House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 8 Breakdown | Recap & Review

House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 8 breakdown. In-depth recap & review of Season 2 Ep. 8 "The Queen Who Ever Was" with the ending explained. Please subscribe! 👉 👉 www.youtube.co...
HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series has reached the end of its second season. In the finale episode, Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) finally reunites with Daemon (Matt Smith) who after his visions at Harrenhal bends the need and pledges the army he’s put together in the Riverlands. Alicent (Olivia Cooke) decides to take drastic action and travels to Dragonstone.
S2.E8 ∙ The Queen Who Ever Was
As Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) becomes more volatile, Larys (Matthew Needham) plots an escape, while Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) looks to press her advantage.
Written by: Sara Hess
Directed by: Geeta Vasant Patel
Aired Sun, August 4, 2024
**This video doesn’t contain any book spoilers that will reveal future events that have happened on screen.
If you want to leave me a tip for my work 💰 paypal.me/pete...
What are your favorite “House of the Dragon” theories for the upcoming season? Which dragons and characters are you most excited to see?
👉All my links - linktr.ee/pete...
👉Follow me on Twitter - / petepeppers
House of the Dragon stuff:
Fire and Blood amzn.to/3ca6ZFE
The Making of House of the Dragon amzn.to/3whNxxC
A Song of Ice and Fire amzn.to/3dNLqLr

[@PetePeppers1]

We’re left with much to consider in the two years until we get a third season. How will Rhaenyra react when she gets to King’s Landing and finds out Aegon isn’t there? How will this belief in prophecy affect the Blacks when it looks like Rhaenyra is taking her rightful place on the throne? What’s going to happen when all these armies meet? Hopefully, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will help to hold us over. Let me know what you think.

[@worldadventuretravel]

After the way they ended season 2 I'm not optimistic at all about the rest of the show. It appears GOT season 8 writing is back on the table. You decide though, I broke down all my reasons in a separate comment below. I love your work by the way, you have some of the most insightful ASOIAF commentary. It's nice to have people dig deeper than just an "episode recap" of stuff we all saw.

[@Gtex555]

That was not the night king, it was a whyt

[@f15stroke]

My take on this season by episode: 1. Good 2. Decent 3. Meh 4. Excellent 5. Fair 6. Shit 7. Very good 8. Shit

[@genreonlinenet]

I think Aegon missing will put stress on the plan and agreement she made with Allicent, (spelling ?). They will probably put her in a cell within the red keep for this. I think the three armies are not likely to clash right away because they will need to reacquaint the viewers when the show comes back in 2026. I think team green will suffer a humiliating defeat, but we know there are no real winners in a civil war. To paraphrase Danny DeVito in the film The War of the Roses (1989), “There are no winners in a divorce. Only degrees of losing.” Fitting since Martin used the real War of the Roses as a historical backdrop for A Song of Ice and Fire. So expect some major deaths and betrayals. No one wins.

[@eddieterrell5457]

Shows ending after season 4 anyway sucks

[@Garlicboss19]

I love how we all thought Otto was off sulking but he was actually in jail😂.

[@w00t777]

I think he just had a big night out, waking up, not sure where he is

[@ReRe-yl6dq]

hope we get some flashbacks or something to his story. They took out one of the strongest actors for the whole season.

[@hulkman245]

How did you think he was was sulking? You can clearly see the bars

[@PetePeppers1]

that was a pretty big surprise

[@chrisretzlaff2895]

​@@hulkman245 It was thought he was out sulking before they revealed he was captured 😂😂

[@KishaSaidIt]

So we all are going to act like we didn’t see Sir Alfred try to sneak on up outta there once Daemon bent the knee? 😂

[@smittyjjensin558]

I enjoyed the episode, but it felt like it was build up towards a finale rather than being the finale itself.

[@jamesdrake3651]

This episode shouldn't have been finale. It should have been part of a build up to the finale.

[@radientproductions9799]

by comparison, Foundation Finale of Season 2 had it all; action, major deaths, betrayals.

[@Shyhalu]

LOL that is half the ****** episodes, they turned it into a stretched out soap opera. You could remove half the content and get the same result.

[@captain_britain]

@@radientproductions9799 No disrespect, but why are you comparing HotD to Foundation?

[@THETYMEKK12]

The episode was great, one of the best this season. It should not have been a finale, but is gonna work well when bingewatching the whole series in few years.

[@spaceburger80]

One thing that occurred to me during Daemon’s vision is that for all of the weight, circumstance, history, and grandeur of the storied Valyrian culture, Targaryan heritage and import of Aegon’s “Song of Ice and Fire”… none of the players in this grand tale amount to anything more than a single, infinitesimally small piece on R’hlor’s chess board. I’m not certain it is R’hlor either who is pulling the strings. Regardless, during this last episode Daemon realizes how inconsequential he is and, funnily enough, I realized how inconsequential all of these stalwart, grandiose characters are in relation to the Song of Ice and Fire. They all live and die and somehow, in spite of their monumental efforts and trials, just barely fulfill their destiny, just enough so that the next generation of heroes can in turn do the same.

[@TymeTraveling777]

I like how Alicent is selling out her two conflicted sons for her grand daughter and daughter but forgot about the golden child Daeron . Smh

[@Julia-qv5ls]

Whenever I hear about a character forgetting something in GoT I instinctively say…At least it wasn’t the Iron Fleet.

[@Denjiman-qz9mi]

Bro it's gonna backfire on her so badly.

[@universalcollective427]

bad fucking writting

[@genericsavings]

That’s a good catch. This season STINKS.

