House of the Dragon Episode 208, "The Queen Who Ever Was": Easter eggs and secrets

At long last, the House of the Dragon season 2 finale is here. "The Queen Who Ever Was" is a slow cooldown to an epic season of television. When it began, our characters were vying for power as they tried to wrap their heads around what a civil war between rival branches of House Targaryen might look like. Here at the end, armies are on the move and several major battles loom on the horizon. It may be a while until we get to see the ensuing storm of swords, but in the meantime there's still plenty of juicy secrets hidden in the season finale to enjoy.

As we've done with every episode of House of the Dragon season 2, we're scouring the finale for every secret and easter egg we can find. FULL SPOILERS ahead for "The Queen Who Ever Was," as well as the book Fire & Blood.

House of the Dragon Episode 208, "The Queen Who Ever Was" Easter eggs

Since this is the final episode of the season, it should come as no surprise that the opening credits tapestry is modified one last time. Now, after seeing scenes from Prince Jaehaery's murder and the Battle of Rook's Rest, the screen shifts to imagery that depicts the Red Sowing, which we saw in Episode 207. The big green dragon on the left side is Vhagar. She's being headed off by Syrax at the head of a mighty dragon host. There are six other dragons arrayed behind her, which lines up with the six dragons who've sworn to Rhaenyra: Vermax, Caraxes, Vermithor, Silverwing, Seasmoke and Moondancer. Behind the dragons, the black edge of the tapestry shows the shoreline of Dragonstone, which bleeds into the title card.

From there, we're off to Tyrosh, where Tyland Lannister (Jefferson Hall) is meeting with the Triarchy.

• In the first shot in the bay, you can see that the furled sail of Tyland's ship is decorated with the green and gold dragon of Aegon II.
• The Triarchy lords that Tyland is meeting with represent Lys, Tyrosh, and Myr. They're also arrayed in that order: the lord on the left has the notable pale hair of a Lyseni, the middle man has hair that has been dyed a light blue in the flamboyant fashion of the Tyroshi, and the Myrish lord on the right makes a point of talking about selling artisan goods, which his people are famous for producing.
• Sharako Lohar (Abigail Thorn) makes a habit of messing up Tyland's name; in this very first scene, she calls him Tywin. A fun nod to Game of Thrones!

Back in Westeros, Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) is torching the city of Sharp Point on his massive dragon Vhagar. Sharp Point is located on the very tip of the peninsula known as Massey's Hook which lies on the southern side of the Gullet. In the books, Sharp Point is ruled by House Bar Emmon, and pays direct allegiance to Dragonstone. The show has streamlined things slightly, with Sharp Point being ruled by the overall lords of the peninsula, House Massey. Lord Gormon Massey is one of Rhaenyra's councilors, which adds fuel to Aemond's reasoning for attacking the city.

Larys Strong makes his move

Back in King's Landing, Larys Strong (Matthew Needham) convinces King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) to trust him and flee the city before Aemond can return and kill him in his rage after being bested by Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy). Most of this scene is pretty straightforward, but there are a few important details not to miss:

• Larys is afraid Aemond wants to kill Aegon. But as we see at the end of the episode, the bigger danger is actually Aegon's own mother Alicent, who agrees to give Rhaenyra his head.
• Larys reveals that he's actually had most of the wealth of House Strong transferred to the Iron Bank of Braavos, which means he and Aegon can vanish across the Narrow Sea. In George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, Aegon disappears for quite a while after he flees King's Landing, but we never actually find out where he went. I imagine the show will fill in some of the details in season 3.
• Aegon says that his dragon Sunfyre is dead. In the book, Sunfyre survives Rook's Rest, slowly recovering in the forest outside the castle. So far, we haven't actually had real confirmation that the dragon is dead; the only concrete information is that Criston left a garrison behind with the beast while it appeared to be slowly succumbing to its wounds. I highly doubt Sunfyre is actually dead.
• When Larys is suggesting nicknames that people will call Aegon after he returns to reclaim the throne, Aegon suggests "the Realm's Delight." That was a nickname that Rhaenyra had as a teenager because she was so beloved in the realm.

