Mashable

Guys, I hate to say it, but I think House of the Dragon's Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) is going to be a bad queen.

No, it's not because of how she keeps alienating allies like Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), or how she springs to execute her detractors among the smallfolk of King's Landing. And no, it's not because of the crises she inherited, like a depleted treasury or a starving, restless city.

SEE ALSO: Dear 'House of the Dragon': Enough with the threats of sexual violence

Instead, it's because she dares disrespect the Targaryens' most fun tradition. Don't worry, it's not incest. It's the Small Council's marbles.

First seen in House of the Dragon's Season 1 premiere, these multi-colored balls serve as a way for the members of the Small Council to clock into work. Once you put your marble in your dish, you're punched in and ready to help rule the realm.

The marbles are an aesthetically pleasing world-building detail, but they're also versatile: In Season 1, Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) kills Lord Lyman Beesbury (Bill Paterson) by smashing his skull into his own marble. In Season 2, King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) fiddles with his own ball during a meeting, even letting his son Jaehaerys give it a spin. Forget their potential as a bureaucratic tool or murder weapon; these marbles just seem fun to play with.

Which brings me to my beef with Rhaenyra. In House of the Dragon Season 3, episode 4, she tells Grand Maester Orwyle (Kurt Egyiawan) that he is welcome to stay on her Small Council so long as he remains loyal. When he goes to clock in with his marble, she stops him, calling them "relics of a dead regime."

Respectfully, Rhaenyra, how dare you? The Small Council balls have been a delightful way for members to announce their presence. They allow every member to have some colorful flair, they sound great when they plunk into place, and they look so fun to play with. Would you deny your team the satisfaction of a little ball to fidget with? Ruling the realm is a stressful task, Rhaenyra! Maybe you'll find that playing with a big old marble is a much better way to decompress than taking your worries out on the smallfolk.

But what worries me most about Rhaenyra's statement isn't her clear hatred of a fun time. It's the fact that she declares the marbles a relic of a dead regime, meaning Aegon's. Yet the marbles were in place during her father Viserys' (Paddy Considine) reign, and likely during the reigns of many of the Targaryens who came before. Is she so blinded by hatred of Aegon that she would dismiss her father's relatively peaceful rule? Is she over prior Targaryen patriarchal regimes in general and hoping to have her own Daenerys Targaryen "break-the-wheel"-style moment? Or did she just forget the marbles even existed during her many years away from the Red Keep? (I know, who could forget them?) Whatever the reason, Rhaenyra's on thin ice post-marble gate. Let the Small Council play with their balls!

House of the Dragon Season 3 is now streaming on HBO Max, with new episodes premiering Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.

Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and his scaly steed were last seen storming Harrenhal in House of the Dragon, only for the drama king to take a blade to the kidney after attacking one Strong too many.

So the question is, where are they now?

SEE ALSO: 'House of the Dragon' Season 3, episode 3: Who's on Rhaenyra's Small Council? What happens at Harrenhal in episode 4?

Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) and Ser Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox) finally make it to Harrenhal in search of Aemond in episode 4, only to find the castle looking just as haunted and abandoned as ever.

They do, however, find the witch Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin), who eventually tells them that Aemond is long gone.

Featured Video For You 'House of the Dragon' cast on Season 3's colossal Battle of the Gullet

"He was here," Rivers says. "He seized the castle after Prince Daemon abandoned it. But when he learned that Rhaenyra took King's Landing, he and his dragon fled."

Later, Cole and Hightower are sitting in poor old Ser Simon Strong's dining hall when a soldier gives them an update: "We've scoured the area, Lord Hand. There is sign of a large dragon nest, but it has been abandoned. Prince Aemond may indeed have fled."

So the question is, where's Aemond? Has he really fled? Is something else going on? And is he even still alive after the injury he sustained back in episode 2?

Where are Aemond and Vhagar?

The good news for Aemond fans? He definitely isn't dead, because there's footage of him in the "weeks ahead" trailer HBO dropped after episode 1 (jump to 54 seconds in) — footage that we haven't seen yet.

