House Of The Dragon Episode 10 Review

House Of The Dragon Episode 10 is the season one finale and they were sure to leave viewers shocked, with their jaws on the floor.

House Of The Dragon Episode 10 Review

House of the Dragon season one has been peak Game of Thrones content right from the very start. Viewers were immediately sucked back into the world of Westeros with intriguing characters, backstabbing liars, and a captivating plot. House of the Dragon episode 10, the finale, was no different. Audiences around the world were left with their jaws on the floor, and must now wait who knows how long until a season two is released. 

This series is not messing around and was sure to end on a massive cliffhanger, as it is clear a war for the Iron Throne is now here. This episode was filled with twists and turns and shocking moments as we now were able to see how Princess Rhaneyra reacted to the passing of her father. That being said, it wasn’t the only thing she had to deal with this episode. The poor girl was put through the ringer — and fans were there with her on the emotional roller coaster. Mama bear (or should we say dragon) has been awakened. And we are glad we aren’t the ones who have to answer to her anger.

House of the Dragon episode 10 boasts some truly stunning visuals, per usual, and a whole lot of dragon time compared to the rest of the season. The costuming is on point, once again. The story that unravels here is one full of heartbreak. Rhaneyra has many powerful, strong, and simply bad ass moments that prove just how worthy she is of the Iron Throne. She seems to be the only one with her head on straight, which in turn drives a wedge between her and Daemon — one that will hopefully remain small and easily repaired. 

As a parent, this episode can be quite triggering. In an effort to avoid spoilers we won’t go into detail yet, but will dive into it in the spoiler section. There is a lot to take in here. The perfect follow up to the Green council, seeing how the Black side handles things is intriguing and interesting. There is a war coming, and we cannot wait to see what comes next. Unfortunately it is going to be several months, likely a year or longer, until we see it with House of the Dragon season two.

Warning: House Of The Dragon Episode 10 Spoilers Ahead

Ahead is the spoiler section of our House of the Dragon episode 10 review. Be warned, if you have not yet seen the episode, finish this review after as there will be massive spoilers.

The opening to this episode is just the beginning of a very emotional hour. Rhaenys returns from King’s Landing with news of King Viserys death. Of course Rhaneyra is devastated at the loss of her father, but it is the reveal that Aegon has been crowned King in front of the masses that pushes her to go into early labor.

When questioned about how she could just stand by and let it happen, Rhaenys gives a truly badass answer, stating that a war might be coming, but it is not her war to begin. She warns them that the Greens are coming for them, and they must start to plan. As Rhaneyra is obviously dealing with something, Daemon steps up and begins planning, although clearly he is in a rage.

There is a visual parallel that follows that is extremely powerful. As Rhaneyra is birthing her child, all on her own we might add, there are shots between that and a dragon. Depicting just how powerful she is.

When she finally has given birth, it is a stillborn. There is a closeup of the child’s leg in blood that is absolutely devastating. House of the Dragon episode 10 decides to push the envelope even more, and continues to show glimpses of the dead child with their mother mourning them. When we see Rhaneyra wrapping the tiny little body, it is almost too much. This moment will surely be triggering for anyone who has lost a child. 

There is another parallel here as we see how the two parents handle the loss. Both clearly upset and mourning in their own way, with Daemon on the beach alone crying and Rhaneyra with her child. Erryk Cargyll arrived but he comes bearing gifts. He brings with him a crown and swears his allegiance to the Queen Rhaneyra — and boy does she looks great in it! Such an emotional roller coaster of an episode, and not just for the audience.

When the Queen is handed a glass of wine, viewers can all agree that she deserves it. She gets a glass of wine and girl, she has had a day, she deserves that wine. During this discussion of war and how they will handle it, there are many family name drops like the Starks and Baratheons, which is very exciting for long time Game of Thrones fans.

Daemon points out that they have thirteen dragons and the Greens have only four. Not to mention all of the riderless and unclaimed dragons. He wants to claim them all bring them to war, which the new Queen is not very thrilled about.