The bastards of Dragonstone

Our next scene worth discussing involves Jacaerys Velaryon (Harry Collett) stumbling across the Dragonseeds Hugh (Kieran Bew) and Ulf (Tom Bennett), who are slacking off on Dragonstone. The main missable detail in this scene is that it opens with Jace overhearing Hugh scolding Ulf over the fact that they're skipping out on practicing their High Valyrian. They're supposed to be learning dragon commands, and instead Ulf has his feet up on the Painted Table. Not a good look.

On the docks of Driftmark, Rhaenyra seeks the council of Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint). The main detail worth noting here is about Helaena Targaryen's dragon, Dreamfyre. Rhaenyra says Dreamfyre was hatched during the reign of King Aegon the Conqueror, and it's true; the she-dragon bonded to his granddaughter, Rhaena Targaryen. It's believed that Dreamfyre might have laid Daenerys Targaryen's three dragon eggs in the book. She's actually even older than Vermithor, albeit much smaller than the massive Bronze Fury.

The other detail of course is that Corlys has renamed his ship from the Sea Snake to the Queen Who Never Was, after his late wife Rhaenys Targaryen.

Daemon musters his army at Harrenhal

Next, we zip over to Harrenhal, where Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) receives a surprise visitor while he's overseeing his army.

• Ser Alfred Broome (Jamie Kenna) was sent to Harrenhal to encourage Daemon to help Rhaenyra, in case you forgot. Which is pretty much the opposite of what he does.
• Daemon says his army will be ready to march in two days. That aligns more or less with the end of the episode.
• He also tells Ser Alfred that "Lannister hesitates" and that he "intends to march on King's Landing" before the western host can catch him. That's referencing the fact that the Lannisters are still sitting at the Golden Tooth — at least for now. We do see them on the march by the episode's end, so I guess they got tired of waiting for Aemond and Vhagar.
• When Daemon brings Ser Alfred to the Godswood, Alfred gets distracted by a whispered voice on the air. If you turn on the subtitles, you can see that the whisper is saying "traitor."
• This scene gives us a very clear look at the crest for House Broome on Ser Alfred's armor. It's a helm with wings against a checkered field.

Get your hands off Helaena!

In King's Landing, Aemond finally discovers that Rhaenyra has been ferrying bastards out of the city. He orders that every ship must be searched, which will delay people getting to eat. Because people didn't already hate Aemond's rule enough.

• The room where Aemond issues this order is the very same room where Cersei Lannister will one day have her map of Westeros painted on the floor.
• The tea that Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) gives Helaena (Phia Saban) is most likely to help her sleep. It's still light out, so that's pretty fair.
• There's a little ghost of a smile on Helaena's lips when Alicent asks her if she'd like to leave King's Landing, right before Aemond storms in and ruins it.
• Alicent is no longer wearing her Seven-Pointed Star pendant. That camping trip did wonders for her sense of independence.
• Right after the scene with Aemond, Alicent goes to Maester Orwyle (Kurt Egyiawan) to ask him to help her get passage out of King's Landing. The scene plays like she's asking for help to smuggle Helaena out, but really she's asking for passage to Dragonstone, which we see play out in the final moments of the season. So Alicent's confrontation with Aemond is the thing that pushes her over the edge to reach out to Rhaenyra.

Criston marches toward his annihilation

Our next scene is arguably the best of the episode, where Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) has a candid discussion with Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox) about his oath, and the nihilistic nature of the Dance of the Dragons.

• The handkerchief Criston is sniffing is of course Alicent's favor, which she gave him before Rook's Rest. He held on to it, despite everything he's been through.
• Criston tells Gwayne that Alicent saved him twice: "Once from the headsman, once from myself." That's referencing the time he beat Laenor Velaryon's lover Joffrey Lonmouth to death in the fifth episode of season 1. Alicent Hightower (played at the time by Emily Carey) stopped Criston from killing himself in the Godswood right after he committed the murder. Presumably, she also would have had to speak on his behalf to prevent King Viserys or Corlys Velaryon from having Criston executed for his act of violence, since Joffrey was a knight in Corlys' service.
• Criston tells Gwayne that Alicent has been the "beacon" he follows since she saved his life. That's some very specific Hightower-coded language; their sigil is the Hightower of Oldtown, a famously massive structure which has a beacon at the top that's lit for various reasons.
• All of the soldiers around Criston and Gwayne stop what they're doing to watch the confrontation, but as soon as Gwayne lowers his sword they go back to their business.
• Criston's whole speech, where he says that they're marching toward their own annihilation and death would be a kind of relief is some very ominous foreshadowing. And indeed, if the show sticks to the source material, Criston Cole will never again return to King's Landing. There's no guarantee House of the Dragon will honor that plotline, but it still lends Criston's speech a lot more weight when you realize how literal it is in the larger context of his story.

