Spoilers below.
If you were expecting Rhaenyra and her new dragon army to rumble with Aemond, Vhagar, and the greens…you’ll have to wait for next season. House of the Dragon took its time with season 2, setting up key players for the Dance of Dragons and coming to a close just before the highly-anticipated showdown. After last week’s fiery dragon matching ceremony, episode 8 doesn’t quite feel like a finale in a traditional Game of Thrones sense (sorry, no battles) but more like setup for what’s to come.
First, Tyland Lannister tries to get the Triarchy to pledge their allegiance (and ships) to Aegon, but in exchange, they want control of the Stepstones, a territory that’s been disputed for ages. Once he concedes, they reveal one final condition: The commander of the Triarchy fleet must join him in battle, otherwise the sailors won’t comply to a foreign leader. Enter commander Sharako Lohar (Abigail Thorn), who sizes up Tyland, incorrectly calls him Tywin, finds him too frail, and refuses to sail. So much for that.
Meanwhile, after fleeing Dragonstone upon the sight of Rhaenyra’s new dragonriders, Aemond Targaryen takes his fury out on the nearby Sharp Point, burning down the city and its innocent civilians.
His brother, Aegon, continues to heal in bed when Lord Larys drops in with an urgent proposition: They must leave King’s Landing because Aemond will kill Aegon. Luckily, Larys has already relocated his gold to the Iron Bank in Braavos (does this count as an offshore account?), so they can live there in the meantime. Aegon doesn’t like the idea of running, and he’s more preoccupied with a certain part of his anatomy losing its function, but he’s eventually convinced by the possibility of glory. Larys says they can return to King’s Landing when the time is ripe, and Aegon would be a total hero.
Rhaena is still in the Vale looking for that wild dragon, by the way.
Prince Jacaerys is still uncomfortable with (read: threatened by) the new dragonriders, and his chance encounter with Ulf, whose feet are propped up on the painted table, doesn’t help. Ulf, Silverwing’s new rider, tells the young prince that they’re “cut from the same cloth”—both bastards who ride dragons—but Jace insists they are not alike. Later, Baela tells him not to worry about the new recruits; there’s more to Jace than his status and dragons. Now he must prove his doubters wrong.
Corlys has renamed his ship, “Sea Snake,” to “The Queen Who Never Was,” after his late wife Rhaenys. When Rhaenyra asks him about her dragonrider Addam of Hull, instead of saying, “Ah yes, he is my son,” Corlys simply replies that Addam was one of his shipwrights and he had little to do with him (regrettably). He advises Rhaenyra to strike the green forces now that her six-dragon squad is assembled. Plus, he teases, there’s another player that’s yet to be revealed. Who could it be?
Remember that sexist guy on Rhaenrya’s council, Ser Alfred Broome? He arrives to Harrenhal per her request to check on Daemon. But when he and the king consort meet privately, Broome urges him to take the throne himself. “What we need in this moment is a king,” he says, not hiding his misogyny. Daemon smiles. Ser Simon Strong is watching in the shadows.
Alicent Hightower is back in King’s Landing after her solo retreat. Her daughter, Helaena, says she was happier before she was queen. Alicent floats the idea of leaving town. Before she can say where they’d go, Aemond enters and orders Helaena to fly into battle on her dragon Dreamfyre, to which Alicent protests. She won’t let her innocent daughter be corrupted by Aemond’s quest for power. She finds Grand Maester Orwyle and asks for help acquiring passage in secret.
Somewhere in camp, Alicent’s brother Gwayne Hightower confronts Ser Criston Cole about his affair with Alicent, which he doesn’t deny. He says Alicent has saved his life twice and “since then, she has been the beacon I follow.” (It didn’t seem that way when Cole refused to support her claim to rule as regent.) But Cole is rather nihilistic as his army heads into battle, likely to their demise. “To die will be a kind of relief, don’t you think?” he asks. Gwayne is stunned.
After a muddy brawl, Tyland earns a bit of Lohar’s respect and a dinner invite. Lohar makes him perform a song at the feast (like your parents making you sing in front of your family as a kid) and agrees to sail into battle with him. Oh, and also: Lohar wants Tyland to have children with their wives.
