House Of The Dragon's [Spoiler] Dies In Season 3 Finale, And That's Just The Start Of The Carnage — Read Recap

Now this? This feels like a "Game of Thrones"verse season-ender.

The "House of the Dragon" Season 2 finale frustrated with a sense of set-up but no pay off — for that, we had to wait until the Season 3 premiere's Battle of the Gullet. Episode 8 is the exact opposite, delivering a huge battle, a significant revelation, a despotic turn and lots of death, both on and off the field. Are you not entertained?!

Let's get right to it: Read on for the highlights of the Season 3 finale.

Grand Maester Orwyle bursts into Rhaenyra's bedroom with the same news that a crispy bunch of commoners near Rook's Rest found out last episode. "He is risen," the Black queen says minutes later as she arrives in Daemon's quarters, gulping air in her hurry and her emotional distress. "Aegon! Sunfyre is alive!"

Our girl is really and truly beside herself as she reports that Aegon's supporters are sending ravens near and far, claiming that his (and the dragon's) resurrection is proof that he was supposed to be king all along. She sobs as Daemon calmly reminds her that dragons care not for the opinions of sheep or whatever, but she's still fluttering around in a panic, so he switches to High Valyrian to tell her that this is her moment: "The only quality the realm understands is strength. You have always known this."

The sentiment seems to get through to her. She calms, then orders him to set a watch for Aegon's dragon, and to go to house-to-house in Tumbleton to "root out every Hightower, and kill them to the last man." However, she notes, the realm is watching: "Do not make a monster of me." She vows, once Daeron and Ormund are dead, to kill Aegon herself.

So she's a little occupied when Baela comes to her, wondering who's going to go look for the kidnapped and missing-a-finger Sea Snake. When she gets a less-than-satisfying answer, the younger woman blurts out, "It was your fault... that Lord Corlys was out there to be taken." (Dragon gasp!) Baela is like, what's more, you aren't even grateful! It gets more heated — at one point, Rhaenyra grabs Baela's face harshly and calls her an "insolent child" — and ends as Rhaenyra walks away after a veiled jab/threat at Baela's sister, Rhaena.

Meanwhile, Corlys' men arrive in King's Landing from Driftmark, ready to seek out their lord, but Alyn informs them their duty is to follow Rhaenyra's orders and keep the city safe. And who the heck is he to say, they wonder? So Addam introduces himself as Corlys' oldest living son "and named successor... your once and future Lord of the Tides."

Elinda lets Rhaenyra know that Helaena isn't eating, and the maesters are worried about her health and that of her baby. But all the Black queen can think about is her latest plan: to go to the Great Sept and force the High Septon to bless her rule in front of everyone, because then "There'll be no doubt who the gods have chosen to rule." Oh, and one more thing: Rhaenyra has Mysaria — who advised a conservative approach versus Daemon's fire-and-blood plan — kicked out of the castle, dismissed from her post with no reason and little warning.

Helaena is being escorted back into the castle after a brief respite outside when she walks through the courtyard and sees the gray mare from her vision. Mysaria, flanked by guards, passes her on the way out and quickly shares what she knows: Aegon is alive, Rhaenyra can't be trusted, and "your unborn child is a hostage, a prize by which she can hold power over her enemies. She will never release you."

When Rhaenyra eventually goes to Helaena, her sister has some harsh words for her: "Our father would hate you for this." OUCH. "All the things you care about are ugly," Helaena continues. "This place is ugly. You, yourself, ugly." Rhaenyra warns her to eat, "or you will force my hand." When the mother-to-be won't, Rhaenyra has soldiers hold her down and shovel soup into her mouth as she thrashes and cries.

Thanks to Alys' skill, Aemond didn't succumb to the poison Alicent slipped into his spiced wine. "You've realized you're alone in this world," Alys says to the dumbfounded prince, who can't believe the betrayal. "In that, we are together." He wonders why she cares about him at all, given that he's a kinslayer who's likely going to die in heinous fashion. "You should abandon me," he cautions. And that's when Alys feels ready to tell him her story.

She tearfully recalls long ago, when Balerion the dragon was used to burn Harrenhal, with the object of ending Lord Harren's line. "But his line was not so easily ended," she says, starting to cry. She tells the story of a boy who was burned and couldn't be healed by the maesters, so his mother "turned to older cures." She got involved in some seriously old, seriously primal forces, but the boy died anyway. "She tried to go with him," Alys says, "and that is when she learned the cost." Long story short, Alys is cursed to live forever, but only within the Riverlands, stripped of her title and castle and "sentenced to serve every ha'penny lord who came here to rule it."

Aemond notes the burning of the castle happened a century before. "It's a long time to be alone," she replies, the story essentially confirming that she was the wife/one of the wives of Lord Harren Hoare. (So that's what Gayle Rankin was alluding to.)  After hearing it all, Aemond pulls her near and kisses her.