Next, Tyland mud wrestles with Sharako Lohar. There's not much hidden amidst the mud of this scene, but it is a great opportunity to talk about Lohar. She's essentially combining two characters from Fire & Blood: Sharako Lohar, the Lysene ship captain who leads the attack on the Gullet, and Racallio Ryndoon, a Tyroshi pirate who dresses like a woman and is fond of using mud wrestling to make people prove their worth. Ryndoon shows up much later in the book, after the Dance has already concluded, while Lohar never receives any real description about what they looked like.

Following the mud wrestling, Tyland is forced to sing for the pirates. That song, so far as I'm aware, isn't from A Song of Ice and Fire, but an original creation of the show. In this scene, Lohar calls Tyland "Tyrod," and in the mud wrestling pit she calls him "Tyman." The only time she actually says his name correctly is when she propositions him to bed her wives.

Dinner with the Dragonseeds

Our next scene worth touching on is Rhaenyra's dinner with the Dragonseeds. It's a tense one!

• Ulf says that he and Silverwing aren't afraid of anything. That's a pretty big shift from last episode, where Ulf was trying to wheedle his way out of going to Dragonstone.
• After Ulf says Rhaenyra had best make him a knight, Ser Lorent Marbrand puts his hand on the hilt of his sword behind her.
• Throughout the dinner, Ulf is demanding more of those "little birds." Presumably that's quail or some other kind of bird smaller than a chicken, which a commoner would never have eaten. But it's kind of funny that after Ulf is so rude to Rhaenyra, he makes a point of thanking the serving girl at the end of the scene.

Daemon's vision at Harrenhal

Next, we head into one of the most easter egg-filled moments of the entire episode: Daemon Targaryen's vision at Harrenhal. We're gonna need bullet points for this one:

• As Daemon and Alys walk up to the weirwood, there's a quick shot of a figure with antlers near the tree. That's a green man, a seer of the Children of the Forest. Old Nan referenced them in A Song of Ice and Fire, saying sometimes they had antlers and rode on elk. Its feet even sound like hooves when it walks up to the weirwood!
• When Daemon places his hand on the weirwood, it gives us our best look yet at the face on the tree, which is modeled after author George R.R. Martin.
• In several interviews, director Geeta Vasant Patel has said that the bleeding roots of the weirwood which appear at the start of the vision are meant to look like umbilical cords, connecting Daemon to the events he sees.
• The first image Daemon sees is a young Targaryen man with a distinctive birthmark, enclosed in the branches of a weirwood throne. That's Bloodraven, the Three Eyed Raven from Game of Thrones. Before taking up that mantle, he was a Targaryen bastard named Brynden Rivers who lived during the time of Dunk and Egg, around 100 years after the events of House of the Dragon.
• Next, we see a white walker leading an army of wights through a snowy forest.
• The following shot shows the caracasses of dragons; in the background, you can see the shadow of an extra set of wings, so it's more than just one. According to Vasant Patel, this is meant to symbolize the end of the dragons. By the time of Thrones, they've been extinct for more than a century.
• Daemon then walks through a field of corpses, before falling into a pool of dragon's blood.
• He sinks down into the depths. We won't spoil the meaning of this here, but if you know about Daemon's ultimate fate from Fire & Blood, this is most likely meant to allude to it.
• Next he sees the red comet, which crosses the sky during Game of Thrones season 2. It's seen as an omen that Azor Ahai, the Prince Who Was Promised, is setting the events of the prophecy in motion that will dictate the fate of the world against the coming of the White Walkers.
• That bleeds into a shot of Daenerys' three dragon eggs, being consumed in the fire of Khal Drogo's pyre.
• And then, a stunning shot of Daenerys Targaryen, sitting naked and cross-legged on the ground as her three dragon hatchlings crawl out of her silhouette. This isn't actually actor Emilia Clarke in this scene, but it's still a pretty cool reference.
• From Daenerys, we go to the Iron Throne room, where Daemon sees Rhaenyra sitting the throne while wearing the crown of Jaehaerys the Conciliator. Dany comes from Daemon and Rhaenyra's bloodline, so this all ties together.
• The final shot of Daemon's vision puts him face-to-face with Helaena Targaryen, who tells him that "It's all a story, and you are but one part in it. You know your part."

