Sunday night’s season finale of House of the Dragon has left viewers confused, emotional, and as some have shared, underwhelmed. Since the beginning of season 2 of HOTD, audiences have been divided on whether they were on Team Black or Team Green. The civil war in House Targaryen has only led to loss and bloodshed on both sides. But as we move towards the biggest battle (based on George R.R. Martin‘s novel Fire & Blood), let’s review the highlights of what happened in the season finale.
Spoilers Below
Helaena Targaryen’s and Her Premonitions
Helaena Targaryen (played by Phia Saban) has been a mystery since the beginning of the spin-off series. She’s known for muttering random phrases and gently playing with insects for fun, but there is more to her complicated character. Just like other characters on the show, Helaena plays a big part in the Dance of Dragons war. Aside from being the quiet and odd Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, she’s beloved by many fans. Helaena is seen as a guiding light into the events that will take place later on in the show. For example, on Sunday night’s season finale, her brother and prince regent, Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell), in a fit of rage after finding out Rhaneyra recruited commoners to become new dragon riders, tries to make Helaena attack Team Black with her dragon Dreamfyre. After Helaena refuses, she proceeds to tell Aemond that she knows of his treacherous actions against their brother and King of Seven Kingdoms Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney). These premonitions that Helaena shares with her crude brother Aemon leaves him with a look of worry as she reminds him of their haunting reality.
The Weirwood Tree Prophecy
It’s evident that Daemon’s time spent at Harrenhal has lead him to a strong sense of paranoia. Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) is a young witch who guides Daemon to come to terms with the hard truths of his past and current actions. Harrenhal forces Daemon to hear and see things that aren’t actually there. During another sleepless night at Harrenhal, the young witch Alys comes into Daemon’s room and subtly tells him to follow her to the courtyard. Once there, she leads him in front of a tall weirwood tree that leaks a black liquid. She lets Daemon know that he’s ready to see the truth. Daemon touches the tree’s leaking mysterious liquid and sees clips of the future. One image calls back to Princess Daenerys Targaryen and her three hatched dragons, in the HBO Max’s hit TV series Game of Thrones. Daemon’s encounter with this prophecy predates 200 years before the introduction to GOT. Another notable image of this prophecy is Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) sitting on The Iron Throne at King’s Landing. Sitting on top of her head is a golden crown. The image of Rhaenyra sitting on the throne indicates that she is the one to unite the realm. This prophecy also confirms that “the prince that was promised” mentioned in the Song of Ice and Fire is Daenerys Targaryen.
The Power Struggle Between Rhaenyra and Daemon
Prince Daemon Targaryen’s (Matt Smith) biggest struggle since season 1 was accepting his brother, the King of Seven Kingdoms, Viserys I Targaryen’s (Paddy Considine) choice in who would rule after him: his rightful heir and daughter, Princess Rhaenyra. Throughout this season, although married, Daemon and Rhaenyra have been living separately. Rhaenyra has remained at Dragonstone, while Daemon flew on Caraxes to Harrenhal in the hopes of gathering more loyalists for Team Black from the Riverlands. Rhaenyra gets a message by a raven, sent by Ser Simon Strong (Simon Russell Beale), a knight and loyalist of Team Black as he expressed his concern on Daemon’s true intentions for the war. This leads Rhaenyra to immediately fly to Harrenhal and confront Daemon in as to who he “sworn to”. Then, an important and impactful scene shows Daemon reveals his true feelings towards Rhaenyra’s place in power.
Daemon tells Rhaenyra, “The realm’s only hope is a leader who can unite it and my brother chose…you,” and kneels before Queen Rhaenyra. Daemon continues, “You are the the true queen, Rhaenyra. First of Her Name. Protector of the Realm. I am meant to serve you, and all of these with me. Until death, or the end of our story.” The newly enlisted army stand behind Daemon, then kneel before Queen Rhaenyra too. It made for a beautiful and touching scene that’s recognized as Daemon finally succumbing to Rhaenyra being the rightful heir and queen to The Iron Throne.
The season finale concludes with both dividing sides of House Targaryen preparing for the Battle of the Gullet, a battle that takes place during the Dance of the Dragons and will include the deaths of some of our favorite characters.
HOTD Season Finale Reactions
Fans were quick to share their reactions to the finale online. While some were satisfied with the ending, others weren’t as pleased.
HBO Max announced soon after the season finale that HOTD will end after the release of season 4, with plans on releasing season 3 by 2026. What are your thoughts on the season 2 finale of House of the Dragon? Let us know in the comments below!
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