Looks like [SPOILER] was going to be in the House of the Dragon finale but got cut

The season 2 finale of House of the Dragon aired the other night. The episode ended with a number of armies on the march, including several destined to collide in the Riverlands. There's the army of Rivermen that Daemon Targaryen has gathered at Harrenhal, the army of Lannisters marching in from the west, and the army of Northerners marching through the Twins; remember that Rhaenyra's son Jace (Harry Collett) secured their passage across that big bridge earlier this season.

As it happens, one of these armies was going to be led by a certain character who didn't appear in the final cut. Go no further if you wish to avoid SPOILERS!

If you'll recall, the second season of House of the Dragon opened with Jace walking the Wall in the North with Lord Cregan Stark (Tom Taylor), the lord of Winterfell at this time. Cregan promised to send soldiers south to help Rhaenyra in her quest to take the Iron Throne from her half-brother Aegon, but all he could spare was old men who would be a liability during the upcoming winter. "Hey, it's better than nothing," thought Jace, who accepted.

In George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, these soldiers are known as the Winter Wolves, and it's them we see marching into the Riverlands through the Twins in the season finale. Cregan Stark is not among them. However, there's a behind-the-scenes shot of this scene going around showing that Cregan was originally going to cross the bridge with his men:

Why was Cregan Stark edited out of the House of the Dragon season 2 finale?

So they filmed Cregan crossing the Twins but didn't include it in the final episode. Why?

Well, it's worth noting that, in Fire & Blood, Cregan Stark does not come south at this point in the story; he still has lots of duties to take care of in the North. He does come down eventually, but not until later, so cutting him out of this scene is compliant with the source material.

Of course, the show has changed tons of stuff about the book, to the point where it's a stretch to call the series an adaptation, so I'm not sure why they felt this particular point was worth sticking to. Still, I'm okay with it. Maybe they just shot the scene with Cregan in case they wanted to use it but still left themselves the option to take it out if they thought that was the better move, and eventually decided it was.

We'll probably see Cregan again at some point, but not for a long while. The third season of House of the Dragon likely won't air until 2026.

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