Small Council: What did you think of the House of the Dragon finale?

Every week, we talk back and forth about the latest episode of House of the Dragon. The small council is in session!

ARIBA: And just like that, we’ve concluded the epic rollercoaster that is the first season of House of the Dragon. I can’t believe it, and I don’t know how to process it, but wow, that was one hell of a finale. If Episode 9 was the Hitchcockian suspenseful mystery, the season finale was the Shakespearian tragedy. I have so many feelings about where the story is going.

I can’t get Rhaenyra’s look of anger, madness, and pain after she learns about Luke’s death out of my head, and I can only imagine what it portends for Alicent and the greens. Now that Aemond has killed Luke, the Dance of the Dragons has begun.

I feel that scene was played perfectly by Ewan Mitchell, who made us feel Aemond’s instant regret and fear over what he had just done. I mean, he was screwing around atop Vhagar; what did he think was going to happen? But wow, Mitchell executed that scene effortlessly.

As we wrap up the first season, I cannot wait to see what is up next for the dramatic Targaryen clan. War is breaking out, and as we know, the Targaryen dynasty will never be the same. Until next season, folks!

DAN: The dragon chase scene was definitely the most explosive sequence of the episode, but I think my favorite was Rhaenyra’s coronation. As I watched Rhaenyra look out over the group of people bowing to her, I remembered Milly Alcock from the very first episode, as young Rhaenyra watched lords swear obeisance to her before the Iron Throne. It was a lovely full circle moment that underlined how far the character had come.

There were a couple of moments like that. I also liked how the confrontation on the bridge at Dragonstone mirrored a similar scene from Episode 2, only this time Rhaenyra was on Daemon’s side rather than Otto’s. And of course Alicent sent Rhaenyra the page from the book they were reading in the series premiere. The show has definitely gotten under my skin, because I was getting a good number of chills.

My problems with “The Black Queen” mainly had to do with “The Green Council,” which I thought was a much weaker episode. That said, as an insufferable book reader, I did raise an eyebrow at the way the show introduced a hearty dose of happenstance into Luke’s death scene. In Fire & Blood, it’s never suggested that either boy lost control of his dragon, only that Aemond wanted to kill his nephew and did. Part of me thinks this is the show pulling a punch, but I can see it leading to an interesting character arc for Aemond. Perhaps he gains a reputation for infamy and just decides to embrace it? “I will become the monster you think I am” and so forth?

We won’t find out until season 2, which I will eagerly await. I’m in. Until then, this finale provides plenty of fodder. What did we think about Daemon’s behavior in the episode, for example?

SABRINA: I believe Daemon was being Daemon this episode, but with the added pressure of grief. He has always been impatient and quick to violence. What “The Black Queen” does is remind the audience that this is a part of who he is and that Rhaenyra is not exempt as his wife, just like Viserys was not exempt as his brother. However, for as much as Daemon spits venom, lashes out physically, and throws tantrums, he’s incredibly loyal. And because he expects betrayal and depravity, he prepares for it to protect himself and those he loves.

Everyone at that massive table on Dragonstone knows war is here, but I think Daemon’s the only one who has always accepted that there is no honor in battle. There is only bloodshed, ruin, survival, and a victor. To him, how you get there is how you get there. Optics, body count, and repercussions don’t matter to him. He’s also not one to suffer slights or betrayals to himself or his loved ones, so as soon as Rhaenys told them what happened in King’s Landing, the greens and their followers were already on a pyre in Daemon’s mind.

In contrast, Rhaenyra is not as volatile. That’s not to say she’s less angry or thirsty for vengeance, but she sees beyond herself. It’s how Viserys raised her. It’s the way she wants to rule. What was pivotal, to me, in “The Black Queen,” was how much care went into showing that Rhaenyra is worthy of the crown. She has honor and dignity, and she bears her duty in a way that’s honestly inspiring. Her moment came and she rose to the occasion, she didn’t need pomp and circumstance.

“The Green Council” was chaos personified. At this point, Otto, Alicent, Aemond, and Aegon look like trussed up chickens playing at something they don’t entirely understand. Yes, they’re dangerous but they’re also foolhardy and being crushed under the weight of this moment. I mean Otto strutted up to Dragonstone like a proud peacock. He looked and sounded ridiculous as he spoke of Aegon like he’s a king when we’d just seen that boy being dragged from under a table and forced into a position he did not want, refused to prepare himself for, and that’s being held together by the legitimacy of items that aren’t his own and he did not earn.

House of the Dragon‘s first season has done a fantastic job building up the rules and myth around sovereigns and the right to rule. Rhaenyra and her children fully embody the idyllic version of rulership: the kind that inspires fealty, the exalted depiction of the divine right of kings. The greens are out here getting it out the mud. This is started-from-the-bottom-now-we’re-here behavior of the worst kind. They are actually the worst.

It’s ironic that Otto told a teenage Alicent that Rhaenyra would one day slay her children to protect her claim to the throne. And the fear that produced burrowed so deeply into Alicent that she has corrupted and twisted herself to try and prevent it from happening only for her own son to kill Rhaenyra’s son and incite a war.

As soon as our queen was told that Luke was murdered, and she turned around, I was like “Yes, girl, we’re burning everything down. Leave not a single green alive.”

DANIEL: That look Rhaenyra gave the camera at the end was pure fire, and a nice way to mirror the end of the season premiere. A lot has changed for Rhaenyra in the past 20 years, but not enough to bury the grudges of the past. Now Lucerys is dead, and there can be no doubt the reprisal will be brutal. I’m only sad that we’ll have to wait two years to see it.

There were a lot of highlights in this episode, from Rhaenys finally supporting Rhaenyra to Corlys Velaryon’s return to Rhaenyra’s coronation to Daemon’s outbursts, and of course the big clash over Storm’s End. Being an insufferable book reader like Dan, I was initially a little torn on the show pulling back on Aemond’s agency, I presume to make him more sympathetic; that’s a trend we’ve seen crop up quite a few times in the back half of the season. The more I think about it though, the more I like it. This moment went beyond Aemond’s control, and now he’s going to have to decide how to navigate his new reputation as a kinslayer. There’s the potential for a really great character arc there.

And of course, the dragons were ridiculously cool. They were everywhere in this episode. The best, of course, was the confrontation between Vhagar and Arrax, but it was also very cool to get a glimpse of Vermithor, the dragon ridden by King Jaehaerys the Conciliator, who had the job before Viserys. I wish we’d gotten just a hair more explanation about what was going on in that scene between Vermithor and Daemon, but the photography was outstanding. I presume it’s mostly there just to set up the dragonseeds in season 2, but it did feel a little bit tacked on since this is the season finale.

I can’t not mention Rhaenyra’s stillbirth to baby Visenya as well. That scene was so brutal, and Emma D’Arcy’s acting was next level. I was surprised by just how graphic it was, but given this show’s track record with birth scenes, maybe I shouldn’t be.

All in all, the House of the Dragon season finale delivered in exactly the ways I hoped it would. My only caveat is that I hope season 2 really leans into the edgier sides of characters like Rhaenyra and Aemond, which are on full display in the novel. Dark times lie ahead for House Targaryen, and I want those same sorts of chills I got seeing characters like Walter White on Breaking Bad descend into villainy.

SAVANNAH: Ditto to what all y’all said. 10/10 season finale and I cannot wait to see what unhinged stuff Rhaenyra and the blacks do in season 2.

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