House of the Dragon actress Abigail Thorn reflects on her iconic queer character's return

Spoiler warning: Massive spoilers for the House of the Dragon season 3 premiere.

The House of the Dragon is back for season 3. And with it, the Battle of the Gullet has begun and claimed its first casualties.

Abigail Thorn portrays Admiral Sharako Lohar, who, sadly, was one of the deaths during Sunday's season premiere of the HBO fantasy show. The pirate commander, known for defying gender expectations and, iconically, having several wives, will be sorely missed from Westeros — particularly by Thorn.

"It was just such a gift as an actor to get to plan and execute that kind of arc, and to be trusted to bring it home like that on the biggest show in the world. It's so wonderful," Thorn says.

In the episode, Admiral Lohar's Triarchy fleet is aligned with Aegon II Targaryen and at the center of the long-awaited battle. "She's just a woman who kills people," Thorn says of her character. But she has her own personal motivation. Despite any pact she has made with the Green, Sharako is determined to kill Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) by any means necessary. That drive causes her to break from her allies in this skirmish to chase Corlys, and a brutal fight in the sea commences.

That fixation in the end leads to her death at the hands of Corlys’ bastard son, Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim). The admiral gets her fight with Corlys, which ends with the lord falling into the seas. His fate is unclear, but it's enough to send his son after Lohar in a rage to avenge his father that ends with her death.

“It was pretty emotionally tough [filming that scene]," Thorn says. "It's hard to be strangled to death 20 times a day, but I think I was really happy with the work that we did, and it's a treat as an actor to get to plan and execute that kind of a scene."

Abigail Thorn as Admiral Sharako Lohar on 'House of the Dragon'Ollie Upton/HBO

“What I loved about it was there is this wonderful lucky moment where as Abubakar lifted me out of the water, all the blood washed off her face, and she’s just so clean. In her final moments you see a woman being murdered, being strangled to death by a much bigger man, and she’s afraid,” she says.

Thorn is proud she got to decide Sharako Lohar’s emotional state in the end. “It’s the first time we ever see the character afraid of anything,” the actress says. It’s a far cry from the strict hand viewers have seen her run her crew and go after whatever it is she wants."

That pride extends to having an action role on one of TV’s biggest shows. “I studied so hard and trained so hard for the action sequences,” she says. And, she was trained by some of the best: stunt performers who previously stunt doubles for Captain America, Deadpool, and Wonder Woman. “Loni [Peristere, executive producer] would go on set and he’d say ‘You’re Linda Hamilton in Terminator. You’re Sigourney Weaver in Alien. You’re a superhero, let’s go,'” she says. “To play a woman who kicks ass is so refreshing.”

Thorn can also be seen in 2026 science fiction film Again Again, which just had its world premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival. Her past credits include Ladhood, Django, and The Acolyte.

House of the Dragon has become notable for its LGBTQ+ representation both on and off screen. Lead Emma D'Arcy, who plays Rhaenyra Targaryen, is nonbinary and has been an outspoken advocate for trans and gender-nonconforming people. Thorn brings trans representation to the show through Sharako, a gender-defying, polyamorous character stole the show last season came when she propositioned Tyland Lannister, asking if he would father children with her wives.

Sharako leaves an impression. Thorn recalls a man who approached her about signing his book and wanting her to “write the line.” “I was like ‘I know what line you mean, man.’ I write ‘I want you to fuck my wives' in the book. And in my head I’m thinking, ‘I really hope that’s the line you meant.’”

House of the Dragon season 3 airs Sundays on HBO.