[@aldogg187]

They have shown her wondering if her other son is good.... She's probably thinking she can take Helena, he grandaughter and be happy at old town with the good son. Since he hasn't been part of the usurping... He could be spared.

[@ReRe-yl6dq]

biggest complaint about season 2 is we only got 1 battle played out in the season. season 1 ended with everyone preparing for war and now it feels like we are still at the same point at the end of season 2.

[@universalcollective427]

season 3 finale: we really really mean it this time

[@realdaggerman105]

@@universalcollective427 Season 4: okay battle of the gullet time

[@TCthaCrisis]

​@@realdaggerman105 Season 5: "Sorry guys, we got caught in traffic.. we are going to battle for real this time"

[@AmanCreatesArt]

It’s hard to get excited about the prophecy when we’ve seen the incredibly anti-climactic battle where they’re defeated and the Night King is taken out pretty easily by Arya Stark.

[@Nategod15]

Just look at it as if it’s non canon. D&D weren’t going off of source material anyway so who knows how it’s gonna actually turn out in the book

[@gxt3900]

@@Nategod15 While a good point, it should be noted.. we're probably never going to get another book.

[@aldogg187]

Everyone says that the night king was taken out easily.... But it was a brutal battle to the last minutes. The night king thought he won... And spider monkey caught him slipping. I wasn't disappointed with the long night.

[@michaellmad87]

@@aldogg187 I wasnt disappointed by how it ended, but I was disappointed with the episode as a whole. The terrible lighting and how the entire Khal army was just wasted, yet Ghost somehow made it back to Winterfell no issues.

[@xxdeviousv2]

​@@michaellmad87I don't understand why so many people complain about the lighting. When anticipating a battle at night, turns off the lights. As for the rest of your comment I completely agree.

[@YnotNomis]

The Season Finale The Never Was!

[@PetePeppers1]

heh

[@missmanifestor9293]

Totally agree with you. This episode pissed me off wasting scenes that could have been left out. I was the most bored out of all the HOD episodes.

[@zanith56]

I enjoyed the episode.

[@StefunnyStrange]

I don’t have time to watch this video yet but I’ll watch it later and maybe my opinion will change after watching. But here are my thoughts and why I’m frustrated with the show: I wish the show runners would STOP bringing up the white walkers! We all know that the white walkers were defeated in LITERAL HOURS and by a 90 pound little girl with a dagger no less, so the writers reminding us of this constantly just HURTS! In season 1 this show was removing the stain of season 8 of GOT but now Condal or HBO is trying to make this show Game of Thrones and I can’t take it! And I can’t watch Rhaenyra anymore either. This isn’t the Rhaenyra from the book. Lord knows why the writers thought a more peaceful, calm, rational Rhaenyra would be more entertaining than the Rhaenyra GRRM crafted. The woman lost her son, lost her throne, lost Rhaenys, lost her father, lost her baby and came within an inch of being ASSASSINATED and that STILL wasn’t enough for her to want blood or to become a bit ruthless. I don’t need her to be the mad king but it doesn’t even seem like a lot of those events happened because she barely reacts to them or she reacts once or twice in an episode, and then it’s dropped. They constantly tease fans with these “mad queen” face expressions she keeps making and pretending that she has become dark, having her glare into the camera or glare at Aemond like sh*t is about to POP OFF, only for us to learn a few scenes later that she actually still wants no bloodshed. Corlys had to CONVINCE her to fight FFS! Like, f*ck me. Rhaenyra actually said that she had just planned on using her newly gained dragons as a deterrence for Aemond. A F*CKING DETTERENCE. END ME ALREADY. Many characters just aren’t allowed to change this season. For instance, by the end of the season, I had FORGOTTEN that Jahaerys was murdered! The green characters just act like that never even happened after the second episode or so. I’m just not feeling the impact of that death. Moreover, 15-20% of the episode was focused on Tyland and a girl boss androgynous pirate who no one gives two sh*ts about! The pirate seemed cartoonish to me. But maybe that’s because they chose to put it in the FINALE of all places! It would’ve been better to spread that out through the season and I would’ve been fine with the pirate. But since it was in the finale, I was looking at my watch during those scenes thinking “WE DONT HAVE TIME FOR THIS! Why am I watching Tyland wrestle in a mud pit with some pirate when there is so much more important sh*t to cover?!” And I don’t care about Rhaena either. She makes the same damn pikachu face all season and we’ve ALREADY seen the storyline of a Targaryen child being belittled because they don’t have a dragon and then gaining a dragon, and that child’s name was AEMOND! Why would I want to see that similar storyline again with Rhaena? Just claim a dragon or don’t! They’ve dedicated like 5 scenes to this! I don’t care anymore. I hope Sheepstealer EATS her. At least that would add a little more excitement and shock to the show. Who TF thought a made up Rhaena plot would be more entertaining than seeing Nettles? Ryan Condal is starting to remind me of D&D where he writes to spite the fans or the subvert expectations to be a creative genius, and not to please or give the fans the most faithful adaption as possible. He is coming off as little big-headed. We wanted Fire & Blood, not a Ryan Condal original story using Fire & Blood characters! Some liberties taken with the story are fine but he went too far in season 2. The hubris of this man or of HBO… especially given what happened in Game of Thrones. I see no lessons were learned there, huh? I cautioned fans all season to wait for the finale before passing judgement and now I have egg on my face. Ryan Condal, make this right! I’m starting to miss Miguel Sapochnik…Give that man a bag of money, meet his other demands and BRING HIM BACK. I haven’t given up on the show yet but they better fix this sh*t in season 3.

