House of the Dragon fans left stunned by shock character deaths in season three premiere bloodbath

The premiere of House of the Dragon's season three kicked off with a bloodbath that left fans reeling with its shocking opening.

In the jaw-dropping premiere on Sunday, many viewers watched the long-awaited Battle of Gullet take form after two seasons of anticipation.

Fans were left stunned when the battle claimed the lives of multiple beloved characters in just the season opener.

Tragically, Jacaerys Velaryon and his dragon steed, Vermax, were among the fallen in the bloodbath. 

There was also a loss for the Lannister clan, and a certainly memorable admiral is also dead by the end of the action-packed episode. 

Now streaming on HBO Max, Prince Jace, the eldest son of Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy), locked his mother away to prevent the queen from going into battle. 

He then heads off to fight the Triarchy fleet that is attacking the Velaryon ships in the groundbreaking naval battle as depicted in George R.R. Martin's novel Fire & Blood.

Tyland Lannister, portrayed by Jefferson Hall, was presumed dead by the end of the battle as he was dumped overboard and into the treacherous waters by former ally Sharako Lohar.

The Triarchy admiral, who is played by Abigail Thorn, ruthlessly dumped the heavily armored Lannister and his comrades to shed weight off of her ship.

Then, Sharako bypass a shallow inlet and ram the Sea Snake's ship, offering the opportunity to face off Corlys Velaryon. 

From the deck of the B****fist ship, Sharako used a Scorpion crossbow to take down Jace's dragon, Vermax. 

After the dragon sunk below the depths of the ocean, the beloved eldest son of Rhaenyra managed to break free, only to fall by an arrow storm in the epic sea battle.

The Sea Snake was about to finish off Sharako before he was then thrown off of the ship, effectively missing and not yet definitively presumed dead at this point. 

The Sea Snake's bastard son Alyn of Hull, played by Abubakar Salim, then stepped in to battle Sharako and avenge his father. 

'Sharako is fighting until the end, and she goes down bitterly,' the actress who portrayed the admiral told USA Today on premiere day.

'There's a certain point in the fight that she realizes that she is going to die. And she is afraid,' she continued about the brutal and bloody battle.

At one point, Sharako is offered a sympathetic moment before meeting her fate, Thorn explains.  

'When she's lifted out of the water, all the blood has washed from her face,' Thorn described. 

'In that final moment, she looks innocent, the soft light bouncing off the water. And she looks afraid,' she recalled.

Then, Alyn of Hull would deliver the final blow. 

Thorn recalled: '[Salim] even said to me on the set, "The audience is going to hate me." And I said, "Yeah, I know."'

'It's about the consequences of war,' Thorn added. '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.'

Shocked seemed to be an understatement based on the flurry of fan reactions following the season three premiere.

One stunned viewer shared a fitting GIF and tweeted on X: 'Now THAT is how you open a new season wheu!' 

Another fan called the season three opener 'an INSANE first episode' — and in all caps too. 

'Woke up and saw [motherf***ers] killed Jace Jacaerys Velaryon in the very first episode,' one X user tweeted alongside a GIF showing a person with teary eyes and their jaw dropped. 

In response to the beloved prince's tragic fall, one viewer shared a broken heart emoji. 

'The way I screamed when that first arrow hit him even though I knew it was coming... oh jace,' the X user wrote.

'The scream I scrumpt when that first arrow hit,' another viewer tweeted in reaction to the bloodbath. 'I am BAWLING my eyes out. Jace you will be avenged! I'm physically unwell.' 

'I wasn't expecting to be so shocked by Jace's death,' a fan of the show, and evidently of the source material penned by George R. R. Martin, tweeted. 'It was something everyone already expected, but it was so cruel and heavy to watch, not to mention insane, thinking that they dumped everything on Rhaena's back... it was heavy...'

While most fans expressed sadness over the losses on the Velaryon side, there were also viewers shocked over the battle between Sharako Lohar and Alyn of Hull.

A social media user tweeted on X: 'So sad about Vermax but Sharako Lohar!!! This woman!!!' 

In their devastation, some fans expressed frustration with Jace's decision to fly lower and closer to the ships, which ultimately resulted in his dragon being hit and, subsequently, his demise. 

'Jace, if Vermax already got shot once when you flew too low to the ships, why are you doing it YET AGAIN,' one X user tweeted alongside a GIF of another beloved yet tragically fallen dragon scion Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones. 

'Another thing, you could have leaned over with your sword and cut the rope when Vermax was struck both times? Like what are we doing homie???' 

There were other fans in agreement, and one X user tweeted: 'I feel like Jace is an idiot. As soon as he and Vermax landed in the water he should've immediately cut the rope ... I'm so annoyed.'