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The season who never was…
We waited two years for this?
Imagine being promised a grand feast, only to be served a lukewarm appetizer. That's what watching the season finale of House of the Dragon Season 2 felt like. Episode 8, titled "Dance of the Cliffhangers," was a slow burn that never quite ignited into the inferno fans were hoping for.
The episode opens with a scene that feels more like a detour than a destination. Tyland Lannister's diplomatic mission to Essos is intriguing but misplaced, like a side quest in a video game that distracts from the main storyline. The mud wrestling scene, while entertaining, felt like a bizarre interlude in an otherwise serious narrative.
Back in Westeros, the tension is palpable but never fully realized. Rhaenyra's internal struggle over whether to strike King’s Landing or wait is reminiscent of Daenerys Targaryen's moral quandaries. Yet, instead of decisive action, we get 69 minutes of contemplation and setup. It's like watching a pot that never boils.
The dragon scenes, though visually stunning, are few and far between. Aemond's destruction of Sharp Point happens off-screen, leaving viewers to imagine the carnage rather than witness it. It's a tease, a promise of epic battles to come, but not delivered in this episode.
The lack of a climactic battle or significant character deaths leaves the episode feeling flat. No one dies, nothing epic happens, and the much-anticipated showdown is deferred to a future season. It's like lighting a match and expecting a bonfire, only to watch it fizzle out.
The episode ends with a teaser for Season 3, a move that feels more like a marketing strategy than a narrative choice. It's frustrating, like being shown the dessert menu before you've even finished your main course. The promise of future conflict and drama is tantalizing, but it doesn't satisfy the immediate hunger for resolution.
In summary, Episode 8 of House of the Dragon Season 2 is a slow burn that never quite catches fire. It's filled with potential and promise, but ultimately leaves viewers wanting more. The analogy of a lukewarm appetizer holds true – it whets the appetite but doesn't satisfy the craving for a full, hearty meal. Here's hoping Season 3 delivers the epic conclusion fans have been waiting for.
Outstanding. Epic. What a ride. Yes, there were no "dragon dances", but so much happened, and so gripping. The only negative, having to wait 2 years for season 3.
I have no idea what those claiming that "nothing happened" watched, honestly.
Moments were for sure dragged out to make sure they didn’t have to spend ANY money on a big battle this season, a shame. This episode felt like a big trailer for season 3.
The instant gratification crowd and social media scrollers with burnt out dopamine receptors aren't going to be happy with this one.
Amazing to see all the low ratings from people who are excited for Season 3 and can't handle the wait. What a totally rational and intelligent reason to lower your rating.
HUGE character developments all throughout this episode. So beautifully put together. Absolutely love this show.
this episode was so unnecessary, an hour long teaser for season 3. by far the worst episode of the season!
Best ending ever!!!
Everything in this episode is perfection, the soundtracks of each royal family with their marches.
Daemon's return to Rhaenyra and the speech he gave, which is what i needed for a while.
Also, Daemon seeing Dany and the prophecy is the best foreshadowing they ever did.
The conversation between Rhaenyra and Alicent was heartbreaking.
I hate how they ended it so well, and the idea of waiting another 2 years is insane.
It was a season that gave you goosebumps. It was a very emotional episode. I wish it hadn't ended here. Who will wait for the 3rd season now? Rhaenyra and Alıcent were my favorites this season. There's no need to explain the series anyway. The plot, effects and acting are perfect. As every good thing comes to an end, we've come to the end of this beautiful thing. Thank you for your efforts.
Jeez! All these comments demanding an action-packed episode EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. are getting annoying.
Go watch a Marvel movie or something.
You would think knowing there's a Season 3 would already clue people in that most of the Dance of the Dragons would happen in the last season. But alas, the whiners are ever so loud.
There's a lot to appreciate about this episode:
- I highly enjoyed the salute to GOT and all the scenes with Helaena in it.