[@francesrobinson1335]

That was the most entertaining review I ever read. Didn't agree with everything but I really enjoyed it. When you wrote that you hoped Pigstealer would eat her I laughed out loud. Thanks for sharing that. You need your own channel. Very clever writing!

[@Ryan-pg2rw]

+💯

[@DanieSBbg1983]

"I hope Sheepstealer EATS her" made me laugh out loud 🤣🤣🤣, and I couldn't agree more with EVERYTHING you said! 👍

[@soulsharts]

I applaud your comment. Most normal people feel the same way. S1 was good and followed the book pretty well, but s2 it's going off the rails for the reasons you mentioned. rhaenyra and alicent in the show, are NOT the book characters in the least; they're like the opposite of what they are in the book, it's dumb.

[@495JMK]

Bravo! Excellent point about not feeling the deaths!

[@dfailsthemost]

Dude, Ulf is so aggressively the worst.

[@michael-tx8rw]

in the book he seemed more likeable

[@amarbyrd2520]

Ulf is definitely going to be a problem

[@michaellmad87]

@@amarbyrd2520 but Hugh is the bigger problem, so its weird how they seem to be changing that

[@ShadeNinja2990]

Dude if they wanted me to hate him they succeeded

[@dfailsthemost]

@@michaellmad87 Actually, it'd be smart to set up Hugh as respectful and then have their attitudes reverse over the course of events.

[@permanentlyexperimental3691]

When Sir Alfred hears something with Daemon in the woods, with subtitles on, it says "Traitor."

[@DanieSBbg1983]

I don't get it. Shouldn't that thing have screamed "traitor" at Daemon all season then? 😂

[@permanentlyexperimental3691]

@@DanieSBbg1983 haha I don't disagree. Never understood why he just let's the witch lady keep drugging him into oblivion

[@fingal113]

i didn't even think about subtitles. well done. but the question is. who said it? bran?

[@permanentlyexperimental3691]

@@fingal113 I figure alys/the forest itself. Magic trees and whatnot

[@michaellmad87]

He literally brings that up in the video lol

[@Ryan-pg2rw]

This show isn't even 10% of earlier GOT seasons. It's okay if there isn't much action, but the dialogue and plot should be engaging. I am a huge fan of BB and BCS, which are mostly dialogue based and slow burners. The first half of HOTD S2 was okay but the later part is just filler (bad writing+terrible plot). Even the acting of some characters is just mid.

[@youngveteran6368]

Rhaenyra (Emma Darcy) being one of them (imo) she tries too hard to seem stoic yet intimidating whole time she is just an idiot (purely based on the decision her character makes), other honorable mentions - rhaena (don’t care to remember her name) Baela in some scenes ( don’t care to remember her name) Jace in some scenes ( don’t care to his remember name) Mysaria ( I never liked her acting since season one but I’ve seen her in other projects and she’s good ig but not in hotd) The triarcy captain ( don’t know her name but those ceramic white veneers just “un-immerse” me straight out of the universe and it doesn’t help that her acting is just so try hard and obnoxious it’s hard to believe pirates are intimidated by this😐 no intimidating aura, no maniacal laugh, just a loud mouth “bad ass”………..SEVEN HELLS!!!)

[@BSG74]

I love these breakdowns of the House of the Dragon. This channel is so good of explaining each episode and the little details one can miss. Same holds true for when "For all Mankind" is broken down as well. Great job!

[@DanFarrell98]

Alyn had been holding that in for a long time! Great performance from Abubakar

[@rockelino]

Gwayne Hightower still looks like he's 15 years old, 25ish years after he is introduced to the show in season 1...

[@t1nma5k22]

HUGE SHOUTOUT TO Rhaena's eyeballs 👀👀

[@TCthaCrisis]

I've been sick of her starring since season 1

[@msatutude17]

Was giving crackhead 😂

[@Garlicboss19]

Someone should tell daemon that the white walkers will be killed by a 90Ib girl with a knife. He won’t be so worried then!

[@heatherupton6558]

With king Viseryes knife

[@Cacheola]

Someone should tell the commenters that not everybody has watched GOT here and they're potentially spoiling the absolute fkn finale

[@MattyMadderzz]

@@Cacheolait’s been long enough now

[@1DrunkSocialite]

@@CacheolaIt’s been 5 years. 😂 Plus that wasn’t even the finale 😂😂😂

[@TCthaCrisis]

Don't tell him.. we want to see his disappointed face when he watches season 8. 😂

[@neondemon5137]

HBO: 8 episodes is enough right? Showrunner: We need 10 HBO: *waves hand like a jedi* 8 episodes is enough Showrunner: 8 episodes is enough

[@baronessvondengler]

It could have been if they cut out all the filler though… seems like showrunners sabotaged their own show.

[@worldadventuretravel]

OR, showrunner could have said "Then we're not doing a season 2 at all then." Checkmate. Labor power when leveraged > execs that don't get any profits without labor ;)

[@squee599]

I saw the last shot of Rhaenyra framed by the scrolls as highlighting her place in the histories, the shape kind of resembles a family tree and perhaps hints at her being "the rightful" ruler as she is centred in the frame of "history."

[@universalcollective427]

it's never about whose right, in the end, it's about whose left

[@squee599]

@@universalcollective427 Exactly! No spoilers but there's a reason Daemon saw Rivers and Dany and why I'm saying Rhaenyra is in her place in the histories.

[@AlmightyDilan]

Waiting two years between seasons is without a doubt the WORST thing about these shows, kills all momentum picked up by earlier seasons

[@Hochspitz]

Flesh out the characters only to destroy almost all in a finale that didn't stick the landing at all.

