When I told my sister that we still have one final episode of House of the Dragon next week, she asked the question that has probably crossed many people’s minds: “And then we’ll have to wait another two years?” That may be why, now that the season is nearly over and so much still needs to happen, the distances across Westeros seem to have shrunk dramatically. Alicent reaches Harrenhal in a matter of days, but the editing makes it feel like only a few hours have passed, while other characters also move around the continent with impressive agility. Everyone except, of course, the men marching toward Tumbleton.

A full Guide to House of the Dragon

The penultimate chapter does anything but stall. After a season in which several characters remained trapped in the same places and conflicts, almost every piece finally moves: Rhaena is discovered, Daemon returns, Alicent tries to kill Aemond, Ulf changes sides, Sunfyre awakens, and Rhaenyra finds a new lover in Mysaria. So much happens that some major developments barely have time to breathe. Anyway, let’s get to the recap and commentary.

We begin in the middle of a dream, or perhaps a prophecy, because whenever Helaena appears, we can try to decipher through her what may be coming. Readers of Fire & Blood, naturally, have more material with which to speculate, even about the “gray man” she tells Rhaenyra she saw. The problem is that the visions in House of the Dragon are so enigmatic that they sometimes seem to exist only so the audience can recognize their meaning after everything has already happened.

Helaena dreams that she gives birth to Maelor and that soldiers take her son away, something especially painful for anyone who knows what may happen to him. We also see her riding the beautiful Dreamfyre, burning an enraged mob as it storms the Dragonpit. She then appears with Jaehaera and possibly Jaehaerys in a simple cottage in the countryside, during a sunny day that changes when snow begins to fall, and an eclipse darkens the sky. It is all very ethereal, but those who know, know — or at least believe they know — what it might mean.

Helaena does not even have a chance to understand what she has seen because Rhaenyra wakes her, curious and almost too excited by the realization that she has a seer at her disposal, or so she imagines. The queen grabs her half-sister by the arms and practically demands answers: Has Helaena seen her victory? Does she know where Vhagar is? Can she locate Rhaenyra’s enemies? If Rhaenyra spent any time around tarot readers, she would know that it does not work that way. Helaena cannot control her visions, does not necessarily understand what she sees, and, above all, has absolutely no desire to help the woman who is holding her captive and treating her like this.

A full guide to House of the Dragon

The truth is that Rhaenyra has never been as popular as she believes, and now she is managing to displease nearly everyone, which only makes her more insecure. Her most practical way of dealing with problems continues to be pushing them away as soon as they begin to demand too much energy. Corlys and Daemon are both absent from the Small Council, while Torrhen Manderly complains that he has been turned into the scapegoat for the realm’s financial crisis. Everyone’s patience is already gone.

Mysaria, even if she no longer has the queen’s ear as completely as she once did, manages to feed the discord and doubt surrounding Daemon. There have been reports of Sheepstealer flying with someone, which means another person has managed to claim the wild dragon. Or, as Mysaria is quick to suggest, is it really someone Rhaenyra does not know? The seed of suspicion has been planted.

The mission is not helping Baela either. She is tired of searching for Vhagar and Sheepstealer and is convinced that Rhaenyra merely wants to keep her busy and away from King’s Landing. Addam tries to take advantage of their time together and asks for her help in securing the Velaryon title should he or Alyn win the favor of some highborn lady. The conversation almost sounds like a proposal, but Baela interprets it as a reference to his brother. Addam is crushed when he realizes that Alyn has spoken to her.

This frustration exists almost entirely because the series decided to create an incestuous love triangle: Addam is interested in Baela, but she can only think about Alyn. It is very strange to have two uncles competing for the attention of their niece, but this is Westeros, and, apparently, this is what we have.

While all this is happening, Daemon finds Rhaena in the Riverlands, near the Blue Fork of the Trident. His daughter is tired of living in hiding, isolated from everyone she loves, and is willing to face Rhaenyra’s wrath and even be burned alive for her involvement in Jace’s death. She also makes it clear that Sheepstealer is a wild dragon and does not entirely obey her commands, something Daemon should probably explain to his wife.

They barely manage to exchange a few words before they see two dragons approaching: Rhaenyra on Syrax and Addam on Seasmoke. Daemon tells Rhaena to run on foot because he believes that, if she mounts Sheepstealer, the other dragons will tear her from the sky. Addam runs after her, carrying her bag, while Rhaenyra realizes that the mystery of the unknown dragonrider and Daemon’s absence are, in fact, the same story.

