Disclaimer: This story contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 8 of House of the Dragon.
House of The Dragon season 2 has finally come to an end. The highly anticipated series successfully showed off all the shocking and surprising events throughout the twisted drama.
Episode 8, titled The Queen Who Ever Was, premiered on Sunday. The finale was presented with a compelling narrative, it was anticipated that we would probably get to see the bloodshed, but it did not take place.
As per Games Radar, episode 8 starts with a member of the small council named Ser Tyland Lannister, traveling to the kingdom on Essos in search of more swords for his prince Regent Aemond Targaryen.
After demonstrating his worth by fighting a female captain, he manages to convince them to lend The Greens their armies in return for The Step Stones.
As Larys Strong attempts to persuade a severely injured King Aegon to flee with him before Aemond murders him, the situation in Kings Landing is equally hopeless. Aegon initially declines but in the episode, we witness him getting in a carriage with Larys.
Aemond tries convincing Helaena to fight for him
Aemond on the opposite end of the castle, Alicent is consoling Helaena when Aemond enters, having just used Vhagar to senselessly burn down a small town, and attempts to persuade Helaena to mount her dragon Dreamfyre and defend him. Even when he tries again later, she rejects him and tells him that she has seen him die.
This argument prompts Alicent to look for a way to get to Dragonstone, which later in the episode results in a startling discovery.
Jace, the son of Rhaenyra, finds Ulf’s demeanor bothersome and comforts him, while the dragon seeds at Dragonstone adjust to life as a highborn. Rhaenyra diffuses the situation by vowing to turn the dragon seeds into knights if they finish the task of discovering their dragons and becoming ready to defeat Vhagar.
However, the encounter is abruptly ended as Rhaenyra is summoned to Harrenhal because of concerns that Daemon would attempt to turn against her.
Daemon’s vision in Godswood
While building his army in Harrenhal, Daemon stops by a blood-stained tree in the Godswood one night. There he has a vivid vision in which the entire Game Of Thrones plot aka The Song of Ice and Fire is revealed to him. As the vision concludes, Rhaenyra is seated on the throne.
Upon landing at Harrenhal and witnessing the immense army her spouse has built, he bends the knee knowing from the vision that she is the one who must rule.
Important unfoldings in the episode
As far as the other character goes, Lord Corlys is getting ready to launch his fleet from The Steep Stones but in attempting to help his bastard son Alyn of Hull, he enrages him and it is finally shown that he is Alyn’s father.
In the episode, we only see Ser Criston Cole once, when Alicent’s brother confronts him in the woods smelling her embossed handkerchief. However, Criton’s professed devotion to Alicent compels her brother to lay down his sword.
Furthermore, Rhaena nearly dies in the Vale while searching for the wild dragon that we believe to be Sheepstealer among the hills before she eventually locates him.
Alicent seeks help from Rhaenyra
At the end of the episode, Alicent unexpectedly appears at Dragonstone in the middle of the night, without any weapon and in need of Rhaenyra’s help.
In a heartbreaking scene, Alicent admits to her ex-best friend that she was mistaken and that she has been under constant control from others around her for a very long time.
She describes how her hatred for Rhaenyra’s independence has blinded her, but that she has since seen the light and wants no involvement in the upcoming war. In an attempt to save her children, Alicent says that Aegon won’t be an issue because he is still unwell in bed and that when he leaves the castle the next time, she and Helaena will let Rhaenyra and her army take the throne.
The people, however, will not recognize Rhaenyra as a conqueror as long as she is alive, so she demands Aegon’s head. The unexpected twist is that, in exchange for Helaena and herself being safe, Alicent nods and silently agrees to her son’s murder.
With her hood up, Alicent is seen leaving at the end, which may also denote possibly getting ready to bid her son farewell and begin a new life with her daughter.
As the Hightower fleet, Daeron Targaryen’s dragon, Lannister’s army, and the Stark army march toward Harrenhall, where Daemon is waiting, the conclusion finds dragon seeds preparing for battle.
Both the Seasnakes and Tyland Lannister’s new fleet travel by sea. It does tell that the upcoming season may include the expected bloodshed as a result of the war that’s on the horizon.
All episodes of seasons 1 & 2 of the series can be streamed on HBO and Max.
