There's one episode left in the second season of House of the Dragon, HBO's Game of Thrones prequel series. We don't know the title of the finale yet, but we do have the trailer. Watch above!
For one last time this season, let's go shot by shot through the trailer to see what we can see. We start on Dragonstone, where two figures — probably Rhaenyra and Mysaria — stand on the ramparts of Dragonstone, watching a pair of dragons dance through the air. I'm not sure which dragons they are, although I'm guessing one is Rhaenyra's dragon Syrax. When they're not busy at war, they'll play.
Criston Cole provides us with a somber narration: "The dragons dance, and men are like dust under their feet." Cheery. As he talks, we see shots of several armies, including the Lannisters in the Riverlands...
...the Starks in the Riverlands (remember that Jace negotiated that the Winter Wolves be given passage over the bridge at the Twins a few episodes back)...
...and the Hightowers in the Reach, whom we've heard about a few times this season:
We've also heard about Alicent's fourth child Daeron, who went to the Reach when he was a boy. We know that Daeron's young dragon Tessarion, called the Blue Queen, has taken wing. We get a surprise shot of her in the trailer:
Meanwhile, Criston — who is marching to Harrenhal on Aemond's orders — continues his sunny story: "We march now toward our annihilation."
Let's talk about Harrenhal, where Daemon Targaryen has been mustering an army for most of the season. Below, his dragon Caraxes greets a couple of newcomers:
Again, it's hard to tell exactly which dragons these are.
One of them looks like Syrax, which makes sense; Rhaenyra and Daemon have been apart for episodes now and we expect them to reunite in the finale. We don't know who she brought with her. It kind of looks like Seasmoke, the grey-colored dragon ridden by Addam of Hull.
We next check in with Rhaenyra and her dragon-riding air force, which was recently bolstered with a few new members, including Hugh Hammer — who rides the dragon Vermiothor — and Ulf White, who rides Silverwing. Along with Addam of Hull, they sit with their queen, Rhaenyra's son Jace and her step-daughter Baela, presumbably for a feast/war council.
"I have entrusted you with a power only few have known," Rhaenyra tells the dragonseeds. "We must strike while we have the advantage." It sounds like she's wasting no time putting her new dragonriders to work.
While the dragonseeds contemplate the weight of their responsibilities, we see oars a rowing. This is the Velaryon fleet headed by Corlys Velaryon, with Alyn of Hull as his first mate:
Things are hopping in King's Landing as well:
Larys Strong, who has become a friend to the debilitated King Aegon, visits him again, and he doesn't bear good news. "The Prince Regent is angry. There is no telling what he will do," he says of Aegon's brother Aemond.
After finding out last week that Rhaenyra has recruited new dragonriders, it's easy to imagine that Aemond is out of sorts; he has only a loose grip on caution and civility at the best of times.
In a later scene in the trailer, we see Aemond try to recruit his sister Helaena into his own dragon-riding air force. "The pretender has raised new riders against us," he warns her. "I need you to fly with Dreamfyre to battle. We will answer outrage with outrage."
In the book Fire & Blood, Helaena does indeed have a dragon named Dragonfyre, but we've seen precious little of her on the show.
Alicent is wroth with Aemond, I'm guessing because she doesn't approve of his attempt to draft his sister — who I remind you watched her son get murdered in the season premiere — into a war. "You wish to rule the Seven Kingdoms, but you reign ruin and death," she tells him.
I don't think she's exaggerating. We see Aemond on his dragon Vhagar looming over a coastal town they've just burned, doubtless one loyal to Rhaenyra:
Let's head back to Harrenhal for a minute, where Daemon is still stalking the halls.
It looks like he's finally managed to gather an army of Rivermen. We also hear the voice of Ser Alfred Broome, whom Rhaenyra to dispatched to Harrenhal a few episodes back, talk to Daemon: "You have mustered an army, but Rhaenyra has faltered," he says. That's funny considering how much trouble Daemon has had in this part of the Seven Kingdoms all season.
As we get to the end of the trailer, the pace picks up. We see newly minted dragonrider Addam of Hull pull on a glove:
And now for something new: the Triarchy fleet! Recall that Daemon and Corlys Velaryon fought against the Triarchy early in season 1. Aemond sent Tyland Lannister to treat with them partway through this season in the hope that they would fight Rhaenyra on the side of the Greens.
I think this is Tyland's ship pulling up to wherever in Essos the Triarchy is located:
And we meet a new character in the form of Sharako Lohar, an admiral in the Lysene navy. Along with Myr and Tyrosh, Lys is one of the three Free Cities of Essos that form the Triarchy. It looks like the show may combine Sharako with another Triarchy character: Racallio Ryndoon, who's got more a pirate vibe.
You may be wondering why everybody here is covered in mud. I'll give you a quote from the book: "Racallio Ryndoon...insisted that [the envoy] wrestle with him in a mud pit behind his fort, whilst hundreds of jeering pirates looked on."
So it looks like Tyland Lannister is going to have to do some mud wrestling! Anything for the prince regent, I guess:
As the trailer approaches its end, we make a quick stopover in the Vale, where Rhaena Targaryen is hot on the trail of a wild dragon:
Back at Harrenhal, Daemon rallies his new army of Rivermen: "For every one of us who falls, a hundred of them, he yells. "There will be no mercy!"
We cut back to Criston Cole in the forests on his way to Riverrun. Alicent's brother Gwayne Hightower holds a sword to his throat, probably because he doesn't fancy marching to his own "annhilation," however blase Criston seems about it.
One last shot of Rhaenyra for the road:
And we end we Vhagar and Aemond surveying the damage they've caused:
The season 2 finale of House of the Dragon airs this Sunday night, August 4, on HBO and Max.
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