Warning: This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon and the Fire & Blood Storyline

House of the Dragon ended on a drastic note, a moment from when there was no return to normal, and now the war is imminent and inevitable. While the penultimate episode focused on the Greens usurping the throne in King’s Landing, the finale focused on the Blacks rising to prepare for the impending war. However, Queen Rhaenyra was adamant about plunging the realm into war, showing restraint, and choosing logic over anger before something devastating happened.

Recently, Emma D’Arcy talked to The Face, breaking down the final moments of that episode which changed Rhaenyra’s peaceful stance. In that sequence, we see Rhaenyra receiving the news as she walks away from the camera, breaking down in pain. And then, as she turns, we see her expressions change; we can notice her anger and fierceness, now willing to take revenge in the war that cannot be turned anymore. D’Arcy talked about how the sequence signifies how her attempts to keep everything together have failed and how Matt Smith contributed to that scene, even though he remains off-screen. Upon being asked if that sequence would be the driving force of the next season, she said:

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In hopes of finding allies, Rhaenyra sends her son Jacaerys to the North and Vale, while the younger Prince Lucerys to Stormlands. However, the latter finds himself in a peculiar situation as his uncle Prince Aemond has already persuaded Lord Baratheon to side with the Greens. Taking advantage of the situation, Aemond decides to chastise and frighten Lucerys, who took Aemond’s eye by accident years ago. A chase begins between Aemond on a much larger Vhagar and Lucerys on the young dragon Arrax. Unfortunately, it ended with Vhagar devouring both Lucerys and Arrax, making it impossible for the two factions to find peace.

I totally think so. I have to say, just because I just think it’s [a mark] of genius: it was Matt Smith who suggested that Rhaenyra received the news on the walk away from the camera. As soon as he said that when we were doing an onset rehearsal, I suddenly could see it. But that really sincere attempt towards maturity, complexity, and holding all of these moving parts together – her attempt to be the glue just falls away. There is nothing left to bridge those many factions anymore.

What Does the Scene Mean for Season 2?

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Well, we can undoubtedly expect Rhaenyra to put everything to war. It’s possible that vengeance won’t be her only motivation to go to war, but her son’s loss will ensure that she devotes herself to defeating the usurpers. And it will begin with a direct payback for Lucerys’s murder.

In the book, Daemon hires two murderers who find their way into Queen Helaena’s chambers and murder her little child. A son, for a son, he claims. That wasn’t an honorable thing to do, even for revenge. Murdering two innocent beings for the sake of war and the throne is vicious and perhaps the reason that Dance of the Dragons does not end well for House Targaryen, leading to a peaceless regime for many years in Westeros. These two murders will embark the realm on a war that will change the course of the events in Westeros and plunge everyone into a divisive civil war.

Until now, there haven’t been many changes in the show from the book, and possibly such events that bring an absolute turn to the events of the book will not be changed in House of the Dragon Season 2. The show’s second season is already in development, having been renewed before the premiere, that shall take us deeper into the war, delivering more battles, action, and other enthralling sequences.