The Gullet! The battles! The blood! The finale happened, and we are ready to get into it!
First, however, here’s a quick reminder to catch our show, “Decoding Dragons,” where my co-host Liza Pheonix and I break down all things House of the Dragon (also available on YouTube and podcast format) every week. We dive deep into lore, symbolism, easter eggs, and even more of Westeros and Game of Thrones. If you don’t have 40 minutes to listen or watch, but you do have a few minutes to read, continue forth, my Lords and Ladies. If you don’t want to get burned by spoilers, I suggest watching the 8th episode before sneaking into the castle of a Queen with no security.
I have to start this off with a ‘what the heck, ya’ll’. There was no battle, no blood, and only one growl, and that was after the fire. Was this the most underrated finale of any show ever? Was this season good enough to end on anticipation alone? The answer is no. It was not. I recommend listening to Decoding Dragons for all that tea.
The growl mentioned above comes from Vhagar after Aemond runs off and burns Sharp Point to the ground in a huff since he found out his half-sister now has more dragon riders. It doesn’t stop there, however. He gets back to the Red Keep and confronts Helaena in front of Alicent about getting on Dreamfyre and protecting the people and their status as Targaryens. Alicent promptly argues, making Aemond grab Helaena’s wrist and drag her off. Alicent’s only offense is a mean look and hateful words. I’m sure half of her words were to protect her daughter, and the other half was to get a jab back in at Aemond for the way he dismissed her from the Small Council.
Since Aemond’s return to King’s Landing means no one is safe, Larys meets with Aegon to plot his escape from certain death at the hands of his younger brother. Larys knows Aemond will do anything for the throne, which causes Aegon to realize he is, in fact, in danger. More on this in a little bit.
Tyland Lannister is busy in Tyrosh, trying to make peace with the Triarchy. You will remember that term from last season when Corlys, Daemon, and Laenor defeated the Crabfeeder and Triarchy at the Step Stones. Last episode, Aemond said he wanted to make peace with them, so the Step Stones could be on their side and break the blockade. Tyland is working on that by mud-wrestling a female pirate captain and impregnating her wives. You heard me.
We do get haunted Daemon, but it actually has a point this time. Alys takes him to the Weirwood tree to show him the vision that he apparently wouldn’t have understood until he went through all of his guilt, hauntings, and dreams. She shows him the Song of Ice and Fire, and he sees that Rhaenyra is the player, not just a player, and the Prince who was promised is confirmed to be Daenerys (in the show), who comes from Daemon and Rhaenyra’s line. We see Helaena speaking to him through her visions, ensuring he knows he is a pawn on the large board. This was really cool, as we see Helaena get interrupted by Aemond, who is making his point about getting her to ride Dreamfyre.
Once news gets back to Rhaenyra that no one knows what Daemon is up to, she hops on Syrax and confronts him about it. Why wasn’t this an option before? Answer unknown. Anywho, once she shows up to Daemon and all of his Riverlords, he makes it clear that she is the Protector of the Realm and the one True Queen and attempts a “King of the North” scene. Swords in the air, he is the king consort, and he understands why Viserys gave the crown to Rhaenyra. Our parents are back together after all!
Rhaena is starving and dehydrated and searching for this wild dragon on her own. She’s drinking stream water and sleeping in the cold! This dragon better be worth it. She finally comes face to face with the wild creature, and… that’s it. We don’t even get a boop.
Criston and Gwayne march to meet Daemon at Harrenhal and they finally confront the elephant in the room. Criston realizes his desires for women have caused most of the strife and struggles in his life, and woe is me; I’m so sad, I can’t take any accountability for my actions. Gwayne doesn’t kick his ass for souring his sister; he instead joins him in the mourning of their lives since they are shaken up by the battle at Rook’s Rest. Dragons are game-changers.
“The dragons dance, and men are like dust under their feet.” It would have been a cool line from anyone else.
The pinnacle of the episode, unfortunately, is super secret stalker Alicent. After her foray in the woods last episode, her return was apparently built on the idea that she could talk Rhaenyra out of what’s to come. She meets Rhaenyra in Dragonstone, to sneers and cold snaps, and they have a conversation about stopping the war. You know, like the one Rhaenyra tried to have with Alicent 5 episodes ago. But this time it’s Alicent’s idea, so it’s all good. It’s not that Alicent wants to be forgiven; she wants to be forgotten. She realizes her choice of duty above all else to obtain goals that aren’t even hers has caused her to disappear into the background and has given her nothing but grief and heartache. She wants to escape with Rhaenyra! She gives Aemond’s battle plans to Rhaenyra, and they create a plan to come into King’s Landing without innocent people being sacrificed with Alicent’s help. Aemond will be away, and Alicent can talk everyone into laying down their swords. Super simple, right? What could possibly go wrong?
Rhaenyra makes the valid point that she will need to take Aegon’s head in order for this to be truly over, and Alicent reluctantly agrees. So she has now betrayed both of her sons for the good of the realm, question mark?
We get a wonderful montage with piano music that’s trying to be season 6 of folks getting ready for battle. We’re marching, we’re adorning armor, and we’re staring out windows, trying to make decisions. Insert a clip of Larys and Aegon escaping King’s Landing, which will also throw a wrench into the plan Alicent and Rhaenyra just played. We do have side scenes of Rhaenyra talking to her hand, Corlys, and Corlys trying to make peace with his first son, which does not go well. (Alyn of Hull). Anywho, all in all, I’m holding out hope that House of the Dragons writers are playing the long game. Season 3 should be filled with action, as we have three dragons for Team Green and seven for Team Black as of right now.
All in all, this season was not good enough to leave on anticipation alone. We needed a cliffhanger of sorts, not everyone prepping for battle and then black screen. I understand there is a lot of story to fit into a show, however, as a viewer (and a lover of this universe), I leave season 2 disappointed and only moderately anticipatory of season 3. In fact, I’d like to read Fire & Blood at this point to be able to understand all the changes they are making to create the ‘show canon.’ Will that change the dynamic of Decoding Dragons? Tune in to find out our thoughts and see if they align with yours! What did you think of this season? Let us know in the comments!
See everyone for Season 3…in 2 years…!
Everyone in my house screamed, “That’s it!” when it faded to black. Crazy how it was a great episode but a terrible season finale. lol…it’s like they thought we wouldn’t notice.