House of the dragon Season 2

Hey everyone and welcome today we will be talking about season 2 of the show House of the Dragon. Fun Fact, The Forrest from Episode 4 the Red Dragon and the Gold was used in Gladiator, also the people during the battle in that episode were really lit on fire instead of using effects. This season came out in 2024 and stars Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke, and Matt Smith and was created by George R.R. Martin and Ryan Condal. So without further ado let’s get right into it.

Season 2 of House of the Dragon Sees Rhaenyra, leader of team black and Aegon who is team Green trying to gather support for their claim to the iron throne. Throughout the season there is war looming and while Rhaenyra tries to have minimal bloodshed, Aegon does whatever to prove he is the rightful heir.

House of the Dragon season 2 is a fantasy show that immerses you in this world filled with conflict and drama. It has similar vibes to Game of Thrones, The Wheel of Time, or Rings of Power.

House of the Dragon had a great season one, laying down the foundation for what would eventually be a Targaryen Civil War. In this season I was invested in the story but by the finale, I felt like we were being blue balled because there was so much talk and anticipation for this war and other events only for the show to basically be like ok we will get to that next season even if they had been hinting at it all season long. The season is still good but they need to balance what to include in the season and what to hint at for future seasons.

Rhaenyra played by Emma D’arcy is the leader of team black and who Viserys, the last King and her father, said he wanted as his heir and in my opinion the better choice out of the two options. She wears the crown of Jaherys and her father which was delivered to her by Ser Eeryk. At the end of the last season, we see her lose her son Luke and while she wants revenge against Aemond, she is also trying not to start a war. We see her building support and trying to make sure she doesn’t lose any more of her family but also show people that she should be on that throne. At the beginning of the season, Rhaenyra is at Dragonstone mourning her son’s death. Her dragon is Syrax whom she seems to adore and I think one thing that’s not really discussed is that Arrax is an offspring of Syrax so both Rhaenyra and Syrax lost a kid. It’s nice that they had a proper funeral for Luke and shows just how much Rhaenyra cares and loves for her kids and while you might be saying well yea she’s their mother, it’s not the same for every family in this show.

She spends most of the season at Dragonstone plotting and planning which brings her frustration because she wants to be out and about. I felt that they showed her as being so weak and not directly involved in anything which was frustrating because it made me feel like the writers didn’t want us to view her as a tyrant but it made her seem very passive and like she was so removed from the actual events happening and forgot she was queen and this was war. She complained multiple times about her frustrations about being removed from the war and it was upsetting me that she was not doing anything, at some point I will stop feeling bad if you can’t help yourself. In episode 3 I noted how she has tried to avoid war but can’t anymore and boy was I wrong because she avoided war for the rest of the season even though I thought she was ready to go. It was cool to see people throw their support to her and how they were ready to fight no matter what but her hesitancy made people question if she was right for the job. I just think that she needed to be slightly more aggressive and actually do something besides walk around Dragonstone, not saving the people that were being killed. She is married to Daemon and they even get into a giant fight and he refuses to say outright that he supports her and he leaves and people ask her about it and she’s like out of sight out of mind.

One of the smartest things she did this season was listen to Mysaria which got more supporters in King’s Landing and made more people start to question if the Greens are good leaders. She eventually has some low-born people try to claim a dragon which ends up being a feast for Vermithor but she finds two new riders,  giving her the advantage in the end. In the middle of the season, Rhaenyra goes to sneak and talk to Alicent to avoid the war and I think that was a stupid idea to not only go to kings landing but also to be under the impression that Alicent would actually help after all that has gone on. She does learn that Alicent thought Aegon should be king cause Viserys told her about the Aegon the Conqueror’s dream and she thought she was talking about their little rapist, alcoholic son. Rhaenyra and Alicent talk again in the finale which was a great conversation but then made me question is the show about Aegon and Rhaenyra going after the throne or Alicent and Rhaenyra’s relationship. One of the best scenes with Rhaenyra is the ending of episode 7 where she sees Aemond retreating and we see her with her dragons and it just looks like she is ready to fight.