Rhaenyra is doubly outraged by the deception because Daemon not only lied to her, but did so because he believed she was capable of killing his daughter. There is little time to argue, however. The tension between the humans provokes the dragons, and Sheepstealer attacks Syrax. Seasmoke joins the fight, followed by Caraxes, who sinks his teeth into the wild dragon’s neck. It is one of the finest dragon sequences in the entire Game of Thrones universe, violent and terrifying precisely because the creatures stop looking like weapons controlled by the Targaryens and once again become gigantic, unpredictable, and frightened animals.

Rhaenyra takes Rhaena with her on Syrax and returns to King’s Landing. Daemon orders Addam to escort the queen and remains behind with Caraxes to face Sheepstealer. He is knocked to the ground, but when the wounded dragon retreats, bloody and nearly dragging itself away, Daemon does not order Caraxes to pursue. Perhaps he is still trying to protect Rhaena, or perhaps he recognizes that the dragon did not act out of treachery. Either way, Sheepstealer survives and disappears to tend to his wounds.

Back in King’s Landing, Rhaenyra sends Rhaena to a chamber but does not want to deal with her stepdaughter. Baela, on the other hand, forgives her. Rhaena apologizes for Jace’s death and is surprised when her sister embraces her, promising that she can begin again. Rhaenyra cannot be as generous. In her chambers, she stares at the false skull Daemon used to convince her that Sheepstealer was dead, its macabre grin now seemingly mocking both her thirst for vengeance and her inability to realize that she was being deceived.

Daemon apologizes and explains that he wanted to protect the daughter he had neglected for so long. Rhaenyra, however, is far more hurt by what the lie reveals about the way he sees her.

“Protect her from what? What do you think I am?”

At Harrenhal, things become even stranger. Aemond dreams that Alicent is seducing him, extending the maternal complex the series has already been exploring, but he wakes to find himself actually having sex with Alys. He pushes her away, leaves the room, and comes across his real mother in one of the castle’s corridors. Aemond even touches her face to make sure she is not another vision.

Alicent has arrived with Ser Adrian, who was supposed to serve as her guide and accomplice in the mission to kill the prince. Aemond, however, murders the man almost immediately, claiming that Harrenhal holds secrets and that he cannot trust any stranger. Alicent must improvise, but first she shares an excruciatingly uncomfortable dinner with her son and the woman who clearly occupies far too intimate a place in his life. Family gatherings are definitely off the table.

Alys immediately understands that Alicent has an ulterior motive and warns Aemond that his mother does not wish him well. Alicent considers using the Valyrian steel dagger, but, also concerned about what might happen to Helaena in King’s Landing, chooses a less direct method and puts nightshade in her son’s tea. Aemond once again collapses at Alys’s feet, and she looks at him as if all Targaryen boys were variations of the same problem.

“Idiot.”

Alicent flees Harrenhal before confirming that the poison has killed Aemond. Once outside, she stops and seems to finally understand what she has just done. He, naturally, is still alive and crawls toward Alys, who may be able to save him. Alicent remains Alicent: she makes terrible decisions, carries them out halfway, and only then appears to consider the consequences.

In Tumbleton, Ormund is back to being as arrogant as ever. The 20,000 Winter Wolves are only a day away, carrying Ser Criston Cole’s head on a pike, but Ormund remains remarkably calm. Daeron and Gwayne cannot understand why. Gwayne mourns Cole’s death and compares the knight’s pursuit of eternal glory to Ormund’s arrogance, while Daeron makes it clear that he does not want to be king. He is not afraid of being insignificant and, as far as he is concerned, Rhaenyra can keep her crown.

Corlys remains a prisoner of the Greens but has no patience for Ormund, who attempts to offer him an alliance while describing the Targaryens as savages and even pointing out that Rhaenys was “of their blood.” It is definitely not a promising diplomatic approach. Ormund, however, knows that Rhaenyra will not negotiate for the old man and is interested in targeting someone else. He cuts off Corlys’s finger, still wearing the Velaryon signet ring, and sends it to Alyn.

Ormund claims to possess an advantage capable of turning the war around and placing Daeron on the throne. At first, it appears that he is talking about Corlys, but his real weapon is Ulf. The dragonrider was only supposed to observe the Greens, but this is clearly not his first conversation with Ormund. He is given ale, attention, respect, the freedom to pursue women, and the promise of a castle. Not just any castle: Driftmark, Corlys’s seat, a reward Ormund probably cannot and has no intention of delivering.

