House of the Dragon ends season 3 with ‘best death ever’ that left viewers replaying brutal scene

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the House of the Dragon season three finale

House of the Dragon had a dramatic season three finale, which saw one of its characters suffer a striking death that viewers just can’t stop watching.

The Game of Thrones prequel, set roughly 200 years before the original series, is centred on House Targaryen at the height of its power. It focuses on the family as they engage in a civil war called Dance of the Dragons, as rival factions battle over who has the right to claim the Iron Throne.

Fans saw the civil war break out into a more destructive phase in this third season. Both sides fought with dragons, recruited new riders and suffered devastating losses.

The season ended in the Battle of Tumbleton, where the conflict and chaos led to bloodshed.

But the death scene viewers can’t seem to stop watching happened when Lord Ormund Hightower meets a grisly end at Tumbleton. He was killed by the ferocious northern warrior Roderick 'Roddy the Ruin' Dustin.

After stabbing the Green commander from behind, Roddy savours the moment with the glorious declaration: “That’s a proper f**king by the North.”

One excited viewer posted on X: “Best death ever!” as another fan wrote: “Bro!!!! This cracked me up so bad I had to replay it multiple times.”

A third posted: "'By the North' but he entered from the South."

Another viewer praised the scene and the whole season, writing: "The final episode of this season is on fire!"

But Roddy doesn’t survive his triumph for long.

He was fatally wounded during the battle and ultimately consumed by dragonfire when Ulf White unleashes Tessarion.

Some fans shared their sadness over saying goodbye to both of the men, as one fan shared: "There goes a character I really enjoyed watching this season, Lord Ormund Hightower, and an absolute GOAT who deserved more screen-time, Roddy the Ruin!! RIP LEGENDS!"

Lord Ormund Hightower is played by James Norton, the British actor best known for Happy Valley, McMafia, Grantchester and The Nevers. He joined the Game of Thrones prequel for Season three.

Speaking about his death scene, Norton told Variety: “I knew it was going to be a big, delicious death.

“It happens a lot with this show where they push it to the extreme. When they realize where the boundary is, they pull it back a bit. So there was originally a version where Ormund gets impaled like 20 times!”

With Season three now complete, House of the Dragon is heading into its final chapter. HBO has renewed the series for a fourth and final season, which will consist of eight episodes and bring the bloody Targaryen civil war to a conclusion.

There'll be a lot more bloodshed but fans will have a long wait ahead, however, with season four currently expected to arrive in 2028.