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Every time queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D\u2019Arcy) has a council meeting with her advisors, they spend most of the meeting bickering about what the realm\u2019s biggest problems are these days. Is it the crown\u2019s lack of funding? The lingering threat of Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and his dragon Vhagar? Ormund Hightower (James Norton)\u2019s hostile takeover of Tumbleton? Or civil unrest amongst the smallfolk? In House of the Dragon<\/em>\u2019s latest episode, Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) brings yet another big problem to the council, and it\u2019s one that hits very close to home: Somebody is killing Gold Cloaks, members of the city guard. But who?<\/p>\n [Ed. note: <\/strong>Spoilers follow for House of the Dragon<\/em> season 3 episode 5.<\/em>]<\/p>\n \u201cTwo of our gold cloaks were found dead in the street this morning, put to the blade by an unknown hand,\u201d Daemon says during a council meeting early in the episode, adding that it happened in Flea Bottom. The Master of Coin, Ser Torrhen Manderly (Dan Fogler), calls Flea Bottom \u201ca realm unto itself\u201d that\u2019s \u201cfull of undesirables.\u201d Rhaenyra tries to send Daemon to deal with Criston Cole and the guerrilla warfare he\u2019s using to delay Team Black\u2019s troops in their march toward Tumbleton. Daemon, however, refuses to go until he\u2019s dealt with these crimes against the city watch.<\/p>\n Rhaenyra and Daemon arguing outside the small council chamber.Image: HBO<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re my men,\u201d he says, \u201cand we depend upon those men to secure your rule \u2014 especially because their wages have been withheld.\u201d Outside the council chamber, the two argue over priorities: Rhaenyra wants Aemond found ASAP. Daemon says they have time to wait so they can deal with problems in King\u2019s Landing first.<\/p>\n Later in the episode, Daemon patrols the streets alongside city watch commander Ser Luthor Largent (Tom Cullen). The Targaryen reproaches Ser Luthor for the city watch being too harsh against citizens when trying to root out who painted graffiti on the wall calling Rhaenyra the \u201cqueen of bastards.\u201d Ser Luthor claims the two dead members of the city watch had their throats and their bowels cut. \u201cGood men, dying in agony, in their own shit,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The two hear screams and quickly discover two more dead members of the city watch, also with their throats and bowels slit. Just before they reach the scene, however, a little girl peers around the corner. In the next scene, we see that same girl dashing up a set of stairs indoors. She approaches a table with three men and whispers something to one of them. The man sends a pigeon with a message.<\/p>\n \u201cGold blood spilled. Three marked in the tally. The account lies open.\u201d And it\u2019s none other than Ormund Hightower (James Norton) reading the message. Ormund is clearly pulling the strings from afar, but it\u2019s unclear exactly who is doing the killing.<\/p>\n Ormund at the end of season 3 episode 4 urging Daeron to kill a prisoner.Image: HBO<\/p>\n In a conversation with his ward Daeron Targaryen (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth), Ormund tells the story of Meria Martell, who refused to bend the knee to the Targaryens. She used underhanded guerilla tactics (not unlike what Cole is doing these days). She poisoned her own wells and hid soldiers in the desert sands, among other things \u2014 including having her forces sneak in at night to kill Targaryen soldiers in their beds. \u201cThe cunning mind resists the most savage of beasts,\u201d he says. It\u2019s clear Ormund is looking to Meria\u2019s example in how he\u2019s fighting this war. He knows he cannot win a direct conflict against even a single dragon. So he has to be more subversive, using cunning tricks to undermine Rhaenyra within her own city.<\/p>\n We later see Daemon recount the death of the gold cloaks to Rhaenyra while she prays. She notes that there is a pattern and a purpose, and Daemon explains that there are no witnesses despite this happening in broad daylight. It\u2019s possible this scene is meant to be far more ironic than it seems. Ormund Hightower sees the Targaryens as savages, and the Hightowers have long had a close relationship with the Faith of the Seven. Ormund kept Daeron so he could make a claim for the throne, essentially to restore the kingdom\u2019s piety \u2014 which he pretty much said outright earlier this season.<\/p>\n It seems likely that it\u2019s not necessarily Team Green supporters are killing gold cloaks at all \u2014 but religious smallfolk who support Ormund Hightower\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n Close<\/span><\/p>\n\n