Warning: Contains major SPOILERS for House of the Dragon season 2’s finale.
Summary
House of the Dragonseason 2, episode 8 brings the show’s sophomore outing to a close, with a finale that’s often great, but also frustrating in parts. There’s a lot to get through in the finale, which reunites Rhaenyra Targaryen with both Daemon Targaryen and Alicent Hightower, sees King Aegon II Targaryen smuggled out of King’s Landing by Larys Strong, and multiple visions that portend a lot of doom. It has to wrap-up some season-long arcs while also setting upHouse of the Dragonseason 3and, for the most part, it successfully does just that.
Rhaenyra’s Scenes With Daemon & Alicent Are Fantastic
Emma D’Arcy Is At Their Best When Paired With Matt Smith Or Olivia Cooke
Rhaenyra Targaryen has already had brilliant scenes with both Daemon Targaryen and Alicent Hightower in season 2 - the former in episode 2, the latter in episode 3 - and we’re treated to one more of each in the finale.Emma D’Arcy is always superb, but when the leads ofHouse of the Dragon’s castcome together, there’s real magic.
Once again, these scenes are so well played by D’Arcy and Matt Smith; they bounce off one another so well, and there’s a real spark, it’s fiery, and also a little funny.
I’ll admit I’m a sucker forRhaenyra and Daemon conversing in High Valyrian(and clearly writer Sarah Hess is too), so I loved their reunion at Harrenhal where, finally, he re-pledges his allegiance and bends the knee. Once again, these scenes are so well played by D’Arcy and Matt Smith; they bounce off one another so well, and there’s a real spark, it’s fiery, and also a little funny. It serves to bring them back together and push their arcs forward, as one, and these two together is something that’s been sorely lacking in season 2.
The same can also be said for D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke. What’s really impressive, including in this conversation, is how they capture the versions of the characters they didn’t even play. We feel their longing for a friendship that has long gone, the love that once existed turned to hate and a hope that something still exists. There’s a little petulance in Rhaenyra (like when she tells Alicent to go), but it also reverses their roles in a fantastic way.
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It is now Alicent, not Rhaenyra, who longs for freedom, who rebels against her duty. Rhaenyra, meanwhile, refuses to stray from the path she feels is ordained by the gods. I was a little wary of Alicent going to Dragonstone and how it might play out, in case it tried too hard to soften her edges or weaken her character. But I don’t think it does that: it’s clear where Alicent has gone wrong and why, but there’s a real pathos, power, and tragedy to their encounter that I ended up loving.
House Of The Dragon Season 2’s Finale Has Multiple Great Character Moments
Conversations Big & Small Are Once Again What Makes This Show Work
House of the Dragon, likeGame of Thronesbefore it, is built on character work, not epic battles or dragons flying across the sky. Those things are undeniably cool and, when done right, truly spectacular, but they need the character dynamics underpinning them for any of them to matter, and I’ll almost always like it when we get a scene that’s just two or three characters in a room with sharp dialogue and great actors playing off one another.
King Aegon II Targaryen and Larys Strong have emerged as one of the best pairings in the entire show, and perhaps the one that most captures the brilliant political machinations of Game of Thrones.
We get several such scenes in theHouse of the Dragonseason 2 finale.King Aegon II Targaryen and Larys Stronghave emerged as one of the best pairings in the entire show, and perhaps the one that most captures the brilliant political machinations ofGame of Thrones. Both of these characters have done monstrous things, and yet the show has found a way to bring them together by their unified tragedies in a way that makes both more understandable, without forgiving their previous sins.
Similar is true for Ser Criston Cole in this episode, who gets to deliver a big speech about honor to Gwayne Hightower. Cole has long been the most loathsome guy even on Team Green, butthere’s a sorrow and an openness that’s almost even earnest to Fabian Frankel’s performancehere that humanizes him a lot more than the show has done previously.
House Of The Dragon Season 2 Ending Explained: What Happens Next?
House of the Dragon season 2’s finale brings with it some major reveals and moments, and sets up even bigger things to come in season 3.
Alyn of Hull’s conversation with Corlys Velaryon does something similar, too. Similar to Jacaerys Velaryon’s outburst at Rhaenyra last week, it gives us a true understanding of what life was like growing up as a bastard, and given he didn’t have any comforts, there’s even more raw emotion to it. I’ll admit I’d grown tired of seeing Alyn and Corlys in the same setting having the same brief conversation week after week, but Alyn finally cutting through the niceties makes it worthwhile.
Speaking of Jace, he was also part of some very good scenes this week, most notably his encounters withUlf the White. They really highlighted a contrast between the highborns and the smallfolk in a way we don’t get to see two often, because it’s rare to find them sat at the same table.House of the Dragonhas often been a bit too self-serious, something Ulf even calls out when saying they could all do with a sense of humor, and that’s exactly what he adds to the finale.
