Can HOTD finally bring the heat? 7 things we want to see in the House Of The Dragon finale

There’s only one episode left in the first season of House Of The Dragon, and by now we know the characters and the world well enough to have some idea of what we want from the finale. It’s been a season of ups and downs, time jumps and catch-ups, incest, murder, and terrible wigs. What more could we ask for? Plenty.

In the penultimate episode, “The Green Council,” Alicent’s faction gained the upper hand following the death of King Viserys, by virtue of proximity. They were the first to find out he’d died, and Hand of the King Otto Hightower already had a plan in place to ensure Aegon’s ascension. While Rhaenyra and company were on their way back to Dragonstone, unaware that anything had changed, Otto was plotting their murder and a hasty coronation for his grandson. Said coronation nearly went off without a hitch, and even Rhaenys crashing the party on her dragon Meleys couldn’t stop the proceedings. So now we have Aegon II, Second of his Name, seated on the Iron Throne instead of Viserys’ legitimate heir. And everyone’s just going to go along and be cool with it, right? Yeah, not this family.

A lot of this season felt like a prologue, building up to something big. All that setup finally paid off in “The Green Council,” so we expect the next one will keep that momentum going. Bear in mind that these aren’t necessarily predictions or spoilers, just speculation. If you’ve read Fire And Blood, the book that inspired the series, you may think you have some idea of what happens next, but the showrunners have proven they’re willing to go in a different direction when they feel the story calls for it, so we may be in for a few surprises. And if some of these don’t come to pass in the episode, there’s always season two.

1. An epic dragon fight

“Then the storm broke, and the dragons danced.” This quote from Fire And Blood comes immediately after the death of Viserys, and leads us right into the Targaryen civil war. House Targaryen has always relied on its dragons to stay in power, but what happens when there are dragons on both sides? We’re going to find out, hopefully soon. We’re anxious for some real aerial firepower in episode 10. We’ve only seen once this season, in episode three, so let’s turn up the heat and see those dragons in action. Rhaenyra did promise Alicent in episode eight that she’d return to King’s Landing “on dragonback.” We hope she keeps that promise, just not in the way she meant it.