‘House of the Dragon’ Season Finale: The Point of No Return - The Ringer

Civil warfare has brewed for a play of television, and 3 decades of in-universe hostility implicit succession to the Iron Throne.

Numerous characters died on the way, arsenic House of the Dragon skipped done clip and dramatized each the slights and squabbles that led to strife wrong House Targaryen. But until Dragon’s Season 1 finale—until the mighty dragon Vhagar slew young Arrax and his rider, Prince Lucerys Velaryon—no straw had yet crushed the proverbial camel’s back.

“The archetypal battles successful the Dance of the Dragons were fought with quills and ravens, with threats and promises, decrees and blandishments,” says Fire & Blood, Dragon’s root text. “The execution of Lord Beesbury astatine the greenish assembly was not yet wide known … galore inactive hoped that the question of succession mightiness beryllium resolved peaceably.”

But now, arsenic Dragon’s archetypal play ends, Rhaenyra’s 2nd lad is dormant and her aggravated eyes are seemingly acceptable connected vengeance. Royal humor has been shed. War is nary longer coming; it’s here.

Dragon’s Season 1 finale is an affectional roller coaster for Rhaenyra, focusing astir exclusively connected her and her supporters aft Episode 9 focused wholly connected the greens. “The Black Queen” begins with a blow, erstwhile Rhaenyra, Daemon, and the others connected Dragonstone larn astir Viserys’s decease and the greens’ coup.

For Rhaenyra, the quality doesn’t conscionable complicate her plans to beryllium the Iron Throne; it besides induces premature labor. Thus Dragon’s Season 1 finale bookends its aviator episode, erstwhile Rhaenyra’s parent died successful childbirth. (Daemon and Viserys’s parent besides died due to the fact that of a hard childbirth, earlier the events of the show. And successful Episode 6, Daemon’s 2nd wife, Laena, died owed to childbirth complications arsenic well.)

Rhaenyra doesn’t die, but her sixth kid does. Her affectional roller coaster speeds astir different crook arsenic she buries her child, however, due to the fact that Erryk Cargyll arrives with a gift, removing Viserys’s crown from his satchel similar Flynn Rider successful Tangled. Daemon places the crown atop Rhaenyra’s head, and the burial transforms into an impromptu coronation; everyone contiguous (save Rhaenys, who has yet to confer with her husband, Corlys, and prime a side) kneels.

Aegon II’s coronation successful “The Green Council” overflowed with pomp and circumstance; it was a staged, nationalist lawsuit that told the masses of King’s Landing that each the aesthetic trappings of powerfulness belonged to him. Rhaenyra’s coronation, by contrast, is simply a smaller, spontaneous ceremony, and carries overmuch much affectional value for the archetypal pistillate to beryllium named queen of Westeros.

Monarchs are a spot similar quarterbacks, though: If you person two, you truly person none. And successful the latest, astir urgent introduction successful the “quills and ravens, threats and promises” signifier of the war, Otto Hightower arrives for a callback to Episode 2, arsenic helium erstwhile again sizes up Daemon crossed Dragonstone’s bridge.

Also arsenic successful Episode 2, Rhaenyra arrives successful style, fashionably late, connected dragonback. Yet astatine this encounter, she’s connected Daemon’s side, not Otto’s, and she receives the greens’ presumption for peace: If Rhaenyra swears fealty to Aegon, she’ll get to support Dragonstone and walk it to her sons, who volition beryllium royally acknowledged arsenic trueborn; Lucerys volition inherit Driftmark; her sons with Daemon volition go Aegon’s squire and cupbearer; and each her supporters volition person pardons.

Daemon rejects the presumption astatine erstwhile and threatens Otto with his sword; Rhaenyra preaches caution, lets Otto permission successful peace, and agrees to see the proposal. Then follows a harrowing scene, arsenic Daemon chokes his woman arsenic they reason astir Aegon the Conqueror’s prophecy—of which Daemon isn’t aware—and the due way to prevention the realm. This country doesn’t look successful Fire & Blood, yet it befits a quality who already killed 1 wife. One hopes that successful Season 2, Dragon volition research the fallout of this unit with much attraction than Game of Thrones considered, say, Jaime’s rape of Cersei.

