House of the Dragon
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We just watched 70 minutes of very good TV.
And it was a terrible season finale, evasiveanddeflating.
In its final moments, I couldnt help but obsessively check how many minutes were left.
(Could they fit a battle into 15 minutes?
Im so primed for battle at this point that Im rooting against Alicents last-gasp plea for peace.
Sink the recently rechristenedQueen Who Never Was!
At some point, you have to show us.
Its particularly disappointing to me because the season-two finale starts with charm enough to evokeGame of Thrones.
Tyland Lannister sits uncomfortably crisscross applesauce before the heads of the Triarchy.
Pack your bags; were not in Westeros anymore.
The desert paradise is sunnier, looser, and more fun.
But never mind, thats a problem for future Tyland.
Lohar wont sail with a skinny man who cant best her at mud wrestling.
Why the hell not.
Tyland falls in the bog and rises to the occasion.
Vhagars a big gal, yes, but an overstretched one.
Plus, unbeknownst to all, Rhaenas still scurrying the Eyrie to find a dragon to love her back.
Alicents children respond to the news of Rhaenyras surging dragon power exactly as you might predict.
Hes in full-blown panic mode.
And Aegon, bedridden and cockless, still holds on to the flimsy dream of power.
On Dragonstone, too, theyre realizing that family isnt to be depended upon.
Which I suppose makes Hugh the peacekeeper, the one who cant stop trying to smooth things over.
All happy families are alike, as Tolstoy wrote.
Each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
And thats without adding dragons.
You know what would help whip this ragtag team into shape?
Having something to do besides roam the halls, getting on each others nerves.
And you know how we know for sure that Corlys is right?
Because before the episode even begins, Aemonds already laid waste to the Crownlands seat of House Bar Emmon.
In better news, things in Harrenhal are positively up-tempo.
It turns out that all that was needed to shake Daemon free from his doldrums was a humongous host.
Finally, everything is coming up Daemon.
At least for a few minutes.
A glimpse of a clutch of dragon eggs.
A naked figure bathed in golden light,surrounded by a trio of hatchlings.
Daemon sees Rhaenyra on the throne.
In fact, in this vision of annihilation and redemption, Daemon hardly features at all.
The man has spent the entire season walking up to the edge of mutiny only to retreat.
Not even loyal Baela can contain her befuddlement.
What was the point of weakening the capital so terribly if you werent going in for the kill?
Because victory will only come in one of two ways for Rhaenyra.
Because Aemond isnt the kind of guy to resign in the face of gradual losses.
It will have to be catastrophic.
Or maybe it doesnt have to be war at all.
Its an episode of reunions and reconciliations for Rhaenyra: first her uncle-husband, then her stepmother-friend.
Alicent comes to Dragonstone with a plan for peace, one I suppose she started cooking up whilst camping.
She tells Rhaenyra that Aemond is planning to fly to battle in three days.
It will cost her the lives of her eldest sons, but shes willing to pay that, too.
The scene between them crescendoes into a stirring montage.
The pieces arent just all on the board; theyre careening toward each other.
There they might meet Daemon, unless hes already set out for Kings Landing.
Maybe theyll be intercepted by Starks Greybeards, whom we finally see crossing the Green Fork into the Riverlands.
Otto is revealed to be imprisoned somewhere, though, in truth, I kinda forgot he was missing.
And Rhaena, bless her heart, finally corners a dragon.
Its a masterful collage that makes this vast and fantastical world feel small and combustible.
One wrong move, and it will all go wrong.
Its not a cliffhanger.
The show never gets us close enough to peer over the edge of the cliff.
Later, shell tell Aemond that she knows he shot their brother from the sky because she saw it.
Is Helaena a dreamwalker?
Has she been warging this whole time?
Because damn, Helaena, spoiler alert!
She was the first to worry about the rats.
Shes frail but decisive.
The show answered a question and embedded a mystery in a few deft moments.
Id like to see Heleanas visions happen at least some of them.
Id like to know what it looks like for a dragon to be swallowed by a lake.
Then again, at the pace this series is moving, I might just take her word for it.
