon tortures a hunter for information. Under questioning, the man insists he acted alone, claiming he was simply following orders from “the king” and never actually saw the man’s face. 

When Daemon threatens to take his remaining eye, he reveals he was paid and tells him to check his boot. Hidden inside is a gold coin bearing Daeron Targaryen’s (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) face, confirming to Daemon that there’s yet another faction vying for the throne: the Hightowers. 

This all but confirms that the Gold Cloak deaths are yet another move from Ormund (James Norton) in his sociopathic manoeuvrings. 

Just as it seems Daemon has pieced it all together, he heads to the City Watch barracks at the end of the episode to find them ransacked and silent. Much to his horror, he discovers the Gold Cloak leaders, including Luthor Largent, slaughtered and arranged at the table in a Last Supper-esque scene. 

Behind them, written in blood, are the words, “A feast for traitors.”

How did the assassin carry out the feast for traitors so easily?

While it’s not surprising to see Ormund paying off assassins to do his dirty work, there’s one issue that’s raising eyebrows: how the paid hunter was able to kill so many Gold Cloaks, in their own barracks, in silence, without Daemon noticing until it’s too late. 

Taking to Reddit, one viewer asked, “How tf the enemy were able to kill all those gold cloaks. Or unless the double agent is also a Gold Cloak?”

Another agreed, “Yeah they seem to have unlimited manpower and unlimited stealth. We are meant to believe this location is the main barracks for the entire city watch, 2000 strong. 

“And yet they overtake it completely, slaughter all the commanders, have time to desecrate their bodies and arrange them in a little diorama, and Daemon hears about it by walking in there expecting to find things normal?

“Really? It’s one thing to have assassins and infiltrators in King’s Landing spreading propaganda. That makes perfect sense. This, on the other hand, had better have a really good explanation. Because it beggars belief.”

A third added, “This and Criston’s insurgency are the things that kinda annoyed me about this episode because it’s basically the Ser Twenty Goodmen lazy writing convenient plot device.

“They needed Rhaenyra’s forces to be nerfed a little so they make her enemies unreasonably good at stealth assassinations and sabotage. But they don’t really show us how they do it, they just show us the aftermath.”

Others took issue with the setup itself. “Am I the only one who thought that was really stupid? Why are we doing a Last Supper homage in House of the Dragon?” asked one. 

“There’s no Jesus in Westeros, did the writers forget that there’s probably iconography from the faith of the seven that could be drawn from? 

“Also the scale of that violence, the death of a dozen fully armoured men, is going to require quite the explanation. I really really hope that the reveal isn’t that it’s one guy, or a couple of hooded peasants.”

Another wrote, “​​That seemed pretty contrived to me. Oh perfect timing and set up just for Daemon to walk in on. Reminds me of when Walking Dead went totally off the rails with Negan having theatrical super powers when it served the plot.”

But since we haven’t yet seen who exactly carried out the slaughter, there’s room for the show to correct it, and some fans even think it could be an inside job. 

As one commented, “I noticed there was a shot during Daemon’s speech (a few seconds after he says ‘becomes the new Valyria’) where we saw some Gold Cloaks up the stairs looking more angry/pissed off while everyone else was cheering on Daemon’s speech.

“Given the repeated emphasis on the Gold Cloaks not having yet been paid, and Ser Luthor even calling out Daemon that giving a rousing speech doesn’t pay their wages and only goes so far, I’m wondering if a portion of the City Watch are rebelling and assassinating the others.”

It’s not beyond the realms of possibility, especially as we know Ormund has been offering up payment to assassins (in the shape of Daeron gold coins). But for now, House of the Dragon’s got some explaining to do. 

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Featured images credit: HBO