Editor’s Note: The following post contains spoilers for “ House of the Dragon ” Season 2, up to and including Episode 8. What makes a good season finale? Since the days of network sweeps, the best season endings offer equal levels of closure and cliffhangers, in the hopes that those lingering questions would help a show get renewed, but that any resolution would satisfy the audience if the show didn’t return. In the streaming era, there’s less uncertainty, for better or worse; a series can end when and how the showrunners desire, but that takes the pressure of a season finale to wrap up loose threads.
“House of the Dragon” Season 2, Episode 8, written by Sara Hess and directed by Geeta Vasant Patel, unfortunately has all the complacent symptoms of a finale where the show’s guaranteed return hampers its current momentum. It’s another hour of conversations and diplomacy and suggesting that things may happen — a promise that is never fulfilled. War is allegedly afoot and has been since 2022, and it will now likely be another two years before battle (re)commences.
The episode opens on one of its many misguided side quests: Tyland Lannister (Jefferson Hall) appealing to Tyroshi leaders to lift the maritime blockade impacting Westeros. This scene is such a jarring introduction to a season finale when it would have been a legitimately exciting storyline to introduce early or mid-season. There are new faces everywhere and Tyland himself is arguably not a strong en.