Mysaria portrayed by Sonoya Mizuno escapes King’s Landing barely after almost being killed by the greens and starts helping Rhaenyra. I loved that she was around and while people see her as lesser because of the crowd she runs with, she becomes extremely resourceful, a true master of whispers, and is able to offer a perspective of someone who is not high born. Without Mysaria, Rhaenyra would be dead because she is the one who warned somebody about Arryk coming to kill Rhaenyra. I really wished they showed that on screen to further drive home that it was her in the episode. I loved how she had access to King’s Landing and was able to specifically address issues that some of the people were dealing with and increase the support for Rhaenyra. They kissed this season and I was like omg scandalous so I wonder if more will be seen from that relationship but as of now I like Mysaria.

The fight between Eeryk and Aaryk was intense but also kind of sad. It’s one thing to have twins on opposing sides in a show but to give them the same name with different spelling is a sure way to confuse me.I loved how they were twins and pretty equally matched and were fighting in such a confined space. I knew once Criston sent Aaryk to kill Rhaenyra that he wasn’t going to be coming back and Criston basically sent him on a death mission. From my understanding, Eeryk who is the one that was guarding Rhaenyra killed his brother first and then killed himself. I think part of it had to do with trust because how could she trust that it was him after that, also he killed his brother which is a rough thing to live with so he just decided to not live with it.

Jace or Jacerys is played by Harry Collet and this season he gets a little more screen time since he’s now the heir to Rhaenyra and wants to take on more responsibilities even though she does not want him in harms way. Jace can be a bit of a hot head and seems like he’s always looking for a fight and I think he needs to learn the balance between when calm is needed and when aggression is needed. There were times were he questioned Rhaenyra or was rude to her and she was very kind to him but she really needed to put him in his place. He has frustrations just like Rhaenyra since he isn’t really involved in the battles or political alliances but his actions show why he isn’t, like great that he gets the help of the Freys but his rash movements will get him killed.

There is a joke online about him blue steeling because of how he looked like he was posing when he was standing in the room and I started to notice, that it wasn’t anything serious but it was funny to me. I loved to see him with Baela who I’m not sure is his wife but I think that’s the plan. They kind of support each other and I feel like Baela is very wise and is able to talk him down when he is pissed. Also I loveddddd their matching outfits when we see them together, great choice in my opinion.  Early in the season, we see that while his brother was unsuccessful in gathering support, he was with Cregan Stark and his winter wolves and we get a glimpse of the wall. This leads to one of the most heartbreaking scenes this season when he returns and he’s trying to tell his mom of the success he has and he is trying so hard to keep it together and in the end he just can’t contain his emotions when looking at Rhaenyra and she hugs him. I thought the scene showcased some great acting but also showed how in war or conflict people are lost and sometimes those losses hit close to home and at the end of the day they are all humans with emotions and it is just sad.

In episode 5 Jace mentions that there is a lot of intermingling with the Targaryens throughout history and they should use that to find dragon riders for Vermithor and Silverwing. This was a smart suggestion by him but I felt like the writers forgot that he suggested it because like 2 episodes later he’s mad at Rhaenyra for letting people try to claim dragons. I just felt like that concern should’ve been brought up by someone else because how are you getting mad at something you suggested? I’m glad that they fixed Jace’s hair this season because one thing that irritated me is that whatever wig he had on in season one didn’t look like either of his supposed daddy’s or mom’s hair but now he looks like Sir Harwin’s son. The question of his parentage comes up again and this time it’s from Jace himself when he is trying to explain why he doesn’t think letting lowborns have a chance at claiming a dragon is a good thing to do. I really felt that Jace was making a great point but the way he said it was very classist and snobby. The dragons are seen as gods and the people who ride with them are seen as more important which is part of the reason the Targaryen’s have been able to stay in power for so long which I feel the show doesn’t harp on enough, the mythos of these dragons. Jace is basically questioning what would make people believe that he is the rightful heir/future king due to who his father is being questioned considering the distaste for bastards and then if lowborn can claim dragons whom the small folk don’t know have Targaryen ancestry, then it takes away from this idea that the Targaryen’s are the house of the dragon are born to lead and sit on the iron throne. A recurring theme this season is dispelling this idea that the dragons are gods and only people who are special can ride them and with this, i took it as Jace being like yes this will help you in the short term but the long-term implications of showing that dragons can actually be ridden by non-Targaryen’s will bring challenges to the Targaryen’s right to the throne. In the book, Rhaenys has black hair which makes Jace and Luke less suspicious as bastards because the thought is maybe their black hair comes from their grandmother and i always wondered why in the show she has white and this moment made me realize that maybe this is why because they want to harp on how this changes the perspective of if Rhaenyras line will be able to rule after she is gone.