[@baronessvondengler]

They’re going to see a massive drop off for Season 3, then will have to finish up in an abridged season 4 because it’s too expensive.

[@iangenuine]

Its honeslty weird how rhaenyra and alicent has no danger when visiting each other lol. Plus they teleport to each other within minutes

[@Englishteacher542]

To be fair, dragonstone and Kingslanding aren’t that far away from each other

[@TheRocco96]

It's GoT s08 quality of writing.

[@iangenuine]

@@Englishteacher542 that is true. But I guess it would have been nice if it was shown more well.

[@1OnlyOneOnlyOne1]

The Godswood Weirdwood detail you noticed is actually awesome and the type of stuff some of us love.

[@rockelino]

Am I wrong or was the white walker in Daemon's dream just a run of the mill WW and not the Night King (I thought the NK wore this ice crown and bad different head/hair setup)?

[@haydn1708]

Despite the pacing I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this season due to the stellar character work and performances. BUT this finale was a huge anticlimax. HBO should have committed to 10 eps

[@halphpint7400]

You should give your actual opinion on these episodes...not just recapping what happened.

[@OSW]

Something I really love that you did, is give a broad overview of the chess pieces before launching into a specific review of the episode. It gives us a great footing for the rest of the video. Just a joy to watch. Well done!

[@missmanifestor9293]

Season finale was a joke this episdoe was a time waster. Did we really need to see a mud fight and chasing a dragon? There was so many choices in how this could have ended and this episode was a joke.

[@camealer37]

I think what they should have done with Rhaena character was make her a bad ass without a dragon. It would be more believable of her taking sheep stealer. Also they could have let Nettles and Rhaena meet. And Nettles teach Rhaena how to take Sheepstealer. That would make a believable storyline

[@nittamimi8842]

Dany's 3 dragons 1 for her, 1 for Jon, and 1 for the OTHER targaryn.. the NIGHT KING.. ALL FAMILY.

[@f15stroke]

My take on this season by episode: 1. Good 2. Decent 3. Meh 4. Excellent 5. Fair 6. Shit 7. Very good 8. Shit

[@realdaggerman105]

1. Good 2. Amazing 3. Meh 4. Excellent 5. Meh 6. Okay 7. Amazing 8. Would be Amazing but as a finale it’s meh

[@kriswalter560]

Your reviews are always fabulous. Thank you.

[@WrenNeigh]

Something about this breakdown really reminds me of your Raised by Wolves breakdowns…in a great way!

[@cosmicvoyager8499]

At this point The Winds of Winter will be finished before Criston Cole dies. Most unfair thing I’ve ever heard

[@smittyjjensin558]

Getting Winds of Winter would very much ease the pain of Cole's persistence.

[@yensid4294]

This ep had so many good scenes between characters (great acting) & character moments that tied back into earlier eps. I was withholding judgement on the Daemon at Harranhal arc to see where it would go & I liked how they resolved it. Same for the scene when Rhaenyra went to KL, it was mirrored with Alicent going to DS. Nice touches of lore & table setting for season 3. Overall a really good ep imo. Thank you for mentioning Abigail Thorne. I've been a subscriber to Philosophy Tube for many years & knew she was an actor, writer & director in London live theatre. It was great to see her in this & the part was perfect & added some much needed levity to the overall tone of impending doom. The antlered man: I took this as a symbolic representation of the presence of The Old God(very Cernunnos) in the Gods Wood, not necessarily a Green Man. But I guess it's open to interpretation. ASOIAF is not LOTR or Harry Potter or Clash of the Titans no matter how much people want it to be. No black & white heros/villains, no rules to the magick. It's all very grounded in human desires & the fantastical elements/mythologies are more ambiguous & may not even exist (but the characters believe they do)

[@iliaponomarev1624]

> Rhaenyra brings Addam to Harrenhal Ulf and Hugh have next to zero experience in dragonriding. Moondancer and Vermax are small. Addam has a couple of days of dragonriding experience, and his dragon is a real fighting size one, so they might be able to get out of trouble if they happen to run into Aemond.

[@AlerieHightower]

Thanks for this take, Pete! I, too, will never consider character development or story exposition "filler" or wasted time. It seems we're in the minority on that.

[@captain_britain]

This is fair, but I just didn't see much of this season as effective character development. So many characters, so little development...

[@jrm371]

Problem is, there wasn’t much character development here, this season.

[@trevorwinn5012]

Amen !

[@banne8834]

I agree with you as well. I liked all of this.

[@lamo1724]

I couldn't take See Criston's philosophising seriously the moment he quoted the hilarious Hail Caesar's "Would that it were so simple" line 😂 xxx

[@JoJoJoker]

Hah I too caught this. Hail Caesar is top tier movie making.

[@lamo1724]

@@JoJoJoker now I've got to go find Hail Caesar on my streams, because I've been thinking about it all day! Xxx

[@JustanotherDude0114]

Man those davos scenes sucked. Wrestling in mud that just came off as stupid and weird. It didn't fit in with the feel of the mood of the rest of the episode. It really felt like wasted screen time

[@hulkman245]

No idea why people are crying, it was a good episode.

[@r.beeeee]

Alicent "Aemond had been damaged permanently my king. Good will cannot make him whole" Hightower would never. She jumps infront of Aegon when confronted by Meleys, shouting "get helaena!!" To cole and aemond as she does this. Shes the only person that defends aemond when he loses his eye (his own father asks him to LOOK at him. He's just lost an eye!!)Why are people shocked that alicent defends her kids. It's one of her only redeeming qualities regardless of which team you support. Why did they butcher her character by making her sell out Aegon, Aemond, Daeron & gwayne (both innocent) and cole? It's unnecessary and a disservice to the show. If more than a few people are noticing, it's because it's a problem.

