What is the Triarchy in ‘House of the Dragon’? Explaining the pirate fleet from Season 3 premiere
The premiere episode of ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 3 opened with one of the bloodiest military clashes of the Dance of the Dragons. The long-awaited Battle of the Gullet arrived almost immediately, leading to devastating losses for both sides. Yet amid all the destruction, one group suddenly moved to the center of the story: the Triarchy. For many viewers, the name may have sounded vaguely familiar but not entirely recognizable. Unlike the Starks, Lannisters, Targaryens, or even the Free Cities that appeared throughout ‘Game of Thrones’, the Triarchy never became a major talking point in the original HBO series. In ‘House of the Dragon’, the Triarchy becomes one of the Greens' most powerful weapons in the civil war. The Season 3 premiere saw the threat it posed as Rhaenyra Targaryen continued her campaign to pressure King's Landing.
With House Velaryon's fleet, led by Corlys Velaryon, enforcing a naval blockade, supplies and trade into the capital were severely disrupted. Rhaenyra then ordered her forces to tighten control around Blackwater Bay, unaware that the Greens had already secured outside help. After searching for allies capable of breaking the blockade in Season 2, they turned to the Triarchy. It’s a powerful seafaring alliance from across the Narrow Sea that has a long history of hostility toward both Corlys and Daemon Targaryen. When word reached Corlys that the attacking fleet belonged to the Triarchy, he was visibly horrified. To understand why that moment carried so much weight, it helps to look back at where the Triarchy came from. The alliance consisted of three major Free Cities located in Essos: Myr, Lys, and Tyrosh. Fans of ‘GoT’ may remember these locations from Daenerys Targaryen's travels across the eastern continent.
Long before her time, these three cities joined together to form what became known as the Kingdom of the Three Daughters. Their initial purpose was practical rather than political. The Stepstones, a chain of islands sitting between Westeros and Essos, had become a haven for pirates and raiders. Merchant vessels frequently faced attacks while attempting to move goods through the region. The Triarchy launched campaigns to secure the area and make maritime trade safer. At first, their efforts benefited many merchants and kingdoms. The situation changed once the alliance established control. The rulers of the Three Daughters began charging expensive tolls for passage through the Stepstones. For Corlys, this was unacceptable. That’s when Corlys joined forces with Daemon to challenge the Triarchy's authority in the region. Their military campaign eventually wrestled control away from the alliance and damaged its influence.
That conflict created deep resentment. Years later, when the Greens offered the Triarchy an opportunity to strike back at old rivals, the proposal was difficult to refuse. So, the alliance accepted. Under the leadership of Sharako Lohar, the Triarchy sailed into the Gullet and launched a surprise attack against the Velaryon fleet. Although the battle ultimately ended badly for the invaders, they still managed to achieve several objectives. They killed Prince Jacaerys Velaryon and reduced much of Driftmark to ashes. But the Triarchy paid a steep price as well. Roughly one-third of its naval force was destroyed during the engagement. The surviving ships managed to retreat across the Narrow Sea, but the defeat weakened the alliance considerably.
If HBO continues following George R. R. Martin's ‘Fire & Blood’, the Triarchy's troubles are only beginning. In the book, surviving members return home, blaming one another for the losses suffered during the war. Many accuse Sharako Lohar of protecting ships from her own city while letting allied fleets bear the brunt of the fighting. The resulting tensions lead to political infighting, murders, and power struggles that ultimately destroy the alliance. Its collapse leads to the Daughters' War, a major conflict involving Lys, Myr, and Tyrosh that affects other Free Cities and even Westeros. However, the show has already diverged from the source material by killing Sharako during the Battle of the Gullet rather than later through assassination. That alteration creates uncertainty about how much of the Triarchy's later history will appear on screen.
