'House of the Dragon' season two finale reaction: Why fans are mad
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"House of the Dragon" season two had been building up to multiple action-packed battles only for nothing to happen — and fans aren't happy
By the end of season one, Rhaenya Targaryen's (Emma D'Arcy) half-brother Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) had usurped her throne, and Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), another half-brother, killed her son. As a result, many fans believed season two would involve an all-out war, with Rhaenyra seeking revenge on both siblings.
Instead, the writers used season two to build up even more tension for the war, and gave viewers only one major battle.
Fans believed the finale might have another battle to give the season a climactic end, but they were disappointed again.
Like the rest of the season, the episode was filled with talking and scheming. Instead of a battle, it ended with a montage of multiple factions readying equipment and marching to war.
One fan wrote: "Well, that was probably one of the most underwhelming season finales I've ever watched."
Another said the episode was a "70 minute trailer for Season 3."
That’s it??? After all that build up the season ends with them preparing for battle and we gotta wait 2 years again? Horrible payoff ???? #HouseOfThedragon
— merline (@xomerline) August 5, 2024This season of House of The Dragon was the worst season in the whole GOT universe, including season 8 of GOT. Why not give us a real season finale? Seemed like every episode you thought “next week will be the one” and “the one” won’t come for another 2 years
— Alex Berger (@Alexbergerr) August 5, 2024Fans were expecting a great battle in the finale after the ending to episode 7 why didn't you give it to them?
House of dragons s2 writers pic.twitter.com/Y6iaSAVycW
House of the Dragon is dead to me after that finale
— Football (@BostonConnr) August 5, 2024But other fans defended the finale, saying it still had many great dramatic moments, such as one scene where an important "Game of Thrones" storyline was foreshadowed.
Just Watched the Season 2 Finale of - House of the Dragon
This was a great finale to what has been a brilliant 2nd Season full of excellent performances, engaging drama, awesome action & visuals with incredibly shocking moments.
Am excited for Season 3!!#HouseOfTheDragon pic.twitter.com/SteYevgI9G
Simply too much good shit in the #HotD finale for me to be anything but impressed.
I get if you were expecting some of the more action-filled plot beats from F&B to land here you might be disappointed. But the setup for S3 and what we got along the way was SO damn good, imo. https://t.co/EU6rmS5Pcz
However, other fans were upset that they would have to wait until season three to see what season two was building up to.
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There is no release date for season three yet, but due to the length of production, it will likely not arrive until at least 2026.
The season may have had fewer battles because there were only 8 episodes rather than 10Season one of "House of the Dragon" was 10 episodes long, but HBO confirmed last year that season two would only have eight.
Deadline reported in March 2023, citing an unnamed source, that one of the major battles was moved to season three after the season was shortened. This may have been the Battle of the Gullet fans thought they would see in the season two finale.
In August 2023, "House of the Dragon" director Clare Kilner told The Hollywood Reporter that showrunner Ryan Condal chose to shorten the season to eight episodes.
"Ryan's decision was to give it a good opening and a good ending, and they're jam-packed with emotional and visually exciting events," Kilner said.
But Sara Hess, a writer on the show, told Entertainment Weekly in May that "it wasn't really our choice," implying that HBO or its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, made the decision.
A representative for "House of the Dragon" did not immediately respond to a comment request from Business Insider.
Regardless of the reason for the decision, fans are not happy with the lack of action in season two, and the show will have to make up for that in season three.
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