12 deaths need to happen in House of the Dragon's remaining 9 episodes, and fans are flummoxed
House of the Dragon needs to shed a lot of blood
One House of the Dragon season 3 fan has worked out just how many characters still need to die before the show ends with season 4 – and it's a lot.
Only one episode remains of season 3, and, if season 4 also has eight episodes, that leaves only nine left for the entire show.
A warning that the following will contain major spoilers from George R.R. Martin's Fire and Blood, so turn back now if you're not up to date!
"There's only 9 episodes left…. how are they gonna kill off all of these characters and the dragons without it being just a constant run of death scenes? How are they gonna kill Stormcloud when buddy is off in Pentos??" asks one fan on Twitter.
They add: "Literally they have to kill Rhaenyra, Daemon, Joffrey, Mysaria, Addam, Ulf, Hugh, Ormund, Daeron, Helaena, Aegon2, Aemond, all the dragons, and maybe Jaehaera depending on how they end the series. 12 + the dragons, in just 9 episodes."
"They're gonna speed run the ending like D&D did with GOT and it's gonna ruin everything more than it already is," says someone else. "Either that or they're taking the Stranger Things 5 route and making every episode movie-length"
"It's gonna be such a logistical nightmare for writers like why are we stalling," says another person.
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"They're probably just not going to hit all those points and people should start making peace with it now lol," says another fan.
However, not everyone is worried. "Daemon, Aemond, Caraxes, and Vhagar all die together. Mysaria, Helaena, and a bunch of dragons will be offed in quick succession. I don't know if the showrunners will want two Battles of Tumbleton, so Hugh, Ulf, and Ormund might not make it to next season," points out one person.
"Ormund, Addam, Ulf, Hugh & Daeron die same episode with their dragons. Aemond & Daemon die same ep. Helaena, Mysaria & Joffrey die same ep, possibly same ep as Aemond and Daemon. Rhaenyra dies penultimate, Aegon dies finale. That's 4, possibly even 3 episodes," argues someone else.
It certainly seems like season 4 will be packed with major deaths – though the season 3 finale also has plenty of scope for a bloodbath.
House of the Dragon season 3 continues weekly on HBO Max, Sky, and NOW in the UK, and HBO in the US.
You can keep up to date with our House of the Dragon season 3 release schedule, and, for even more, check out our guide to all the upcoming Game of Thrones movies and TV shows.

I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film section. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.
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