- I loved that the scene between Rhaenyra and Alicent was touched with humor despite the gravity of their conversation.
- The musical score accompanying the battle preparation montage elevated the scenes even more.
Here's hoping we don't have to wait for the final season for too long!
She's going to go to the castle for Aegon's head, but he won't be there... :frowning: I hope we won't have to wait 2 more years for the next season! I'm dying to find out what happens.
The season finale that never was!
Such a great payoff for Deamon this season.
Put Rhaenyra and Alicent in a scene together and magic happens.
Loved the "getting ready for battle"-montage at the end.
I wasn't the biggest fan of this season, but these last couple of episodes have set so many things in motion. I'm stoked for next season.
Daeron showing up really stole the show for me this episode. What a great season finale. Everything set up had such an amazing payoff.
Something they should have learnt from GoT... bring the finale to the eve, and then the aftermath that usually has 'finale'esk ramifications as the end of season.
Now we are all primed, just like foreplay, but now we need to wait 12-18mths, or more! This is how affairs begin by this prick-teasing.
Yes, it was a reasonable episode, IF we had a 10 episode season... was it meant to be? But it is only 8, and we are left unsatisfied.
If this was episode 7 I would not have been able to sleep for a week waiting for the finale but it is what it is.
"It burst into flames like a sausage on a spit."
Alrighty then. :sweat_smile:
So this whole season was a buildup for season 3?
There's something about that vision...
F*ck...
Wey I thought she wanted with tyland hahaha....
She wants him to f*ck her wife's...
Prize or prize?
Dijo la frase...
"El invierno se acerca..."
"Winter is coming..."
Oh bebé estoy temblando...
Wey finally said things to corlys....
He runs and runs and just can't catch up....
At last ....
Otto is locked up?
The show feels like it's ending very soon, yet not much happened at all.
They need a brand new team of writers.
Absolutely, a total of time. Episode should have been about 30 minutes, maybe.
This episode was all setup. Foreplay. I think it would have worked better if they switched it with the penultimate episode.
The Lannisters scenes was amusing
And the last couple of minutes was great build-up...which I don't think season 3 can surpass
The season that never was
lmao, one of the first words out of Abigail Thorn's mouth on this show is "Philosopher", I can't make this shit up.
Fuckin hell, the writers are gonna fuck this up again aren’t they? What a horrible way to end the season. The sad part is this book is actually finished and they are making horrible decisions in what to change and adapt. Not excited for the next season at all.
Forgot about this one.
Why no one who was outraged about Daenerys teleporting in GoT, didn't say anything about Alicent going to Rhaenyra in less than two days (as she said she will attack King's Landing in) in this episode?
Am I the only one who noticed it?
Forgot about this one.
Why no one who was outraged about
I don't understand why people are hating the ending. It's inch perfect. The build-up towards the final war is everything. This is brilliant writing. All the foreshadowing and Easter eggs and little throwbacks here and there is inch perfect. The last montage of every house marching towards the dance of the dragon with their own theme songs playing is pure goosebumps moment. Can't wait for the next season. A solid 10/10 setup. There will be fire and blood.
It would make a lot more sense if the sheep fu... eater was bigger than Vhagar, or rather, a better plot twist
what a letdown, eight hours of illogical rumination and “war” and it doesnt even have a battle
That’s it? A whole season setting up for a setup?
Daemon and Alicent went through some good character arcs. Although I hated the farmland arc of Dawmon at first, it somehow paid off well. Now, all the major players are in position. Next season will surely be epic!
Very underwhelming season finale. Boo!!
One of the worst season finales ever.
A good season, even as a transitional one that sets the pieces on the board. It still includes some important events that drive the story and the characters' development, helping us understand them better. Some new characters were added, who are interesting and promise captivating development in the next season.
"mUh KwEeN"
"Story"
"Winter is coming"
really coming back to GoT's not greatest hits
2024-08 5/10 Terrible finale, inconsistent character development, none of the characters are likable, weird plot choices, really bad
Took a whole season for him to do that. What a waste of season.