As the scene snaps back to Daemon in the Godswood, we hear Helaena's final words to him: "You know what you must do." And here's where it gets really interesting. As Helaena finishes that line, the scene shifts to her standing on the parapets of King's Landing. If you watch closely, you can see her mouth closing as she actually says that line out loud. So the Helaena that Daemon sees in the vision is the actual Helaena, saying those words to him. She's always displayed hints of prescience on House of the Dragon, but this might be the most outright use of her gifts we've seen.

Aemond then comes out and approaches her, which leads into another bit of prophesy. We've already broken down Helaena's prophecy to Aemond in detail elsewhere, and since it consists entirely of spoilers for the future of House of the Dragon, you can go read it there if you wish. However, I do want to point out how intriguing it is that Aemond is trying to convince Helaena to help him go kill Daemon, unaware that she was literally just speaking to him through her prophetic gifts.

Daemon pledges his allegiance to the queen

We head swiftly back to Harrenhal in the next scene, where Rhaenyra and Addam of Hull roll up to the castle on their dragons. More bullet points:

• The opening shot of the scene sees Seasmoke and Syrax fly over the lake known as the God's Eye, which Helaena just referenced in her prophecy to Aemond. It also allows for an aerial view of the immense army surrounding the castle.
• While Rhaenyra goes in to treat with Daemon, Addam circles the castle on Seasmoke to keep watch.
• As Daemon walks through the crowd, you can see a few sigils of the houses which are part of the host, like the Tully trout and horse of House Bracken.
• Daemon says the House Stark words to Rhaenyra: winter is coming.
• This turn for Daemon is even more interesting when you realize that there was a deleted scene from season 1 where King Viserys tried to share the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy with him, and then decided not to because he didn't think Daemon would take it seriously. It's been a long journey for Daemon to reach a point where he would believe it.

Our next easter egg to point out is a few scenes later, when Rhaenyra and Mysaria are discussing the future of the realm on the walls of Dragonstone. It's hard to be completely certain about which dragons are flying in the distance, but judging by the fact that they're the same size and their distinctive colorations, those are most likely Moondancer and Vermax, the mounts of Baela and Jace. They're dancing, which is a fun little mirror to Baela and Jace's relationship. Also, after Rhaenyra asks who will pay the price for the war for the throne, the focus shifts to the two dragons for a fraction of a second; it's the children involved who likely will suffer most for this war.

Alicent and Rhaenyra, reunited

Out final bit of dialogue for the episode is between Rhaenyra and Alicent on Dragonstone. There's plenty to pick apart in this scene:

• Alicent says her sworn protector came with her to Dragonstone, and laid down his sword at the gate. That's probably Ser Rickard Thorne.
• Like when she was in the forest in Episode 207, Alicent is wearing a light shade of blue here rather than her trademark green, and also isn't wearing her Seven-Pointed Star. It's a visual representation of her breaking with the Greens.
• Alicent chews on her fingernail right before taking the leap and offering Rhaenyra King's Landing. That's a nervous tick she developed as a teenager, but we haven't seen her do it much since she's been an adult.
• Rhaenyra saying that Alicent wants to have it all without paying a price is an interesting reversal of their roles in childhood, where Rhaenyra got to do as she pleased and Alicent was forced to endure the difficulty of marrying a much older man for duty.
• Rhaenyra declaring she must kill Aegon, "a son for a son," is another big moment. She began the season as a more compassionate person, and has now arrived at a point where she has a worldview almost closer to Daemon, who first uttered those words.
• Rhaenyra tells Alicent that history will paint her a villain, a cold queen grasping for power and then defeated. And that pretty much is the way that Alicent is represented in Fire & Blood.
• Alicent asking Rhaenyra to come with her is reminiscent of Criston, asking Rhaenyra that very same thing during season 1. And once again, Rhaenyra is bound by duty and refuses.