[@jerlinej3516]

Yeah, but was it a good FINALE? Eh

[@dezzy96ld]

was literally saying "clubfoot larry" then you say "the clubfoot tells him..."🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@GuerraAnastasia]

ADMIN IS DEFINITELY TEAM GREEN LOL SYMPATHIZING WITH ALICENT

[@juneack5848]

I think to myself that how much did Vhagar have an influence on young Aemonds mind? This was one of the three dragons of Aegon the Conqueror. Like how wargs have influence on each other, how much darker did Vhagar make Aemond? Especially becoming her rider as a young kid and growing up with that subtle energy.

[@jeffclift860]

It was such an insightful recap. It really makes you appreciate the acting, storytelling, and challenges the showrunners face.

[@araceli2827]

I love how Helaena said the prophecy in future, past and present

[@horgh_japan]

Much like your BCS recaps, I enjoy your HotD breakdowns. You have a much more nuanced, balanced approach than a lot of recap providers who have audiences to pander to for purposes of selling merch or what not. I mean, a lot of the bigger, more popular recaps seem to be far less interested in the characters and their motivations as well as the nature of the original source material (history books written by unreliable narrators).

[@MAYK1NG]

Pete - it is worth the wait with you. Other reviewers rush out their videos on the night of and I’m searching for ‘Pete Peppers’ because no one captures the full flavour as you do, time and time again. I haven’t been Ho-humming during the last few eps but this finale was GREAT although I shall still be a meanie and say Emma D’arcy is boring me to bits.

[@halphpint7400]

Would have been great if this was episode 8 out of 10...as a finale it was absolutely terrible.

[@horkusone]

I’m so perplexed by all the complaints about the choice to include the prophecy that doesn’t matter nearly as much as the characters believe it matters. The point isn’t the prophecy itself. The point is how much the prophecy matters to these characters and how it informs their decisions. To me, the (relative) irrelevance of the prophecy makes the story that much more tragic.

[@richpereira8502]

So leading into the scene with the white walker the camera pans in on low angle with the sound of a growl from a wolf. The next scene is the dead dragons followed by steps leading into Daemon falling into water. I think the first step you see is different then the others leading into Daemon falling. The first step is in grey muddy water and the boot has no distinguishing features. The following steps are into reddish puddles with flickering light until Daemon falls. This has to be a very subtle and meta reference to Jon Snow

[@bolt4948]

Don’t hate me for this (I’ve not read the books yet!!) but could Daemon be a White Walker? The Night Kings ‘right hand man ‘? I know we know the identity of the Night King and that he was created waaay before, but he can resurrect the dead right!?

[@realdaggerman105]

Fire and Blood is an in-universe history text, so if this did somehow happen, nobody would know about it. SO IT IS DEFINITELY CANON LET’S GOOO

[@jcwoodman5285]

They ended with a montage😖

[@lobomedina6312]

If you put on subtitles yep the tree says "traitor". He's been anti Rhae from the get-go, but she sends him to Harrenhall to get the scoop on Daemon anyway. She should know council guy would work against her given the chance. Robert and Stannis Baratheon, Tywin Lannister, Danaerys, or any King of the Iron Islands would NEVER put up with a council member like that for a minute, much less 2 seasons.

[@hollycooper7177]

I actually really liked season 2. It focused more on character development and motivation than season 1. Yes, I really wanted to see more dragon action, but it makes total sense to have that be the season 3 focus. I was blown away by Daemon's visions at the God's Eye. Very cool way to tie in this series to GOT!!

[@bigralph1554]

1)Been waiting on your take the second EP 8 ended. 2)This episode in particular, and the season in general, is being brutalized on social meeting for being “too slow”. The character driven storyline vs drama/action continuum is one that plays often in TV and movies. Most recent example I can think of is Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul. I loved BCS, and the last season, in episode after episode, delivered on the character driven basis for the entire series. We’ve yet to see this, except ep 4, from HOTD. The fear after the last season of GOT is palpable among the fans. 3)Nice payoff for Daemon in Scooby Doo and the Castle of Doom, but the season long story arc could have been much shorter and not lost the impact. 4) Incredible scene between Alicent and Rhaenyra. The “Sophie’s Choice” decision Rhaenyra gives Alicent is crushing. Alicent can’t bring herself to say yes, just nods her head. In that exchange, the tears Rhaenyra has in her eyes is that of a mother who knows what its like to lose a child. But she regains her composure and continues as a ruler in a time of war. 5) I am the only GOT fan that did not think the last season was awful. Not great or even good, mind you, just not awful. After watching this episode, I have flipped. It was NEVER about Jon Snow, it was ALWAYS about Daenerys. To quote a Woody Allen line, the ending therefore was a travesty of a mockery of a sham.

[@MalickBeye-d8l]

Thank you so much for not going over how the Sheep stealer dragon gets claimed! I really appreaciate your breakdowns because you don't spoil stuff from the books, you just let it play out. I freakin love you man! Keep up the good work!

[@damac5136]

Your defense of the cringeworthy Lohar scene is revolting in itself.

[@elxjefe939]

This season was terrible 😢

[@nelsonmcduff5218]

To me the outfit Alicent was wearing looked blue/green. Depending on the light, it looked either light blue or light green. Interesting way to convey her being on the fence.

[@adamo85]

Love the breakdowns, thanks buddy!

[@morganleanderblake678]

I think it's possible that's not Sheepstealer. If you look at the lore images that looks SO much more like the Cannibal. I think we've been led down a primrose path assuming that because we saw dead sheep it had to be Sheepstealer. And if it's the Cannibal she's never taming him. So yeah probably it'll be sheepstealer, but I hold out some questions because we weren't really told that.

