Warning: Spoilers ahead for episode four of the third season of “House of the Dragon” and the book “Fire & Blood.”

There are many Targaryens vying for power in “The House of the Dragon,” but the silver-haired dragon lords aren’t the only threats in Westeros.

HBO’s “Game of Thrones” prequel features the Dance of Dragons, in which Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) faces off against her half-brother, Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney), in a brutal war of succession.

Aegon II, along with his three younger siblings, Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), Helaena (Phia Saban), and Daeron (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth), was born to the late King Viserys and Alicent Hightower. Naturally, his claim to the Iron Throne has the support of House Hightower, a noble family of the Reach with a strong connection to the Faith of the Seven.

“House of the Dragon” has already introduced several notable Hightowers, including Alicent (Olivia Cooke), her father Otto (Rhys Ifans) and her brother Gwayne (Freddie Fox).

In season three, Alicent’s cousin Ormund (James Norton) is introduced as another key player in the ongoing schism.

Ormund is the head of House Hightower and commands his impressive army. In episode three of the third season, “Rhaenyra Triumphant,” Ormund, under the threat of three enormous dragons, is ordered to surrender and bend the knee to the kingdom’s new queen. It does so, albeit in a deceptive way.

Ormund and Hightower’s army, strengthened by his ward, Daeron Targaryen, and the prince’s dragon, Tessarion, take control of Tumbleton, a trading city near King’s Landing. From his modest position, Ormund continues to devise plans to overthrow Rhaenyra and consolidate his family’s influence.

In the fourth episode of season three, viewers learn even more about Ormund as Rhaenyra searches for dirt on her enemy.

According to Alicent, Ormund “sees himself as a scholar” who “despises the ignorant and rude.” He studies history, collects tapestries, and has a strong “sensitivity to smells.” According to Gwayne, he is a “stubborn charlatan” who always has a “cunning plot” up his sleeve.

During his hostile stay in Tumbleton, Ormund is revealed to have a devious military mind, a cruel temper, and indeed a secret plot: to crown the teenage Daeron as the next king of Westeros, surpassing his two older brothers.

Ormund raised Daeron after the prince was sent to live in Oldtown as a baby. He believes that Daeron is more of a Hightower than a Targaryen, and that he is more trustworthy than any of his brothers, all raised in King’s Landing.

“You are a good boy. You speak kindly and say your prayers. I have raised you in the light of the Seven and the Father smiles upon you,” Ormund tells Daeron. “But there is a stain on your blood. The Targaryens are a savage race, poor in intellect, but rich in cunning. With dark spells, they created abominations to subdue what was rightfully ours. We are the superior men.”

“The gods have placed you for a divine purpose, boy,” he adds. “You will restore our ancient order.”

Ormund is about to put a stop to Rhaenyra’s reign, especially if his story is faithful to the source material, George RR Martin’s “Fire & Blood.” Read on to discover Ormund’s fate in the book.

Ormund’s acquisition of Tumbleton proves momentous and deadly

Even as Rhaenyra claims the Iron Throne in the book, Aegon II and Aemond (with his massive dragon Vhagar) remain at large, while the Hightowers continue to resist the queen in the Reach. As Martin writes: “No war can be considered won as long as the enemies remain undefeated.”

Prince Daeron the Bold, as Ormund calls him, becomes known as the greatest threat to Rhaenyra’s reign, advancing towards King’s Landing with an army of 20,000 men.

Lord Corlys Velaryon, the Hand of the Queen, urges Rhaenyra to forgive the great houses that still oppose her, including Hightower, Lannister, and Baratheon, if they agree to swear allegiance to her. He also encourages her to send her half-brothers to the Wall to live out their days as Sworn Brothers of the Night’s Watch. Rhaenyra’s husband, Prince Daemon, maintains otherwise. He says that forgiving traitors and oath-breakers will only encourage future rebellions.

Rhaenyra tends to agree with Daemon, although she decides to “take a middle path.” She agrees to offer pardons to Houses Baratheon and Lannister, but only after Aegon’s line has been vanquished. Rhaenyra sends Daemon to find and kill Aemond, and two of her newly recruited dragonriders, Ulf White and Hugh Hammer, to kill Daeron.

In what became known as the Battle of Tumbleton, around 6,000 of Rhaenyra’s loyalists, including Northern soldiers known as the Winter Wolves, sacked the city. Although Rhaenyra’s men are outnumbered by Hightower’s army, they assume that Ulf and Hugh will soon arrive from King’s Landing to assist with their dragons, Silverwing and Vermithor.

Ormund dies in the chaos that follows. Legend has it that he was killed by Lord Roderick Dustin, also known as Roddy the Ruin, after the Northerner waded through hundreds of enemies to find him.

Under normal circumstances, Ormund’s death may have turned the tide in Rhaenyra’s favor. Without their commander, Hightower’s army is scattered and its banners toppled.

Instead, Ulf and Hugh ignore Rhaenyra’s orders and wreak havoc with the dragon flame.

The book’s fictional historians disagree about why Ulf and Hugh suddenly decide to burn civilians and soldiers alike, whether out of fear of facing Daeron (unlikely, as both Silverwing and Vermithor are older and larger than Tessarion), fear of facing Ormund’s great army (unlikely for similar reasons), disenchantment with Rhaenyra (quite likely), or pure greed (very likely). It seems that Ulf and Hugh realized that they could seize power and decided to prove it with fire and blood.

“As no man could read or write, we will never know what prompted the Two Traitors (as history has called them) to do what they did,” the book says, although whatever the reason for Ulf and Hugh’s betrayal, the result is the same: “Tumbleton, that prosperous market town, was reduced to ashes and embers.”