Later, Aemond wakes to the sound of dragon wings flapping around the castle. When he finds the source, it's Sunfyre landing within the walls. Aemond falls to his knees, but Aegon greets him with a slap and a hilariously high-pitched, "I'm alive, imbecile!" Aemond begs for forgiveness, but Aegon isn't interested. Aegon meets his brother's contrition with suspicion — and Aemond's reference to Alys as his 'betrothed" with a raised eyebrow — but he's also got bigger problems right now. So he quickly outlines his plan: Find Vhagar, destroy Tumbleton, then retake King's Landing.

As Rhaenyra's forces head toward Tumbleton, Ormund lines the city wall with children (ugh) and has a conniption when Ulf is MIA. From a distance, Daeron wonders how they'll face all of the military force heading their way. "Bravely, and pointlessly," Gwayne quips. But when things really start to go south before the battle, Gwayne grabs Corlys and marches him out to where Daemon and his men are assembled outside the city. 

Behind Ormund's back, Gwayne offers to return Corlys to #TeamBlack as long as they can work out a way to share the rule of the Seven Kingdoms. Corlys comes up with an alternative alliance that keeps Rhaenyra on the throne, yet distributes power throughout the realm as well, but Daemon isn't interested. Corlys asks what Daemon wants from the war: "Victory, or a mountain of dead Hightowers?" I'll let you guess which he chooses.

So, the battle is on. The Greybeards lead the charge into Tumbleton. Inside the walls, Ulf is nowhere to be found, and Ormund's anger only grows when he learns that Gwayne tried for peace and lost Corlys in the process. Ormund himself finds Ulf, asleep on a toilet, and — after gagging from the stench — beats the stuffing out of the dragonrider for not following the plan. "You may have cost us everything!" Hightower yells. "Now, get back on that beast and do as you've been told!"

As Daemon awaits the signal to enter the city with his men, he gets word that Ulf isn't with his dragon and is missing. At the same time, Vermithor lands nearby, and Daemon wonders aloud why Hugh and the beast aren't guarding King's Landing as ordered. Frustrated, the king consort has had enough: He summons Caraxes, climbs on board, and has the beast set everything in its path aflame. Even though Ormund's soldiers throw the children they're hiding behind into Caraxes' path, Daemon has the dragon burn the gates to the city.

Ulf does get on his dragon, and Daemon's troops cheer when they first see him. But those cries turn to shouts of fear when Ulf orders the beast to "Dracarys" all of the assembled soldiers.

As that carnage is unfolding, Dustin and Ormund wind up fighting each other at the top of the wall. Ormund chops off Dustin's forearm, which spurts blood into Hightower's face and makes him gag. (Heh.) Then Dustin uses his remaining hand to stab Ormund. (Side note: At first, I thought he got him in the back. But after Dustin's comment, I replayed the moment and realized it's... lower.) But that's not how Ormund (or Dustin, for that matter) eventually die: Ulf swings by, sneers "F**k you, too," and grills everyone on the wall.

In the meantime, Daemon has made it into the city, and is hand-to-hand fighting all of the Hightower men in his path. The dragon raining down indiscriminate destruction leads to a building collapse right where Daemon is fighting Ser Roxton, ending their slugfest before either man dies. Later, when everything's in rubble, all Daemon can see are mothers cradling their dead children to them in the ashes. So much for preserving Rhaenyra's image, eh?

Daemon pulls his sword and goes in on the Hightower soldiers he comes across, but he's stopped by Corlys. "Ulf has turned. The town is lost. We are leaving," the Sea Snake says.

Elsewhere, Gwayne comes to after being knocked out and calls for Daeron, who is nowhere near. Might he have taken Gwayne's advice not to die for Ormund's vanity? In another part of the city, Ser Roxton finds Ormund's very bloody dead body. And Hugh locates his wife, Kat, and screams when he realizes she's dead, too.

In King's Landing, Rhaenyra dresses like Joan of Arc, grabs son Joffrey, and arrives at the Great Sept... where the High Septon is as unwilling to anoint her as he was a few episodes back. "Then you name yourself a traitor," she declares. So she has Alyn kill the holy man as she sniffs that the gods of Old Valyria are better, anyway. Then she goes outside and addresses the gathered common folk, talking a big game about how only she can oversee the protection of the world. "I am the shield of the people. I am Rhaenyra the chosen," she yells, adding in High Valyrian, "I am the Prince That Was Promised." While she Eva Perons from the stairs of the sept, we see that Mysaria hasn't left the city, after all, and is standing in the crowd with a look of concern on her face.

The Black queen has just returned to the Red Keep when Elinda yells for her. The queen immediately goes to Helaena's bedroom to find the window wide open: Helaena has jumped to her death. Wherever Alicent is — ostensibly on her way back to King's Landing — a bunch of butterflies suddenly fly around her.

Rhaenyra picks up Helaena's embroidery to find that her sister depicted her own suicide in the intricate design. In another panel, Rhaenyra sits the Iron Throne while dragons, flames, and writhing victims fill the cloth behind her. Rhaenyra thinks for a moment, tosses the tapestry on the floor, then closes the window.

Now it's your turn. What did you think of the finale? Grade it — and the season as a whole — via the polls below, then hit the comments with your thoughts!

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