Baela who is played by Bethany Antonia did a great job this season even though we got minimal time with her. She often seems like the voice of reason amongst the men in her life and is constantly telling them to get their shit together in the most calm way. I often forget that she’s Daemons kid because I feel like they have very minimal interactions and I would love to get more between the two. I was so happy we got to see her on Moondancer this season and how she had crispy cole on the run. Baela seems very sure of herself as evident when her grandfather asks her to be the Lord of Driftmark and she says I am Blood and Fire. Driftmark must pass to Salt and Sea.

Phoebe Campbell plays Rhaena who feels like the outcast this season which made me feel bad for her and I also forgot that she is Daemon’s daughter. At the beginning of the season, she is clearly upset with the news of Luke but it feels like she is left to mourn by herself. She has issues claiming a dragon which everyone seems to know but no one really tries to comfort her about and then she is sent to the vale with Rhaenyras kids which causes even more separation from her family and it feels like she was constantly looked down from the Lady of the Eyrie, Jeyne Arryn. She realizes there is a wild dragon there and decides to forgo her babysitting duties which are very important to go on a wilderness trip to find this dragon that’s eating charbroiled sheep. I feel like she is a character I’m aware of but the show has not dug deeper into her personality and given us a chance to know her. Like I really want her to get a dragon but then I’m like ok what’s next because she is still a babysitter and i know nothing about her. I was happy that she found the dragon in the finale but I felt we spent too long getting there. She notices the sheep early on and she knows there is a wild dragon there and even ask Jeyne about it then after she sneaks out, we follow her tracking. This shows her dedication but it gets to a point where with everything going on they need to move faster.

Corlys aka The Sea Snake is played by Steve Toussaint who spends most of his time this season walking that pier and watching his sons instead of talking to them. Later in the season, he becomes the hand of the queen which I thought was fitting because he seemed like the only living person who could do it. I feel like Rhaenys made him a better person and made him not be a deadbeat dad which I was happy to see while his granddaughter reminded him that he has duties and responsibilities when he was hanging around the pier lurking after Rhaenys died and Baela turned down his offer to be heir to Driftmark. I’m glad in the end that Alyn tells him he is a deadbeat and that there is nothing he can do to change how bad their past was and it’s time to move on and pretend like they are just coworkers. I do hope next season we see The Sea Snake on the boat named the Queen that Never Was , which I still think is a shady ass name, considering he spent all season repairing the ship that we didn’t get to see him on and I want to see how it will play out with him as the hand.

Alyn of Hull who is portrayed by Abubakar Salim is a bastard of Corlys and while not a dragon rider, he does become a high-ranking seaman. I love how he sets expectations with his brother Addam and doesn’t expect anything from Corlys. He definitely gives a big brother vibe and is fiercely loyal,  and I would want him on my side. My favorite scene with him is when he tells Corlys that they don’t need anything from him because he hasn’t been there their entire life and I thought it was fitting since Corlys has been avoiding having conversations with them the entire season. Fun Fact, Abubakar and the Lady of the Eyrie played by Amanda Collins both were in the sci-fi show Raised by Wolves, also on HBO.

Clinton Liberty is Addam of Hull who becomes the new rider of Seasmoke this season and I loved how he was trying to figure out where he belonged and then we quickly found out it’s with the dragon riders. He seems like the nicest guy and even though he and Corlys have a nonexistent relationship, Rhaenyra seems to be fond of him. Seasmoke was stalking him all season and In the scene where Seasmoke claims him I kinda jumped because that dragon popped out of nowhere.

Daemon Daemon Daemon my god how this storyline was infuriating. Daemon, played by Matt Smith,  runs off early in the season to claim Harrenhall after a fight with Rhaenyra due his reluctance to bend the knee to her and listen to basic instructions.  He is ordered to kill Aemond in episode one and he tells Blood and Cheese to kill someone else if Aemond isn’t there which leads them to kill Aegon’s son and heir, Jaherys. He single-handedly made it harder for Rhaenyra because then people blamed her and said how awful can someone be to kill a child and Daemon doesn’t even admit to it.

