This post contains major spoilers for House of the Dragon season three, episode three. If you want to avoid them until you watch, you can instead check out or coverage of episode two.
The first two episodes from House of the Dragon‘s third season featured some pretty big changes to famous scenes from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood. But in episode three, we didn’t even get to see exactly how the show altered a major event.The Battle of Tumbleton (which happened offscreen) took plus much earlier on HBO than it did in the source material. It wasn’t even really a battle, as the Greens simply stormed the city. And yet, even with those major changes, Tumbleton is still poised to play a major role on the show.
Where Is Tumbleton in Westeros?
The market town of Tumbleton is the seat of House Footly. It sits close to the head of the Mander River on the eastern half of the Reach, anywhere from 150 to 180 miles southeast of King’s Landing in the bordering Crownlands. (There are conflicting canonical sources on the distance.) It’s proximity to the Red Keep, along with the town’s population and abundant resources as a major trade post, makes it a valuable location for anyone trying to claim or hold the capital. That’s why Rhaenyra’s book counterpart had a large force stationed there.
The Biggest Changes House of the Dragon Made to the Battle of Tumbleton
The Battle of Tumbleton was actually just a sacking on House of the Dragon. It also happened much later in Fire & Blood, after a major death that has not yet happened on the show. In the source material, Tumbleton is where the graybeard Northern Winter Wolves and their riverlord allies were stationed following their own victories (two of which we have heard about on the show). A much larger Green force, led by Ormund Hightower, attacked them during a vicious, deadly fight. Rhaenyra’s men fought valiantly and seemed poised to win until Daeron Targaryen joined the fray atop his dragon Tessarion.
On the show, this was the first attack Daeron (who let a fake take his place in King’s Landing) was part of. But in Fire & Blood, he actually first joined an earlier battle. His presence and his dragon proved decisive in what otherwise would have been a losing effort for the Green at the Battle of the Honeywine. House of the Dragon cut that event from its story.
At Tumbleton, Daeron’s presence did not guarantee victory. The battle changed when….actually, we can’t tell you, because there’s a reason the Battle of Tumbleton is so important. To go any further into the changes would involve monumental spoilers. But House of the Dragon still kept one thing the same.
The Brutal Sack of Tumbleton
The dragonkeeper who reported the fall of Tumbleton to Rhaenyra said the Greens “infilitrated” the city and made its denizens “hostages.” In Fire & Blood it’s said “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.”
We don’t yet know how true that will be of the series’ Tumbleton. We do know that in both versions of the story the market town will play a pivotal role in the Dance of the Dragons. Because while the details, timing, and players might have changed, one things remained the same. Ormund Hightower and Daeron attacked the city as a way to attack Rhaenyra herself.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He’s sorry he can’t talk about certain events at Tumbleton yet, but just you wait. You can follow him on Twitter at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.