In this episode, astatine least, that fallout doesn’t materialize. Instead, aft Rhaenyra and Daemon part, the blacks’ conflict plans signifier successful speedy succession and triumphant euphony stirs. The now-recovered Corlys Velaryon agrees to enactment Rhaenyra’s assertion and usage his family’s naval powerfulness to blockade shipping lanes successful the Narrow Sea. Rhaenys volition usage Meleys to patrol the Gullet to chopped disconnected each naval introduction into King’s Landing. And they make a program to laic siege to the landward broadside of the superior arsenic well—but volition necessitate the enactment of the Baratheons, Arryns, and Starks to bash so.

Thus Rhaenyra finds an ostensibly peaceful ngo for Jace and Luke, her 2 eldest boys with Laenor, er, Harwin Strong. “You spell arsenic messengers, not warriors,” she tells them, and asks them to curse connected the gods to “take nary portion successful immoderate fighting.”

Yet this is lone the latest successful a bid of McBain moments for Luke, who volition soon conscionable his demise. The episode’s archetypal country hosts a tender infinitesimal betwixt Rhaenyra and Luke, arsenic she comforts her son. And earlier she sends Luke connected his mode to Storm’s End, she besides tells him, with a smile, “I expect you volition person a precise lukewarm welcome.”

Surprise! Vhagar’s already there. As Luke walks up the steps into the hallway astatine Storm’s End, helium repeatedly glances backmost astatine the towering dragon, knowing precisely what her beingness means: that Aemond bushed him to the Baratheons. And wrong the hall, Luke’s reception isn’t “very warm,” but alternatively arsenic chilly arsenic Storm’s End successful a gale—both from Borros, who isn’t anxious to corroborate his father’s oath without receiving thing successful return, and from Aemond, who sneers astatine Luke and calls him “my lord Strong” and “bastard.”

Aemond wants Luke to chopped retired 1 of his eyes, arsenic outgo for the oculus he’d slashed during the children’s scuffle truthful galore years (and conscionable 3 episodes) ago. Borros won’t person it; he’s comfy refusing Rhaenyra’s petition for fealty, but not allowing unit successful his ain hall.

So instead, information follows Luke retired the castle walls. The camera tracks him and Arrax done the rain, from crushed to air, arsenic they instrumentality and past conflict to support their formation amid a storm. Then comes a growl, and an ominous shadiness appears above, and similar a fearfulness movie monster with a jump-scare, Vhagar appears successful full. The oldest, largest, astir battle-tested dragon live dwarfs the young Arrax, and a laughing Aemond calls, successful High Valyrian, that a indebtedness is inactive owed.

Thanks to his smaller size and a constrictive canyon, Arrax astir escapes, disappearing into the fog—but then, frightened and resisting his master’s commands, the young dragon breathes flames astatine Vhagar’s heavy hide. The pursuit is backmost on, contempt Aemond’s frantic shouts of “No!”

As King Viserys says successful Episode 1, “The thought that we power the dragons is an illusion.” Aemond, Luke, and Arrax larn that acquisition the hard, murderous way, erstwhile Vhagar ignores her rider, launches forward, snaps her jaws, and tears Arrax’s assemblage successful two. The young dragon and his lad crumple into the oversea below.

That Vhagar pursues this unit of her ain accord is simply a notable deviation from the root text, which gives nary denotation that Aemond tried to rein his dragon in. This on-screen displacement aligns with 1 of the different large amusement changes, too, arsenic successful Episode 8 Alicent misinterprets Viserys’s dying words arsenic a plea for her Aegon to go king. Both changes service to item the unintentional calamity of the Targaryen civilian war; if not for a name-based misunderstanding and a disobedient dragon, possibly a chance—if ever truthful slight—to resoluteness the succession situation “peaceably” whitethorn person remained.

But there’s nary going backmost now—not aft Rhaenyra mislaid 2 children successful this episode, each arsenic a effect of Aegon’s crowning and her budding warfare with the greens. As Fire & Blood describes, with Luke’s death, “the warfare of ravens and envoys and matrimony pacts came to an end, and the warfare of occurrence and humor began successful earnest.” Presumably, the occurrence and humor volition determination distant successful greater amounts successful Season 2. For now, they claimed an guiltless lad and his dragon, torn to pieces supra the Narrow Sea.