So now the long wait begins.
House of the Dragon‘s fiery first season came to a tense conclusion on Sunday, with the prospect of a violent civil war accelerated by an unfortunate mid-air collision between angry dragons.
The Hightowers and Rhaenyra are at each other’s throats, both sides are already making tactical moves, and – to put it plainly – everything in Westeros is about to kick off.
Ending on such a big cliffhanger in Targaryen history, though, has left us with questions. So many questions. And while we won’t be able to definitively answer them until season 2 arrives, we’ve taken a stab at some of the bigger ones below…
1. What will Rhaenyra do next?
The final shot of the finale is Rhaenyra’s angry, tear-streaked face staring into the camera. She’s just heard the news of her son Lucerys’ death, and you can tell from her expression that any previous thoughts of peaceful compromise have gone out the window. But where exactly does she go from here?
Part of this question was already answered for us in the finale. Rhaenyra has already begun making moves, sending her oldest son Jacaerys to meet with the Northern houses in an attempt to win more allies, while Rhaenys heads out to the Narrow Sea to patrol the water on dragon back and provide air support to Lord Corlys. If we had to guess, these plans will remain in place, but Rhaenyra will no longer be taking any prisoners. It’ll be a « scream Dracarys first, ask questions later » kind of deal. And speaking of dragons, we’re guessing she’ll be taking Daemon’s advice of recruiting as many wild ones as possible (more on that later).
2. Which Houses will side with Rhaenyra?
You can’t win a war without allies. In the finale, we see Rhaenyra and co. discussing which Houses in Westeros might want to side with them, resulting in Rhaenyra’s sons going off to meet with Houses Baratheon, Arryn, and Stark.
House Baratheon, Lucerys quickly discovers, is a dead end. The Lannisters are also a no-go. But what about the Arryns and the Starks? Well, the good news is Lady Jane Arryn is the cousin of Rhaenyra’s mother, Aemma, and as Rhaenyra says in the finale, « The Vale will not turn cloak against their own kin. » As we know from the good old Game of Thrones days, the Starks are also famously honourable. In episode 1, we saw Lord Rickon Stark swearing allegiance to Rhaenyra. So, providing his son, Lord Cregan, follows in the traditions of his House, Jacaerys may have more luck as an envoy than his brother did — and Rhaenyra may find a valuable ally in the North.
The Riverlands, meanwhile, are « key » according to Daemon, and last we heard he was planning to go there himself. But as Rhaenyra says, « Lord Grover is fickle and easily swayed. » It sounds like this one could go either way.
3. Will Daemon recruit more dragons?
While Rhaenyra works to shore up allies, Daemon has another objective in mind: Getting more dragons. In the finale, we see him journeying under the Dragonmont on Dragonstone, where he encounters Vermithor, one of three « unclaimed » dragons that he mentions earlier in the episode. The others are Silverwing, which is also on Dragonstone, and Seasmoke – Laenor Velayron’s old dragon – which is on Driftmark.
Clearly a big part of early season 2 will involve him trying to amass as many dragons as possible. But will he be successful? Well, the early signs are positive. When he meets Vermithor, Daemon sings in High Valyrian and the dragon doesn’t immediately coat him in flames or chomp his head off, which seems like a solid start. There’s also some foreshadowing earlier in season 1 that implies Rhaenyra’s side will get at least one more dragon. Back in episode 6, there’s a scene where Rhaena Targaryen – the daughter of Daemon and Laena – expresses her disappointment at not having a dragon. Her mother’s response? « If you wish to be a rider, you must claim that right. »
It’s surely no coincidence that when Daemon speaks of unclaimed dragons in the finale, the camera cuts to Rhaena’s face. Maybe she’ll be the one to ride Vermithor?
4. Will there be a rift between Alicent and her father, Otto?
The problem with making it to the top is that you typically have to rely on the support of some fairly ruthless people in order to get there. Alicent was forced to be her father’s pawn for a number of years, and in the finale she makes it clear that she sees him for who he really is. They’ve already clashed over tactics – Alicent wanted to send terms to Rhaenyra, while Otto favoured killing her outright – which resulted in Larys Strong offering to take out the White Worm (a powerful King’s Landing informant) for Alicent in order to cut off Otto’s information source.
The question is, will Larys double-cross Alicent? And either way, can her relationship with her father go anywhere other than downhill as outright war draws closer?
5. And will there be a rift between Rhaenyra and Daemon?
Speaking of frayed relationships, Rhaenyra’s marriage to Daemon isn’t looking good either. In the final episode, his hunger to rush to war clashes with her desire for restraint, culminating in an unpleasant scene in which he chokes her after she tells him about the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy passed down to her by her father.
So will the impending war bring them together, or push them apart? As we mentioned earlier, the final shot of Rhaenyra makes it seem like she’s done playing nice. This could mean that her and Daemon may actually be closer aligned on what to do about the Greens, as Daemon is already naturally revenge-set. On the other hand, it’s difficult to call. Fundamentally, although she can be ruthless, Rhaenyra is nowhere near as impulsive as Daemon. In a war setting, it’s easy to imagine them having more disagreements, especially as Daemon’s problem with authority might mean he refuses to listen to her commands.
6. Will the Triarchy form a temporary alliance with the Greens?
The Free Cities have been the only real external threat in House of the Dragon season 1, with the pesky Triarchy constantly attempting to take over the Stepstones — the archipelago stretching across the Narrow Sea between Westeros and Essos.
Daemon beat them back by defeating the Crabfeeder earlier in the season, and Lord Corlys has just returned from defeating them once again, this time establishing full control of the Narrow Sea. The thing is, though, the Triarchy are clearly still out there — and they’re not going to be happy about being beaten back.
Would it be such a stretch for the Hightowers to reach out to them in season 2 in order to try and form a temporary allegiance? Given that Daemon and Lord Corlys were the ones leading the battle against them, and not the Hightowers, it might not be out of the question.
7. What’s currently going on beyond the Wall?
Will season 2 of House of the Dragon – or any future season, for that matter – take us beyond the Wall? It’s hard to know, but the frequent mentions of the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy (plus the maybe-accidental-maybe-not similarity between Aemond’s sapphire eye and the White Walkers) certainly make it seem possible.
We know the Night King was made by the Children of Men many thousands of years ago, so he’s currently out there somewhere — whether or not he makes a cameo, though, especially with the action so focussed on King’s Landing, is difficult to predict.