After they argue he goes to claim to Harenhall where he is tortured by ghosts of his past and we are tortured by this storyline being drawn out for the majority of the season. He ends up meeting Alys Rivers who is a weird little goth witch in Harrenhall who seems to make things worse before they get better. He kept wondering if he was the better person to be heir to the throne and it was proven time and time again that he was not. Because of Daemon thinking he deserved to be king and the crazy hallucinations, he almost didn’t get any support in the Riverlands. In the end, he has a vision of the future which was cool to see because it hints at a bigger threat, that he will become one of the night king generals, and that Daenerys will be the one to save the future or as some might say the princess that’s promised which also seems to rewrite what we know from Game of Thrones. While this was cool to see it didn’t make up for me having to see him have a mental breakdown each episode. The one thing I will say is that it was cool to see the return of some of the characters from season one who are no longer with us which reminded of how great their performances were. I’m glad he got the support of the Riverman but they really needed to wrap up the Haunting of Harenhall a lot quicker. Daemon rides Caraxes and I’ve always loved that dragon because of his long next it always stands out more to me. We barely get to see Caraxes because most of Daemon’s time is spent at Harrenhall but I did love the little time we got with it.

Through Daemon’s adventures, we meet Sir Simon Strong played by Simon Russell Beale who is one of the many highlights of this season. When we first meet him, he is the controller of Harrenhall but it’s falling apart and Daemon comes to conquer it and he’s like its yours to Daemon’s surprise. Throughout the season he made me laugh because he made sure Daemon knew his place and Simon was loyal to Rhaenyra, not him. One of my favorite scenes is when Daemon asks what would you call the husband of the queen and Simon says King and Daemon tries to interject and Simon finishes and says consort. Simon may not be the strongest or fiercest but he is loyal to Rhaenyra and when he hears Daemon and Ser Alfred talking about Daemon being the rightful heir, he sends word to Rhaenyra letting her know to come get her husband. I love how excited he was when Daemon and Rhaenyra made up and everyone bent their knee and I’m sure he will be even happier to have Daemon leave. Simon was a highlight of this season and his character is one of the few reasons I enjoyed visiting Harenhall.

We meet Oscar Tully portrayed by Archie Barnes whose grandfather is lord paramount but is dying at the beginning of the season. Daemon wants to use Oscar’s help to unite the riverlands to raise an army and Oscar refuses to do anything behind his grandfather’s back. When I first met this character I was just like oh he’s weak and young and will be a pushover or worse end up dead. However, I was wrong because he comes back after his grandfather dies with all the houses under him and he not only unites them but gets Daemon to get his act together. He reminded me of Lyanna Mormont, like he was young but don’t be fooled, he knows how to put some older people in their place and lead.

Before I mention the greens I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about Rhaenys aka the Queen That Never Was who was so brilliantly portrayed by Eve Best. She dies this season but she is and has been one of the best characters on this show. At the beginning of the season, I loved how so many looked up to Daemon or saw him as a threat and she constantly met him head on and some might even say that she gagged him on numerous occasions reminding him she does not take orders from him and he is not the king. Even the non-verbal interactions with Daemon and Rhaenys were great because she knew him and the stuff he would pull. When they are trying to figure out who killed Aegons son they show Daemon looking nervous while she’s staring at him and she knows that it was him.

Rhaenys is married to Corlys and they are shown to be madly in love and she helps make him a better person. Before she died she encouraged him to interact with his bastards whom she is aware of which was shocking but I love how she didn’t hold grudges towards the actual kids, unlike others we’ve met in the Game of Thrones universe like Catelyn Stark. Before her death she seemed like the perfect choice for a hand, she was super level-headed, smart,  and sometimes would step back and look at the big picture instead of being so hyper-focused on what’s right in front of them.  In the first couple of episodes, she drops one of the best lines “Soon they will not know what it is that started the war in the first place” and that resonated with me because the season is spent gearing up for war and there is a lot of small battles but when we look back will the war have started with Lukes death, Aemond losing an eye, Aegon getting the throne or something else. She mentioned examples to Rhaenyra and it is not her taking sides and telling her what started the war but telling her when people look back those lines get blurred and to be mindful of that.

