House of the Dragon Season 3 Episode 1 “Sand and Smoke, Fire and Blood” was a bloody affair, even as HBO shows go. The “Hot D” Season 3 premiere detailed the events of the Battle of the Gullet, a gruesome naval battle that claimed the lives of scores of sailors and soldiers, including one key player in the proverbial “Game of Thrones.” However, the Battle of the Gullet also killed one quirky little ‘ship from getting off the ground.
**Spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 3 Episode 1 “Sand and Smoke, Fire and Blood,” now streaming on HBO Max**
According to House of the Dragon star Abigail Thorn, there’s a version of the Battle of the Gullet where her character, Triarchy admiral Sharako Lohar, kisses Tyland Lannister (Jefferson Hall) in the heat of battle. However, this flirtatious moment between the two characters — last seen mud-wrestling and flirting over a tense political supper in Season 2 — was cut.
“There was an alt take of the moment I shoot Vermax, where she grabs Tyland and kisses him,” Thorn told DECIDER. “We didn’t use that take, but there was an alt take where that was what was written and that happened.”
DECIDER has been deeply invested in Sharako Lohar and Tyland Lannister’s connection ever since Thorn shared with us her interpretation of a stunning proposition in the Season 2 finale. After agreeing to join Team Green’s cause in the war against Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), Sharako tells Tyland she wants him to fuck her wives.
“I’m pretty sure that when she says, ‘I want you to fuck my wives,’ I think she’s gonna be involved in that,” Thorn said in 2024. “I don’t think she’s going to be like outside while that’s happening. I think it’s a ‘Come fuck my wives with me,’ you know?”
Thorn even joked that the next time we’d see Sharako and Tyland “again on the prow of the ship, maybe Tyland is one of the wives at that point, you know?”
However, when we reconnect with the characters in House of the Dragon Season 3, Sharako is undermining Tyland’s ideas and making fun of his heavy armor. She makes a comment that he won’t want all that hardware if he’s thrown into the “drink” and eventually throws him overboard herself to speed her pursuit of the Sea Snake, Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint).
DECIDER just had to know, what exactly happened between Sharako wanting to wife Tyland up and throwing him into the drink?
“Jefferson and I had some discussions on set about what might have happened, both before they got on the ship and after they got on the ship. Which, I don’t have the power to make canon so I can’t tell you,” Thorn said. “But my heart broke when I read that moment in the script. I was just like, ‘Oh, no.’”
“Actually, Jefferson told me about it first. He was like, ‘You know, you throw me off the boat.’ I was like, ‘No, I don’t know.’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, you do.’ I was like, ‘Oh, no, I’m so sorry!’”
Thorn thinks that her character’s actions speak to a “sort of single focus on vengeance.” Indeed, it comes as something of a shock to Tyland Lannister that the Triarchy isn’t there for Team Green, but to enact revenge on Corlys, the Sea Snake.
“You know, what are you looking for in a partner?” Thorn quipped. “Revenge.”
Unfortunately, we won’t ever get to see Sharako Lohar and Tyland Lannister kiss and make up. Sharako Lohar was killed by Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim) in the battle and Tyland’s fate is yet unknown. (In George R.R. Martin‘s book Fire & Blood, he does eventually miraculously return to King’s Landing, albeit in rough shape. It’s unclear if House of the Dragon will keep this storyline.)
House of the Dragon returns this Sunday, June 28 at 9 PM ET on HBO and HBO Max.