‘House of the Dragon’ Recap: How Season 2 Ended

Warning: This post contains spoilers for the finale of season 2 of House of the Dragon.

The season 2 finale of House of the Dragon delivered some long-awaited reunions, a Game of Thrones full-circle moment and set up an even bloodier season 3 to come.

The finale episode began with Jason Lannister (Jefferson Hall) in Essos working to acquire their fleet of ships to sail in King Aegon’s name. Meanwhile, Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and Vhagar were busy burning an entire town – later revealed to be Sharp Point – to ash in anger after learning that Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) had successfully found three new dragonriders for the remaining dragons in Dragonstone.

In King’s Landing, Larys (Matthew Needham) informed a still-bedridden Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) that his brother was “thwarted and angry” at Rhaenyra’s success and would be coming for him. Larys said that they must leave the Red Keep, and the city entirely, as Aegon asked, “What was the f—ing point in all this then?”

Larys’ logic was for Aegon to flee with him to Braavos, and return once Rhaenyra and Aemond had destroyed each other. “Aegon the Realm’s Delight,” the King decided he’d be called.

In Dragonstone, tensions were high. Jacaerys (Harry Collett) was frustrated that three commoners had become dragonriders, particularly when Ulf (Tom Bennett) was repeatedly disrespectful and rude despite Hugh (Keiran Bew) trying to warn him otherwise.

While Jace was putting the new dragonriders in their place, Rhaenyra was with the Sea Snake (Steve Toussaint), who advised her to use her advantage while she had it and fly to battle. Then, in a sweet moment, he told her he had renamed his fleet in his late wife’s honor, from the “Sea Snake” to “The Queen Who Never Was.”

“What I do now, I do for her,” Lord Corlys said in an ode to Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best).

After weeks at Harrenhal, being driven at least partially mad and with fans questioning his loyalty, Daemon’s shining moment finally came.

When Ser Alfred Broome (Jamie Kenna) suggested that Daemon (Matt Smith) turn the armies he’d amassed to fight in his own name — rather than the Queen’s — Daemon rebuffed him, despite the fact that he once would’ve jumped at the thought.

While the Black’s continued amassing an impressive army, Aemond was growing nervous in King’s Landing – so much so that he turned to his sister Helaena (Phia Saban) and tried to force her to ride her dragon Dreamfyre into battle, but Alicent (Olivia Cooke) stepped in. She warded her son off, accusing him of trying to “corrupt” Helaena, who she called “the gentlest and most deserving of [his] protection.”

Alicent then sought out the help of the Grand Maester, while Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) admitted to Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox) that he’s ready to die on his sword in the impeding battles.

Rhaenyra’s patience was tested as Ulf once again behaved without regard to the gravity of his new role as a dragonrider during a tense dinner in Dragonstone, where she then received word from Ser Simon Strong (Simon Russell Beale) who warned her of Daemon’s potential betrayal.

She, along with Addam (Clinton Liberty), flew to Harrenhal to see Daemon’s progress for herself. When she arrived, he bent a knee to her in front of hundreds of gathered soldiers and declared her the one true queen for all to hear. The moment was only after Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) had shown him an incredible vision – one that told the story not only of House of the Dragon, but of Game of Thrones itself.

In the vision – which Helaena was also part of – Daemon learned of his fate and finally understood what his greater purpose was: to get Rhaenyra on the Iron Throne, but to also understand all the “darkness and doom” that would still be to come.

The sequence alone was enough to send chills down the spine of any Game of Thrones fan, as Daemon somersaulted through time — guided by the three-eyed raven — and saw the White Walkers, the end of dragons, and the rise of Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) more than 200 years in the future. The vision finished, though, with Rhaenyra seated on the Iron Throne, and so Daemon knew what he has yet to do.

“It’s all a story and you are but one part in it. You know your part. You know what you must do,” Helaena told him as the vision ended.

When Rheanyra arrived at Harrenhal, he told her what he’d seen, speaking in High Valyrian as he ever so cinematically delivered a line that fans never thought they’d hear in House of the Dragon: “Winter is coming.”

Despite appearing in Daemon’s vision, Helaena was still in King’s Landing, and then offered her second warning of the night, this time to her brother Aemond. As he asked her yet again to go to battle with him on her dragon, she told him she knows that he burned Aegon and let him fall at Rook’s Rest. But that’s not all, she also tells him how he’ll die (“swallowed up in the God’s Eye and never seen again”), and that Aegon will once again sit the Iron Throne as King.

The finale episode ends with a surprising reunion, as Alicent comes to Rhaenyra at Dragonstone, offering her a way to win the war as she said she’ll practically leave the doors to the Red Keep unlocked for Rheanyra to waltz into and take. Through tears, she also agrees to the condition that she knows Rhaenyra must request: Aegon’s head.

Despite the former best friends’ grand plans, though, as the episode comes to a close, it’s revealed that Aegon did, in fact, heed Larys’ warning. The two left the Red Keep and are headed for Braavos, so whatever agreement Alicent and Rhaenyra tentatively made, all bets are off.

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House of the Dragon seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming on Max.