There are lots of other similar character moments that are excellent too, including a couple with Aemond and Helaena Targaryen (which suggest thatEwan Mitchell and Phia Saban are an underused pairing). It doesn’t all work, though. The Tyland Lannister scenes with the Triarchy do have some humor and are a bit of fun, but given this is the finale, and it’s introducing new characters, I think there’s probably too much of it, on balance, that could’ve gone elsewhere.
Who Wins The Dance Of The Dragons? It’s Complicated
In the Dance of the Dragons, Targaryens fought Targaryens in a blood feud that consumed Westeros. But who really won that “game of thrones?”
One example would be Rhaena Targaryen, who has now had multiple similar scenes of her chasing thewild dragon in the Vale of Arryn. Her seeing the dragon at the very end was good, but spending more time with her in a way that truly expanded her character, or her sister Baela, who has also been rather overlooked, could’ve benefited not just this episode, but the season as a whole.
Daemon’s Visions Fall Into A Frustrating Franchise Trap To Connect To Game Of Thrones
Seeing Daenerys And A White Walker Was A Bit Too Much
House of the Dragonseason 2 saved Daemon’s biggest vision for last, as he sees into the future of Westeros, including the Three-Eyed Raven, a White Walker, and Daenerys Targaryen. I can see why they included it and how they try to connect it to Daemon’s arc and why he bends the knee to Rhaenyra, butI’d have preferred the show to avoid so directly connecting toGame of Thrones.
Daemon’s Vision Explained: Daenerys Targaryen, White Walker & More Game Of Thrones Connections
Daemon Targaryen has more visions at Harrenhal in House of the Dragon’s season 2 finale, connecting to his story, Rhaenyra, and even Game of Thrones.
So many prequels often fall into the trap of doing too much to set up the part of the franchise that comes after them. This was somethingHouse of the Dragon’s timelinewas set to avoid, since there’s such a large gap untilGame of Thrones. Even Aegon the Conqueror’s song of ice and fire dream avoided it, as it was very much about how it affects the story at hand. This is doing that same thing in part, but because we actually see a White Walker and Daenerys, it’s going a bit too far in linking them all together.
…So overtly stretching that through to the Three-Eyed Raven (which also connects to the next Game of Thrones spinoff, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms) and then Dany is the kind of franchise-servicing (and overshadowing) trick you’d expect from the MCU or Star Wars, and HBO should be wary of overdoing that.
Aegon’s dream works as a motivation for Rhaenyra, fitting with her growing god complex and belief that she has a divine right to rule. It also carries a sense of tragic irony, in that the prophecy Aegon used to unite the realm is currently destroying it. But then so overtly stretching that through to the Three-Eyed Raven (which also connects to the nextGame of Thronesspinoff,A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms) and then Dany is the kind of franchise-servicing (and overshadowing) trick you’d expect from the MCU or Star Wars, and HBO should be wary of overdoing that.
Full Explanation Of Aegon’s Dream & How It Retcons Game Of Thrones
House of the Dragon seasons 1 & 2 have both dealt with Aegon the Conqueror’s A Song of Ice and Fire dream, which has a big impact on Game of Thrones.
House Of The Dragon’s Season 2 Finale Is A Lot Of Setup For Season 3
For Better And For Worse
There’s no getting away from the fact thata lot ofHouse of the Dragonseason 2’s finale is setting up season 3, which itself comes after a lot of"the real war starts now"promises following on from season 1. That may well be frustrating to some viewers, especially as I have seen several"nothing’s happened"complaints, though I think there are pros and cons to it.
For the most part, I think this season has largely delivered, and so much of the setup for season 3 is earned and works. After all, we get a payoff to Rhaenyra and Daemon’s arc, it’s concluded the dragonseeds story, and a lot of power dynamics have shifted in King’s Landing with Alicent’s search for freedom, Aemond taking power, and King Aegon being forced to leave the city.
If this season were to conclude with, say, the Battle of the Gullet, it’d probably make more sense.
At the same time, the montage that closes it out - accompanied by a truly epic score from Ramin Djawadi - does feel a little like a compromise, and that the show might’ve been better with a 10-episode season. Writer Sarah Hess toldEWthat it wasn’t really their"choice"to have a truncated run, and I think you can feel a little bit of that in the finale. If this season were to conclude with, say, the Battle of the Gullet, it’d probably make more sense.
House of the Dragonseason 3 has been confirmed by HBO.
That isn’t what we got, though, and it’s worth remembering just a few episodes ago we did get one of the most epic battle sequences inGame of Throneshistory. Despite the problems, the setup forHouse of the Dragonseason 3 does feel exciting, even if there’ll likely be another painful two-year wait for it to payoff.
House of the Dragon
Cast
House of the Dragon is a 2022 fantasy drama set in the world of Westeros, chronicling the Targaryen dynasty at its height. The story revolves around King Viserys’s controversial decision to name his daughter Rhaenyra as heir to the Iron Throne, sparking tensions and divisions within the realm.
