[ Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers through the Season 2 finale of House of the Dragon . ]
There’s a good reason to be frustrated by the Season 2 finale of House of the Dragon , which is that it ends just when things were getting good. The Game of Thrones prequel series, long ago renewed for Season 3, devotes its final minutes to a montage that’s largely table-setting for the action to come next time: Armies marching to battle, ships taking to sea, young women finding dragons. (Normal prestige drama stuff.)
Yet while the ending could not be any more of a cliffhanger, taking precedence over any frustration is genuine joy at the fact that with this 18th episode, House of the Dragon has finally found its footing as a show. Not because it’s finally set things up for a third season of epic battles, but because its stable of characters feels like it’s finally come alive.
While it’s always been well-produced and compelling from week to week, for most of House of the Dragon ’s run, the show has always felt a little dry in its approach, which can arguably be traced back to the source material. The primary text on which House of the Dragon is based is House of the Dragon co-creator George R.R. Martin ’s Fire & Blood , which is written not like a dynamic piece of fiction, but as a history book chronicling this fictional history. (Its in-universe author is Archmaester Gyldayn, a historian writing hundreds of years after the events being chronicled.)
The problem with adapting a history book, even a fictitious one, is that the events of the story get emphasized over the people involved, leading to a show in need of breakout characters from the margins of the page. People aware of life outside of a throne room, with interests beyond who happens to wear the crown, who might even choose to smile every once in a while.
There was potential within the established ensemble early on: The yearning for her birthright of Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock, then Emma D’Arcy ), the complicated scheming of Larys (Matthew Needham), the clandestine love between Laenor (John Macmillan) and Joffrey (Solly McLeod). But it’s really in Season 2 where certain folks have begun blossoming. Take Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), who had a few intriguing moments in Season 1 as well — before really maturing in Season 2 as a savvy advisor to Rhaenyra.
House of the Dragon (HBO)
Meanwhile, Lord Coryls (Steve Toussaint) spends the second half of Season 2 mourning his beloved Rhaenys (Eve Best), while also doing what he can to acknowledge his illegitimate sons (now that his legitimate offspring have either died or are presumed dead) — the beginning of a powerful character arc. And the Season 2 finale’s greatest victory may come when Daemon ( Matt Smith ) finally gets the therapy sees the vision he needs to recommit to being an Uncle Wife Guy, championing Rhaenyra as the one true queen he’ll fight to see on the throne. Given how much unkindness occurs on this show on a regular basis, Daemon’s speech was a balm.
And recent additions like nascent dragonriders Hugh (Kieran Bew) and Ulf (Tom Bennett) have immediately shaken up the balance of power within the show — if nothing else, considering the way this show kills people off, new characters are always welcome to change up the dynamic. Which brings us to the real triumph of the finale, the introduction of Admiral Lohar (Abigail Thorn), who comes strolling into the party with her fleet of ships and her jokes about cannibalism and her wives that need impregnating.
It’s not so much that Lohar is funny, or that she’s confident in her power despite the rampant sexism of this world. It’s that she offers a totally different vibe and perspective from the clandestine throne room and open-air dragon battle drama that’s consumed the show so far. This was a trait that defined so many of Game of Thrones ’s most fascinating characters, from Tyrion to Arya to Brienne: People who existed in this society, but often found themselves in conflict with it because of their identity. In their struggles to live their best lives, we understood both them and the world better.
It’ll likely be a long wait for the new season (Season 1, after all, debuted nearly two years ago), but the table is now set for a meal that’ll be worth savoring. It’s funny how House of the Dragon has reached this point just as the show prepares to dig into the true meat of the history it’s meant to chronicle. Frankly, it’s a blessing, because to sustain interest in the wars to come, we really are going to need to care about the people fighting them, whether they be on land, at sea, or astride a dragon.
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