House Of The Dragon Season 2 Finale Cameo Explained By Showrunner

Warning! Spoilers ahead for House of the Dragon season 2, episode 8.

Summary

House of the Dragonshowrunner Ryan Condal explains that key season 2 finale cameo. After debuting earlier this summer, the sophomore outing of the hitGame of Thronesspinoff came to an end this past Sunday, teeing up an explosive season 3. TheHouse of the Dragonseason 2 finalefeatures a handful of surprising moments and developments, one of the most interesting being a brief cameo by Daenerys Targaryen herself (though not played by Emilia Clarke), as Daemon (Matt Smith) sees Aegon the Conqueror’s prophecy in a vision.

During a Q&A Zoom session with reporters on Monday, perEW, Condal is asked about Daemon’s vision in theHouse of the Dragonseason 2 finale and whether the inclusion of Daenerys instead of Jon Snow confirms that she is the “Prince That Was Promised.” According to Condal,the character’s inclusion is not meant to clarify George R. R. Martin’s intentions with that prophecy storyline(which has yet to conclude in the novels), and was instead more of a character-based decision for Daemon’s arc. Check out his comment below:

Daemon (Matt Smith) and his armies letting out a war cry in House of the Dragon season 2 Episode 8

“We are not trying to make any kind of specific interpretation of a prophecy that has yet to be revealed by its author. That is George’s world and George’s space to tell that story. We’re more interested in playing with the character drama that lives in and around that imagery.

“It’s just a more complex idea. The connectivity for us is specifically in and around the dragons. This is not a spoiler for anybody who hasn’t read the book, but we know that in this world, we have 17 dragons — whatever the exact number is at this at this point — and in the world where we first meet Daenerys and she’s staring across the Narrow Sea at her lost empire, there are zero dragons.

Daenerys Targaryen and baby dragons from behind in House of the Dragon season 2’s finale

The connectiveness between this family and the family to come, and Daemon seeing something that we know who that is watching that image, Daemon has no idea. That could be his future daughter with Rhaenyra who has three dragons born. He doesn’t know, but he is sensing that this was something that was shown to me for a specific reason.

“We know Rhaenyra is already kind of running with this idea of the Prince Who Was Promised. If Daemon also believes that that is Rhaenyra, as we’ve seen him say to her in High Valyrian in [the finale], there’s a very interesting thing that can be done with his interpretation of that reality as we move forward. So for that reason, I think it was important that it was Daenerys, the image.”

What Daemon’s Vision Of Danaerys Means For House Of The Dragon Season 3

Matt Smith’s Character Might Be Different Moving Forward

A major question throughoutHouse of the Dragonseason 2is whether Daemon will turn on Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and attempt to take the throne for himself. The finale uses Daemon’s vision to lay this possibility to rest in a fairly definitive manner. As Condal explains, only audiences know that the figure in Daemon’s vision is Daenerys, but Daemon himself knows only that the figure is important. The vision as a whole essentially cements to him that he is but a cog in these larger machinations, and thatRhaenyra is the one who must sit atop the throne.

In the confirmedHouse of the Dragonseason 3, then,viewers could be in for a more harmonious dynamic between Rhaenyra and Daemon. The latter character has always been hot-headed and has often been critical of how Rhaenyra handles new developments in the conflict. In the opening of the season, he even goes behind Rhaenyra’s back and hires Blood and Cheese as assassins, which ends with the murder of Prince Jaehaerys.

House of the Dragonseason 3 filmingis expected to start in early 2025. The show is now confirmed to end with season 4.

Who Played Daenerys In House Of The Dragon (Was It Emilia Clarke?)

House of the Dragon’s season 2 finale includes a cameo of Daenerys Targaryen as part of a vision sequence, but recast the role from Game of Thrones.

After Daemon’s vision, however,House of the Dragonseason 3 could feature a more united front for Team Black. Since Rhaenyra has a dragon advantage over Team Green, the biggest threat to her ascendancy in season 2 was really turmoil from within, but a major source of that division has now seemingly been eliminated. It remains to be seen whatHouse of the Dragonseason 2 has in store for viewers, but it certainly looks like Daemon could be a changed man moving forward.