The final montage

After Alicent agrees to sacrifice her son Aegon to Rhaenyra upon the queen's ascencion to the Iron Throne, we're off to the final montage. For the last time this season, let's break out the bullet points!

• The dragon which flies over the Hightower host is Tessarion, also known as the Blue Queen, the dragon of Alicent's youngest son Daeron Targaryen. It doesn't look like there's a rider in Tessarion's saddle, so as of right now, because as of right now Daeron hasn't actually ridden his young dragon.
• The Hightower army is marching beside a river. Most likely that's the Honeywine, a river in the Reach where they face their first battle during the Dance of the Dragons. Look for the Battle of the Honeywine in season 3.
• The Winter Wolves march across the bridge between the Twins. Those are the old warriors that Cregan Stark promised Jacaerys Velaryon, so named because they march south to war partially so that it will be easier on their families to survive the winter without needing to feed an extra mouth.
• I'd guess that the big bearded guy with the warhammer at the front of the Winter Wolves is supposed to be Roderick Dustin, also called Roddy the Ruin. He leads the Winter Wolves during the Dance of the Dragons until Cregan Stark makes his way south.
• House of the Dragon filmed a version of the Winter Wolves scene with Cregan marching at the head of the army, but opted not to use it. This is actually more accurate to the book, since Cregan doesn't join the fray until later in the war.
• Jason Lannister and Lord Lefford lead their army up to another river; that one's the Red Fork, a tributary of the Trident which marks the border between the Riverlands and the Westerlands. As with the Honeywine, that's the site of a battle that will almost certainly take place in season 3.
• This is as good a time as any to mention the insanely cool score by Ramin Djawadi that accompanies this montage. As we see houses like the Starks and Lannisters, Djawadi's music reprises parts of their respective themes from Game of Thrones.
• Daemon Targaryen's armor has very light etchings of dragons on the front of the breastplate. Also, I find it hilarious that the Riverlords actually have nice tents for their army, unlike Criston's troops who were in little shoddy lean-tos.
• Tyland Lannister is sailing on Sharako Lohar's flagship alongside her. But that does make me wonder: what actually happened to Tyland's ship? It's nowhere to be seen in this final shot! Guess he left his people on vacation in Tyrosh.
• Corlys Velaryon has his Hand of the Queen pin fastened to his armor, just above the seashorse of House Velaryon. That's a subtle but cool difference from Criston Cole's chain of golden hands he wears with his armor.
• Rhaena Targaryen comes face-to-face with the wild dragon in the Vale. This dragon hasn't been named, but all the clues point to it being Sheepstealer, a dragon from the book with a penchant for munching the local bovine herds.
• After being absent for most of the season, we finally see Otto Hightower in a cage during this montage. Where is he, exactly? So far it hasn't been confirmed, but we have our theories.
• We also see Aegon and Larys riding away from King's Landing in the back of a carriage with a bunch of peasants and animals. Larys told Aegon he wanted to take him to Braavos, but we'll have to see if they actually make it there. Eventually, Aegon comes back into the picture for the war, but the book never discusses where he went during his absence so the show has a lot of room to explore.
• The final pair of shots of the episode juxtapose the difference between Alicent and Rhaenyra. The last shot of Rhaenyra in House of the Dragon season 2 frames her like one of the scrolls of history in the Dragonstone library, showing how the weight of responsibility presses down on her as she's slotted into the legacy of House Targaryen. Alicent, meanwhile, stands before an open sky, which lines up with her giving up how history will perceive her in favor of finding her own freedom through her deal with Rhaenyra. Say what you will of House of the Dragon, it knows how to make a good, visually layered image.

And that's a wrap on House of the Dragon season 2! It's been quite a journey, and now begins the long wait till season 3. Showrunner Ryan Condal has confirmed that House of the Dragon season 3 will begin filming early in 2025, which means it will most likely air in 2026. Beyond that, the show is currently slated to end with season 4.

And beyond that, there's also another Game of Thrones prequel coming out next year: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, based on George R.R. Martin's Dunk & Egg novellas. There's a lot of excitement going on in Westeros these days, and we'll be here to go through all of it with you. Our watch continues.

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