by This article contains SPOILERS of House of the Dragon Season 2 Finale.
House of the Dragon Season 2 ending was released this last Sunday and left viewers again waiting for battle. After season 1 finished, I thought we would get violent and ruthless battles for season 2. This season mainly showed us the steps and tactics of each team to approach war and victory. Many things were intriguing and insightful, like Rhaenyra’s plan to provide food and goods to the people in Kingslanding or her plan to recruit bastards. Either way, there were many other things I wished the show would’ve shown in detail.
1. Otto Hightower’s Schemes and Fate
Otto Hightower is as manipulative and sneaky as Tywin Lannister. As grandparents, they both used their daughters to marry into royalty and utilized their grandsons to navigate the crown. They are incredibly astute when playing the Game of Thrones and even better, they remain private about their affairs making it seem like they’re innocent. However, we barely saw Otto’s schemes this season. He is a man with great military knowledge and his studies have provided him with the skills needed to be the Hand of the King and manage power and hide behind it. I wished I had seen more of his tactics and what emotional impact it would’ve had on viewers. Would we hate him more? In episode 8 we see him imprisoned, even though he mentioned he was going back to Old Town for Daeron. How did he end up there?
2. What Rhaenyra’s Council is Risking for Her
In several episodes, we saw how Rhaenyra’s council does not hesitate to show their disapproval of her decisions. Especially Ser Alfred, who continuously judged her as the weaker sex and the reason they might lose the war against Aegon. Her council is incredibly misogynistic and doubts her competence. However, they remain next to her, and they deserve credit for that. These men are risking their lives, their families, the legacy of their houses, and their assets for her. For example, after the battle of Rook’s Rest, Lord Simon Staunton lost it. To a certain extent, the council is right to be angry at Rhaenyra for her lack of communication and how she risked her life. For example, when they were upset because she met Alicent disguised as a Septa.
3. Hugh Hammer’s Story
Hugh Hammer was first introduced in episode one, but we barely heard anything of his story or his daily life. We know he is married, and his daughter was sick until, suddenly, in episode 7, his wife mentioned their daughter’s passing. The way we found out about his daughter’s death felt like being paged for an important event. We were told what happened just in case we wondered. It would’ve been more intriguing if we had been exposed to Hugh’s family in depth because, as viewers, we could’ve grown fond of them. When Hugh claimed Vermithor he yelled -“I’m ready, come on!-”. I think he felt ready because he was driven by the anger and frustration of losing a daughter and the issues going on at Kingslanding because of Aegon and Aemond. Perhaps he felt he didn’t have anything to lose and risked his life due to that. I would have loved to experience Hugh’s journey and pain with him instead of hearing out what happened.
4. Hugh’s Mom: Saera Targaryen
Right after Hugh mentioned his daughter’s passing, he told his wife about his mother. He revealed his mother worked in a brothel and she had a lot of noble customers because she had silver hair. – “She worked in a pleasure house. She was granted more freedom than most because of who she was. And because rich men paid more to fuck a woman with silver hair. She used to tell me I was no different to her brother’s boys, Viserys and Daemon. But I was ashamed of her.” – Perhaps House of the Dragon could have alluded more that his mom was Saera Targaryen. Regardless, if you’re wondering how she became a prostitute I will briefly explain.
While Hugh never mentioned his mother’s name, she sounds like Saera Targaryen in Fire & Blood. How did a Targaryen princess end up working at a brothel? Princess Saera was the ninth child and fifth daughter of King Jaehaerys I and Queen Alysanne. She was described as incredibly intelligent yet spoiled and a troublemaker since childhood. She frequently pranked her siblings and people of the court, especially her father’s fool, Tom Turnip. By the time she was 12, her jokes became crueler and manipulative. She grew promiscuous and attention-seeking. One last prank got out of control when she and her handmaidens slept with three lords who had been imprisoned for previously pranking Tom Turnip along Saera. Unapologetically, Sara confessed to her father she was responsible for the prank and for sleeping with all three men. After that, Jaeherys I disinherited saying she was no longer his daughter. She was sent to Old Town to train as a Septa until she ran away and became a prostitute. Eventually, she started her brothel calling it her “Own kingdom”.
5. Ulf
At the dinner hosted by Rhaenyra to congratulate the new dragon riders, Ulf has no manners, and he is gross. He chews with his mouth open, he licks his fingers, and he shamelessly requests for more wine. He is cynical even though everyone at the table is looking down on him for his behavior. I wish we would have seen more of his shameless nature outside of The Court and what kind of reactions he provoked on the small folk. For example, his attitude was inappropriate in Dragonstone, he got scolded by Prince Jaecerys who would, of course, never tolerate such insolence. What about people outside the aristocracy and their reactions?
It was too obvious he would be an important character because we rarely saw any of the small folk unless something transcendental was about to happen. As soon as Rhaenyra mentioned she would start an army of bastards, the result was predictable.
6. Addam Hull
We know Addam’s brother, Alyn, has been working at the Velaryon fleet and he even saved Corlys’ life. Alyn is aware of his ancestry, and he hides it by shaving his white hair. He knows Corlys never cared about him or his brother until he lost an heir to Driftmark. When Alyn reproached his father for his lack of parenting and his egotistical motivation to approach his sons it felt satisfactory because, as a viewer, you can imagine the pain of going through that. In episode 6, while Alyn shaves his head, Addam mentions he is only shaving his head to subterfuge when he could use it to become rich and privileged. After that, he added that contrary to Alyn, Corlys only ignored him. He looked hurt and that would have been a great occasion to deepen on that feeling and how he navigated through life as a bastard. If we had seen that, audiences would rooted for Addam even more, especially when Seasmoke only accepted him as a rider. He didn’t even claim Seasmoke, it was like Seasmoke claimed him. I was so happy for Addam and Seasmoke, who had been desperate and restless before. Nevertheless, I hope we get to see more of the dragon-dragon rider connection between Addam and Seasmoke the way we did with Rhaenys and Meleys in Season 3.