[@Chonsta]

as long as that mystery dragon kills laena on screen ill be good. She dont deserve any dragon at allafter abandoning her half brother baby husbands or whatever they are.

[@morganleanderblake678]

@@Chonsta aint nobody get their moral comeuppance in this world.

[@BrandonRotarius]

Worse then season 8, I don't understand why the writers can't seem to give us that magic thT u felt when I first watched the series. Don't get it

[@LaurindaBellinger]

I haven't read any of the books and the prophecy stuff is starting to lose me. Both Jon Snow and Dany are descended from Daemon & Rhaenyra so shouldn't Jon be in Daemon's vision? Or is GRRM saying Dany is the Princess that was Promised?. Also, I suspect Hugh Hammer is going to hear some prophecy about a Targaryon king being taken out by a 'hammer' which we will know is Robert Baratheon but he will take it for himself. Ulf can go through the Vale's Moondoor. This finale felt more like a season 3 premiere. The season could have ended with the red sowing. great video Pete. Looking forward to your videos when Season 2 of Silo premieres later this year!

[@frostycane5134]

I Believe the tree was trying to convince daemon that targeyans are chosen ones and chose to omit Jon snow since he doesn’t have the blonde hair. Also your theory about hue seeing the vision is probably how they will turn him if they want to do that

[@QueenAusetHeru]

When Daemon said, Winter is coming! I got so excited ❤

[@richboii6597]

I took the “you know your part, you know what you must do” as her telling him and him understanding that his role is to kill Aemond no matter the cost to himself. I think their history plus the way the scenes are structured lead us to that understanding regardless of the book.

[@youngveteran6368]

Ik the show seems to have forgotten but THATS THE GUY THAT INADVERTENTLY GOT HER SON BEHEADED😐!!!!! HE SHOULD BE THE LAST PERSON SHE INTERACTS WITH!!!! especially if it’s just to tell him to kill her brother…………….. the only one fighting for their cause but then again this show isn’t about securing themselves from the threat of rhaenyra & daemon it’s just a story about toppling the patriarchy and prophecy…………….. STOP TRYING TO JUSTIFY SHITTY WRITING DECISIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The writers didn’t put half the thought as you into that scene past “wouldn’t it be cool if daemon is reassured of his “role” in the prophecy by the woman who’s son he got killed🤪”

[@richboii6597]

@@youngveteran6368 you’re trolling right? Or are you just dumb? Are you incapable of following the very elementary level story telling that they’re presenting to you? It doesn’t take any deep thinking to interpret it, it’s literally spoon fed to you, all you have to do is follow along. I really hope they spent “half as much time as me” on that scene bc I didn’t spend any time putting thought into it. My conclusion is just from seeing it in real time and I think it’s pretty obvious that was their goal. Maybe you should spend some more time watching and trying to understand the show bc you’ve clearly misunderstood a lot. You clearly don’t understand the dynamic between Helena and Aemond or even have a basic grasp of her character so I wouldn’t even know where to begin trying to break this down for you. You’ve just completely missed the plot unfortunately. I seriously suggest a rewatch but this time try to put at least like 10% more energy into comprehending exactly what they’re telling you instead of going off of whatever emotions you have about what’s happening. Based on the way you wrote out your comment I’m assuming you’re either A. Under the age of 15 or B. Mentally challenged. If that’s the case then I apologize in advance. It’s not my goal to be mean to someone with a low mental capacity.

[@Chu9947]

you never disappoint man, such a great breakdown. this was an excellent episode.

[@DarkKing009]

Nettles > Rhaena Targaryen The poor black common girl was murdered by the fantasy princess with a special bloodline who got everything they wanted.

[@0xChef-l2d]

classic disappointment in only the way GoT or it's spin offs can offer... if they didn't fk the viewers over so badly with last few seasons of GoT I'd be more patient with this but why waste another season or two just to come to the realization I reached when I was done with this episode: they're going to bungle the story and leave the viewers highly dissatisfied AGAIN ... I'll ignore now, let it run it's course and return after the show is over and I see people aren't pissed as hell

[@djmensa]

Great video. The analysis of Rhae and Dae reunion was spot on

[@mr3klax]

Is the Season Finale or Episode 8 of Season 2 a foreshadowing of what is in store for us? That when the series is over it’s going to leave us disappointed? I hope not.

[@iliaponomarev1624]

> Triarchy negotiations Rhaenyra should have sent Ulf there. Would have been a perfect match.

[@MOK9888]

Awesome review with great insight as always, thanks!

[@xBigBean]

What a let down of a season. The plot progression is painfully slow. This show is losing me quick. The was an entire season for one 15 minute battle for Rooks Rest. Zzzzzzz

[@stewartdaniels9634]

Patience. This slow progression is what made Game of Thrones Brilliant. I know we live in a world where if we want something we can get it the same day, but let the flower open organically. Take it slow.

[@xBigBean]

@@stewartdaniels9634 slow progression is fine, but there simply isn’t enough progression. On top of that, we are only getting 8 episodes of excruciatingly slow progress every 2 years. I genuinely don’t know where all the money is going, because the entire show is filmed on like 8 sets it feels like.

