“‘Unquantifiable Loss’ 😱💔 House of the Dragon Season 3 Premiere STUNS Viewers With Brutal Triple Death Twist — Including a Beloved Character Fans Never Expected to Lose in Episode One”! The Season 3 premiere of House of the Dragon has left fans in total shock after delivering one of the most devastating openings in the series so far. In a brutal and emotional turn of events, the episode features the deaths of a beloved character alongside two other major figures, sending shockwaves through the fandom just minutes into the new season. Described by insiders as an “unquantifiable loss,” the premiere immediately sets a dark and unforgiving tone for what’s to come — with viewers already bracing for even more heartbreak ahead.

Warning: this post contains spoilers for the season 3 premiere episode of House of the Dragon.

The Battle of the Gullet was just as deadly as promised.

On Sunday, June 21, the long-awaited season 3 of House of the Dragon aired and three major characters were dead, including Jace (Harry Collett).

As an adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, some fans knew what to expect from the new House of the Dragon episode, since Jace dies during the well-known naval battle in Martin’s book.

The death of Jason Lannister (Jefferson Hall) is also to be expected based on Fire & Blood. Sharako Lohar (Abigail Thorn), though, survives the Battle of the Gullet in the book, so her death at Alyn of Hull’s (Abubakar Salim) hands came as a surprise.

Ahead of the premiere of season 3, star Emma D’Arcy, who plays Rhaenyra Targaryen and is mom to Jace, tells PEOPLE how the death of Rhaenyra’s second son (Luke died in the season 1 finale) will affect the rightful heir to the Iron Throne.

“I think Jace’s death is honestly a sort of unquantifiable loss,” D’Arcy, 33, says. “I think, really, there was a shared kind of understanding, there was an intimacy there that I don’t think [is] replicated anywhere else.”

The “vengeance” she demands in the wake of Jace’s death “requires Daemon’s violence,” D’Arcy continues, referring to their costar and onscreen husband, Matt Smith.

“I think there’s a clarity actually that comes with Jace’s death, not least because again, this is a political family, and if you secure your legacy, you preserve the memory of those around you. And her name will be in a ledger somewhere along with her son.”

“I think that makes her inheritance all the more meaningful,” D’Arcy continues. Now, Jace’s legacy and Rhaenyra’s are even more “tied together.”

New episodes of House of the Dragon premiere Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.