House of The Dragon S2, EP 8 Review & Recap.!

After that spectacular final scene in episode 7, the season finale was expected to end on an even high note. The premiere season finale was incredible in so many ways and the audience expected something shocking for the second season as well. Rather the Season 2 finale had no noteworthy moments and it even took away the grandeur of the seventh episode. Another lazy episode to drag the impending war like Rhaneyra was doing the entire season. Most of the chapters in this episode could have been incorporated in the first episode of the third season.

As Rhaenyra has made a remarkable step towards winning the war, the Greens are desperate for another dragon rider. The episode begins with Aemond discharging his anger by burning Sharp Point, a town closer to Dragonstone. The innocents of the town can be heard screaming in pain while Aemond upon Vhagar watches from distance. Aemond rushes to Kings Landing and tries to coerce Helaena to accompany him in the battle field. But Alicent intervenes before Aemond can drag her away. Helaena hesitates as she has no intention to participate in a war that would lead to the destruction of innocent lives. So what now for Aemond.? He cannot stop the Blacks alone as he is heavily outnumbered to 6 against 1 at this moment. He later tries to convince Helaena again but she tells Aemond that he is not going to live through the war and reminds him that Aegon will be King again. Aemond is definitely not happy at this and certainly angry. Because now he has no plan in place when Blacks attack KingsLanding and is unprepared. The audience would be expecting an attack anytime soon as it is pretty understood that the Blacks hold the leverage. But instead, the episode shifts to numerous scenes that were supposed to be shown way before.

Remember Tyland Lannister in a couple of episodes before, he was ordered to form a treaty with the Triarchy to create a blockade for the Blacks. So he is here now at the Essos to create a pact between them. The episode focus more on this scene as it introduces a new character who will be of vital importance in the third season. Still didn’t understand how the makers felt it is right to delay this scene till the finale. They basically introduced a new set of characters at the final episode. So he has to sign a different agreement which probably will not be agreed by Aemond. More than that he has to win a contest to have their commander, Sharakho Lohar on board. So this gets dragged honestly for a lot more than enough at this stage.

At the same, they also wanted to expand the character of Allyn of Hull who they have introduced in the first episode. But this felt more appropriate with a short scene that beautifully caricatured the whole character. Allyn vents out his pain and anger towards Lord Corlys for the first time and probably this is the first time a conversation about lineage takes place. No, this is the second time as Jace already had a similar conversation with Rhaenyra in the last episode. But this was more meaningful and intensely portrays how life was like for a bastard in Westeros. Allyn is dutiful and honourable. He never complains about his hardships and sufferings but he is not taking empathy and privilege after all he has gone through. This character is going to be even more prominent in the third season.

And now there is more drama going on in Dragonston after the dragons were claimed by the ‘Mongrels’, according to Jacerys. Ulf Whilte seems to be taking this on as an amusement. He is cracking casual jokes and not so well mannered banter. Jace is the first one to complain about his court manners. He despises them and upon witnessing Ulf White being too mannerless around him, he has more reasons to detest him even stronger. But Hugh seems to be totally opposite. He seems to be humble and courtly as he values the opportunity of riding a dragon. As of now, Blacks are holding together. It is not just Jace, Ulf White is getting on Addam’s nerves too. They seem to have an argument while having a dinner with Rhaenyra. Rhaenyra seems to be less concerned about the manners as of now. She announces before them that they are all going to fly beside her in 3 days time to Kings Landing. She is ready to sacrifice thousands to win the war now. Well, this is the total opposite of what she wanted in the first episode. Even Baela & Jace cannot believe this. Soon, she receives a news about Daemon raising an army for himself at Harrenhal. She wants Addam to accompany her which probably would have irked Jace.

