This is a recap of the most recent episode of HBO’s House of the Dragon. It contains spoilers. That’s what a recap is.

Credits! And the only addition to the Die, You! Tapestry we get this week is difficult to decipher at first. Looks to me like a woman whispering into the ear of a stout gentleman with a thin, John Waters mustache. Alys and Daemon? Alys and Aemond? Or — OK, no, wait, I see it now — it’s Aemond, murdering my sweet babboo Ser Simon Strong back in episode 2. Wow. Cold. Way to rub it in, you vindictive textile, you. Now I’m glad to see you get torn in half each week.

In the small merchant town of Tumbleton, the Hightower army is going house-to-house, forcibly quartering troops in private homes, ’cause Westeros don’t got a Third Amendment.

In the home of the local lord and lady, Ormund Hightower has set up shop — if we’re careful to define “shop” as “plopped his bathtub in the middle of their living room.” In a power move, he stands up from the bath he’s taking to show us his hindquarters (and show the nobles his frontquarters), while pompously instructing his young squire on the proper way to deal with “those beneath you.” Presumably he’s not referring to his frontquarters.

He receives some bad news — the Baratheons haven’t sent troops, and Aemond still hasn’t shown up to Harrenhal with Vhagar. (This last bit happened at the end of episode 2, but news-by-raven travels slow.) And that’s when we get the reveal the show’s been sitting on — this squire, the red-headed kid who’s been standing by Ormund’s side since the season began, is actually Daeron, youngest son of Alicent, brother to Aegon, Aemond and Helaena, and the rider of the dragon Tessarion.

RIP, spheres of the realm

At Rhaenyra’s Teeny Tiny Council chamber in the Red Keep, Orwyle suggests sending the riverlord army (which is currently marching to Kings Landing) to take Tumbleton back. It would cost fewer lives than raining down dragonfire, he argues. And with that suggestion, he’s back in the Queen’s good graces. (There’s a brief exchange where Orwyle reaches for one of those weird little billiard-ball token thingies to register his attendance or whatever, only to get shut down, and informed that they’re “relics of the old regime.” Too bad; I’ll miss those fetishistic, tactile bits of business, but I hope they find a place in a Kings Landing history museum. It was one of those tchotchkes, after all, that took out poor timorous Lord Beesbury, back in the day. Never forget.)

While uncertainty lingers over improvements and timetables at LAX, the county’s second-busiest airport is on the brink of big changes.

The Hollywood Burbank Airport is due to replace its two terminals with a larger new terminal on Oct. 13. The $1.3-billion project will include 14 gates — the same number the airport has now. But the new structure will be a single terminal that’s about 50% larger than the airport’s current two-terminal layout.

In moving to a 355,000-square-foot terminal, officials say, the airport can give passengers more room and better technology while meeting safety and accessibility standards.

The airport, built in 1930 and run by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, is favored by many local travelers as a simpler, faster alternative to Los Angeles International Airport. The Burbank airport’s site in the San Fernando Valley, however, has often put its leaders at odds with residents of surrounding suburban neighborhoods.

As it stands, the aged Burbank facility doesn’t meet current state seismic standards or Federal Aviation Administration design standards — which has prompted repeated safety warnings. Its nine resident airlines fly to about 30 nonstop destinations. The airport reported about 6.2 million arriving and departing passengers in 2025.

Airport officials say the new design increases the distance between the terminal and the nearest runway, currently as little as 257 feet, soon to be about 880 feet, bringing the airport into compliance with FAA standards.

Meanwhile at LAX, which reported 73.7 million passengers in 2025, the opening of a long-awaited SkyLink automated people mover (an electric train linking terminals to rail service and rental cars) has been delayed by technical and legal issues. In a June 15 report, the SkyLink contractor estimated that its public opening would need to wait until Oct. 6 or later. Asked for a revised timetable, an LAX spokesperson gave no dates, saying only that the airport is focused on “exhaustive testing of all tracks, signaling systems, and vehicles” to ensure safety and dependability.

A rendering shows how Hollywood Burbank Airport is expected to look after a new terminal opens in October.