What's even more intriguing? The shot in the trailer sees Aemond speaking about Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) taking over King's Landing to someone offscreen. But he's sitting in Harrenhal's dining hall eating a meal when he says it. We double-checked this by cross-referencing the shot of Aemond with the shot of Cole sitting in the exact same seat in episode four (the chair is broken, so you can tell it's the same one).

The conclusion? Alys Rivers is most likely hiding Aemond in the castle while he recovers from his injury. Vhagar may even be hiding, too — we know from the Rook's Rest battle in back in Season 2 that she is capable of laying low in the woods, despite her size.

Aemond may be AWOL for now, but we'll likely be seeing him again very soon.

House of the Dragon Season 3 is now streaming on HBO Max, with new episodes premiering Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.

House of the Dragon Season 3 is here, and you know what that means: It's time to take a climb into the very tangled branches of the Targaryen family tree.

Over the first two seasons of House of the Dragon, some of these branches have been pruned. (RIP to the many Targs who've perished in this bloody show.) However, Season 2 also added its fair share of new offshoots, further complicating the knotted web between Houses Targaryen, Velaryon, and Hightower. Season 3 has complicated it even further, with new deaths and the face reveal of one Daeron Targaryen. If you're looking for a refresher on that web as you head into the second half of Season 3, we've got you covered.

SEE ALSO: 'House of the Dragon' review: Season 3 atones for the sins of Season 2

Below, you'll find the Targaryen family tree as it stands as of House of the Dragon Season 3, episode 4, as well as a rundown of the characters and how they connect.

Credit: Ian Moore / Mashable Which Targaryens have died since Season 2?

There were two key deaths in the Targaryen family in Season 2: one on the Greens' side and one on the Blacks'.

Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen's (Emma D'Arcy) camp lost Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best), also known as the Queen Who Never Was. Meanwhile, King Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Queen Helaena (Phia Saban) lost their young son Jaehaerys when gold cloak Blood (Sam C. Wilson) and rat catcher Cheese (Mark Stobbart) assassinated him on Prince Daemon's (Matt Smith) orders.

There are still plenty of Targaryens left standing, though. Here's who to watch out for in Season 3.

Featured Video For You 'House of the Dragon': Everything you need to know in 2 minutes The Targaryen family tree: Rhaenyra, Daemon, and their children Matt Smith, Phoebe Campbell, Emma D'Arcy, Harry Collett, and Bethany Antonia in "House of the Dragon." Credit: Composite: Mashable / Images: HBO

Rhaenyra heads up the Team Black branch of the Targaryen family tree, with her husband/uncle Daemon by her side. (It was touch and go for a minute in Season 2, but after a life-changing study abroad trip to Harrenhal, complete with witches and visions, Daemon is finally ready to accept Rhaenyra as his queen.)

Their two young sons, Aegon and Viserys, are on their way to Pentos for protection after a brief pit stop in the Vale. However, Rhaenyra and Daemon's children from their prior marriages are still in Westeros and locked in on Rhaenyra's fight for the throne.

SEE ALSO: The ickiest moment from 'House of the Dragon's Season 3 premiere isn't even in the book

Rhaenyra's son Jacaerys (Harry Collett) and Daemon's daughter Baela (Bethany Antonia) are both dragonriders. Daemon's other daughter, Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell), doesn't have a dragon, which is why she was sent off as Aegon and Viserys' guardian. However, when they went to Pentos, she remained behind in the Vale, hoping to tame its wild dragon Sheepstealer. As of Season 3, she's successfully claimed Sheepstealer, but at a cost: He went rogue during the Battle of the Gullet, and his interference helped lead to Jace's tragic death. Now, Rhaenyra wants Sheepstealer's rider's head, and only Daemon and Lady Jeyne Arryn (Amanda Collin) know the truth of her identity.

The Targaryen family tree: Alicent Hightower and her children Tom Glynn-Carney, Olivia Cooke, Phia Saban, and Ewan Mitchell in "House of the Dragon." Credit: Composite: Mashable / Images: HBO

Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) remains the matriarch of Team Green, although she's growing increasingly regretful about her role in the war for succession. (So regretful, in fact, that she's offered to surrender the Iron Throne to Rhaenyra.) She had four children with the late King Viserys (Paddy Considine).

