'House of the Dragon' Fans React to the New Dragonriders and Alicent's Fate as the Finale Looms

House of the Dragon's biggest battle yet is almost here -- it's time for the Dance of Dragons!

Sunday saw the penultimate episode of season 2 of the Game of Thrones prequel series, in which Queen Rhaenyra ( Emma D'Arcy ) attempted to bolster her ranks of dragonriders by seeking out Targaryen bastards among the Westerosi smallfolk -- much to the chagrin of her son, Jacaerys Velaryon (Harry Collett), who felt, perhaps not incorrectly, that a claim to a dragon was the only thing securing him to her line of succession, given his own bastard birth.

Rhaenyra's plan was inspired by the new pledge of fealty from Adam of Hull (Clinton Liberty), the bastard son of Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), who was claimed by the dragon Seasmoke in episode 6.

After surveying the ranks of all the Targaryen claimants who responded to her call, Rhaenyra set them up for a literal trial by fire -- leaving them weaponless in front of Vermithor, the second-largest dragon behind Vhagar, and she warned, "perhaps the most fierce."

Claiming Vermithor was an exercise in futility -- and flammability -- for most of the smallfolk as Vermithor showed just how fierce he was by quickly sending most of them to their deaths, even eating some as they were engulfed in dragonfire.

However, throughout the season, House of the Dragon fans have been following a blacksmith named Hugh (Kieran Bew). In episode 7, the death of Hugh's sickly daughter motivated him to tell his wife the truth of his parentage -- that his mother was a brothel worker of Targaryen decent -- and travel to Dragonstone to try his luck.

Fighting for survival amid Vermithor's attack, Hugh made a last-ditch attempt to distract the dragon from a fleeing woman, ready to sacrifice his own life. However, the dramatic moment subdued the vicious beast, allowing Hugh to claim Vermithor and join Rhaenyra's ranks.

Another dragonrider was made purely on accident. As Ulf (Tom Bennett), a King's Landing resident who has long boasted of being the bastard son of Baelon the Brave, fled from Vermithor, he stumbled upon another slumbering dragon, Silverwing.

Unlike his fellow beast, Silverwing was a bit more playful in claiming his Targaryen descendant, knocking Ulf around with his snout until the man finally breathed a sigh of relief, accepting his fate as a dragonrider.

It's Ulf, in fact, who gave fans a preview of the Dance of Dragons battle to come. As he gleefully took to the sky on Silverwing, Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) -- ruling in his injured brother's stead -- gave chase on Vhagar, following Team Black's newest threat until he saw the full strength of Rhaenyra's ranks waiting for him at Dragonstone. He reluctantly turned back, leaving the hopeful Queen poised for battle with the strength of three new dragons.

Elsewhere, the fate of another character was seemingly left in limbo as Queen Dowager Alicent ( Olivia Cooke ) fled the Red Keep into the godswood, with only one member of her guard, Ser Rickard Thorne (Vincent Regan). Puzzled by the queen's decision to take an unexpected, unsupervised excursion, Rickard asked when Alicent planned to return to the castle -- and she replied that she was unsure she ever would.

Later, Alicent was seen shedding her clothes and wading into a lake in just her dressing gown, floating on her back. She was not seen returning to shore before episode's end.

House of the Dragon's season 2 finale airs Sunday, Aug. 4 at 9 p.m. PT/ET on HBO and streaming on Max.

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