House of the Dragon S3: Inside Rhaneyra's return to King's land

Rhaneyra returned to King’s Landing and took her rightful place on the Iron Throne, but she had to make a potentially game-changing decision to get there.

On June 28, in the latest episode of House of the Dragons  Season 3, Alicent (Olivia Cooke) cleared the way for Rhaenyra to take control of the Red Keep. She got Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) to fly to Harrenhal, and then tried to flee the city herself with Helaena (Phia Saban). Things didn’t go according to plan, though, as the pair and Helaena’s baby were ultimately caught and brought back to the Red Keep to answer to Rheanyra.

Otto was revealed to be alive and being held prisoner in the season 2 finale. His return didn’t last long, though, as Daemon (Matt Smith) was escorted to see him in the dungeons after he and Rhaenyra arrived in King’s Landing. Otto was described as a “gift” for Daemon from Lord Larys (Matthew Needham), and he brought the former Hand of the King to Rhaenyra.

It was evident that she felt a mix of emotions seeing Otto again after so many years, and she was pushed to take action against him by Daemon, who said how she decided to treat Otto would dictate the kind of ruler she’d be.

Through tears, Rheanyra brutally beheaded Otto, as her first cut wasn’t clean. With Otto’s head detached from his body, Rheanyra finally sat on the Iron Throne just in time for Alicent to walk in with Helaena and see her murdered father.

After his surprising return in the season 2 finale, Ifans, 58, admitted that he had no clue where his character was heading. He further mentioned, “I’m an actor, so we’ll be the last people to know what’s going on in our characters. I haven’t been told by anyone with any kind of conviction or authority where exactly he is at that point”.

“All we know is that he’s still alive somewhere in that world, and that’s as much as I know, too,” Ifans said of Otto’s fate. “I know as much as the fans.”