Meleys is her dragon and from what we have seen their bond seemed the strongest, like they truly understood each other and when they would fly or go into battle Meleys and Rhaenys worked with each other for optimal results.  Rhaenys is one of the few dragon riders as well that knows how to ride a dragon into battle and not just for travel. In the battle of Rook Rest, she unfortunately dies which was heartbreaking but she puts up such a great fight. I was watching an interview with Eve Best after the episode and she was talking about how she instructs Meleys to attack instead of Dracarys and she said the reasoning is that she wants to take out the dragons but she doesn’t want to cause more casualties of her own people on the ground like the men are, instead using focused attacks. It was great to see her take out Sunfyre and Aegon and I think if it was a one-on-one she could have taken out Vhagar but it was an uneven battle. She had a chance to retreat and instead chose to fight which says a lot about Rhaenys. I’m sad she died but she went out with a bang.

Aegon the Second is crowned ruler in Kings Landing at the end of season one with Aegon the Conqueror’s crown as his family usurps power and in this season he is trying to find his footing. Tom Glynn-Carney portrays him and he is dumb and at first, he is just useless but after his son is murdered he starts making more rash decisions. He didn’t even want the throne but was forced to take it and everyone around him is starting to realize that he is not the best choice to be on the throne, hell he’s probably not even in the top 10 best choices for the throne. Otto was Viserys’s hand and he starts as Aegons hand but even he can’t control him and when Aegon hangs the ratcatchers for everyone to see after his son is killed by one, Otto lets him know this is dumb and Aegon doesn’t realize that it will make the people hate him and view him as cruel. He tries to be a nice king at the beginning of the season when the poor people are asking for help but this highlights how he doesn’t know what he’s doing, blindly agreeing to things and then having to turn around and be like just kidding which leads to frustrations starting to grow due to lack of food and medicine.

He questions himself and his role as king as he should because all he wants to do is drink and do dumb stuff. Alicent tells him that he’s not wise and he just needs to sit back and let people handle what’s going on. He takes this as people don’t take him seriously and he drunkenly rides off into battle but he seems to forget that him nor his dragon Sunfyre have ever been into battle and that he also barely knows Valyerian. The battle does not end well with him getting burned to a crisp and being on life support for the rest of the season. He makes strides to get better and eventually flees Kings landing in the finale but he should really stay on the road and not come back. I don’t know if the goal of the show is to get me to hate him but I don’t really hate him, I’m not saying I like him but I’m just very neutral with Aegon and i think its because he’s just so incompetent that he’s not even a threat. It doesn’t even seem like after everything he wants the throne, he is just doing all this stuff because he is being told. I’m interested to see what happens to him now that his dragon is dead and he’s burnt but I also wonder if he will start to make more decisions on his own.

Aegon promotes Larys, played by Matthew Needham, to master of whispers and that creepy man is efficient and Aegon is lucky to have him. Throughout the season he is the one person that seems to actually care about Aegon and helps him so much to make smarter decisions. I’m sure he is aware of Aemonds attempt to kill Aegon and instead of just going with it he uses it as an opportunity to show his loyalty to Aegon and helps him to get better and eventually escape in the finale. The thing that makes Larys so great as a character is his ability to keep a straight face and keep his emotions in check when talking and giving advice. He is an odd man but he is extremely useful in certain situations.

Alicent is played by Olivia Cooke and she does such a good job portraying this character who I hate but am still interested in seeing what she will do to piss me off. Even though I love the drama that comes with her character, I often feel like the show focuses too much on her considering she is not the one on the throne or going after it. In this season she gets sidelined more and more and starts to realize how this boys club doesn’t care if she is involved. She is sleeping with Criston Cole throughout the season which the show displays way too many times. Due to them sleeping together, he wasn’t there to protect Jaherys which she understandably feels guilt about. She takes an abortion brew later in the season and I was like look at the pot calling the kettle black after she judged Rhaenyra for sleeping with him. When she had her abortion brew she didn’t even try to hide the evidence, she just had it all out for everyone to see and I know the footman Larys was judging. 