When Otto comes to deliver a message from Alicent, which he says he will only report to Rhaneyra, he really doesn’t know how inopportune a time it is. Emotions are riding high as the couple just lost a child. Daemon ends up having to threatens Otto Hightower who has come to ask them to bend the knee and say they will be rewarded. The terms offered are complete BS, saying that their sons can be squire and cup bearer for the King. Daemon is quick to respond saying “I’d rather feed my sons to the dragons than have them carry cups and shields for your cunt of a usurper king.” Yeah, he went there. 

We then see Rhaneyra showing up on her dragon, after literally just having a stillbirth, in order to show just how strong she is and to defend her title. Talk about girl power, she is a complete badass. If this is not an example of the type of person she is, we don’t know what is. Queen Alicent has sent along a page from a book they enjoyed together as children, trying to play off her emotions. She isn’t that easily swayed but she does want to allow cool heads to prevail. 

When Dameon threatens Otto, Rhaneyra says she will send her answer to King’s Landing in the morning. She doesn’t want to rush into any decision too quickly. Once alone, Rhaynera tries to explain why she is taking things slow to Daemon. She says that her parents taught her that when dragons flew to war, everything burned — something that we will see play out all too soon.

She doesn’t wish to rule over a kingdom of ash, and this is what pushes Daemon over the edge. There has been a clear rift between them because of everything happening, and in this moment he grabs her by the throat and tells her that dragons made them Kings, not dreams. It is sad to see a love that was so powerful, start to crumble under pressure.

Corlys Velaryon is still alive, and to much surprise, he is getting better. He has a conversation with his wife as he is caught up on everything that has been going on. She explains the death of his brother and the King, but also explains how Rhaneyra is the one holding the kingdom together currently thanks to her cool head. He did not want to declare allegiance to anyone, but we quickly witness him do so, and to Queen Rhaneyra thanks to his wife’s council. 

This moment is extremely shocking to most viewers. Honestly it seemed like he was willing to back nobody at all, or even perhaps the Greens. He explains that his illness was not for nothing as they have control of the Stepstones and the Narrow Sea. He details how they can take the Red Keep and King’s Landing by surrounding it. However they do need a few more allies before waging war — one that Rhaneyra still refuses to start — she wishes for the Greens to make the first move.

It is decided that dragons fly quicker than ravens, and are more convincing as well. She reluctantly sends her sons as messengers to the Starks, Arryns, and Baratheons. She wants them to only remind them of their oath, and makes them swear to not fight. This will come back to bite her in the butt as Lucerys, the poor young and timid boy, arrives at the Baratheons after Aemond. The one eyed boy threatens to take Lucerys’ eye, even after the Baratheons decide to swear allegiance to the King over the Queen. Boris Baratheon stops the fight, but it doesn’t end there.

Meanwhile, Dameon goes to get more dragons. This is an intense scene as he easily could have been eaten, but he seems to connect to the beast when they make eye contact — the eye to eye visual is amazing.

As the boys leave the Baratheons, Lucerys knows he is in trouble. Aemond is crazy and is chasing him down. There are some truly stunning visuals of dragon flying above dragon before it is shown why they should not be in war. Both boys lose control of their beasts, as they battle each other. Aemond’s Vhagar attacks Lucerys’ Arrax (although Arrax did strike first with some fire). Vhagar is massive and makes short work of the boy and his dragon with just one bite, and body parts rain from the sky.

This right here is the start of the war. Queen Rhaneyra getting the news at the end of the episode is an absolutely heartbreaking scene. She faces the fire to shed her tears, before turning around with a seriously pissed off look — ready to avenger her son.

Overall, this is an epic finale of House of the Dragon season one. Getting to explore these characters and their reaction to the death of the King and the start of the war really works. It was brilliant to split the reactions into two separate episodes so we could really spend some time with them and feel their grief. Things are going to get crazy, understandably so. House of the Dragon episode 10 sets up for an intense season two, we just wish we didn’t have to wait so long to see it.

Rating: 5 out of 5

NEXT: House Of The Dragon Review: It’s Good To Be Back

About House of the Dragon

The reign of House Targaryen begins. House of the Dragon, the prequel to Game of Thrones, airs Sundays on HBO and HBO Max. Based on George R.R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood,” the series, which is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, tells the story of House Targaryen.

House of the Dragon airs on HBO & streams on HBO Max weekly on Sundays at 9pm.