*Warning: Spoilers ahead for House of the Dragon and Fire & Blood* Right at the end of House of the Dragon season three episode six, Corlys (Steve Toussaint) gets captured by Ormund’s (James Norton) men, leaving his fate hanging in the balance. But it’s the knight carrying out Ormund’s deeds who we should be paying attention to. A lot goes down in the latest episode of the Game of Thrones prequel. Alicent (Olivia Cooke) has to make a Sophie’s Choice style decision, Baela (Bethany Antonia) and Alyn (Abubakar Salim) strike up a relationship, and Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) finally gets killed. As for Corlys, he’s still salty about Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) refusing to name his illegitimate sons Velaryons, and is now with his army in the woods fighting against the Triarchy raids. But as Alyn reminds him, “How many years did it take you to do the same?” Corlys finally agrees to take his crew back to King’s Landing to replace the City Watch. The problem is, however, that the Blacks sent a group of assassins to try and take down Ormund and Daeron (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth). Credit: HBO Their plan is thwarted and the assassins are killed, but Ormund wants revenge. He sends Rhaenyra one of their vests bearing the words, “Kick this dog and it will bite your hand.” This is clearly a wordplay meaning the hand of the queen, aka Corlys. The scene cuts to the Sea Snake giving a speech to his soldiers about returning to King’s Landing, before showing Corlys alone in the woods. Ormund’s soldiers emerge from the darkness and surround him. Corlys is quickly overwhelmed and seized, with the episode ending before revealing whether he’s been killed or simply taken captive. Who led the attack on Corlys? Credit: HBO The man leading Ormund’s forces is Ser “Bold” Jon Roxton (Joplin Sibtain), a Green knight from House Roxton in the Reach. Although he’s only been introduced in House of the Dragon season three, Fire & Blood paints him as one of the most feared men in the Dance of the Dragons. He’s best known for his vicious temper and for carrying the Valyrian steel sword aptly named Orphan-Maker. Among Jon’s darkest deeds are those that come during the two Battles of Tumbleton. In the first, the Green army captures the town after Hugh Hammer and Ulf White betray Rhaenyra and join the Greens. What follows is one of the most horrific sacks in Westerosi history, with civilians slaughtered, homes looted and women assaulted. Amid the chaos, Jon murders Lord Footly with Orphan-Maker after claiming his wife, Lady Sharis Footly, as his “prize of war”. Months later, at the Second Battle of Tumbleton, Jon joins the Caltrops, a conspiracy formed to eliminate the rogue dragonseeds Hugh and Ulf after they begin threatening the Green leadership. Credit: HBO He approaches Hugh with the chilling words, “Lord Hammer, my condolences.” When Hugh asks why, Jon replies, “You died in the battle,” before slicing him open from groin to throat with his sword. Moments after, Jon is overwhelmed and killed by Hugh’s furious followers. What’s interesting about his character is that he’s a ruthless killer, but his actions inadvertently save Westeros from a potentially worse fate. As said by one Redditor, “Bold Jon Roxton is such a great character because as we all know, he’s a POS. A POS that single handedly saves Westeros from an almost certain tyrannical regime.” It’s unclear how much of a role he’ll play in the upcoming episodes of House of the Dragon, but his story is on track for now as a knight fighting for Ormund’s forces. But one thing that doesn’t happen in the book is the capture of Corlys. So, is Corlys dead? Credit: HBO All signs point to no. Although House of the Dragon season three episode six ends on a cliffhanger before revealing what happens to Corlys, there’s little reason to think he’s been killed. In Fire & Blood, the Sea Snake survives the Dance of the Dragons and remains one of the conflict’s most influential political figures, continuing to serve as hand before later helping negotiate the end of the war. He eventually dies peacefully years later on Driftmark, with the book stating he passed away from old age at 79. The show has clearly invented his capture to raise the stakes heading into episode seven, but killing Corlys here would require the HBO show to rewrite a huge part of the source material. For now, it seems far more likely that the Sea Snake has been taken prisoner rather than executed, but we’ll have to wait until season three episode drops on Sunday, August 2, for confirmation. For all the latest film and TV updates and hot takes, like our Facebook page. Featured images credit: HBO Post navigation Next storyPrevious story