One big contrast I love in the show is how she interacts with her kids vs. Rhaenyra. Rhaenyra seems so kind and loving and talks to them respectfully and there’s a type of respect between them. With Alicent it seems like most of her kids do not want to be bothered, she can’t even comfort Aegon after his kid dies instead she goes to sleep with Criston, she has a distaste for Aemond which is hinted but should be more boldly stated after he killed Luke, Daron is mentioned this season but she left him in Old Town to be raised and we know nothing about him, and Helena is the only one she treats nice and she is clearly a favorite. It’s just crazy how she has all these kids but it doesn’t seem like she actually likes them which is fair for Aegon and Aemond because I too would be disappointed if those were my children but after getting fired from the king’s court you would think maybe she would go check on her son she’s not raising, nope. Alicent and Rhaenyra meet and they talk about what Viserys said on his deathbed and in this moment she realizes that Aegon, her son is not who he was talking about considering there are so many Aegons but instead of trying to rectify this, she says she cant because her hands are tied even though her hands weren’t tied when she started all this shadiness. Also who in their right mind would look at her son and be like yep that’s who is meant to be king. She tells Aegon that the crown doesn’t imbue wisdom and he should be talking to her and Otto which for once I will agree with because he was dumb and the people he surrounded himself with were illogical.

When the townspeople riot because they are starving, she is in the middle of it with Helena and she gets fish guts thrown at her as she should which really makes her see how her offspring are making things worse minus Helaena. This unfortunately for us leads her to take time floating in the water outside the city in the next episode which was so boring to watch. Something that stood out to me in every scene with Alicent was she was going to figure out how to make it about her. Like her grandson just got brutally murdered, her father is fired and you know what she’s thinking about, how bad she feels like girl read the room, no one cares. This goes on and is even evident when she goes to Dragonstone in the finale where she’s like oh this has been so hard for me and makes herself the victim when she literally is a big part of all this happening and I’m so glad Rhaenyra tells her history will remember you as a cruel queen. I hate her but one thing I will say is her outfits surely are on point. She basically gives up Aegon so she and Helaena can escape and I am interested to see what will happen when Rhaenyra gets to the city and Aegon is gone because Alicent doesn’t know what’s going on.

Otto who is brilliantly played by Rhys Ifans had such a big role in season one making sure Aegon gets placed on the throne and quickly comes to regret it for the short time he is around this season. One thing i’ve come to realize is I hate Otto so much because he’s actually good at what he sets out to do which is usually some shady stuff. like with his help he planted seeds that Rhaneyras kids are bastards, that Aegon is the rightful king, and usurped the throne and killed everyone who would have ruined his plan and more. Like I hate the man but he was effecient. His main goal is to silence Rhaenyra and keep Aegon on the throne and even after the death of Jaherys, he compartmentalizes his emotions and tries to focus on the bigger picture. When Aegon hangs the rat catchers Otto yells at him for being dumb and he’s right because it shows how cruel he is for no reason but Aegon fires him. After Aegon fires him as the hand things seem to get worse because of all the rash decisions from Aegon and Aemond. In the end, we see him imprisoned somewhere and I don’t know where but that’s where he belongs.

We meet Otto’s other child Ser Gwayne played by Freddie Fox this season and while he sides with the greens I kind of like him for the amount of shit he gives Criston Cole. Like the first time we met him he called Criston poor like 5 different ways and it was hilarious to me. He had a different experience being raised in Oldtown by people who are not his father and it seems like there is some resentment towards his sister because of that which is great because i love all the hate Alicent gets and she deserves it. When Baela chases him and his men we do get to see the look of horror on his face which was priceless. Throughout the season he does keep calling out Criston for being dumb and even though he is on the same side I’m not rooting for him, i just like how he comes in and just casts pure judgment on his surroundings.

Aemond who I also call Almond is portrayed by Ewan Mitchell who once again pisses me off this season with his raggedy granny Jurrasic Park looking dragon Vhagar. In the beginning of the season he pretends to not even care that he killed his nephew and even Alicent is shocked. It seems as if Aemond wants the throne and he tries to get it but very sneakily. Aegon has embarrassed him for years which we see this season in a ballsy scene and I think he wants to be in a position where he is above him and Aegon can’t bully him anymore. At first, I said maybe he would be a better leader than Aegon but when he becomes regent i realized nope thats wrong because while he is a better fighter, he only thinks about control and wants to control the people of kings landing by locking them in the city with minimal food and resources and then we see in battle his goal is to win but he doesn’t care about the loss of life inflicted.

