Warning: SPOILERS For House Of The Dragon Season 3, Episode 2 - "Queen's Landing"
One House of the Dragon character has the golden opportunity to end the bloody Targaryen civil war by doing nothing, but she won't. It's not how it plays out in George R.R. Martin's "Fire and Blood," nor will it be what happens in season 3 of HBO's hit Game of Thrones prequel.
House of the Dragon season 3 has been immensely satisfying from the get-go, from the gruesomely spectacular Battle of the Gullet to the long-awaited sight of Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) claiming the Iron Throne at the end of House of the Dragon season 3, episode 2.
Rhaenyra's ascension was made possible thanks to Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) convincing Prince Regent Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) to leave King's Landing for Harrenhal. Aemond attacked Harrenhal with the fiery might of his dragon, Vhagar.
However, in a stunning twist not in "Fire and Blood," Aemond was stabbed after he killed Ser Simon Strong (Simon Russell Beale).
Warning: Possible SPOILERS For House of the Dragon Season 3Aemond was shocked when he realized that he was mortally wounded by a random servant of Simon Strong. Terrified, the Targaryen regent collapsed in front of Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin), pleading, "Help me!" All Alys has to do is nothing. If she lets Aemond die, the Targaryen civil war could essentially be over right there.
House of the Dragon season 3's premiere proved the sailing skills of Corlys Velaryon and Admiral Lohar are superior to Game of Thrones' Greyjoys.
If Aemond dies, then Team Green's greatest advantage — Vhagar — has no rider. Even when Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) and Ser Gwayne Hightower's (Freddie Fox) army takes Harrenhal, the eventual assault by Daemon Targaryen's (Matt Smith) forces could defeat them, especially if Daemon arrives with his and Rhaenyra's other dragons.
The only remaining threat if Aemond dies would be King Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Lord Larys Strong (Matthew Needham), who are on the run to Dragonstone in the hopes of one day returning to the Iron Throne. But the loss of Aemond would end the immediate threat of Team Green and end the bloody conflict in favor of Queen Rhaenyra.
All of this could happen if Alys Rivers simply lets Aemond die at her feet. However, she will save him. According to George R.R. Martin's "Fire and Blood," Alys and Aemond become lovers. Aemond's life in peril is an ingenious and unexpected twist from the source material, but the Harrenhal witch will keep the one-eyed Targaryen prince from dying, prolonging the Dance of the Dragons.
Alys Rivers having the chance to end the Dance of the Dragons by simply doing nothing to save Aemond Targaryen is, itself, a twist on a critical turning point in House of the Dragon season 1. Princess Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) could have prevented the Dance of the Dragons from happening at all when she disrupted King Aegon's coronation with her dragon, Meleys.
All Rhaenys had to do was say, "Dracarys!" and Meleys would have burned Aegon, Alicent, and the entire Hightower family to ashes. This would have punished the usurpers to Rhaenyra's throne and prevented the deaths of thousands, including Rhaenys and Meleys' own deaths at the hands of Aemond and Vhagar in House of the Dragon season 2.
Of course, Rhaenys couldn't kill the Hightowers at that point, because then there would be no show and story for House of the Dragon to tell. Yet that doesn't make Rhaenys' decision any less frustrating for viewers. Rhaenyra even called out Rhaenys' decision not to prevent the Targaryen civil war from starting, and a multitude of tragedies stemmed from the inaction of the Queen Who Never Was.
House of the Dragon season 3 courts the same frustration again, because viewers know that Alys Rivers has the chance to stop the bloodshed yet to come by letting arguably the biggest threat to Rhaenyra die. Alys likely doesn't know, at this point, that Rhaenyra has taken King's Landing, and how close the war is to being over.
The easiest thing in House of the Dragon for Alys to do is nothing, but she is bound to save Aemond and play her part in the continuation of the Dance of the Dragons. Yet the audience will always know and hold Alys' next actions against her, knowing what could have happened otherwise.
