REVIEW: 'House of the Dragon' season 2 finale is more setup for what's to come

Setting up season 3

Some new elements were introduced at the end of the season like the character Sharako Lohar, a sapphic admiral from Essos who pledges her ships to the Lannisters. She got a good amount of screentime as she got in a mud fight with Tyland Lannister—does this mean we'll see more of her in the next season?

Fast forward to the final moments of the episode where two more dragons are brought into the fold. A beautiful blue dragon flies over the Hightower/King's army—this beast is Tessarion who is ridden by the late king Viserys and Alicent's third son Daeron. The dragonless Rhaena, who was supposed to go to Pentos, traverses the hills of the Vale and later finds a dragon eating up all the sheep (in the books, the dragon is called Sheepstealer). Another dragon will probably join the fray in the next season as Aemond asked his sister Helaena to ride Dreamfyre to war.

The ship that Corlys' men have been working on the entire season is also finally done, and he pays a touching tribute to his late wife Rhaenys with it as he names it "The Queen Who Never Was."

The show ended with characters embarking on their own paths. The burnt Aegon fled King's Landing, the Lannisters and Starks continue to march, and it appears Otto Hightower is captured.

Getting meta

Daemon's hallucinations at Harrenhall ended as Alys Rivers showed him the bigger picture, the Song of Ice and Fire that Viserys told Rhaenyra. A lot of easter eggs about coming events in the Game of Thrones were dropped as Daemon saw Bloodraven, the Night King, the red comet, three dragon eggs over a fire, and Daenerys emerging from the flames with Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion. 

It kind of got meta as Daemon saw all of these as he touched the Weirwood tree which has a face modeled after the books' author George R.R. Martin. It's like the character got a glimpse of the story as he touched the creator. The characters also use the word "story" a few times referring to the whole thing, which feels similar to the horrible ending to Game of Thrones in which they chose Bran to be king because he had "the better story."

But Daemon wasn't the only character who got future sight as Helaena also hinted to Aemond about his possible end. By now, fans know that what Helaena says is prophetic, so it feels spoilery to have her brothers' fates and the "bigger story."

Character development

In a surprising twist, Alicent visits Rhaenyra in Dragonstone to sue for peace, as the Blacks' queens did to her earlier in the season. But the two are now so different since the season began. Alicent, who once prized virtue and the trappings of the court, now wants to be free from the war as she was stripped of her duties as queen dowager. She even asked Rhaenyra to come with her (some crumbs for Rhaenicent fans).

Rhaenyra, who began taking the most cautious steps in dealing with the war, is finally taking action—she even surprised Jacaerys and Baela as she said they are set to break the Lannister and Hightower armies. However, this does not mean that Rhaenyra has become ruthless—she still cares about the small folk. Will the two queens continue to work together for the good of the realm?

Either way, their conversation is all part of a build-up for the next season. The whole episode feels like a lot of setup with no big conclusion yet—save maybe for Daemon. The season finale lacks that splashing event or revelation at the end and it didn't have to be a death.

With a war on the horizon, the first episode of House of the Dragon season 3 should be epic. It has already been greenlit by HBO. However, the wait will be long as it may come out in 2026 as the gap between the first and second seasons was two years.

House of the Dragon stars Emma D'Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Matt Smith, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Harry Collett, Tom Glynn-Carney,  Sonoya Mizuno, Steve Toussaint, Rhys Ifans, and Phia Saban.