House of the Dragon Season 2 Ending Explained: What Happened?

Much like Blood and Cheese sneaking into the Red Keep, a villain slipped into HBO’s stronghold. On Tuesday night, roughly thirty minutes of House of the Dragon’s season 2 finale leaked online. The footage didn’t contain the entire episode, but the leak was enough for fans to piece together all that they needed to know. There’s no big battle to end the season—and no more shocking deaths.

Viewers who were ready to see the bloodiest moments in the Targaryen civil war will likely find themselves disappointed, because season 2 ends in the same place it began. It’s very reminiscent of The Bear season 3’s “To Be Continued” finale. By delaying any sort of resolution, House of the Dragon’s audience is left with what feels more like a penultimate episode than a satisfying conclusion to another chapter in the story. Ironically, the fantasy series known for heartbreaking deaths is now reluctant to kill anyone. House of the Dragon is a different story—and it’s one that requires its power players to stick around until the dramatic conclusion. But that might not occur until the season 4 finale or beyond, depending on how long HBO plans to stretch this series out. That’s likely 2028, folks!

I’ll pick up on this thought later on in my recap—but first, let’s break down what went down in season 2’s lackluster finale.

Poor Tom.

Team Green’s Mad Scramble

At the end of episode 7, Ulf (Tom Bennett) flies his new dragon over King’s Landing and jostles all the townsfolk like the New York City earthquake. Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) realizes that having the largest dragon is a bit less impressive when it’s one dragon versus six, and now he’s freaking out. To raise his own dragon army, he approaches his sister, Helaena (Phia Saban). She doesn’t want to fight, but Aemond asserts that it’s her duty to protect their family’s kingdom. In response, Helaena spills some major spoilers for the future of the series. She tells Aemond that he will die at the God’s Eye while his brother, Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), sits on a wooden throne. In a fit of anger, Aemond burns an entire town in the Crownlands.

Meanwhile, Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) and Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox) are marching to Harrenhal. Daemon (Matt Smith) rides a dragon, but Cole’s grounded army does not. So...it can’t go too well. Plus, he warned the Prince Regent that they’re still shell-shocked and outnumbered from the Battle of Rook’s Rest. Aemond sent them anyway.

As Cole sniffs Alicent’s (Olivia Cooke) handkerchief and muses about how swords will solve everything now, Gwayne threatens to send him to the Wall for sleeping with his sister. “Do not think I have no shame in me, sir,” Cole tells him. “Desire for women has brought me grief after grief.” Then nihilism sets in. “The dragons dance and men are like dust under their feet....We march now to our annihilation. To die will be a kind of relief, don’t you think?” Dark!

Tyland Lannister (Jefferson Hall) is also sent on a suicide mission. He desperately pleads with the Triarchy to help them defeat Corlys’s (Steve Toussaint) blockade in exchange for the Stepstones. Sharako Lohar (Abigail Thorn), a Triarchy admiral, will only sail for Team Green if Tyland can best them in mud wrestling. “Let the Sea Snake rue the day we meet again,” Lohar says after they tussle around in the muck.

Back at King’s Landing, Larys (Matthew Needham) is fearful for the king’s life. He believes that Aemond will kill Aegon II if he stays. So he’s saved enough of the crown’s money in Bravos for them to escape to the East and regroup. It takes very little convincing for the king to abandon his kingdom. Flee now, glory later. Forget the fact that he looks like a burnt raisin that’s been collecting dust and hair from under the kitchen stove! Right now all Aegon II can think about is how his penis was scorched from his body. I wish I were joking.

Ulf! Ulf! Ulf!

HBO Should Just Call This Show House of Ulf

Ulf is the surprise sleeper addition to House of the Dragon season 2. The Flea Bottom bastard just went from a glorified extra to a member of Rhaenyra’s special dragonriders. He has his feet up on the Black council’s table at Dragonstone in the finale, pushing for knighthood—and proving himself a dangerous new piece on the chessboard. This is like giving the town drunk a nuclear bomb and hoping he’s a responsible guy. Jace (Harry Collett) meets them and continues to fume like a popcorn kernel ready to pop. Call me crazy, but I love it. I just wish it had all happened five episodes ago.

This magic tree has saved my life.

Daemon’s Forced Redemption Dream

Though Ser Criston Cole quickly earned the fans’ vitriol in the first couple episodes, Daemon’s purgatory at Harrenhal was easily the most criticized stall tactic in season 2. Did we really need eight episodes of ghostly cameos and disturbing incest nightmares? Daemon doesn’t even apologize for his actions in the finale. Instead, he bends the knee to Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) after experiencing a vision from a magical tree. Yes, you read that correctly. Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) and her weirwood tree show him a montage of Rhaenyra sitting on the Iron Throne, followed by images of a White Walker, Bloodraven, and even Daenerys with her baby dragons. Heleana appears in the vision as well, telling Daemon, “It’s all a story.”

