House of the Dragon Season 3 Ending Explained: How the Devastating Finale Changes Fire & Blood and Sets Up the Final War

Spoilers follow for both House of the Dragon and the book Fire & Blood. Season 3 of House of the Dragon has come to an end, and with it so too has any chance of Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) being the hero of this show. While her heel turn wasn’t as abrupt as and was far better developed than how Game of Thrones handled Daenerys’ descent into villainy, it seems the Iron Throne truly does corrupt, physically or morally, every Targaryen who occupies it. By the final moments of this episode, Rhaenyra has fully gone over to the Dark Side. She ultimately chooses to sacrifice her humanity in pursuit of power and to win the war against the Greens. The Mad King: 9 Things We Learned About Westeros From the New Game of Thrones Play Series co-creator and showrunner Ryan Condal joined D’Arcy in a virtual press conference for the season finale, where they spoke about Rhaenyra’s descent into tyranny. “We had always looked at Rhaenyra being torn between Viserys' philosophy, which is somewhat embodied by Mysaria. It's somewhat embodied by Alicent in her conversations with them. And then Daemon, which is the fire and blood, rule by dragons, uncompromising. It's very, very black and white to him