The season 3 premiere of House of the Dragon delivered the Battle of the Gullet with a body count that changed the show’s trajectory. Among the fallen stood Admiral Sharako Lohar, the Triarchy commander who met her end at the hands of Alyn of Hull. Her death marks a significant departure from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, where Lohar survives the battle and triggers a civil war among the Free Cities. The episode, which premiered on HBO and Max on June 21, 2026, removed a key thread from the source material and reshaped the fate of the Triarchy alliance.
The battle unfolded across the narrow sea between Dragonstone and Driftmark. Lohar commanded the Triarchy fleet with a personal vendetta against Lord Corlys Velaryon. Her obsession with killing the Sea Snake led her to abandon sound strategy and charge directly at the Velaryon flagship. The decision cost her life and erased a crucial storyline from Martin’s books.
Sharako Lohar’s Death in Episode 1 Erases the Daughters’ War
In Fire & Blood, Sharako Lohar survives the Battle of the Gullet and returns to Lys with 25 of the 90 Triarchy ships. The other two Free Cities, Myr and Tyrosh, lost more of their forces in the engagement. The suspiciously light losses suffered by Lys created deep mistrust among the alliance. Myr and Tyrosh accused Lohar of protecting Lysene ships while sacrificing their soldiers in the attack. This accusation eventually led to the Daughters’ War, a brutal civil war that dissolved the Triarchy entirely.
The HBO adaptation removed this entire sequence by killing Lohar during the battle. Alyn of Hull stabbed the admiral and drowned her in the sea after Lohar threw Corlys Velaryon overboard. With Lohar dead, the seeds of conflict between the Free Cities never take root. The show bypassed the political fallout that consumed the Triarchy in the books and simplified the narrative. The Daughters’ War will not appear in the series, as the alliance effectively ended with Lohar’s death.
Viserys Targaryen Escapes a Brutal Fate Without Lohar
Lohar’s survival in the books also led to the capture of Prince Viserys, Rhaenyra’s youngest son. In Fire & Blood, Lohar encountered the Pentoshi ship Gay Abandon, which carried Rhaenyra’s two youngest sons, Prince Aegon the Younger and Prince Viserys, to safety in Pentos. Lohar captured the ship and took the seven-year-old Viserys prisoner while Aegon escaped on his dragon Stormcloud. Lohar later sold the boy to a Lysene magister for his weight in gold.
The season 3 premiere omitted Viserys from the Battle of the Gullet entirely. The show did not depict the naval sequence with the Pentoshi ship or the capture of the prince. Without Lohar present to lead the attack and claim Viserys, the adaptation avoided one of the more harrowing events from Martin’s book. The character remains safe for now, though his future in the series remains unclear.
Abigail Thorn Discusses Lohar’s Final Moments
Abigail Thorn, who portrayed Admiral Sharako Lohar, spoke about her character’s death and the choices made in the final sequence. Thorn described Lohar’s last moments as a shift from vengeance to fear. The actress said her character becomes afraid when she realises she is going to die. Thorn worked with the creative team to shape Lohar’s emotional state in the drowning scene.
“Sharako is fighting until the end, and she goes down bitterly. There’s a certain point in the fight that she realizes that she is going to die. And she is afraid,” Thorn told USA Today. She described the moment when Alyn of Hull lifted her out of the water. “All the blood has washed from her face. In that final moment, she looks innocent, the soft light bouncing off the water. And she looks afraid.”
Thorn also noted the thematic weight of the scene. “It’s about the consequences of war. We’ve seen what happened to Sharako over the episode, obsessed with vengeance. She becomes a monster. But in those final moments, Alyn of Hull gets infected by that. The germ has been passed to him. And that sets up the entire Season 3.” The actress called the work a gift and praised the trust placed in her to deliver the character’s arc.
The Battle of the Gullet Proceeds Without Book Characters
The show made additional changes to the Battle of the Gullet beyond Lohar’s death. Baela Targaryen did not participate in the book version of the battle, but the series placed her on Moondancer alongside Jace. The wild dragon Sheepstealer, ridden by Rhaena in the show, also did not appear in the book’s account of the battle. In the source material, Nettles, a character cut from the series, rode Sheepstealer and joined the fight on the Black side.
The show also omitted the presence of other dragonriders who turned the tide in the books. Hugh Hammer on Vermithor, Ulf the White on Silverwing, and Addam of Hull on Seasmoke did not appear in the Gullet sequence. The series kept the battle smaller in scale, focusing on Jace, Baela, and Rhaena as the only dragonriders on the Black side. This narrowing of the conflict simplified the adaptation and allowed the episode to centre on Jace’s death and Lohar’s fate.
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Corlys Velaryon’s Ambiguous Fate Mirrors Lohar’s End
The premiere also left Lord Corlys Velaryon’s fate unresolved. Lohar threw the Sea Snake overboard during their duel, and the episode did not confirm his survival. Trailers for the season have shown Corlys in later episodes, indicating he will return. However, the moment still delivered a shock for viewers and set up Alyn of Hull’s vengeance against Lohar.
Alyn killed Lohar after witnessing his father’s fall. The act of vengeance mirrored Lohar’s own obsession with killing Corlys. Thorn noted that the scene passed the “germ” of vengeance from Lohar to Alyn, setting up the character’s arc for the rest of the season. The sequence suggested that the cycle of violence will continue even after Lohar’s death.
The Triarchy Alliance Ends With Lohar’s Death
The Triarchy, an alliance of Lys, Myr, and Tyrosh, existed as a powerful force in Essos for years before the Dance of the Dragons. In Martin’s books, the alliance fell apart after the Battle of the Gullet due to mistrust between the Free Cities. Lohar’s survival and the uneven losses suffered by the three cities sparked the Daughters’ War, which eventually dissolved the Triarchy.
The show’s decision to kill Lohar eliminated the need for that storyline. The Triarchy effectively ended with her death, as the series did not establish any other commanders or political figures from the alliance. The adaptation streamlined the narrative and avoided a complex international conflict. This change also removed the political fallout that consumed the Free Cities for years after the Dance.
Season 3 Continues With Episode 2 on June 28
The second episode of season 3 will air on June 28, 2026, at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max. The season consists of eight episodes, with the finale scheduled for August 9, 2026. International viewers can watch on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV in the UK, Crave in Canada, and Binge and Foxtel in Australia.
The death of Sharako Lohar stands as one of the most significant departures from Martin’s books in the series to date. The change removed a key historical event from the adaptation and reshaped the fate of the Triarchy. Whether other book arcs will follow remains to be seen, but the premiere made clear that the show will continue to adapt the source material on its own terms.
Related: House of the Dragon Season 3 Premiere Strengthens the Daemon-Aemond Parallel
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