[@worldadventuretravel]

This was the most unsatisfying episode of the entire season, and here's why. Overall, the show builds up to "final" moments that should have been the starting scenes of the episode because they were all things the show already spent the entire season building up to. There are exactly 3 conversations that actually moved the story forward. Most of it felt totally unearned, and worst of all were the contrived conflicts that were overplayed to replace meaningful interactions *(ex. Jacerys and Ulf)* or just didn't fit with the story. Other things happened out of nowhere but did nothing for the story, like *Alys Rivers* sitting on Daemon's bed when they've never been like that before now. The rest was padding the runtime so the writers wouldn't have to actually resolve any storylines *(like the brothers Hull and Corlys Velaryon)* or spend any money until season 3. There's a difference between "slow burn" and "buying time so we don't have to spend money." Ep. 8 was the latter. Even when the tension was valid the arguments were overly heavy-handed, as if the writers were trying to lump multiple off-screen interactions into one on-screen conversation in order to justify a future reaction between the characters (ex. "Ulf betrays the blacks all because Jacerys was so rude to him that one time!") or service casual viewers by overexplaining. The result of these tactics is that literally all of seasons 3 and 4 could happen without us knowing anything in this episode and nothing would be missing. It was pretty much all just filler of some form or another. In *Helaena's arc,* they just skip over a whole bunch of steps. This whole time she's been blabbing her dragon dreams half out loud, half to herself without any indication of understanding them. In book canon this is largely how dragon dreams work; difficult to interpret and often just huge info dumps with no context. Dragon dreams also have absolutely nothing to do with weirwood magic at all. So not only is it a departure from Helaena's story to suddenly understand and know all about what's going to happen at the God's Eye, but why would she have gone that entire time knowing Aemond tried to murder her brother-husband and have said nothing? Worst of all was the writers stuffing Helaena conveniently into *Daemon's weirwood dream* trying to connect two disparate forms of magic as either a plot device or just outright fan service to move the story forward by explaining rather than showing. Even the weirwood dream itself was done on the cheap, ex. why would they show that one random white walker from the trailers instead of a horde of them or the night king? One creature isn't enough to tell Daemon a long winter full of ice zombies is coming. *And speaking of offscreen:* What a rip-off that literally everything significant in this show happens offscreen OR ends with cutaways to something else before a resolution. For the alleged burning of Sharp Point all we get is Aemond standing over a CGI version of a town and then the back of a dragon?! This is what I mean when I said everything feels unearned. The *Rhaena* thing is obnoxious as hell. The show writers kept trying to build some sort of anticipation around something we've known was gonna happen for 3 episodes already and nobody notices her total dereliction of duty toward her younger half-brothers, who she left completely unprotected with the staff. The writers chopped up a total of 90 seconds of screen time into this episode to make it feel earned when they finally bring her in on Sheepstealer sometime in 2026, as thought the audience is going to think "Aww she suffered so much hardship for that dragon" instead of "she abandoned two little kids for literally no payoff." And another thing: *what's going on with the army from the Vale?* It looks like Rhaenyra screwed herself out of that, since the deal was a dragon for an army and we just watched all the hatchling dragons head off to Pentos while Lady Arryn mean-mugged them from the back while she closed her gates. But the show completely leaves that hanging without a conclusion. On top of that, they had to throw in a couple of *needless 'girlboss' moments* not in the books. Obviously making the Triarchy captain a woman AND a lesbian was Emma D'Arcy's (they/them) idea just like the stupid kiss with Mysaria that doesn't fit with the story whatsoever. At this point why not just have Disney or Marvel write the rest of the show? Then, even though they at least have the grace NOT to do that again, now *Mysaria* is all "muh queen" like Jon Snow and suddenly all for attacking small folk with weapons of mass destruction?! One kiss and it's "meh, screw the small folk I've been talking about for my entire character arc?" Then they ended the *Harrenhal arc* with a repetition of the whole "King of the North" scene from GoT in place of any actual meaningful events that move the story forward. Honestly IDK how much Gurrm had to do with how this season ended but if I were an HBO exec I'd be thinking about canceling the series. Game of Thrones season 8 writing is not what I started watching House of the Dragon for at all.

[@wearesatellites91]

I was with you until the unnecessary misogyny. Now I just think you need to go touch some grass, no one should be this worked up over a tv show

[@melanoidmarkus]

Tldr

[@kuromyou7969]

I've never read the book. But I do know that Essos is supposed to be more progressive than Westeros. So I figured that's why Lohar was female with wives.

[@worldadventuretravel]

@@kuromyou7969 I haven't read the book either but from those that have, he's male. It wouldn't be a problem if it felt earned and relevant to the story, but it seems like an excuse to waste 10 mins of time on a mud fight to "own" Tyland Lannister with a character we're never going to see again.

[@worldadventuretravel]

@@wearesatellites91 Nothing I said is misogynistic. A scene with a more powerful person taking advantage of another person's vulnerable disclosure of sexual trauma by then hitting on her when she's not in a position to say 'no' definitely IS, however. So you might wanna check your receipts.

[@crazywomancreek1]

Alan let Corlys have it. Good. I wonder why Rhae didn’t figure out that Al and Adam are his kids? Just like Jace confronted Rhae about his father. She brushed that off and never admitted that he’s a Strong.

[@Nogi-aka-DJNugz]

I was underwhelmed

[@andrewlowden322]

My wife and I IMMEDIATELY knew what the story was going to be with Sharako. We didnt even catch the 2024 pronoun nonsense but it makes sense. I prefer your thinking on why the pronoun silliness but when she first appeared we immediately said she was going to fight him and have a wife (ok wiVES) we couldnt help but roll our eyes. Oh yeah and shes part of the stupid project of Acolyte ("I CARRIED THEM!") so boy this human is making a name for herself....We've become DUMB as humans

[@flavion1071]

Hi Pete, I always watch your reviews, really like them, and can say we have our taste for series almost a 90% match. And I’ve been thinking that I miss your comments on Umbrella Academy. Isn’t it on your list..?

