The queens have come up with their very own gambit. On the finale of House of the Dragon season two, “The Queen That Ever Was,” Team Black and Team Green assemble their armies as Dowager Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) meet once again in secret. During their fateful encounter, Alicent makes an offer Rhaenyra can’t refuse—but it comes at a significant price for the dowager queen.
Before Alicent and Rhaenyra’s clandestine meet-up, both queens were gearing up for the great war to (finally) begin. After receiving a raven from Ser Simon (Simon Russell Beale) questioning Daemon’s fidelity, Rhaenyra flew to Harrenhal to see herself whether Daemon was loyal. Thankfully, Alice Rivers (Gayle Rankin) granted Daemon (Matt Smith) a vision of the future—including white walkers, war, and even the mother of dragons Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clark)—that inspired him to pledge his loyalty to Rhaenyra and cast his dreams of taking the iron throne aside.
As Daemon and his army prepare to fight for Team Black, Team Green receives a new crop of soldiers courtesy of Tyland Lannister (Jefferson Hall) and his mud wrestling prowess. Tyland has convinced the Triarchy to pledge their men to King Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Team Green, but only if he wins over Lohar (Abigail Thorne), the fighters’ eccentric leader. After an epic mud wrestling battle, Lohar pledges all of their men to Team Green and, as a bonus, is so taken with Tyland that they ask him for another favor: “I want you to fuck my wives,” says Lohar.
While Tyland is asked to sire children, Alicent is asked to sacrifice one of hers. In an echo of their secret meeting in episode three, Alicent travels to Dragonstone to plead with Rhaenyra to stop the brewing war. Alicent tells Rhaenyra that she no longer wants her family to rule Westeros, and offers Rhaenyra the opportunity to come to King’s Landing and take the Iron Throne without any bloodshed or battle. Rhaenyra points out that if she were to take the throne, she’d be forced to publicly depose and murder King Aegon II—Alicent’s eldest son. In a devastating moment, Alicent is forced to make a decision: will she sacrifice her son for the good of the realm? By the end of their exchange, it seems Alicent has agreed to Rhaenyra’s terms, and she leaves Dragonstone with the knowledge that she sentenced Aegon to death.
What Alicent doesn’t know is that the crippled Aegon is no longer in King’s Landing. After being humiliated by Rhaenyra’s new, lowborn dragon riders, an embarrassed Prince Regent Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) takes out his rage on innocent citizens, burning down the entire village of Sharp Point with his dragon Vhagar. The regent prince’s warpath inspires Larys (Matthew Needham) to tell Aegon that it’s time to flee the Red Keep. “The prince regent is going to killl you,” Larys tells a bedridden and miserable Aegon. And with that, the unlikely duo set off to escape King’s Landing across the narrow seas.
The end of season two provides more questions than answers. Which army has the upper hand, Team Black or Team Green? What will Rhaenyra and Alicent do if they come to King’s Landing and find that Aegon has absconded? Will Rhaenyra’s new dragon riders stay loyal to her? We won’t know until the next season of the already-renewed House of the Dragon returns to HBO.