Even so, it is significantly better than the slaps, humiliation, and contempt Ulf receives from the Blacks. Rhaenyra and Daemon never considered that mistreating a resentful drunk who happens to control one of the largest dragons in the world might lead him to accept the promises of anyone willing to flatter his ego.

“They will laugh at you no more,” Ormund promises.

“No. They will burn,” Ulf replies.

The major absence in Tumbleton is Hugh Hammer, who remains in the town because of his wife, Kat. She refuses to leave, which may place him directly in Ormund’s hands. If the Hightower also wins over Hugh, he will have Daeron and Tessarion, Ulf and Silverwing, and possibly Hugh and Vermithor. The balance of power will change completely before the Blacks understand what is happening.

On the road, Aegon remains on the run with Larys and Tyland Lannister, but the group encounters a crowd of refugees trying to escape an army coming from Maidenpool. The surprise is that the soldiers are not searching for Aegon, but for Tyland and the treasury gold he hid. Larys and Tyland advise the former king to flee by any route available, but Aegon decides that he will not die as a fugitive or allow the history books to record that he was murdered by his own brother.

Larys concludes that, because of his disability, he would be of no use in a battle and abandons his companions, although this is clearly only an excuse to save his own skin. Tyland, by contrast, surprises everyone by choosing to stay. He will not allow his king to face alone an army that has come for him.

When Lord Mooton’s men arrive during the night, Aegon begins a defiant speech and demands that they recognize him as the rightful king. The soldiers retreat, but not because they have been persuaded by his courage. Sunfyre appears behind him.

The dragon, believed to be dead after lying abandoned outside Rook’s Rest for months, returns to protect Aegon, his face now deformed to match his rider’s. The series had already left a clue when Aegon claimed that he could feel Sunfyre was still alive, something everyone interpreted as a delusion. The dragon’s body also did not display the signs of decomposition seen in other dead animals, suggesting that he entered some form of hibernation while he recovered.

Aegon screams and laughs as he commands “Dracarys,” while Sunfyre incinerates Lord Mooton’s men. For a few moments, he feels like a king again, reveling in the power and cruelty he has missed so much. For Rhaenyra, it is another complicated equation: Aegon is alive, Sunfyre is alive, and the war has just returned a dragon to the Greens that she believed had already been eliminated.

Mysaria, meanwhile, is in trouble. Her informants in the streets believe she has changed, that she has become too involved with the court and lost touch with the people who gave her power. She also knows that Rhaenyra may listen to her while Daemon is absent, but her influence weakens as soon as he returns.

After sending her husband away, Rhaenyra seeks out Mysaria. The queen laments that she has ruined everything Viserys wanted for her reign, but she also accuses Daemon’s former lover of manipulating her. What is most revealing is that Rhaenyra recognizes the manipulation and allows herself to be seduced anyway. She desperately needs someone to believe in her, value her, and assure her that she still has the right to occupy the throne.

Mysaria knows exactly what to say.

“In this moment, my queen — Rhaenyra — I have never been more certain of your rule.”

Their kisses become more intense, and the two women lie down together. As an adviser, Mysaria can no longer reach Rhaenyra completely. As a lover, she may be able to regain her trust — at least until the queen’s next insecurity changes the balance between them once again.

For anyone who has read the book, many of the secrets had already been announced, even with all the changes to the plots and subplots. Still, the board has never been more complicated. Ulf has changed sides, Hugh remains vulnerable in Tumbleton, Aemond survived his own mother’s attempt to kill him, Sunfyre is alive, and Rhaenyra has discovered that Daemon lied to protect Rhaena. At the same time, the dragons no longer appear to be weapons completely controlled by their riders, but frightened, violent, and unpredictable creatures.

The fight between Syrax, Seasmoke, Caraxes, and Sheepstealer is spectacular, one of the finest sequences the series has ever produced, but the episode does not survive on spectacle alone. It reshapes alliances, exposes resentments, and turns seemingly secondary characters into decisive threats. Ormund understood before Rhaenyra that a war is not won with dragons alone, but also with promises, vanity, and the ability to recognize each person’s weakness.

Only one episode remains, which seems like very little considering everything that has just been set in motion. The next major battle is approaching, the traitors have already chosen their sides, and what is bad can still become worse. And it will.