The eldest, Aegon, remains King of Westeros. His younger brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) attempted to kill him in a dragon dogfight at the Battle of Rook's Rest, and once Aegon recovered from his worst injuries, he fled King's Landing with the help of Larys Strong (Matthew Needham). Now Aemond is Prince Regent, and Alicent is trying her best to get herself and her daughter Helaena out of harm's way.

Alicent's youngest son Daeron (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) makes his official House of the Dragon debut in Season 3, episode 4, although he's been hiding in plain sight since the Season 3 premiere. He's a ward of House Hightower and squire to Lord Ormund Hightower (James Norton), who's engineering his own plot — involving a fake Daeron — to place him on the throne.

SEE ALSO: 'House of the Dragon' may be hiding Daeron Targaryen in plain sight The Hightower family tree: Otto, Gwayne, and Ormund James Norton, Olivia Cooke, Rhys Ifans, and Freddie Fox in "House of the Dragon." Credit: Composite: Mashable / Images: HBO

In addition to Alicent, the rest of House Hightower continues to be a major player in House of the Dragon. Her father, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), former hand of the King, was the first Green loyalist to be executed under Rhaenyra's reign. Elsewhere, Alicent's brother Gwayne (Freddie Fox) has been traipsing around the Seven Kingdoms with Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), a nightmare we wouldn't wish on even our worst enemies.

House of the Dragon Season 3 also introduces a new member of the Hightower family: Lord Ormund, head of House Hightower. His late father Hobert (Steffan Rhodri) was Otto's oldest brother, making Ormund Alicent and Gwayne's cousin.

SEE ALSO: 'House of the Dragon' Season 3, episode 1: Who is Ormund Hightower? The Velaryon family tree: Corlys and his sons Alyn and Addam Steve Toussaint, Abubakar Salim, and Clinton Liberty in "House of the Dragon." Credit: Composite: Mashable / Images: HBO

Rhaenyra's Hand is Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), also known as the Sea Snake due to his naval prowess. Over the course of House of the Dragon, he's lost his wife Rhaenys, as well as their children Laena (Nanna Blondell) and Laenor (John Macmillan).

However, Season 2 revealed that Laena and Laenor weren't Corlys' only descendants. He also has two bastard sons, Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim) and Addam of Hull (Clinton Liberty). Their mother Marilda, unseen in the show, was a shipwright. House of the Dragon primarily refers to Marilda in the past tense, implying she is dead, hence why she's greyed out in our family tree. However, by this point in Fire and Blood, she is still alive.

While Corlys didn't truly acknowledge Alyn and Addam prior to Season 2, the pair are now a much more prominent part of his life — and the show. Alyn is a notable sailor in Corlys' fleet, and Addam became a dragonrider. Thanks to his Valyrian blood, he now rides Seasmoke, Laenor's old dragon.

The dragonseeds: Addam, Ulf the White, and Hugh Hammer Kieran Bew, Tom Bennett, and Clinton Liberty in "House of the Dragon." Credit: Composite: Mashable / Images: HBO

Addam isn't the only new dragonrider to join Rhaenyra's ranks in Season 2. Smallfolk Ulf the White (Tom Bennett) and Hugh Hammer (Kieran Bew) also claimed dragons. Ulf rides Silverwing, the dragon of Rhaenyra's grandmother Alysanne, while Hugh rides Vermithor, the dragon of Rhaenyra's grandfather Jaehaerys. The pair, like Addam, are bastards of Valyrian blood, earning them the nickname of "dragonseeds." While they haven't been legitimized as Targaryens, they will certainly have a large role to play in the battles to come.

House of the Dragon Season 3 premieres June 21 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max, with a new episode every Sunday.

UPDATE: Jul. 12, 2026, 10:00 p.m. EDT This article has been updated to reflect the events of the first four episodes of Season 3.

UPDATE: Jun. 26, 2026, 4:02 p.m. EDT A previous version of the family tree did not show Rhaenys, Hobert, or Marilda as deceased the way they are in the show. It has since been updated.

Meta's Must Image tool, which launched last Tuesday, is now being shuttered by the company, according to Reuters.