Now in Harrenhal, everything seems to have sorted out for Daemon. He has an army and he can conquer Kings Landing all by himself. Remember Alfred Broome, who was sent to Harrenhal by Rhaenyra to deliver a message to Daemon. This happened in the fifth episode and it is now they seemed to be meeting. This is another misplaced scene that makes no sense at this point unless Broome has been scheming something else. So we see Broome straightaway telling Daemon to lead the war against Greens and be the King of the realm. Well that is a direct betrayal of the Queen ans Daemon doesn’t seem to agree or disagree it. Even till now, it is still unknown that Daemon is raising an army for himself or for the Queen. But it is clear that he has an ambition for himself which is not completely lost. But now Daemon is high on confidence after the lords of the Riverlands declaring to fight beside him in the name of the Queen. We all have witnessed how he had to earn their support in the last episode. So now Alys Rivers takes him to Godswood where Daemon touches the heart tree. He has a vision and sees Rhaenyra as the true prince who was promised to be the leader of the realm. Also we get to see the Night King and we know how this was ruined in GOT along with a glimpse of the Mother of Dragons, Daenerys. This all seems too sudden for Daemon to have a change of heart. After some soul searching & the heart-tree vision, finally Daemon has decided to give away his ambitions. As Rhaenyra arrives, he has declared himself before the Queen. So it took a tiring one whole season for Daemon to do that.? At the same time, Ser Broome shows his disappointment. Is this the start of the betrayal.? We hope Season 3 will answer this.

Another important takeaway from this episode is how Aegon has recovered so swiftly though he is still disfigured from the scars. But he is in pain and more devastated at the loss of Sunfyre though the death of the dragon was not shown in the entire season. Despite everything, all the extra effort that was taken by Larys Strong seemed to have found success earlier than expected. Larys proposes to Aegon that they need to leave KingsLanding at the earliest. Larys reminds the bedridden Aegon that Aemond still wants to kill his brother and after finding new dragon riders, Rhaenyra will also come for her throne. Finally, Larys convinces the king that he is not safe there anymore and also assures the king that one of them may prevail over the other but will take a toll on the realm. The small folks and lords would then want someone to keep the realm safe and that Aegon would be the perfect choice for them. Larys has finally become the most trusted man of Aegon and if Aegon becomes the king again, it is Larys who will be the best benefitted. Even Aegon might also see a path of redemption from an erratic King to someone who has conquered Dragon fire.

Finally, this episode ends with Alicent meeting Rhaenyra in Dragonstone. It seems that Alicent has finally taken some decisions after her short trip to Kingswood. Alicent finally proposes a peace treaty where she would let Rhaenyra enter KingsLanding without any resistance and let Rhaenyra reclaim her throne. Well, is she doing this since she has lost her place in the Green council.? Or maybe, she has grown tired of Aemond’s cruelty towards the small folks and arrogance. She might have lost it when Aemond tried to forcefully bring Helaena to the war front. It is clear that Alicent is ready to put Aemond to the sword. But Rhaenyra also wants to execute Aegon which puts Alicent in a difficult situation. Surprisingly, Alicent agrees to it without much hesitation. Poor Aegon.! Well it looks like, Larys’ decision to flee KingsLanding has saved Aegon for now. Also it seems like Aegon would be gaining more fans support prior to next season. In the final shots, either sides prepare for the impending war. Aegon & Larys leave for Bravoos and it is revealed that Larys has moved his House’s resources to Bravoos. Tyland & Lohar lead their vassals to create a blockade for the Black’s ships commanded by Lord Corlys & Allyn of the Hull. Ser Criston Cole & Gwayne Hightower march towards Harrenhall. Wait Otto Hightower is in a cage. How did this happen.? Is Larys behind confining him.? Remember when Aemond enquired about Otto Hightower, Larys responded that he couldn’t gather his whereabouts. Still too early to arrive at a conclusion. But we have to wait till 2026 for Season 3 to begin. Finally, Rhaena confronts the dragon that has been wreaking havoc in Vale. So Blacks have yet another dragon rider.?

The season finale was clearly a below par episode and the whole season has itself gone down in quality compared to the previous season. Season 2 had to do a lot better in terms of character writing and placement of the scenes. They could have made the events unfold a lot faster and tried to avoid disparity in a character’s development. To be honest, the development of the main characters, Rhaenyra & Daemon were inconsistent. Season 3 needs to address a lot of issues to get things back on track and prove its merit.