After a rather tepid season, with only one major battle (RIP Rhaenys), House of the Dragon series two came to what can only be described as a cliff-hanger ending last night (4th August). And honestly, we don’t understand how HBO expect us to wait another two years for another season.
The finale episode saw Daemon and Rhaenyra finally reunite after a season apart, Alicent beg to end the savage war that’s about to unfold, and, er, some random mud wrestling to keep us entertained. HBO know how to treat us right.
There was a lot packed into the 69 minute episode, and so if you’re still mulling over the small details of episode eight, then here’s the full ending of the series explained.
House of the Dragon season 2 ending explained
Mud wrestling is a big deal
The final episode of season two, kicked off far more east than we’re used to being in the series, with Tyland Lannister (Jefferson Hall) having travelled to meet with The Triarchy and bring them onto Team Green. The Triarchy are a group of three leaders from the cities of Lys, Myr, and Tyrosh in the Narrow Sea who have formed an alliance with Dorne.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen them though, back in season one Daemon (Matt Smith) and Corlys (Steve Toussaint) battled against them for control of the Step Stones, which they now have. Daemon fought against one of their most fearsome leaders The Crabfeeder.
Now they want the Step Stones back and so, having travelled all this way to gain their help, Tyland promises them the passage in return for their loyalty.
However, it wasn’t that easy for him, as he had to mud wrestle with their leader Sharako Lohar (Abigail Thorn) in order to prove his worth. Having won the wrestle, Lohar shows her approval and also asks him to bed her wives.
There’s a lot of arguing
Despite war very much brewing, there’s still time for some personal squabbles to get in the way. The first is the revelation that Criston (Fabien Frankel) and Alicent (Olivia Cooke) were/are sleeping together finally coming to light, when Gwayne (Freddie Fox), Alicent’s brother, discovers Criston holding onto Alicent’s handkerchief. While Gwayne is insistent on Criston being held to account and for letting down his men, Criston is strangely philosophical/depressed and basically suggests it doesn’t matter anyway as they’ll all be killed by dragons.
And Corlys has family drama of his own. After Addam (Clinton Liberty) becomes one of Rhaenyra’s trusted dragon riders, his brother Alyn (Abubakar Salim) is left to look over Corlys’ fleet by himself. While Corlys tries to have a heartfelt one to one with him, Alyn is having none of it, telling his (we presume father, although this is not yet confirmed) he doesn’t need his support, having done just fine throughout his life without it.
Oh, and Jace (Harry Collett) is feeling *very insecure* about his position within the family, thanks to the arrival of the three new dragon riders, but what’s new there?
Daemon finally came to his senses
Having spent the majority of the season convincing himself he should be king thanks to the mysterious visions going on at Harrenhal, the final episode sees him come to his senses and realise Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) should be the queen after all.
This realisation comes after Alys (Gayle Rankin) takes him to the God’s Wood and he has a vision of the future, seeing Aegon the Conqueror’s prophecy come to light. It scares him enough to know Rhaenyra should lead the people, which he tells her when she comes to tell him off at Harrenhal. The army that he has acquired then all swear allegiances to Rhaenyra which is a good thing considering…
Aemond is on the war path
Yep, this is one unhappy Prince Regent. After seeing the strength of Rhaenyra’s dragons at the end of episode seven, a furious and panicked Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) goes and burns a village (what did they ever do to him?).
He heads home to King’s Landing where he attempts to get Helaena (Phia Saban) to ride her dragon Dreamfyre with him in battle. She refuses and later tells him she’s seen his death and that she knows he was the one who shot at their brother in the sky, because she saw it. Um, what is going on with Helaena?
Alicent begs for an end to the war
Following her meditative trip to the forest and having seen Aemond try to corrupt Helaena, Alicent is at breaking point, and just wants a calm, peaceful life (don’t we all babe), and so she flees to Dragonstone to beg Rhaenyra to end the war and offers her the crown.
Alicent has a plan – in three days Aemond and Criston will march to take Harrenhal from Daemon, and Alicent and Helaena will be in charge of King’s Landing. They will let Rhaenyra take control with no blood shed and hand over the crown.
While Rhaenyra likes this plan, she’s not 100 per cent sold as she knows she needs to end the opposition completely, aka Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) needs to die, in order for her claim to be successful. Initially reluctant (he is her son after all) Alicent eventually agrees to Aegon’s death in exchange for peace amongst the kingdom.
And so the plan is set up.
Aegon ducks out of trouble
Except there is now a major flaw in this plan, Aegon is seen departing undercover from King’s Landing, with Ser Larys (Matthew Needham). Earlier in the episode Larys tried to convince Aegon to leave and run away as he is not strong enough for the upcoming war. Aegon refuses and also reveals he lost his penis in the fire.
However, something must have happened that convinced Aegon to leave King’s Landing, which we’ll hopefully find out in the next season.
There’s some big dragon developments
Of course we cannot forget about Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) who spends much of the final episode of season two roaming the countryside in the cold in search for the mysterious dragon Sheepstealer.
Sheepstealer is a wild dragon who so far has never yet been claimed. In the book Fire & Blood, which House of the Dragon is based on, Sheepstealer is eventually claimed by a character called Nettles. Nettles hasn’t made an appearance in the series so far, and its theorised by many fans her storyline will be given to Rhaena instead.
As we know Rhaena previously has been unable to claim a dragon but at the end of the episode as the two face off against each other, it appears Rhaena will be able to claim Sheepstealer.
And that’s not the only dragon update. As the Green’s army marches towards Harrenhal we got our first glimpse at Tessarion, the blue dragon who is ridden by Alicent’s fourth child Daeron Targaryen who we are yet to see on the show.
We’re heading for war
The final episode of House of the Dragon season two ends with a montage showing all the main players and where they are as they head into battle, majorly setting up the storylines for the third season.
Daemon is in the Riverlands, the new dragon riders are getting into their armour, Rhaena is searching for Sheepstealer, the Hightower army is moving forward with Tessarion by their side, the Lannisters and their lions are on the move, the Starks are on their way, Tyland travels back aboard a ship with Sharako Lohar, Coryls and Alyn are setting sail, Otto Hightower (remember him?) has been imprisoned somewhere, Aegon and Larys are leaving King’s Landing, and Rhaenyra and Alicent stare separately into the distance.
Ok, we need season three to happen right now.
House of the Dragon season two is available to stream on NOW
Senior Entertainment and Lifestyle Writer
Lydia Venn is Cosmopolitan UK’s Senior Entertainment and Lifestyle Writer. She covers everything from , to the latest celebrity news. She also writes across our work/life section regularly creating , covering exciting new releases and sharing the latest must-haves. In her role she’s interviewed everyone from Margot Robbie to Niall Horan, and her work has appeared on an episode of . After completing a degree in English at the University of Exeter, Lydia moved into journalism, writing for the , before working as Features Editor at , where she spoke on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour and Talk Radio. She has an encyclopedic knowledge of Gilmore Girls and 00s teen movies, and in her free time can be found with a margarita in hand watching the Real Housewives on repeat. Find her on .