House of the Dragon Season 3 Episode 1 — They Actually Killed Him!

Season 3 Episode 1, "Salt and Sea, Fire and Blood," premiered June 21 on HBO and Max, and in less than 24 hours it landed a 9.4 out of 10 on IMDb — the highest-rated premiere in the entire Game of Thrones universe. In this review I break down what the episode gets right, what it gets wrong, where the book fans are frustrated, and why that ending hit the way it did. Full spoiler discussion — you've been warned. We cover the Battle of the Gullet and whether it delivers what two years of waiting promised. We talk about Rhaena and Sheepstealer, the Aemond situation in King's Landing, Alicent's deal falling apart before it even started, and the death that's going to define the rest of this season. Critics have Season 3 sitting at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, while the audience score for episode 1 sits at 69% — and that gap tells you everything about what kind of episode this is and who it's going to frustrate. New episodes drop every Sunday on HBO and Max. The finale is August 9.