The experience is revelatory for Daemon. He couldn’t possibly comprehend what he just saw, but he somehow understands it with perfect clarity. “The world is not what we thought it was,” he says. “The war is just the beginning. Winter is coming.” It’s a confusing 180-degree turn for Daemon. The King Consort seemed steadfast in his quest to spurn his niece-wife and seek glory last episode. Alfred Broome (Jamie Kenna) just told him that Westeros needed a king in this moment—and he seemed to enjoy his friend’s misogynistic support. But one confounding psychedelic experience later and Daemon is a changed man.

“The realm’s only hope is a leader who can unite it, and my brother chose you,” Daemon tells Rhaenyra. “I am meant to serve you until death or the end of our story.” I can hear mega fans amending their wedding nuptials as we speak. “Leave me again, at your peril,” she responds. “I could not,” he concedes, quipping that he’s already tried and failed. And with that, Daemon's redemption is complete. It’s as if HBO declared, “You’re not allowed to hate him, because he’s sticking around!”

Corlys isn’t walking away from the finale unscathed (emotionally).

Corlys’s Regret

It’s okay if you turn your back on Corlys this episode (though hopefully only briefly). After the Sea Snake informs Alyn (Abubakar Salim) that it’s time to set sail for war, he adds that he wants to “set out on good terms with his first mate.” For Corlys, good terms apparently means that it’s time for his son’s end-of-season review. He tells Alyn that he needs to be more vocal with his men, because they find him distant. “You cannot lead if you don’t inspire,” he says.

“Is this the help you offer after all these years?” Alyn asks. “A reminder to be grateful?” He reprimands his father for leaving him and his brother Addam as poor, hungry bastards. “Do you know what it was like for us to grow up fatherless? Do you know what hunger does to a boy? What grief does, or shame?” I love Corlys, but let Alyn cook! “Now you remember I live? I am an honorable man, and I will serve you because I must. But if it is all the same, I will decline any offers of help. If I survive this war, I will continue as I began. Alone.” Damn. Good speech, but rough for Corlys.

Time for war! Again.

Rhaenyra Is Triumphant (For Now)

Back at Dragonstone, Rhaenyra has another ruined relationship to patch up. Alicent is here. She wants to renegotiate surrender now that King Aegon II is a dried-out pickle and Aemond is a warmongering time bomb. She would even go so far as to open the gates of King’s Landing for Rhaenyra to sneak in and reclaim the throne. Rhaenyra tells her that she cannot be “absolved” so easily. You’re surrendering now? It doesn’t work like that. “Wander in the wilderness,” Rhaenyra says. Enjoy those new Hokas! Alicent forgets that if Rhaenyra sits on the Iron Throne, she will need to kill Aegon II. That’s where we’re at here. Alicent defends her son, hoping that he will listen to reason. But Rhaenyra will not spare his life. He is the usurper. He cannot live if she rules. So the two former childhood friends remain at a standstill. It is time for war, as it has been since season 1’s finale.

In a closing montage, we see Otto (Rhys Ifans) in some sort of jail, Daeron’s dragon Tessarion flying over the Hightower army, the Lannisters on their march to God knows where, Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) making contact with Sheepstealer, Aegon II and Larys hiding in a cart bound for the East, and Corlys finally setting out to sea on his big boat. He names the ship “The Queen Who Never Was” after his late wife, which is a nice gesture but extremely ominous. Finally, Rhaenyra announces to her new dragonriders that they’re flying out to war in two days. (That’s two more years for us, people.)

After that finale, I may need to step outside as well.

So...What’s Next?

Looking back at all the decisions House of the Dragon has made so far, it’s surprising how many times the series has painted itself into a corner. Don’t get me wrong—I’m not a Fire & Blood stickler. I genuinely enjoy House of the Dragon; that’s why I write about it every week. But George R.R. Martin’s mind is crazy. Love him or hate him, he’s a compelling storyteller and world builder. He took hundreds of years of European history and added so many dragons and ice zombies that Jon Snow is now a household name. But even the best changes to Martin’s source material have dug House of the Dragon into a hole.

Despite Alicent and Rhaenyra’s expanded history—or how with each new little wrinkle to their relationship, it’s increasingly clear that they shouldn't kill each other—they must go to war, simply because that’s what happens next in the book. Daemon sits in Harrenhal purgatory for an entire season because there’s nothing for him to do until the rest of the story catches up. So we’re left waiting for the story to truly begin. HBO can fill the time by unnecessarily answering Fire & Blood’s mysteries with allusions to Game of Thrones’ “A Song of Ice and Fire” prophecy, but every Thrones fan already knows how disappointing threats like “Winter is coming” were in the controversial series finale.

At the same time, maybe season 3 will deliver the goods. It’s possible that every episode from here on out is as good as Vemithor’s rampage. But I’m not sure. I can’t put my hand on a magical tree and see that future.