Rhaenyra Recovers Her Mojo Just in Time for the ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2 Finale
New dragonriders are taking flight.
Season 2 of HBO’s hit Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon has seen Rhaenyra Targaryen struggling to come to terms with what it means to be a leader, but after the latest episode, it seems like Team Black finally has a chance against the Greens. Cue “Run the World (Girls)” by Beyoncé.
DRAGONS! Ahem. Sorry, I’m just excited that we’re actually getting back to the whole “dragon” thing after watching Daemon (Matt Smith) play IRL Luigi’s Mansion at Harrenhal for the last five weeks. Yes, the penultimate episode of House of the Dragon season 2, titled “The Red Sowing,” gave viewers a satisfying conclusion to the Blacks’ “army of bastards” debacle, introducing two new dragonriders: Hugh Hammer (Kieran Bew), who claims Vermithor, and Ulf the White (Tom Bennett)—really, it’s Silverwing who claims him. Plus, with Addam of Hull (Clinton Liberty) now bonded to Seasmoke, Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) has eight dragons fighting for her cause. Meanwhile, the Greens have just three. Ha!
Clearly, I’m picking sides here, but it’s incredibly gratifying to see Rhaenyra and Team Black finally getting the advantage after a season of being sidelined by Alicent (Olivia Cooke), Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), and professional simp Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel). But with a pack of dragons and the favor of the smallfolk of King’s Landing thanks to some strategic thinking from Lady Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), our girl is quickly regaining her confidence. No matter what her eldest son has to say, Rhaenyra is the true Queen of the Seven Kingdoms—and don’t you forget that. So, with one episode left to go in season 2, when will these warring factions finally take to the skies?
When does House of the Dragon season 2, episode 8 come out?
It’s been a slow build-up to the “Dance of the Dragons” but it looks like our patience is about to be rewarded in next week’s House of the Dragon season finale, which will air on HBO and its streaming service Max on August 4 at its usual time of 6 PM PT/9 PM ET.
Directed by Geeta V. Patel, a preview for the final episode shows the Greens and Blacks marching off to war, with—you guessed it—lots of dragons in tow. We also get a hint of the growing tensions between Aemond and his mother (“you reign ruin and death”), with the Prince Regent encouraging his sister Helaena (Phia Saban) to ride her dragon Dreamfyre into battle (“we will answer outrage with outrage”).
In any case, it sure looks like we’re in for an action-packed climax for House of the Dragon‘s sophomore season, especially if Daemon can get his act together and raise swords in the Riverlands. Is victory in sight for the Blacks? Or do inexperienced dragonriders spell disaster? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com
