The queen that never was is now officially the queen that never will be. On the fourth episode of House of the Dragon, “The Red Dragon and the Gold,” Princess Rhaenys met her untimely demise during an epic battle between Team Black and Team Green that may have also taken the life of King Aegon. Halfway through the second season of House of the Dragon, Still Watching hosts Hillary Busis, Richard Lawson, and Chris Murphy take stock of the show’s mounting death toll and chat with Eve Best, a.k.a. Rhaenys herself, about saying goodbye to the selfless princess.

Before the battle at Rook's Rest, things are already looking shaky for Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and Team Black. Her uncle-husband Daemon (Matt Smith) continues having visions of slaying young Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) during his stay at Harrenhal—an estate which, according to Harrenhal's substitute maester and probable witch Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin), is haunted. Meanwhile, Rhaenyra's council is in disarray in her absence as she returns from her unsuccessful trip to convince Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) to stop the fighting before it goes any further.

Things are slightly less chaotic for Team Green as Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) continues to conquer castles in his quest to secure King Aegon's spot on the Iron Throne. But back in King's Landing, Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) feels his his grip on his council slipping and shifting to his younger brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) as Alicent surreptitiously attempts to get rid of an out-of-wedlock pregnancy.

Everything comes to a head at the small but crucial castle Rook's Rest, an unexpected diversion devised by Ser Criston and Aemond. As the battle plays out, Rhaenys and her dragon, Maelys, do some serious damage to Aegon's army, but wind up being no match for Aemond and Aegon—who turns up unexpectedly—and their dragons. After a ferocious effort, Rhaenys falls off Maelys as they both plummet from the sky to their deaths—but not without making their mark. King Aegon and his dragon are both down for the count at the episode's end, throwing the future of the Iron Throne back up for grabs.

Although Rhaenys's arc on House of the Dragon has come to an end, for veteran British actress Eve Best, the journey is never really over. “I don't really feel she's gone. I never feel that,” Best says while appearing on Still Watching. “I've been killed so many different ways in the past with different characters. I've been burned, stabbed, bitten by a snake. But I've never fallen off a dragon.”

Before that great fall, Rhaenys meets Alyn (Abubakar Salim), the shipman who saved her husband Lord Corlys (Steve Toussaint) from death at sea—and who very well might be Corlys illegitimate child and a potential heir to Driftmark. “She's so heartbroken about it,” says Best of Lord Corlys's potential indiscretion. “That betrayal and that infidelity. But it remains in a slightly ambiguous place. It's not spelled out. It feels like by the end her only real ally is her dragon, Maelys."

Filming that epic final battle scene with Maelys was a strenuous two-week process that she underwent only at the very end of shooting season two. “It was quite intense physically, because it is all CGI,” says Best. “It's electronic, moving. It's like the size of a small cottage, really. You're strapped on what feels like the roof of this small house, and then it starts moving around.” Riding the mechanical dragon, Best said, was “phenomenally uncomfortable,” but nevertheless she persisted. “I kept asking for more cushions because I felt like I just needed more padding on my bum,” she says.

Rhaenys's death scene was actually the last scene shot of the season. “I was feeling quite emotional and a bit like, 'Oh god, this is going to be weird and intense,' but I've just got to get on and hope that it goes okay," says the actor, recalling that final day. “In the morning, Ryan [Condal] got all the crew together, and there was a major lovely speech and a farewell thing. It sort of made it all worse because I was feeling even more emotional, even more pressure.”

Despite the discomfort and the pressure, Best was able to nail the final moments when Rhaenys falls off Maelys. “I don't think she's thinking. It's a letting go of all thought,” says Best of the princess’s state of mind at that moment. “It's a moment of peace. The movement was a physical release. It was literal letting go of the dragon. And it's an emotional and spiritual release. A total let go for somebody who has been holding everything and everyone. To let go of all of that, and to surrender is such a relief.”

How will Team Black react to the news of Rhaenys's death? Did Aegon survive his fall? We're now halfway through House of the Dragon season two, and the Iron Throne has never felt more up for grabs. Stay tuned and send an email to Still Watching at our new email address stillwatching@vanityfair.com with all your thoughts and theories about who will emerge victorious on House of the Dragon season two.