On Dragonstone, there’s a Targaryen family dinner with the new dragonriders. Rhaenyra promises that if they serve her well, she’ll knight them. But she needs them to do what Corlys said, and strike while they have the advantage: In two days, they must “subdue” the green strongholds of Old Town and Lannisport to end the war ASAP, which might entail killing innocents. Hugh and Baela bristle at the idea, but Jace says it must be done. Before the discussion can continue, a message arrives from Harrenhal—it’s from Simon Strong, who says Daemon has raised his army successfully but he fears treachery is afoot. Rhaenyra decides to head over there herself and requests Addam to come with, to Jace’s surprise.
Alys Rivers wakes Daemon in Harrenhal and brings him to the godswood; she senses he’s ready to understand his fate. As they walk out, a figure with antlers growls in the distance then disappears. (What does it mean?!) Daemon places his hand on the weirwood tree and sees a loaded vision of the future: Blood Raven and the Three-Eyed Raven, White Walkers, a red comet, and Daenerys Targaryen herself (from behind) and the birth of her three dragons. The montage is followed by a vision of Rhaenyra on the Iron Throne, signaling to Daemon that she is destined to rule. Then Helaena appears, reminding him that he plays a part in this story.
The real Helaena is in the Red Keep, and Aemond once again tries to convince her to fly to Harrenhal. She tells Aemond she knows he burned Aegon at Rook’s Rest and let him fall off his dragon—she saw it. She also predicts that Aegon will be king again. ”He’s yet to see victory he sits on a wooden throne. And you’ll be dead. Swallowed up in the Gods Eye and never seen again,” she says ominously.
Rhaenyra and Addam arrive to Harrenhal to find that Daemon’s army has indeed been formed. The whole hall and grounds are filled with soldiers. They are sworn to Daemon—but to whom is Daemon sworn? When she confronts him by surprise, Daemon reveals, in High Valyrian, that he’s had a change of heart. “The world is not what I thought it was. The war is just the beginning. Winter is coming with darkness and doom.” (Another Game of Thrones reference, albeit from House Stark.) Daemon’s weirwood vision did a number on him; he now believes, like Viserys did, that Rhaenyra must be the one to unite the realm to survive the terrors ahead. He kneels and declares Rheanyra as the true queen. His men drop to their knees behind him. Rhaenyra is impressed. He rallies his troops to “fight for our queen” and they roar back.
Finally, Corlys is about to board an actual boat, but first he tries to offer Alyn, one of his illegitimate sons, some help. Alyn puts him in his place. You offer help now, after you left me and my brother fatherless, hungry, and poor for years? If Alyn survives the war, he says, he would like to go on as he started it—alone.
At last, Rhaena sees a dragon flying in the distance.
Rhaenyra is woken up to find a surprise visitor at Dragonstone: Alicent. The queen mother is ready to leave her royal life behind with Helaena and her daughter, and be free, but Rhaenyra is not convinced. Alicent even offers Rhaenyra an easy win: When Aemond flies to Harrenhal, Rhaenyra can storm the castle then and Alicent would order the guards to let her through. As for Aegon, when he recovers, she could talk him into bending the knee to his half-sister. Rhaenyra doesn’t like that Alicent still defends her usurper son. For her to secure victory, she must kill the opposition. Would Alicent be willing to sacrifice a son for a son? Alicent is in tears, but…she ever so subtly nods her head yes. She tells Rhaenyra to let her go to do what she promised, and even offers for her old friend to tag along. But Rhaenyra chooses to stay put. Alicent leaves alone. Now the question is, will Rhaenyra take the back door Alicent just opened for her, after spending all of that time collecting armies and allies?
In a final montage, everyone is getting ready for battle: Ulf, Hugh, and Addam put on their armor; the Hightower army marches with what appears to be Daeron and his dragon Tessarion flying overhead; the Stark army marches across the Twins just as the Freys promised; the Lannister and Lefford armies march together; Tyland Lannister and Lohar sail with the Triarchy fleet; Corlys and Alyn row to The Queen Who Never Was; Rhaena (finally!) comes face to face with a wild dragon; Otto Hightower is captured somewhere behind bars (how’d he end up there?); and Aegon and Larys are stealing away in a chicken coop. If Rhaenyra is expecting Aegon’s head, she will not be happy to learn he’s M.I.A.
More battles are surely coming on House of the Dragon, but not just yet.
Erica Gonzales is the Senior Culture Editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage on TV, movies, music, books, and more. She was previously an editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com. There is a 75 percent chance she’s listening to Lorde right now.