Daemon has been on a vacay this whole season
Still a good well made episode but fairly underwhelming, and nowhere near on the level of season 1's finale
I need a Tyland/Lohar spinoff immediately
I remember the satisfactory epic finales of GOT. While this lacks satisfaction, I can't deny I've been entertained. It just feels like one more episode would make this season more complete.
Still a great episode, however not much really ended up happening. Imo they definitely should’ve made it a 10 episode season and had less filler but oh well ♂
Still good episode but a bit puzzling that they put this big a transitional one right at the ending, right down to have every storyline establish its build-up then cut right off before something bigger, even if the final conversation helps grounded it somewhat.
Overall, I find this season a slight step-down from first even if it has higher highs (Episode 4 and 7, where only season one's Episode 8 compares), partly due to the nature of first season's decade-skipping timeline which keeps the storytelling brisk and exhilarating (if almost too rushed at times), while this season stumbles here and there in slowing down the timeline and conveying minutia of wartime preparation effectively (and we definitely don't need minutia of Daemon's Hallucination of the Week that much if this is the endgame lol). But I don't find the disparity between seasons' quality to be that wide.
Had a hard time staying invested, watched this over 2 evenings, one month apart wololo. Not sure if I'll tune in for season 3 in ANOTHER 2 YEARS.
A very good episode [8.5/10], BUT a terrible season finale [6/10].
It is hard to say anything about the episode, since it is very slow-paced and not really fitting for the season finale. I liked the scenes when Rhaenyra confronts Daemon and suprisingly he bends his knee to her (it looks like because of the vision Alys showed him in the godswood?) as well as the confrontation between the two queens, in which Alicent is a bit of a tragic character since everything she believed in and strove for came to naught. These scenes were nice but I expected more from the season finale, this is a kind of "the board is set, the pieces are moving" episode, to quote Gandalf, telling us that there is no escaping war now and it would start for good next season.
Another setup episode: Aemond wants blood, Aegon flees, and Daemon shares a vision of Winter and Daenerys via the raven, and pledges himself to Rhaenyra. Alicent meanwhile fears for Helaena who opposes Aemond's demand the she join him riding dragons into battle, and visits Rhaenyra and pledges to surrender King's Landing bloodlessly.
Otherwise rather boring filler stuff: the Lannisters gain an alliance against the Sea Snake who himself has troubles with his unacknowledged bastard sons - and at least one of the new dragonriders shows little morals. Oh, and Raena finds the wild dragon in the Eyrie...
Hm, a filler episode as season finale? Poor choice. Seems as though they used up all their budget in that one dragon fight.
The Finale that never was!
A good episode but not finale worthy. I get what they tried to do here but I expected more. It does make me all the more curious for season 3.
Criston Cole's speech is probably my favourite scene of the entire show so far. I'm gonna miss this show for the next two years
Not that great at all.
I commented this on the wrong show :sob:
Interesting place to leave off, feeling more like a mid-season finale than anything. I'm curious to see how they will handle the next season, cause a lot of converging storylines are coming together for a climax. Seems like that could be overwhelming in a season premiere for season 3.
I found myself bored/not caring about Daemon for most of the season and during his first scene this episode (lol) but I'm glad he had his weirwood vision quest to stop all of that. What was that antlered thing though??
I do wish Rhaena's scenes were more than just her running and searching this entire episode. And Helaena has grown to be one of my favorite characters.
Anyways, I'm not stressed about it too much. I only read the original series, so watching HotD has been a much less stressful experience. I'm just enjoying the dragons, and I'm looking forward to seeing so many in action next season.
The episode title is a play on Rhaenys Targaryen's sobriquet "the Queen Who Never Was."
Daemon's dream of Daenerys recalls terrible memories of GoT season 8. HOTD Season 2 was essentially a trailer for a third season. While I enjoyed parts of this season, it's slowing down.