[@chrisretzlaff2895]

PETE!!! I commented a few episodes ago that I was a bit worried about fan reaction at the end of the season........damn it. I hope this doesn't hurt Knights of the Seven Kingdoms. I personally really liked and enjoyed the finale

[@deneshbhaskar]

Armond is my favourite character. Me against the world mentality.

[@leeneil5775]

Jays was NOT illegitimate. He was born while his mother was in a legitimate marrriage. Children born to a woman within a legitimate marriage are considered to the the legal offspring of the husband.

[@AstroAvenger]

Never thought Season 2 of HotD would barely be better than season 7 and 8 of GoT, such a disappointment, I hope they hear loud and clear that shorter seasons is not the right way to tell this story, specifically those HBO executives.

[@Fauxrising2022]

the GOT universal question: when are the dragons coming lol. There’d better be more dragon action next season lol.

[@Nickiix0x]

I couldn’t bring myself to care about seeing Dany or white walkers or anything in the vision because got ended in trash and it all amounted to nothing and now all Targaryens are dead anyway.. and none killed the night king, and none prevented the long night.

[@bjornjoseph]

Edge on the seat action packed episode. Nail nothing from start to the end😂😂😂

[@BillyJoeJimBob8]

So now, I guess the question is...How long before season 3 will be available??? Not much is known other than season 3 has been greenlit and some storylines and partial scripts have been done. As I recall there was a gap of about 2 years between seasons 1 + 2. If we follow a similar pattern with season 3, it seems likely we'll get season 3 at some point in mid- 2026. That's a long time to wait!!! I'd rather have 6 episodes a year rather than 8, 9, or 10 episodes every 2 years... And yeah, I was a bit disappointed in the "season 2 finale will be just a set-up for opening season 3"!

[@rollind2456]

Production is scheduled to start in early 2025….Next season in 2026 sounds right

[@tinman-uf4to]

I enjoy your reviews Pete! Thank you for making them.

[@hansonojo2892]

Great review.. nice take on the interaction between Aemond and Alicent

[@Andy_Babb]

I thought there were two more episodes. Now I’m pissed!!

[@bodyminusMe]

How many men that grew up in Alan's circumstance would have reacted the same if their absent father suddenly tried to help them?

[@ReRe-yl6dq]

making the tirashi admiral a woman seemed like a woke attempt to check the box. its not accurate to the books and didnt lead to any reason for doing it other than to put a woman in the role.

[@oldatarigamer]

I guess as fans we can't have it both ways -- complain that GoT felt rushed and ended too quickly and then complain that this season of HoTD was too slow.

[@pearlosibu]

This is a disingenuous comment. Nobody complained about GOT the first five seasons. The rest was mostly bad writing and the comment about it being rushed is because it needed two more seasons and better plotting. The showrunners were done and did a terrible job and will always be known as the people who ruined the best show ever.

[@oldatarigamer]

@@pearlosibu I agree, except for the disingenous part.

[@pearlosibu]

@@oldatarigamerlol😂 Okay. I’m sorry. A bit simplistic, then? The comment, i mean.

[@deneshbhaskar]

After ep 4. The series was such a let down. I wanna see season 3 but budgeting makes you realize u can pick and choose your battles.

[@spaceburger80]

Superlative summary, insight and analysis. Simply superlative. Well done!

[@darrellludlow]

Good video. But disappointing and underwhelming final episode.

[@r.beeeee]

Alicent "Aemond had been damaged permanently my king. Good will cannot make him whole" Hightower would never. She jumps infront of Aegon when confronted by Meleys, shouting "get helaena!!" To cole and aemond as she does this. Shes the only person that defends aemond when he loses his eye (his own father asks him to LOOK at him. He's just lost an eye!!)Why are people shocked that alicent defends her kids. It's one of her only redeeming qualities regardless of which team you support. Why did they butcher her character by making her sell out Aegon, Aemond, Daeron & gwayne (both innocent) and cole?

[@Zarab923]

Because she could’ve helped them out a lot in life if she had actually been a damn mother to them. Her doing the bare minimum is irritating when she acts like she’s been the type of mother Rhaenyra has when she clearly hasn’t and knows it but is running from it. She didn’t do that crap from Aemond though.. that seemed to be pretty obviously her making that situation about herself. It was her jealousy over rhaenyra getting whatever she wanted and alicent thinking she deserved it for being the righteous one.. she looked like she forgot about Aemond when he popped up next to her at the end of that scene lol

[@r.beeeee]

@Zarab923 @Zarab923 I think the point of the season is her realizing that she hasn't been a great mother lol. What would've completed her arc in the season was trying to do right by her kids, instead they make her go to dragonstone to sell them out with her brother and cole?? How does that make sense? How does one meeting solve all of their issues? Why does rhaenyra ask for another son and no one even cares to mention jaehaerys? When does alicent act like she "been the type of mother rhaenyra has"? She's openly jealous of rhaenyra's freedom to choose a husband and not be bound by duty (before the daemon and cole incident she could choose any husband), she never compares herself to rhaenyra as a mother, she actually says that they have more in common then they might allow at the last supper. And she did stand up for aemond. She's the only one who does. Viserys only cared about rhaenyra and her sons image. Alicent literally says he's been damaged permanently and nothing happened? Of course you would get frustrated? Your son lost an eye like?

[@michaelmiles2305]

So disappointed then to be the last episode smh y switch up from the books if u wasn’t gonna make it better it turned into a abc sitcom

[@riccarrasquilla379]

thanks for the video