The real reason Aemond is a threat is because he rides this old scaley, ancient-looking beast by the name of Vhagar who is a giant which makes it hard to go against the greens because Vhagar had already killed Luke and his dragon at the end of season one but in season 2 they kill Rhaenys and Meleys and I will die on the hill that if it was a one vs one it would be different becasue sometimes speed is more important than size. He keeps Vhagar parked in the valley and uses her as like an intimidation tactic or to just cause more destruction. He and Criston kind of become besties this season and start planning stuff without talking to Aegon. At Rooks Rest he was the secret weapon hiding and then Aegon came which upset Criston because that was really dangerous for the king to be in harm’s way and Aemond took this as an opportunity to attempt to take Aegon out. He doesn’t succeed but he does weasel his way into becoming the king regent and then removing his mother from her duties. He tries many times to kill Aegon but is always interrupted and there are some who would never challenge Aemond but I get the feeling that they know that he is going after the throne. I get the vibes from Aemond that he doesn’t see women as his equals but as beneath him.

Aemond is very impulsive as we can see at the end of episode 7 when he sees a dragon rider and he goes immediately to Vhagar to mount her and chase this dragon rider but this time he sees how Rhaenyra has three dragons in his view and you can see some slight horror on his face knowing he is outnumbered and he turns around. In the next episode, we see how he burns down a town which further shows that he uses and abuses the power he has with dragons and will take out innocent lives just to assert his dominance. With Aemond having such a big dragon it is interesting how people often request Vhagar and while it’s definitely an advantage they show dragons do have to rest and feed so after a big battle he does become more vulnerable. Aemond is a character whom i can’t wait to see their downfall but I must say that Ewan is doing such a great job portraying this guy and making me hate him.

Fabien Frankel is Criston Cole,  a character I hate sooo much and while I’m glad he is still alive so I have one person to throw the majority of my hate to even though i can’t wait to see him die. He calls Rhaenyra the whore queen yet he is out here being a whore with Alicent. Funny enough Alicent takes the abortion brew proving that no one wants to have his kids. Unfortunately, he is a good person to have leading the ground troops because he’s good in battle but he still makes me mad by thinking he is better than everyone.

When Jaherys dies he is questioned and makes up some excuse about where he was and then he has the nerve to question Arryk as if it wasn’t his job to be protecting the heir and not having sexual relationships with the old queen. When Alicent was asking if he told anyone about them and said what do you take me for I audibly respond,  a dumb bitch because that is what I think of him. He figures out a plan with Aemond to strategically attack places that will help them win the war which irritates Aegon because he’s not in the know and he starts his journey with a new haircut that somehow made me hate him more. at Rooks rest he planned for a dragon and instructed Aemond to bring Vhagar but after Aegon comes with Sunfyre it ruins his plan. With Aegon hurt he feels like he failed his king and it made me laugh because I do think he’s a failure and seeing him sad about being a failure made me happy because I don’t like him. I know after Rooks Rest he knows that Aemond is the one that caused Aegon to be so badly injured but instead of saying something he just acts like he doesn’t know anything, once again being dumb. At the end of the season, he gets called out publicly by Ser Gwayne for breaking his sworn duties as a king’s guard by sleeping with Alicent and he has a moment where he feels remorse I guess for his actions but i don’t care i wish him nothing but the worst.

I hate Criston Cole but one thing I think must be said is I saw stuff about people commenting on Fabien’s Instagram with threats and it’s wild to me that people can’t separate the actor from the show. Use your brains to realize they are not the same and I think its ok to express distaste of the character but you should be respectful to the actors.

Helaena who is portrayed by Phia Saban is the only person from the greens I wish a happy ending. She’s so nice and innocent and people don’t really take her seriously but that girl says something that seems weird and it’s actually a hint at something to come. When Jaherys dies she doesn’t say much but you can really see the pain in her face which is heartbreaking. People are talking about Jaherys death as the heir being killed and want a public funeral but from Haelanas perspective it was her son that got killed and to top it off she had to bear witness to her mom getting her back blown out. I do wonder if Helaena cares about Aegon at all, they never show her visiting him once after his injury. At the end of the season, we get to hear her talk a little more and we learn she sees more than she lets on. When Aemond tries to recruit her to ride her dragon into war, which she refuses,  she lets him know she saw Aemond burn Aegon, that Aegon will be king again and that Aemond will be dead and she communicates with Daemoon and Alys from where she is at in kingslanding. I think just love how with all this craziness going on she said im just gonna sit back and not involve myself but y’all have fun.

