House of the Dragon season 2 finale recap: Helaena shares a vision with Aemond

A lot went down in the House of the Dragon season 2 finale. At first, it may seem like a quiet episode, but this sets the third season up well.

Caution: This post contains spoilers from the House of the Dragon season 2 finale.

The finale focuses on seven main plot points, and they will all play a major role in the third season. We’ll get Rhaena’s storyline out of the way first.

At the end of the previous episode, she ran off into the wilderness of the Vale. It was a dumb move, and we see her suffering the consequences of those actions throughout the finale. She’s struggling to find water, and she’s ill-prepared for the elements.

However, it seems like her journey pays off in the end. She comes across the wild dragon in the Vale. We end with Rhaena and the dragon—presumably Sheepstealer—facing each other. Will Rhaena get a dragon?

Rhaenyra deals with her new dragonriders in the House of the Dragon season 2 finale

Addam, Ulf, and Hugh need to learn the ways of being a dragonrider. Jace still hates that these illegitimate Targaryens have been able to claim a dragon. What does that mean for the Targaryen bloodline?

There’s a brilliant moment between Jace and Baela when she tells him to suck it up. I love Baela’s attitude to everything. She points out that Jace is not the first noble prince not to be sired by his noble father. He just needs to deal with it and ignore everything that was ever said to him in the past. He is the Crown Prince of the rightful Queen, and he needs to take his place by his mother’s side.

And so he does at the dinner table with the three new dragonriders. While Hugh and Addam are respectful of their queen and know where they came from, Ulf is quick to stand out. He treats the whole situation like it’s a night in the tavern, and it clearly annoys everyone around him. Rhaenyra and Jace try to put him in his place but that fails.

Rhaenyra makes it clear that they all need to learn the ways of their dragons. They have two days to do it before they will ride. After taking some sound advice from Corlys, she realizes that they will need to go on the attack now. Her new riders will head to Oldtown and Lannisport to attack the Hightowers and the Lannisters.

Baela and the new dragonriders are surprised to hear that Rhaenyra is willing to hurt innocent people. Rhaenyra and Jace point out that this must be done. They must attack while they have the advantage.

Corlys renames his ship to The Queen Who Ever Was

This comes because Corlys makes it known to Rhaenyra that she needs to attack. The Greens have other dragons. Sure, Daeron’s dragon is small, but he’s still a dragon. Then there is Dreamfyre. Rhaenyra doesn’t think that Helaena would fight, but Corlys points out that Rhaenyra can’t get complacent.

He is heading back out the Gullet with his ship, though. This ship is no longer the Sea Snake. That name was in his own honor, and now he has someone else to honor. He renames his ship The Queen Who Ever Was, and it’s a beautiful tribute to Rhaenys.

Later on, we see him call Alyn out on his attitude. Alyn didn’t want to be the First Mate, though. He doesn’t want recognition. We get a wonderful moment for Alyn as he gets the guts to call Corlys out on the past. While Corlys had a legitimate heir, he didn’t bother to look at Alyn and Addam. That’s all changed with Laenor gone. Now Corlys needs an heir, and Alyn points out that he wants nothing to do with Corlys after all this. Corlys was a nobody before this point, and he will remain a nobody.

We’ll see how that works out. After all, Joffrey being Corlys’s heir is debatable.

Aegon confirms Sunfyre’s fate in the House of the Dragon season 2 finale

As Aemond burns Sharp Point to the ground, Larys goes to see Aegon. Larys tells Aegon that they need to get out of the city.

At first, Aegon wants to be taken to the Iron Throne. As Aemond returns, he will be arrested. Larys talks Aegon out of that, pointing out that they need Vhagar right now. Rhaenyra has too many dragons of her own.

Rhaenyra is sure to take King’s Landing soon. The best thing that they can do is get out of dodge. Aegon doesn’t really see the point in anything, suggesting that the loss of who he is and the loss of Sunfyre—confirming the dragon’s death—has been for nothing. Larys promises that they can fight from the outside, but they need Aegon alive to do that.

And so, the finale ends with us seeing Aegon and Larys getting out of the city for now.

