Just before we break for the New Year, HBO has decided to leave House of the Dragon with a huge bang! The series concluded after 10 episodes of pure action and build up which will commence in the official Targaryen war of succession entitled the ‘dance of dragons’ in the next season. And if you saw the ending scene of the finale episode, you know already that this war will be fought most viciously after the fall of Rhaenyra’s son Lucerys at the hands of the mighty dragon Vaghar.

While earlier in the finale, Rhaenyra had shown great caution in creating a civil war between herself and the Green’s, who at current moment support the usurped claim of Rhaenyra’s half-brother Aegon as King of the Seven Kingdoms – all of that shattered with the news of Luke’s nasty death, which leaves us with a final image of Rhaenyra, looking no different to Daenerys at the end of an earlier Game Of Thrones episode where Cersei decided to behead Missandei right before the final battle for control of Westeros. What was absolutely gut-wrenching about how everything played out is that Rhaenyra had purposefully sent Luke to Storm's End because it was actually closest to home at Driftmark. Unfortunately, the distance had not managed to help Luke at all, as his step-uncle Aemond had already arrived before him. Though it clearly seemed that Aemond had not intended for things to heat up as they did, King Viserys’ line about the myth surrounding man’s control of the dragons came true and both young riders could not manage to control their flying companions in the midst of the horrid storm.

Coming back to Rhaenyra, it was definitely clever character development to alienate the declared Queen from her faithful subjects as it reminded us of the complicated past relationships at Kings Landing. Rhaenyra’s long-damaged friendship with Alicent serves as a harrowing reminder of how these two young women were once pawns in a game of power between their fathers. After all, it was just one episode prior to the finale which focused on the green’s rise to power and Alicent’s unwavering stance that Rhaenyra and her children be allowed to live despite the fact that their existence was a threat to the rule of her son, Aegon the II. So it is definitely an interesting reunion to be witnessed, where these once childhood friends have become vengeful strangers.

Now, for some really bad news. HBO has informed viewers that the wait for season 2 of House of the Dragon is longer than anyone could have expected. We will not see events propel further now until 2024! Yet, that means the new season should be all the more exciting!