While House of the Dragon season 2 was good, I really felt like at the beginning of the season they hinted that war was coming and that we would see more of it but throughout the season they just dragged it on and war was always looming. I know there were a lot of pieces being put in place for the future but they really could’ve given us more because the way the season ended made it feel like an incomplete season or a trailer for the next season and not its own episode. I think this is something that was a challenge, how much to give the audience. I hope next

There were some storylines this season that was dragged out way too long and some characters I felt they focused on too much and some not enough. Hugh, Ulf, Daemon’s haunting, The Tyland Lannister stuff with the triarchy, Aliicents spa day, and Rhaenas hunting trip to name a few were storylines that I felt could be shorter. I really wanted to see more interactions with Baela and Jace, hell just give Baela more screentime, Learn more about Rhaena because she has been around but doesn’t say much, give us Darron, more Creegan, or maybe get to the war that is looming on the horizon. A lot is going on in the show and the length that they chose to focus on some storylines confused me because that time could’ve been better spent.

If there’s one thing I love its some dragons and we get to see so many this season and I loved seeing them all and it’s hard to pick a favorite but it’s between Melys, Sunfyre, and Caraxes. I was sad when they would go to battle because I didn’t want the dragons to get hurt because they just seemed like pets thrown in a battle and some of the dragons are parents too. Vhagar would be the exception, that ragged piece of leather can rot. The show subtly hints at the lore behind the dragons and I wish they would give us more about what the common folk think of the dragons and how they view them because we often see the more affluent people talking about the dragons. This season expresses that most people feel the dragons are like gods and are invincible and when the greens parade Melys head in the streets it proves that these dragons are not gods and are not invincible and can be killed which is a bad omen. The greens aren’t the only ones that would make people challenge past assumptions because Rhaenyra inviting commoners to try and claim a dragon and some being successful would make people question if the Targaryen’s are special if anyone can claim a dragon since they don’t know that these people probably came from a Targaryen. Both sides are so focused on each other that they fail to realize how the normal folk are realizing more and more that the Targaryen’s aren’t as special as they thought and that dragons can be challenged. Obviously there is hesitation because yes they can be killed but they can also eat you and burn you and there’s a decent amount of them. I do love how this season we meet more dragons and see how these dragons are bonded with their rider.

When season one was released they slowly released all these videos where it was the cast doing interviews or playing games with each other and they did it again this season and I love it. it’s so interesting to see them interact off-screen and see how people like Eve Best will always ride for team black and how Tom Glynn-Carney seems like a cool person who would be fun to work with. I hope they continue these interviews because I’m always interested to see how they will be paired up and see how they are so different from the characters they play.

The cinematography in this show is great and there are some small things done that make a big impact. One that stands out to me is the beginning of episode 2 where we see the maids cleaning up after Jaherys death but we don’t see the room, we just see them coming in and out of the room in slow motion with bloody sheets and the look of pure horror on the face. It really lets the viewer take in this tragedy and how traumatic it can all be even in the aftermath. There was another episode later in the season where Rhaenyra sends food to King’s Landing and I learned that the camera was always moving in that episode to further drive that the world was constantly changing. The cinematography really elevates the scenes and there are some truly beautiful moments in this show especially when we are taken to new locations and we get a big-picture glimpse of things.

The costumes and hair and make-up are also impressive and they deserve a special shoutout. There are a varying array of looks and it’s cool how they tie in their house or loyalty into what they are wearing. Even some of the characters I hate look so good in their outfits and I hate to say it but I must give them props.

My favorite part of this season was Rhaenys and Ser Simon. I have talked about these characters already but they truly made the show better and while i didn’t have an issue with any of the other performances, these two just really stood out. I’m sad we won’t see more of Rhaenys but I hope we see more of Simon in the future.

House of the Dragon season 2 sets up a lot of pieces but fails to put enough of those pieces into play which made me feel like I was watching an incomplete season waiting for something else to come. The cast is great and there is so much more to explore with this world but I just hope for season 3 they figure out their pacing but make sure to still give us all the dragons.