What does gelded mean? House of the Dragon's brutal Ormund Hightower scene explained

13 July 2026, 12:23 | Updated: 13 July 2026, 12:25

By Sam Prance

In House of the Dragon season 3 episode 4, Ormund Hightower orders for Garrick to be gelded but what does it mean?

House of the Dragon is no stranger to gruesome forms of punishment and Ormund Hightower just invoked a new one.

Like Game of Thrones before it, House of the Dragon continually shocks viewers with it's wild scenes and season 3 is arguably the wildest season of the show yet. Over the course of the first few episodes, we've seen everything from Aemond kissing Alicent to Rhaenyra slaying Ser Otto Hightower. Oh and we lost Jace the Face in episode 1.

Now, Alicent's cousin Ormund Hightower is taking centre stage after he ordered for his knight Garrick to be gelded. What does gelded mean though? Scroll down for an explanation of the macabre punishment that Garrick gets.

• Read more: House of the Dragon's Olivia Cooke criticises age gap between her and Alicent's kids
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In House of the Dragon season 3 episode 4, Ormund Hightower forcibly takes over Tumbletown with his knights and it takes a dark turn when one of his soldiers, Garrick, attempts to sexually assault Hugh Hammer’s wife Kat. Her brother Leo intervenes and then they, along with Garrick, go to Ormund to report what happened in the hopes of justice.

Ormund appears to take Kat's side by ordering for Garrick to be gelded and have his arm broken. He is also told if he trespasses again that he will hang.As for what gelded means, it's as gruesome as you would expect. The term 'geld' officially means to remove the testicles of a horse or a similar animal.

In other words, Ormund ordered for Garrick to be castrated as a result of his horrific crimes.

Reacting online, one person wrote: "Garrick gettin' GELDED??? Welp!"

However, Ormund isn't as just as he may appear. The episode then ends with Ormund, in private, ordering Daeron to kill Leo for laying his hands on a Hightower knight. Reluctantly, Daeron stabs Leo in the heart with a sword and kills him.

Something tells us that this is just the start of Ormund's brutal shenanigans.

Read more House of the Dragon news here:

• House of the Dragon writer is "baffled" fans are thirsting over Matt Smith's Daemon
• House of the Dragon's Ewan Mitchell defends controversial scene that isn't in the book
• House of the Dragon cast confirm they played Rhaenyra and Alicent as queer
• Olivia Cooke says trolling from House of the Dragon fans left her depressed
• House of the Dragon’s Milly Alcock says her sudden fame “f---ing sucks”

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