HBOHouse of the Dragon is in its final phase. When the HBO prequel series premiered in 2022, it confirmed that Game of Thrones was here to stay as a franchise. But unlike Game of Thrones, it has a firm ending in sight. Season 3 of House of the Dragon just ended, and Season 4 will be likely be its last, so the Dance of Dragons between the two warring sides of the Targaryen family will have to finish by then. However, the matter of how this show will end is a lot more confusing. Season by season, House of the Dragon has changed key parts of the source material, George R. R. Martin’s Fire & Blood. All those changes could build up to a wildly different ending, but first, let’s break down how this story ends in the book. Warning! Spoilers for Fire & Blood ahead!If we pick up after the First Battle of Tumbleton, the battle shown in the Season 3 finale, then the next big event in the Dance of Dragons is the Fall of Dragonstone, where Aegon and Sunfyre take Dragonstone and defeat Baela and Moondancer. Moondancer falls in the battle, but Baela survives and is taken hostage. At this point, the sides of the conflict have swapped headquarters, with Rhaenyra at King’s Landing and Aegon at Dragonstone. In Fire & Blood, Aegon and Sunfyre take Dragonstone after they are reunited. | HBORhaenyra gets jealous of Dragonseed Nettles, who was possibly having an affair with Daemon. Knowing that Rhaenyra was after Nettles and therefore him, he sets off for Harrenhal, where Aemond has been hiding out. What follows is The Battle of the God’s Eye, where Daemon and Aemond face off on their dragons above the God’s Eye, the biggest lake in Westeros. There is no winner of the battle, as both Targaryens and their dragons fell into the lake, never to be seen again. Meanwhile, back on King’s Landing, Rhaenyra loses her already-tenuous grasp on the people of King’s Landing. After Helaena had thrown herself out the window, many of the smallfolk believe that she was actually murdered by the Gold Cloaks at Rhaenyra’s command, and they lose all faith in the reigning queen. Egged on by a mysterious prophet known as the Preacher, the people of King’s Landing storm the Dragonpit. This tragic event results in the loss of multiple dragons, including the late Jahaerys’ dragon Shrykos, Jahaera’s dragon Morghul, Joffrey’s dragon Tyraxes, and Helaena’s dragon Dreamfyre. Joffrey rides his motther’s dragon, Syrax, to try and fend off the dragonslayers, but both him and Syrax fall in the battle. After that point, many of the Dragons held by the Blacks are wiped off the board, but that isn’t the end of things. The Hightowers, still posted up in Tumbleton, plan a siege on King’s Landing, but are interrupted by Addam Velaryon on Seasmoke and an army from the Riverlands. The Second Battle of Tumbleton has many casualties on the Green side, including Daeron Targaryen, Hugh Hammer, Jon Roxton, Tessarion, and Vermithor. Addam and Seasmoke also perish, and Ulf White is assassinated not long after.Unfortunately, Rhaenyra doesn’t survive the Dance of Dragons. | HBOEven though she technically wins the Second Battle of Tumbleton, Rhaenyra is still at a disadvantage. Accompanied by her only remaining son, Aegon the Younger, she sells her crown to pay for a trip back to Dragonstone. There she is met by Aegon and Sunfyre, where she meets her demise at the hands (or jaws) of Sunfyre, with Aegon the Elder making his young nephew watch as his mother is devoured.With Rhaenyra gone, it seems like Aegon has a unrivaled claim to the throne, but that isn’t the end to everything just yet. Lord Cregan Stark is still loyal to the Blacks and marches on King’s Landing. King Aegon II (Aegon the Elder) seems cornered, but he takes Aegon the Younger hostage, which keeps him safe. Unfortunately, the king is found poisoned not long after. Finally, the Dance of the Dragons officially ends when Aegon the Younger, now King Aegon III, is wed to his cousin Jahaera Targaryen. With only a handful of surviving dragons and about the same number of surviving Targaryens, it does spell the beginning of the end of the house of the dragon. But is that how we’ll see the end of House of the Dragon? With the changes made to the story so far, some things — like Nettles hiding from Rhaenyra and Ulf being assassinated by the Greens — are impossible now. In Game of Thrones, Joffrey Baratheon does tell Margaery Tyrell that Rhaenyra was eaten by Aegon’s dragon, but aside from that, anything’s on the table. House of the Dragon Season 3 is now streaming on HBO Max.