Critic’s Rating: 2.5 / 5.0
2.5
What is your freedom worth to you?
Dear old Alicent Hightower was presented with this question in the House of the Dragon Season 2 finale, and boy, did she get it wrong.
It’s genuinely painful to write this review after what was quite possibly the most disappointing season finale of a TV show I’ve ever seen.
And no, Game of Thrones doesn’t count.
A Few Good Notes on House of the Dragon Season 2 Finale
First, the good news: there were some high points throughout the episode, driven largely by the cast.
Emma D’Arcy, Fabien Frankel, Olivia Cooke, Ewan Mitchell, Phia Saban, and Abubakar Salim stood out with remarkably delivered monologues and believable emotions.
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As always, Ramin Djawadi deserves his flowers for the score, which remains one of the best parts of the show.
And despite minimal real action in the finale, the team behind bringing the dragons to life did a phenomenal job of making them seem like a realistic part of the landscape.
Unfortunately, that’s about all I’ve got for praise, as hard as that is to write.
A Disappointing End to the Season
If you’ve been following my reviews this season, you know how much I love this show.
The entire season has been a thrill to watch, laying the groundwork for what fans expected to be an absolute bombshell finale.
That’s just not what we got.
Sure, there were some notable events, including Daemon’s big change of heart after his vision at the Godswood.
His reaffirmed allegiance to Rhaenyra is great because it cuts down on a lot of what would have been unnecessary drama for House of the Dragon Season 3.
Alfred Broome’s quiet shuffle into the crowd got a chuckle out of me, too. Now he gets to sleep with one eye open, wondering if betraying Rhaenyra will come back to bite him.
Families Fall Apart in the House of the Dragon Season 2 Finale
Ewan Mitchell was serving attitude as Aemond Targaryen in the House of the Dragon Season 2 finale. It may be the most emotion we’ve seen out of him in a while.
He’s learned he can’t force his sister to mount Dreamfyre and rush into battle for him, and Helaena also gave him a taste of his future. Who knows if he believes her, but he’s definitely freaked out.
Aemond also realized that Rhaenyra now has a distinct advantage over him, even with Vhaegar in tow. Her advantage will soon grow, as well, now that it seems Rhaena has found a wild dragon to bond with.
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As for Aegon, no one can blame him for fleeing with Larys. Side note: if I was Aegon, I’d probably keep a sock on that exposed foot with Larys roaming around the castle, but that’s me.
It took some convincing, but playing on Aegon’s ego was the winning strategy for Larys to get the bedridden king out of King’s Landing.
Yawn.
This Just In: No One Cares About Cole or Lannister
The episode spent a baffling amount of time tracking Tyland Lannister as he built up his army.
I’m a fan of the newly introduced Master of Ships and her many wives (let’s go, LGBTQ+ representation!). Still, what is it about Lannister and his new crew that deserved so much screen time?
Meanwhile, after realizing what was obvious to everyone else, Gawain started a fight with Criston Cole.
So, he’s sleeping with your sister. Don’t we have bigger fish to fry?
Cole certainly thinks so.
He launched into a monologue that was equal parts haunting and bleak. He’s definitely planning to die in this war.
Mistakes Were Made
Despite being given ample opportunity, Corlys still failed to admit that Addam of Hull is his bastard son.
He also hasn’t identified his other son, Alyn, as another possible dragon rider.
Alyn (Abubakar Salim)’s monologue about growing up fatherless was beautiful, though.
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Salim’s performance in the House of the Dragon Season 2 finale outpaced anything he’s done on the show so far.
Corlys may be keeping secrets, but he did warn Rhaenyra about the Greens’ other potential dragon and dragon rider threats.
In a move that was completely and totally out of character, Rhaenyra dismissed those concerns.
It truly didn’t make any sense. Rhaenyra? The queen of being underestimated?
Surely she knows better than to brush off her Hand’s very legitimate worries about things that could cost her, well, everything?
Her new dragon riders have clearly given Rhaenyra a confidence boost, which is great. But at a certain point, it’s just arrogance that can’t lead to anything good.
Daemon Comes Around in the House of the Dragon Season 2 Finale
Before returning his loyalties to Rhaenyra, Daemon’s Godswood-induced vision was a cool glimpse into the distant future.
We got several Game of Thrones easter eggs, including a shot of Daenerys Targaryen and her baby dragons and one of the famed Three-Eyed Raven.
Daemon saw Rhaenyra on the throne and thus realized his role was to support her quest to get there.
Alicent’s Last Resort
In probably the most exciting part of the episode, a panicked Alicent shows up at Dragonstone in the middle of the night.
In my review of House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 7, I mentioned that she should definitely do that but didn’t think she actually would.
Alicent had to put aside years of built-up pride to fall at Rhaenyra’s feet the way she did. Then, she showed she could cast aside much more than just pride.
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Offering easy access to the Iron Throne was a bold move. Rhaenyra correctly asserted that in order to be taken seriously as a conqueror, she’d have to kill Aegon.
SO ALICENT AGREED TO LET HER DO JUST THAT.
I know we’ve established that Alicent isn’t exactly going down in history as a wonderful mother, but damn.
Unfortunately for all of us, we’ll have to wait to find out if this new plan will come to fruition.
It was the least action-packed episode of the season, and that made for a giant bummer.
Sure, the House of the Dragon Season 2 finale set up Season 3 to kick off quickly and dramatically, but that doesn’t change the fact that virtually nothing happened in this episode.
I think 2.5 stars is the lowest rating I’ve ever given an episode. As much as I hate rating it so low, this finale just didn’t do it for me.
So, now it’s your turn. What did you think of the finale? Were you disappointed, or was there enough going on to keep you satisfied until Season 3?
Let us know in the comments, and thanks for sticking with us this season!
