The end is here… But it’s only just the beginning. In the epic final of House of the Dragon, Westeros is completely divided and a familiar face returns, as the dance of dragons begins.
The Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon takes us back 200 years before Daenarys vowed to “break the wheel” and shows the Targaryen family at the height of their power. Now allegedly ruling over Westeros is King Aegon with his mother Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) and her father Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans). On the other side of the water lies the true heir Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and her husband/uncle Daemon (Matt Smith).
After crowning Aegon as King, the royal family is split once again as the players decide whether they will side with Rhaenyra or Aegon.
Episode ten ‘The Black Queen,’ is everything we’ve been waiting for and it’s about to go off.
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Spoilers ahead!
After her hasty escape in the previous episode, Rhaenys has arrived in Dragonstone to tell Rhaenyra of Alicent’s decision to crown Aegon, unbeknownst to her.
“They crowned him?”
But when it rains, it pours. As Daemon plans to defend Dragonstone from the Hightower’s, Rhaenyra unexpectedly goes into labour.
It looks as if we’re seeing a direct parallel to her mother’s miserable death at the start of the season. But Rhaenyra is not her mother. Instead, Rhaenyra refuses the help of others and has the child stillborn.
In a ceremony of their own, they crown Rhaenyra the true Queen of the seven kingdoms.
After a fiery exchange with Otto Hightower, the new Queen and her allies discuss whether to submit to the terms of the new king or go to war.
From out of nowhere, Lord Corlys returns having apparently abandoned his family and his thirst for the throne, to go off on adventures. But having heard of the new king, he is back to fight alongside Rhaenyra.
Currently in the works at HBO is another Game of Thrones spin-off that is set to follow Lord Corlys on his famous nine voyages. Featuring the same actor, it is assumed that these voyages will take place during his disappearance and will detail his unexplained absence.
In an attempt to avoid bloodshed, Rhaenyra sends her sons off to secure their allies and ensure they can claim King’s Landing and the throne with ease. But Daemon seems hellbent on battle and seeks out the unclaimed dragon Vermithor.
But naturally, it doesn’t go as planned. Laughed away, Prince Lucerys flees back to Dragonstone, pursued by Prince Aemond. In what is one of the most phenomenal sequences of the season, the pursuit ends with Lucerys and his dragon becoming food for Aemond’s dragon.
If there was any doubt of Rhaenyra’s intention to go to war, it was now gone.
Fans can marinate over this game-changing finale for quite a while as the next season of House of the Dragon isn’t expected until 2024. That being said, the Game of Thrones universe is expanding by the second with new characters, series and rumours of films filling in every detail. So who knows, maybe another Westeros outing is closer than we think.
Check out the trailer for the finale episode!
