SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers for HBO’s “ House of the Dragon ” Season 2 finale, titled “The Queen Who Ever Was,” now streaming on Max. “The Queen Who Ever Was,” the Season 2 finale of HBO’s “House of the Dragon,” is an episode of television largely defined by what doesn’t happen in its nearly 70-minute runtime. There are no major battles between the Greens and the Blacks, the two Targaryen family factions currently vying for the Iron Throne.
Nor are there any major deaths — unlike last season’s conclusion, in which aspiring queen Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) lost her young son Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) to the vengeful impulse of her half-brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell). “House of the Dragon” differs from “Game of Thrones,” the generation-defining hit of which it’s a spinoff, in the nature of its source material. Unlike George R.
R. Martin’s primary series of novels, which remain unfinished to this day, the fictional history “Fire & Blood” is both a complete work and deliberately ambiguous. Rather than a real-time narration of events from the point of view of its characters, “Fire & Blood” is a composite of multiple retrospective accounts, none of which is canonical — even as certain milestones are set in stone.
This quality gave “House of the Dragon” showrunner Ryan Condal the freedom to pick and choose what version of the truth the show would settle on, as well as fans the ability to frantically speculate about th.