The thing about conflict is that it can go a few ways: the people in conflict with each other can talk it out and work together towards resolution; or they can try to move beyond it but there could be lingering feelings of resentment and the friendship or family ties start to fade over time or it could lead to betrayal, anger and bitterness that builds up to the point of physical, mental and emotional violence/strain. The Targaryens are not a family that deals well with conflict and trauma. If there were ever a poster family for therapy, House Targaryen would be it. The finale was fraught with one betrayal after another. To start, Ulf White (Tom Bennett) was tired of being treated with such disrespect and vehemence from Team Black and Team Green. Switching sides wasn’t all it was cut out to be – 
and when Ulf fails to appear on his dragon and is nowhere to be seen during the battle of Tumbleton, tempers flare out of control. He gets smacked around and humiliated again – being found unconscious in a privy, beat up for failing to do his part – Ulf has had enough. He’s Team Ulf from here on in. Gwayne (Freddy Fox, pictured) understands that the Greens will not survive if the Blacks wage war. Even in trying to negotiate with Daemon, while using Corlys as a means of bargaining, it didn’t matter in the end. And Ormund – what a cowardly slimeball – enlisting children to fight your battle. What a coward, a monster, and a scumbag of the lowest kind. In war, there are no winners. Period. Everyone has something to lose. This realization comes too late for everyone involved.
Daemon realizes that war is not glorious and that lives are viciously torn apart. Ser John Roxton and Daemon fought to the death in a horrifying duel, amidst smoke, carnage, and the wails of frightened people. It was in that moment that Daemon truly understood that Team Black was lost. Seeing Ulf on his dragon, with fire spilling across the land, and having one of your Dragon seeds switch sides is nothing short of demoralizing, to say the least. Hugh searches for his wife in desperation. With the battle raging on, smoke everywhere, the sounds and sights of death around him, Hugh arrives to find his wife has died. This is the final straw – he has lost his daughter, his wife, and has had nothing given to him by Rhaenyra. Why would you want to support a tyrant at this point? The Winter Wolves unleashed hell during the battle. My God, the amount of carnage on screen was bad enough – but to see Ormund Hightower’s demise at the hands of Roddy the Ruin…whelp. Not for the faint at heart. Between the fire from the sky and soldiers running rampant with axes and swords, the chance of coming out alive was slim to none. Dearon is missing. Gwayne is distraught, trying to find him. And where the hell is Oscar Tully?!
Aegon is coming back from the dead to understand that his brother wanted him dead and his half-sister has taken King’s Landing. The reunion at Harrenhal between these two brothers was fraught with tension. Can you blame Aegon for being so furious? And the startling revelation from Alys Rivers (Gail Rankin, pictured)? That she is older than a century and that she was the wife of Harren the Black?! My God, no wonder she’s been so protective of the ruined castle. She’s had a long and heartbreaking history with it. But she seeks out her like, and she and Aemond are a perfect pair: both outcasts, both wanting something more in this life, and both so lonely and misunderstood. Has there ever been a family so beset with one problem after another, like the Targaryens?
There is Myseria, who is being ousted because she has become a liability. Ever spiteful, her last jab to get back at Rhaenyra is through Helaena: she’s exiting the castle while Helaena is about to go inside. Myseria issues a cryptic warning: that her unborn child will be held hostage and that Rhaenyra will use the child as a political pawn. If Rhaenyra was smart, she would’ve had Myseria sent to the black cells of poisoned her to death. Rhaenyra has become a tyrant – cruel, paranoid, and obsessed with the prophecy of being the Prince that was Promised. In giving that speech to the smallfolk, you could see that she was losing their confidence. She came across as hardened, maniacal, and unhinged for the smallfolk to see. When power begins to corrupt your monarch, the people tend to feel one of two emotions: fear or anger. We know that once she started rambling on in High Valyrian, she lost the common people that she is supposed to serve. What could have been a rousing speech to bring her people to her cause turned out to backfire. She had the High Septon murdered. Her brother Aegon and Sunfyre have been declared alive. Her claim to the Iron Throne has been severely undermined.
Helaena (Phia Saban, pictured) is the only Targaryen who did not want any part of anything destructive, horrifying, or detrimental. To see Helaena neglected this season, being ignored, with nobody to help her out of her despair and mental anguish, and her having to hide her pregnancy from everyone – this woman was crying out for help, and nobody cared. Her suicide at the end of the episode was so 
devastating. She was a woman who was grieving her son, her unhappy marriage, her unhappy place in life, and the only way she felt she could claim some autonomy back was to leave the world. And fans were bereft. The smallfolk will not be happy about this. Rhaenyra has blood on her hands. The smallfolk – once they hear about the murder of the High Septon, and of Aegon’s return to King’s Landing, plus the horrifying news of Helaena’s death – the people are either for you or against you.
Clearly, Rhaenyra believes she is the chosen ruler. I have a feeling Season Four is going to show how very wrong she ended up being and how she turned into a very poor, out-of-touch ruler. But for that, we’ll have to wait. We hope you have enjoyed the third season of House of the Dragon.
