Episode eight of House of the Dragon’s second season would have been a great penultimate episode, but it comes up as a surprise disappointment for the finale. With a reduced episode count, the season barreled toward a conclusion that largely felt like nothing more than set up for events to come, while simultaneously dragging its heels. Instead of wrapping this season up in a meaningful way, we’re left with the creative decision to end on “next time”, much as we did at the end of season one. But that trick only works once and the initial promise has yet to payoff, resulting in a very frustrating finale.

I really thought the season two finale would have some sort of set piece to cap things off, but the episode was more concerned with setting the stage for things to come. This is usually what Game of Thrones would do, but it would come off the momentum of its infamous episode nine, where a great battle or major narrative beat would transpire. The finale would then reset the board for things to come, giving us a breather after a high-stakes penultimate. Season two of House of the Dragon put its major battle in the mid-season and then lost a lot of its momentum and urgency after that point. I’m not saying season two needed some bit WTF moment for its conclusion, but considering season one was set up for season two’s war, this season largely felt like more setup for a war that’s yet to properly unravel. The war feels like a non-issue to the characters as there’s a lot of waiting around and that takes away a lot of the tension from something that should have dire consequences every few episodes. I’m not saying there needs to be battles every few episodes, but everyone feels far too indifferent to the bigger picture and more concerned about their own position. While that latter part does offer the opportunity for great character moments, it shouldn’t be at the sacrifice of the former.

Likewise, thanks to a reduced episode count (eight as opposed to ten), we didn’t get nearly enough time with some of the characters. In this episode, Rhaenyra tells the dragonseeds that they have two days to learn to fly their dragon before beginning their assault (that will come next season). That would’ve been a great subplot for an entire episode, watching these lowborns jockey for position and try to figure out dragon rising more or less on their own. But the show glosses over this and we see them suiting up for war in the ending montage. Instead, we get mud wrestling with Tywin, I mean, Tyland Lannister instead as he recruits the Tyoshi to Team Green’s cause. It was quite jarring to introduce new characters at this point in the season, and in a new subplot I don’t think anyone really cares about. So that screen time did feel wasted and unearned. Perhaps save that for the season three premiere instead and give more time for Hugh, Ulf, and Addam. Likewise, Rhaena’s entire screentime was dedicated to her running through the hills in search of a dragon, but didn’t inform anyone, or bring any supplies, or water. So the show would interrupt its momentum to catch up on her with brief shots of her running and resting, it felt bizarre to keep coming back to it, especially when the outcome was clear as day. Yes, she’ll get a dragon, we get it. Anyway, was that Otto Hightower in a cage?? Why is he in a cage? Where is he, who captured him? Oh, we’ll find out next season? In two years? Oh, okay.

The finale isn’t without merit it should be noted. Alicent sneaking into Dragonstone to speak with Rhaenyra was a great scene, one that saw her basically admitting her mistake and just how far she’s willing to go to seek absolution. Alicent pledges to surrender to her friend and offers up her son Aegon to secure peace. It’s pretty ruthless on Rhaenyra’s part to insist upon this, making us question even further who we should be rooting for in this conflict.

I also quite liked the confrontation between Alyn of Hull and Corlys, where the former chastises the latter about only remembering he has bastard sons when his legacy is in question. Alyn stating he wants no help from his biological father now, after years of shame and starvation as a child, was a really effective scene.

Daemon’s scene where he got a vision via the Weirwood tree was also a bit strange; not due to it resulting in Daemon bending the knee to Rhaenyra in the end, but because the content of the vision is nothing new to fans of Game of Thrones. I think the biggest revelation out of the seemingly confirmed fact that Brynden Rivers is the Three-Eyed Raven, but those unfamiliar with the larger lore will probably not understand that reference (thankfully, we have an article here on that character and the implications of this revelation). But after six episodes of tripping balls in the castle, I feel like we could’ve come to this moment much earlier on. Or, as mentioned, had Daemon sit out a few episodes.

This would have been a solid penultimate episode for the season, but to end off on more setup felt underwhelming. Daemon’s hallucinations taking up most of his character arc this season felt like wasted runtime for the most part, resulting in the sensation that his screen time should’ve been given to other characters. After Rook’s Rest, the season seemingly deflated, with everything being far too casual. Heck, the shadow of Blood and Cheese did not linger over the season like I thought it would have and the Mysaria kiss with Rhaenyra had zero impact or follow-up. All this resulted in a season with subplots that didn’t really contribute to the whole. House of the Dragon’s second season did have some great moments, with episode two in particular being a standout for its acting. The season showcased great sets and costumes and a much more impressive sense of scale and tangibility thanks to his new on-location filming. But the story was stretched too thin and some stories were prioritized over others, resulting in an inconsistent experience. Is it still a good watch? Yes, but I expected much more. With that in mind, the sophomore season and its finale couldn’t help but leave me a bit disappointed and we’ll be left on that cliffhanger of events to come for at least two years.