The House of the Dragon season 2 finale may not have ended on a major death or battle, but the characters are scattered all over Westeros in a way that they haven't really been before on the Game of Thrones spin-off. It kind of feels like HotDseason 3 is going to be more like old-school Thrones, with battles and side quests and tons of locations? To help you prepare and get your bearings, let's explain everything that happened in the season 2 finale of House of the Dragon and what it means.

Ultimately the episode was a lot of build-up for the next season. But that's actually not uncommon for Game of Thrones fans. Back in the day, as I'm sure you recall, the major events would happen in the penultimate episode (Ned Stark's death, the Red Wedding, and the Battle of the Bastards for example), and then the season's final episode would start setting the stage for what's to come. The problem with House of the Dragon, if you see it as a problem, is that nothing really happened in the penultimate episode of season 2 either. The most important thing about episode 7 was that two Targaryen bastards became dragon riders—and since they were the only two Targaryen bastards we knew anything about, it was pretty easy to figure out that they would be successful. Where's the suspense?

What exactly did they build up, and why? Let's get into it.

What was Tyland Lannister doing in Essos?

Team Green's ambassador was on a mission to end a trade blockade. He accomplished that by winning a mud wrestling match against a new character named Admiral Sharako Lohar. Sure! Tyland may or may not have developed a crush on Lohar in the process. Abigail Thorn, the actress who plays Lohar, is a trans woman but the character appears to use he/him pronouns. I'm curious to see how this relationship progresses. Beautiful people who could step on you? That's catnip for those Lannister lions. We all remember Jaime and Brienne, as well as Tyrion and Shae.

What's with *that* Daemon vision?

Before leaving Harrenhal for good, Daemon had one last witch-assisted magical vision. And... Daenerys Targaryen was there???? The Night King too???? THE HECK???? Alys Rivers showed Daemon the future, which included brief glimpses of those two characters as well as a three-eyed raven and a dead dragon. What it means, especially the raven and the dragon, are up to fan interpretation. The important thing, I think, is that Daemon now believes the same things that Rhaenyra believes because her father told her Aegon the Conquerer's dream and the prophecy. They're all just part of a larger story.

There was also, before the vision fully started, what appeared to be a green man with antlers running behind the weirwood tree. Those magical folk never appeared on Thrones. So, I'm not sure where the show is going with that. We'll have to wait and see.

Ultimately, this vision led to him bending the knee to his wife in front of all the sexist lords who wanted him to show her who's boss. It made him a feminist and a romantic. He's all in on fighting for Rhaenyra's side instead of trying to undermine her and possibly usurp her. Everybody say thank you, creepy vision! Queen Rhaenyra has her man and an army.

Did Queen Alicent try to surrender?

Alicent snuck out of King's Landing to visit Rhaenyra in Dragonstone. She proposed that if her old friend would allow her to get her children to safety, she would make it easy for her to seize the city and take back the Iron Throne. But Rhaenyra insists that to take the throne, she has to kill Alicent's sons (at least the "king," Aegon). It's too late now. They can't sign a peace treaty. The boys can't rot in a jail cell. The only way for Rhaenyra to win back Westeros is by force. Alicent is so desperate to be done with all of this that she even asks Rhaenyra to run away with her. That doesn't happen, but speaking of:

Aegon ran away with Larys?

The former hand of the king and foot enthusiast proposed that he take King Aegon II to Braavos for his own safety until the war blows over. He moved money to the Iron Bank. There, Aegon would be safe from Aemond's rash actions and Rhaenyra's growing army. At the end of the episode, we see that Aegon has agreed. The two will cross the narrow sea together. How romantic! Not really. (Haha, unless...)

It's not a bad idea to get out of the city every once in a while. Ser Criston Cole, who we checked in on briefly, seems to have chilled out considerably after having spent some time away.

Why didn't anyone go on a run with Rhaena?

Daemon's dragon-less daughter finally found a dragon. All she had to do was walk and run in its general direction for the entire season finale. It seems like Lady Jeyne Arryn knew where Rhaena was going when she sent Rhaenyra and Daemon's toddler sons to Pentos, but didn't send anyone who knew the Vale with her. Rude! Rhaena hasn't officially claimed this dragon yet, but we have to assume that'll happen.

I'm happy for her but I'm still annoyed at how little she had to do this season. And her sister Baela, while she got to do at least one cool thing on a dragon, basically just had the same placating conversation with her cousin/fiancé Jace about how it's okay that he's a bastard over and over. Let these girlies have juicy storylines in season 3, please!!

The episode ends with multiple armies marching to fight.

The Lannister army is on the road for the Greens. The Stark army is on the road for the Blacks. The Riverland armies are ready to go. Dragon riders on both sides are suiting up. Tyland's navy is ready to meet Corlys Velaryon's navy. Anyone else start humming "One Day More" from Les Miserables in their head? Just me?

Oh, and Otto Hightower has been kidnapped? By whom? That's a mystery for season 3.

So what happens next?

War! Season 3 will likely be a lot of battles. The war rages on in the books after this point. The next big event is the Battle of the Gullet, which involves all of those ships we saw in the finale, as well as those toddlers going to Pentos. The mystery son of Alicent Hightower, Daeron Targaryen, should finally appear in season 3. Someone else will claim the Iron Throne, likely sooner rather than later. And so, so, so many more characters will die. Whomp whomp!