This season on House of the Dragon , we endured the horrors of Blood and Cheese, witnessed the pivotal battle of Rook's Rest, and welcomed new dragonriders following the fiery Red Sowing. Now, we come to the finale, and the results are..
. a tad underwhelming. Don't get me wrong, the Season 2 finale is by no means a bad episode of House of the Dragon .
That emotional reunion between Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) and Alicent (Olivia Cooke) alone is worth heaps and heaps of praise. Plus, there are plenty of juicy lore tidbits that hint at big things ahead for the show. Unfortunately, in terms of ending Season 2 with a bang, this finale fails to deliver.
It plays more like a mid-season episode or a "next-on" trailer for Season 3 than a satisfying conclusion to Season 2. It doesn't help that the most exciting footage from the finale's trailer , including marching armies, naval action, and our first glimpse at Prince Daeron's dragon Tessarion, have very little bearing on the finale itself. They're the definition of trailer fodder, and while they may have set expectations for an action-filled finale, the reality — like much of House of the Dragon Season 2 — is a much slower, more dialogue-driven affair.
Quite a bit of it lands, while other parts drag the momentum of what should have been a more propulsive episode of TV. Still, it's clear from this finale that House of the Dragon is maneuvering itself into place for several key battles in the future. (But would any of them have worked b.