After a miraculous resurrection of sorts in the previous episode, Aegon and Sunfyre are coming back to claim what Rhaenyra has fought so hard to acquire - the Iron Throne. HBO’s House of the Dragon season 3 episode 8 brings with it a finale that seems more like the beginning of a new struggle for vengeance and bloodlust. The time for plotting and strategizing is long past, and the only things out now are the bloodthirsty swords.

The Targaryen civil war has stretched long enough that the entire Westeros is now engulfed in dragon flame and rotting corpses. And still the main players in the game are yet to make their final moves. However, the season finale fixes this and takes us a bit closer to the endgame. Rhaenyra is ready to take Tumbleton; Ormund has all his pieces in place, and Aegon has made a very unexpected move. 

The episode has a lot to unpack, especially what this ending means for the story going ahead.

Rhaenyra started in the series as the rightful heir of the Iron Throne who was fighting for her birthright. She was always set up as the noble one - the one who deserved to be the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. However, the season saw her lose her way little by little; ultimately, the finale revealed an entirely changed Rhaenyra who has now forsaken every ounce of goodness for the Iron Throne.

She is ruthless, insecure, weary, and above all selfish when it comes to her claim to the Iron Throne. In the season finale, she completely loses the concept of good and bad and proceeds with her allies and foes however she pleases. She disposes of Mysaria unceremoniously, banishing her to Pentos, now that she has no use for her and Daemon is all she needs. 

Until just the last episode, Lady Mysaria was her closest confidant and advisor, but the minute they both crossed the line and became more than that, Rheanyra knew she had another secret to keep from the public if she wished to keep the Iron Throne. Suddenly, Mysaria was a liability - a ticking time bomb that could set off any moment. She dealt with the situation rather harshly, which not only showed how cold-hearted she had become but also made an enemy out of Lady Mysaria at the worst time possible.

She treated Baela rather similarly when she came to her with concern for her grandfather, Lord Corlys. She came with plans for rescuing her grandsire and wanted to know what Rhaenyra was doing regarding the matter. The only thing she found out was that she did not care, and the only thing she was concerned with was the fall of Tumbleton and with it Ormund Hightower and Daeron Targaryen. She even laid a hand on Baela and called her an “insolent child” when she was confronted over her ways.

After she gave Daemon the marching orders to Tumbleton, she herself set out to muscle the High Septon into anointing her as the rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. But this time, she went fully armed with guards and her son and heir Joffrey. She is prepared to challenge the voice of faith if it does not speak in her favor, and she does exactly that after the High Septon once again refuses to anoint her. She has the head of the Septon executed by Ser Alyn. 

Finally, her speech to the subjects about Aegon’s dream and how far she has fallen into the prophecy of the promised prince and has led herself to believe that she is the one who will stop the threat from the North. Her side now no longer appears to be the good side - one that the viewers rooted for during the first two seasons. Now, Rhaenyra is set for a darker path ahead, and whether she regains her senses or loses them completely remains to be seen in the upcoming season.

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Her warped sensibilities and clouded judgment led her to sanction a battle that had no real winners at the end. 

Rhaenyra sent Daemon with a sizeable army to take over Tumbleton, but cautioned him to be mindful of the b********, as the realm will be watching how Rhaenyra tackles the situation and what she is willing to sacrifice in return for victory. But war rarely gives you a chance to be fair and forgiving, and this one was definitely not the type to spare anyone.

When Daemon arrives on the back of Caraxes at the gates of Tubletown with hundreds of Rivermen and Northmen waiting for him, it strikes an obvious fear down Ser Gwayne and Daeron’s spines. And after seeing Ormund disappointed over something they do not fully know about, they conclude that they are doomed in this battle. 

Seeing no other option, Daeron strives to take wing against the enemy, which is fatal but noble. Gwayne, however, does not want this to be the end for his nephew, so he comes up with an idea. He went directly to negotiate for peace with Daeron, and he did not go empty-handed. He brought with him Lord Corlys and was ready to hand him over as a gesture of good faith. 

He only wanted Daemon to agree to let Daeron go free and rule from Oldtown, where he would be no challenge to Rhaenyra and her claim. Corlys was too sold on this plan and even tried to persuade Daemon in favor of this arrangement. Daemon, however, was hell-bent on eliminating all possible threats to Rhaenyra’s claim, and that meant completely getting rid of Daeron. Daemon humiliated Gwayne and sent him back to the walls of Tumbleton, while taking Lord Corlys prisoner for speaking on behalf of the Greens.