(Hollywood Burbank Airport)

In Burbank, voters approved the airport terminal replacement project in 2016. Construction began in 2024. At the entrance, travelers will encounter a pair of 16-foot-tall sculptures, “The Two Electras,” by Cliff Garten; inside, a ceiling grid artwork by Glenn Kaino.

The new space is just north of the existing terminal, which is to be demolished. The new entrance will be at Winona Avenue and Hollywood Way. Airport officials say the change will not affect the number of flights or the airport’s operating hours, which are 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

In the new terminal, airport officials say, the walk from the entrance to the farthest gate will be 1,285 feet, down from 1,600 feet now, with wider corridors and sidewalks and access to power plugs for devices from every seat. Baggage claim carousels will move from outdoors to indoors.

A July 7 photo shows work in progress at Hollywood Burbank Airport, where a new terminal is scheduled to open in October.

(Hollywood Burbank Airport)

The airport project, known as Elevate BUR, has been overseen by the project management company Jacobs. The Design-Build portion of the project is led by Holder, Pankow, TEC, Joint Venture. Corgan provided architectural services in association with CannonDesign.

As it does now, the airport will supply shuttle bus service between the new terminal and Burbank Airport-South Train Station (which connects with Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner) and the Burbank Airport-North Station at San Fernando Road and Hollywood Way.

Another thing that won’t change: Passengers will continue to walk across the tarmac from terminal to stairs to planes, rather than using the enclosed jetways common in other airports, especially larger ones. It’s something travelers say they appreciate about the airport.

“The second I step onto the tarmac at Burbank, I start acting like I’m boarding a private jet,” wrote one Threads user. “And you’ll never convince me otherwise.”

Some other changes travelers can expect in Burbank:

• The new terminal’s 14 food service units are tentatively set to include a Flavor Town, Spring Chicken, Farm Table Bistro, Jones Coffee, Perry’s Joint, Poquito Mas, West Coast Smash Burger, Diane’s Pizzeria, Massis Kebab, Starbucks, Border Grill, Jet Tila’s Asian Table, Santa Canela bakery and a bar with picture-window views of the runways and Verdugo mountains.

The Grand Hall of the soon-to-open terminal at Hollywood Burbank Airport awaits finishing touches on July 7.

(Hollywood Burbank Airport)

• A new parking structure next to the new terminal will hold 2,007 parking spots, including 400 valet spots. (The airport’s total number of parking spaces will remain the same at 6,637.)
• The distance between the new terminal and the airport’s existing rental car facility and bus stop (Regional Intermodal Transit Center) will be slightly less than a mile by shuttle bus.

On-air challenge

Based on the clue, name two words that have the same number of letters and begin and end with the letters provided. (Ex. Rocks / five letters / S and E —> Slate, Shale)

1. European languages in 7 letters starting with S and ending with .

2. Ancient stringed instruments / 4 letters / L and E

3. Birds / 6 letters / P and N

4. Parts of the body / 5 letters / T and H

5. Things seen in a classroom / 5 letters / C and K

6. Newsstand magazines / 7 letters / E and E

7. Books of the Bible / 4 letters / A and S

8. Foods from Italy / 5 letters / P and A

Last week’s challenge

Next weekend will be the 186th convention of the National Puzzler League, in Bloomington, Ind., which I’ll be attending as always. Two other people who will be there are Henri Picciotto and Joshua Kosman, who created this week’s challenge. Name two words that are opposites. They share a single letter. Remove that shared letter from each word, put a hyphen between the two starting words, and you’ll get a term you sometimes see in food ads. What are the two words?

Challenge answer

Slow, fast –> low-fat

Winner

Debra Waller of Burlington, Kentucky

This week’s challenge

This week’s challenge comes from Steve Baggish, of Arlington, Mass. Take the 10-letter name of a popular TV series for which most of its seasons have been filmed in a foreign country.  Remove the first and last letters, and the remaining letters can be rearranged to spell the name of a country.  What are the two names?

If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it below by Thursday, July 16 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle.