House Of The Dragon Season 3 Proves This Is The Worst House In Westeros (And It's Not What You Think)

Spoilers ahead for "House of the Dragon" Season 3, Episode 6.

"House of the Dragon" has a problem when it comes to characters you can root for. "Game of Thrones" was full of complicated and flawed people, but it would still make a clear distinction between, say, a monster like Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon) and someone imperfect yet decent like Jon Snow (Kit Harington). So, when "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" Season 1 introduced the most likable folks in the history of Westeros, it created a big challenge for "House of the Dragon" Season 3. Simply put, this show is hellbent on showing both sides  of its central conflict acting increasingly horrible, making it hard for audiences to care about either side winning when both suck.  Even Emma D'Arcy's Rhaenyra Targaryen is doing terrible things now that she's queen (bringing a similar "Game of Thrones" storyline to mind).

This is to say, everyone is awful in Season 3 of "House of the Dragon" — especially the now-late Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), may he rest in piss peace. But when it comes to the great houses, there is one clear winner for the worst house in Westeros. No, it's not the Lannisters. It's not even the Hightowers. (Gwayne innocent!) Rather, it's House Arryn, whose words "As High as Honor" make it clear they don't actually understand how to measure altitude. We see as much in Season 3, Episode 6, in which Lady Jeyne Arryn (Amanda Collin) forces Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) to stay hidden in a cave with only her murderous dragon as company.

The thing is, this isn't the first time House Arryn has been led by a horrible person. On the contrary, it's practically a tradition for the house at this point.

Whenever we spend time in The Eyrie, we witness some truly monstrous leadership from House Arryn. The first time we visited the mountainous palace, it was early on "Game of Thrones" when Lysa Tully (Kate Dickie) was breastfeeding her grown-ass son Robin (Lino Facioli). It's also Lysa who accuses the Lannisters of murdering her husband (which is technically true), in turn kickstarting the events that plummet Westeros into chaos.

Sure, Lysa is only an Arryn by marriage, but the point stands: Whoever's in charge of House Arryn at any given time will inevitably become the worst. Robin (Robert in the show's source material) is an arrogant little monster prone to outbursts of violence and who loves to execute people by dropping them down his "Moon Door." Even Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen), who briefly gained control of The Eyrie by marrying Lysa, was a ghoul who sold Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) to Ramsay, an even bigger piece of human garbage.

So, is House Arryn cursed to be led by horrible people? It certainly seems that way. In George R. R. Martin's books, The Vale is ruled by a child lord with a guardian reagent for most of Westerosi history. What's more, House Arryn enters a steep decline after Aegon's Conquest (which we might learn more about in another developing "Game of Thrones" spin-off) and ultimately accomplishes very little in the grand scheme of things (beyond, say, Jon Arryn serving as the Hand of the King to Robert Baratheon).

Maybe it's the altitude, maybe it's the isolation from the rest of Westeros, or maybe it's their pride in their "pure" heritage. Regardless, few houses wreak as much chaos as House Arryn.