The war was about to start; Ormund sent children to the frontline, and he himself went in search of Ulf the White, who was meant to be his ace in the battle. He found him passed out in a lavatory, half-naked, and had to beat him into consciousness. After a humiliating thrashing, yet again, Ulf gets ready to take flight; however, the Blacks have already stormed the gates, and things are not looking great for the Greens.

Anyhow, Ulf’s entry changed everything for the Greens, with him raining hellfire on the black army from the sky; the tide started to shift in favor of the Hightowers. But this reversal of fortune was short-lived, as he turned to the Green army next and burned them to a crisp as well. Ormund finally met his end, and it was a gruesome one, while Daemon barely escaped with his life and was stunned to see the haunting scenes that the battle left in its wake.

At the end, everything burned to the ground in Tumbleton - the men, the women, and even the children. It was difficult to pick a winner in this whole carnage, but it might be the Blacks with a greater majority of their army still intact outside the gates. Ulf was chased off with his dragon, and Hugh, on the other hand, lost his wife, Kat. Daeron and Gwyane survived, but it seems unclear what their future holds now - will they escape or be taken prisoner by the Blacks?

This was the exact result one would expect in the clash of obsession and hubris. While a battle has been lost in Tumbleton, another battle seems to be brewing in Harrenhall.

The Targaryen brothers meet again to air out their misgivings against each other, but something was odd about this particular reunion. When Aegon arrived on Sunfyre, consumed with vengeance, Aemond just fell to his knees and accepted his fate without any fight. This was not like Aemond, and to understand the reason behind this sudden change, we need to go back a few minutes in time.

The last episode saw Aemond being poisoned by his mother, Alicent, and Alys saved his life once again. When Aemond woke up, Alys was still by his side, and when he was distraught over the fact that his mother poisoned him, she consoled him by sharing her haunting past. She revealed that she had been cursed to live in the dooms of Harrenhall forever, and had been alive for over a hundred years now.   

Aegon the Conqueror’s attack on Harrenhall left everything burning for days. Among everything that burned was her son, whose life was hanging by a thread after the attack. She used everything, including forbidden incantations, but could not save her son. But the real tragedy was that when she wanted to follow her son in death, she could not, and that is when she realised the price of those forbidden efforts. 

The revelation broke Aemond too, along with Alys, and for the first time perhaps, he accepted her wholeheartedly. It might be the fickle nature of life, or the wicked ways of fate, or just his mother’s betrayal that triggered the change, but the change was big, big enough to annoy Aegon, who was there expecting a fight but got a guilt-ridden brother who was there waiting for retribution.

Aegon, however, did not wish to make it easy on him by simply sentencing him to death. He had something else as his punishment. He decided that he and Aemond would first find Vhagar, and they together would take King’s Landing and secure his throne, and then he would decide if he wanted to forgive his stupid younger brother or not. 

The Targaryen brothers seem to have joined forces, at least for the time being, but they are too late to save someone very close to them.

In House of the Dragon episode 7, we saw Halena struggling as Rhaenyra’s hostage, who is now even stricter with her after she tried to escape with her mother, Alicent. And now, with Alicent no longer by her side, she is finding it even more unbearable. She has not touched food for days, and Rhaenyra is worried about the baby. Furthermore, a departing Lady Mysaria plants seeds of distrust in Halena against the Queen. 

Halena is now weary of Rhaenyra’s intentions and confronts her over her ways and her motivations that have led to the war. Her words act like a mirror for Rhaenyra, and when she sees her reflection in it, she does not like what she sees. Furious at her insolence, she gets her to be fed forcefully by the guards, which was an extreme measure considering she promised Alicent to be fair to Halena while she is gone.       

Amidst her suffering, she has another dream, which was hard to decipher what it was, but whatever it was, it acted as fuel for Halena to do what she was going to do next. She jumped out of the window of her chambers, k****** herself and her baby as a result. Rhaenyra is shocked, but what is more shocking to her is what she left behind. She drew a future for Rhaenyra on the cloth that did not look so good.

That was some way to end a season - total loss and destruction everywhere, with just a little hope for the Targaryen brothers. There has been some astronomical shift in standing between Aegon and Rhaenyra, where the latter has only fallen in regard while Aemond seems to be reborn a more honorable man than before. The flip in characteristics drastically changes the likability of these characters and also which way the viewers’ support lies. Now, everyone is looking forward to the next season to find out how the Targaryen civil war will finally end. 

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Who are you rooting for now in this war - Rhaenyra or Aegon? Do let us know in the comments.