Helaena shares her vision of death and a wooden throne

Of course, Aemond needs Helaena to fight by riding on Dreamfyre. Helaena refuses to do that. She’s such a sweet soul, who isn’t happy as queen. While talking about the blockade at the Gullet, which Tyland Lannister heads across the Narrow Sea to discuss with the Triarchy to stop in a spectacular way, Helaena points out that she was happiest when she wasn’t queen.

This conversation gives Alicent an idea. We’ll get to that, because before that can happen, Aemond threatens Helaena. He needs Helaena to fight, as this is their birthright. Helaena refuses to burn people. She doesn’t care what her dragon is supposed to do. That is not who she is.

Later on, she has a private moment with Aemond, telling him that she knows he burned Aegon and allowed him to fall. Aemond doesn’t deny it, but he doesn’t know how Helaena can know this. He calls her out for her treasonous statement, but she doesn’t care.

Aegon will be king again, but he’ll sit on a wooden throne. Meanwhile, Aemond will die, lost in the God’s Eye. This vision clearly worries Aemond, but he tries to change it by threatening her life for her treasonous words. Helaena points out that her death will change nothing, and I feel like this foreshadows Helaena’s death coming soon anyway.

Daemon has another vision that’s hopefully his last

Back at Harrenhal, Daemon has another vision. This better be his last. It certainly seems is, as this is the big one. Alys takes him to the godswood and gets him to touch the tree.

Daemon is pulled into a vision that includes the Three-Eyed Raven, a man who looks like Aegon the Conqueror, White Walkers, Daenerys and her three dragons, Daemon seemingly drowning in water, and Rhaenyra on the Iron Throne. Helaena’s voice says to him “it’s all a story.”

This is a turning point for Daemon. Up to this point, he has wanted the Iron Throne for himself. Now that he has seen Aegon the Conqueror’s vision, he realizes that can’t happen. Rhaenyra is the One True Queen, and he must follow her. So, when Rhaenyra turns up at Harrenhal after Ser Simon Strong wrote to her about Daemon’s plans, he bends the knee. His army bends the knee to Rhaenyra. She has the Riverlords.

Alicent comes to see Rhaenyra in the House of the Dragon season 2 finale

While the third episode of the season saw Rhaenyra risk her life with just one man to help protect her to speak with Alicent, the dowager queen does the same thing in the finale. She heads to Dragonstone.

Aemond is leaving with Criston Cole’s Army. Criston, by the way, points out that he has always struggled to keep his oath and he loves Alicent for the way she has saved him from death twice. I don’t really care about him. All we need to know is that Criston is doubting everything, realizing that they are all going to die because this is a war between dragons.

And sure enough, Alicent seems to see it, too. She wants to prevent it from happening, though. After admitting that she was jealous of Rhaenyra for years because Alicent acted out of duty and Rhaenyra tried to push all that to one side, Alicent almost acknowledges that she got it all wrong. She admits that Rhaenyra would be a good queen.

Viserys never wavered in his wish to put Rhaenyra on the Iron Throne. Alicent believes that was because of Viserys’s love for Aemma, something that Alicent could never compete with. So when Rhaenyra questions that Alicent really thought Viserys changed his mind on his deathbed, there is a clear look that makes it clear Alicent got it wrong.

To make up for it, she will order the gates to be opened in three days. This will allow Rhaenyra and her entourage to walk into King’s Landing and take the Iron Throne. She asks that she and Helaena be protected, and we all know that Rhaenyra wouldn’t harm Helaena. Maybe Alicent, but never Helaena.

Rhaenyra asks of Aegon. While Alicent wants her son to be forgiven, Rhaenyra points out that can’t happen. As she says “a son for a son,” we’re taken back to that first episode. Rhaenyra never ordered Jaehaerys’ death, but she needs Luc’s death to be answered for. She needs Aegon to be executed, and she knows Alicent understands this. Alicent doesn’t want to agree, but at this point, she has no choice.

Well, Rhaenyra won’t get that option. Aegon has been smuggled out, and it looks like Otto Hightower is being smuggled in but not by choice. Why is he in a box? The House of the Dragon season 2 finale ends with Rhaenyra and Daemon readying their armies, Aemond joining Criston Cole on the march to Harrenhal, Tyland and Lohar sailing to the Gullet, and Alicent preparing to allow Rhaenyra and her army into King’s Landing. We are ready for House of the Dragon season 3.