The social media giant released a statement on Friday announcing it would discontinue the feature: "Our intent was to provide a useful creative tool and to give people control over whether their public ​content could be referenced in this way. We've ​heard the feedback that this feature missed the mark, so ⁠it's no longer available."

Meta launched Muse Image as part of a suite of new AI tools. Designed for Instagram and WhatsApp users, it lets them touch up, alter, or add 3D effects to new photos. Muse Image took things a step further, allowing users to use photos from public-facing Instagram accounts as reference material for generative AI. Worse still, they enabled the feature by default, so if you didn't want your personal photos being used as AI fodder, you had to either make your account private or locate the specific setting that would toggle the feature off.

Unsurprisingly, the backlash came hard and fast. 

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But it was actors and other famous people with massive followings and public accounts who led the charge. Hacks star Hannah Einbinder took to her Instagram stories to urge her followers not to use the feature, prompting the Screen Actors Guild to take action as well, urging its members to "protect your likeness" by deactivating it. To its credit, though, this time around Meta listened.

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There's no shortage of controversy regarding generative AI and copyright issues, whether we're talking about companies asking child actors to sign away their voice rights or major record labels suing music generators over creative use, but leave it to Meta to carelessly trip every wire and provoke a backlash so severe that they were immediately forced to back down.

Expect more heated battles over image rights, privacy, and generative AI as these tools only become more powerful and more ubiquitous, but in the meantime, let's all be glad that Meta was receptive to the negative feedback.

A French court ordered upstream internet intermediaries like Google and Cloudflare to actively block access to prominent pirating and illegal streaming sites at the request of sports rights holders. But Google is pushing back against this judgment, and its reasoning is surprisingly sound. 

The landmark decision places direct responsibility on upstream internet providers rather than on illegal streaming services, which are notoriously difficult to bring to justice in a local court, especially when they exploit loopholes in international law or employ backup domains and servers that go online when their main platforms are blocked.

SEE ALSO: Worried about your digital privacy? I tested the top 3 VPNs to find the best of the best.

To effectively block access to these sites, which operate across multiple domains, servers, and web addresses, Google would have to use a combination of DNS filtering and IP- and VPN-blocking, but these catch-all approaches are guaranteed to impact law-abiding users and web hosts as well. To analogize, it's a bit like trying to catch a minnow with a giant trawling net. At the end of the day, you may have all the minnows in the sea, but you're also going to harm the dolphins, whales, and other fish species.

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Worse still, savvy internet pirates have multiple ways to circumvent these actions, meaning the minnows might still escape while the larger fish (ordinary internet users) get caught up in the filtering. 

Google said as much in their submission to the EU court:

"Blocking DNS resolvers, IPs, VPNs, is ineffective, as it does not remove content at all and is easily circumvented by using alternative DNS resolvers. It is disproportionate, catching lawful services, raising extra-territoriality concerns and blocking entire domains. Similarly, blocking IP addresses neither removes the content nor achieves proportionate outcomes, as many lawful services may be using the same IP address."

Google's report goes on to cite real-world harms caused by these blanket bans, including inadvertently blocking Google Drive access and restricting access to websites such as Amnesty International, the ACLU, UNICEF, UNHCR, the Australian Senate, and Stanford Law Review.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has echoed Google's criticisms, arguing that the EU's attempts to legislate the internet "keep EU users locked up behind big tech's gates." The EFF also took a strong stand against the automated filtering mandates argued for in Article 13 of the EU Copyright Directive. 

It's also looking like these concerns are coming to the United States, as a House IP Subcommittee met on June 30 to discuss exactly the kind of upstream content bans enforced by the EU. California Representative Darrell Issa has already pledged to introduce exactly such a bill. 

Not coincidentally, these legislative efforts are ramping up right as illegal streaming and downloading experiences a resurgence in popularity (a "Piracy Renaissance," according to one publication), perhaps not in spite of a massive spike in online streaming platforms but because of these platforms and their ongoing efforts to raise prices, introduce advertising, and fragment their content offerings. 

Expect this debate to heat up as more and more tech companies are pulled into the argument, and as the interests of internet giants like Google are pitted against the copyright claims of giant media broadcasters.