‘House of the Dragon’ Season 3 Finale: The Beginning of the End is Here

This story contains spoilers for the season three finale of House of the Dragon and for elements of its source material, Fire & Blood.House of the Dragon is in the endgame now. Tonight’s episode brought the best season of the Game of Thrones prequel—and a banner year for the franchise—to a violent, bloody, and tragic close. Not unlike the season premiere, the House of the Dragon finale featured major deaths and a massive battle sequence, a fitting conclusion to a season that delivered on the stakes of a massive civil war that continues to swallow up everyone in its wake. But even in the midst of that battle, the finale kept its eyes on some critical and emotional character beats, managing to strike a good balance between grand scale and intimate relationships.If it feels as if the show is bringing its dragons home to roost, that’s for a reason. Showrunner Ryan Condal (who co-wrote the finale with Ti Mikkel and direction from Andrij Parekh) is on the record that season four, likely to debut in 2028, will be the series’ last. As such, there’s an added ominous element to all of the finale’s proceedings, making the impact of the finale and these last few episodes all the more grand.While we’ll have to wait a spell for the final season to debut, the finale drops plenty of breadcrumbs regarding what’s coming next. It shouldn’t be a surprise, given how dour (complimentary) this season was, that things appear likely to get even worse as we head into the home stretch. With that in mind, here are the three biggest takeaways from the finale:Team Green in ControlDespite heavy losses during the Battle of Tumbleton—including the death of Ormund, this season’s heavy—Team Green is now squarely in the driver’s seat. Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) returned and reunited with Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) would be enough on its own, but Ulf’s (Tom Bennett) betrayal of Rhaenyra and her forces at the Battle is bad news for the Queen’s already struggling public relations campaign (more on that in a second).There’s a strong likelihood the Greens can spin Ulf’s attack on the city as part of a larger war crime against Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy). Plus, the resulting death of Hugh’s (Kieran Bew) wife Kat (Ellora Torchia) is bound to sway both Dragonriders to the side of the Greens, as he’ll likely blame Daemon and Rhaenyra for forcing an invasion on Tumbleton in the first place.Combine that with Daeron (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) and his dragon—even if we don’t see them at the end of the episode, we don’t see a body, and that’s enough to believe they’re still in the mix—and you’ve got three dragons sitting in Tumbleton, with the potential for two more on the way as soon as Aegon and Aemond make their way there. While Team Green’s military forces may be thinned, it won’t matter if a staggering five dragons roll up to King’s Landing. Either way, it looks like their war to lose as we turn the page on the end of this season.Rhaenyra’s Sealed Her Fate“Don’t make a monster of me,” Rhaenyra tells Daemon before he leaves for battle. But what happens when she goes and does it herself? To wit: Rhaenyra spends the finale making one bad choice after another. She tells off Baela (Bethany Antonia), convinces Alyn (Abubakar Salim) to kill the High Priest in the Sept, tells the gathered crowd about a secret prophecy, kicks out Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), and force-feeds Helaena (Phia Saban). The finale concludes with Rhaenyra looking out the same Red Keep window where Tommen commits suicide in season six of Game of Thrones, and unspooling a tapestry that all but officially confirms her end.From the very start of the show, it’s felt as if every single one of our characters was doomed in one way or another. But as we head into the final season of the series, the worst is yet to come for Rhaenyra. (Heavy spoilers beyond this point, so scroll past if you don’t want to know.)What George R.R. Martin’s Source Material Says is Coming NextIn Fire and Blood, the book of Westerosi history that House of the Dragon is drawing from, Rhaenyra’s paranoia—seeded throughout this season, but highlighted in this episode via her treatment of Baela and Mysaria—will eventually prompt her to make even more drastic decisions. She’ll begin to question even her most loyal allies, sending them off to jail for seemingly no reason at all. As she continues to take things out on the citizens of King’s Landing in the form of public executions, the townspeople will eventually rebel, to dramatic effect, storming the Dragonpit and killing the dragons gathered there. In the aftermath, she’s forced to leave King’s Landing.Rhaenyra ends this week’s finale by closing the window of the Red Keep and tossing aside the tapestry, almost as if she’s rejecting the notion of Helaena’s quilt. But the thing about Targaryen dreamers is that more often than not their dreams are reality. The Queen would be wise to heed this warning—but whether or not she will unfold throughout next season remains to be seen.Alicent’s Role To ComeAs with last season’s finale, we conclude this third season with Alicent’s fate left somewhat in limbo. Audiences are treated to a fleeting glimpse of her, looking on into the sunset as Rhaenyra overlooks Helaena’s body. While she doesn’t yet know of her daughter's death or the reunion between her sons, both will lead to heartbreak of differing measures. Helaena’s death will likely cause Alicent to lose any willingness to work alongside Rhaenyra, while Aegon and Aemond’s partnership ensures the war continues apace. Both are tragic outcomes no matter how you slice it.House of the Dragon’s biggest strength is how it's oriented both its female leads as prisoners of the patriarchy, albeit in vastly different forms. Despite some clever and crafty ways of getting Rhaenyra and Alicent together in the same location for some juicy moments between Olivia Cooke and Emma D’Arcy, the show’s runway is clearly starting to run out. Here’s hoping Condal and the rest of the writing staff can find one more way to put these two onscreen together before it's all said and done.