I spent a good few minutes after Lohar’s introduction trying to figure out why the actress seems familiar. At first I thought maybe she was Zach Woods’ sister or something, she was bringing a kind of similar unhinged energy as “Jared” on Silicon Valley… and then I finally realized it was Philosophy Tube lmao.
I definitely agree with many of the complaints about pacing, but I still think the season was overall pretty good. I’m definitely looking forward to more
So I am supposed to believe that Helaena is helping Daemon, the man who assassinated her little son? Ah ok.
Boring. Pointless. A season ending episode that could end the series it was so bad. There's no storyline, no compelling characters.
The biggest cliffhanger was that we didn't get to know how many wives she has.
/s
Last 2 minutes of this episode pushed storyline forward more than whole 7 previous episodes together.
I absolutely love that targ girl just run away from whole convoy which should have escorted her and nobody is even looking for her.
Aemond instructed that every ship has to be checked before leaving port and Alicent just went through this check and blockade straight to dragonstone...
Everybody knows that Alicent doesnt have any power now, yet she still offereing to surrender the throne to her enemy which killed her children.
This season had the most equality, the most diverse casting, the greatest amount of fake makeup, the ugliest wigs, the most boring dialogue lines, the most mundane scenes, and the fakest CGI dragons.
Congratulations on the POS.
Prepare for one hell of a bloody war:bangbang:
Everything was unbelievably wrong about this season.
This was the worst season finale ever!
I think final was a let down. Felt like a waste spending so much time watching week by week to have nothing just wait and sale another season.
House of the Dragging. Cause they're dragging these dragons out.
the otto cameo was me waiting for season 3
Jesus that was poor. This whole season has been one big c:asterisk_symbol:ck tease and very little has actually happened. What a let down!
Rhaenyra and Alicient had a solid two minute whimpering competition. That summarises the pacing of this season unfortunately.
I'm just disappointed that this is only produced for profit and not to tell a good story properly.
I really expected more from this episode. It turns out that this is the set up for season 3.
Still, a very enjoyable episode.
Now we wait patiently for season 3.
Rhaneyra and allicent visiting each other is cheesy and direction less producing a lot of useless filler scenes
First off, I will say that this episode is both well-shot and well-acted. Unfortunately, the scenes only work well in isolation. If you place them in the context of the characters' arcs and the overall season, you will notice not only inconsistencies but also how pointless some of the subplots turned out to be. Seriously, the lack of continuity in some of the subplots from even one episode to the next is very concerning. It seems the writers have gotten so used to employing plot contrivances to bring about certain events and developments that they have become seriously careless about the implications of said plot points on character and story development.
It was already clear in this season's first few episodes that the writers had given up on carrying over many of the plot points they laid out in season one, but with this episode, many of the plot points introduced this season have also been rendered useless. Moreover, the show's choices about what to focus on and what to forget or plainly retcon (hello, Rhaenys's massacre from S01E09) are so frustrating that they bring the plot integrity of the whole show into question.
I won't even delve into the mess they've made of some characters by, on one hand, straying too far from the book and, on the other, still sticking with the fixed events from the book. Nor will I comment on the writers' poor understanding of the material they are supposedly adapting (massive air quotes on that part) and their questionable attitude towards gender. I don't think we would ever get a character like Cersei, Catelyn, or Sansa from these writers, and if we do, the portrayal is sure to lack nuance.
At this point, the only way to enjoy the show is to just watch and refrain from looking too deeply into the many different subplots because it really does punish you for thinking too deeply about it.
What a disappointment of a season finale and season itself... Like a wasted 8 episodes with very little of meaningful action...
" You were swallowed up in the God's Eye, and you were never seen again. "
:smirk::smirk:
Before I start watching this episode I hope it's the best of the season, lot's of action! Dragon warfare! Finally. :thumbsup_tone1:
Shout by tinodBlockedParent2024-08-05T02:12:31Z
This was supposed to be THE season but practically nothing happened.