The House of the Dragon Scorecard is an accounting of the events of the season-two finale episode “The Queen Who Ever Was,†in which points are awarded to characters on a scale of 0 to 10. Points will be awarded for any or no reason.
Hey, were you expecting a season finale full of dragon fights? Maybe one where the new dragonriders took to the skies to face off against the slew of adversaries they’re facing? One where swords cling-clanged across the kingdom and battles were fought that provided clarity into the feud between Greens and Blacks that has been bubbling for over half a dozen episodes now?
Well, guess what: You did not get that. What you got instead was a lot of — admittedly important! — table-setting for next season. People are fleeing from and preparing for the war that’s coming. Multiple characters are having visions about the future. Someone literally says “Winter is coming.†There are a lot of moving pieces on this show and it takes a lot of time to move them where they need to go, and all of that is understandable but, like, would it have killed them to give us a little action? I don’t think so.
The big news here is the ongoing accumulation of dragons and armies. Rhaenyra has her squadron set and also gets Daemon back in line. Aemond watches everything kind of blow up in his face and pouts about it but he is getting a new army. Alicent hates it all so much and tries to reason with Rhaenyra but everything is way, way too far gone for that now. Things are very clearly going to get bloody and ugly and burny in the very near future but… not yet.
And so, we wait. And give out points. With this being the season two finale, the point totals at the bottom represent the final tally. I almost put my finger on the scale and gave the ratcatcher’s dog 500 points, even though it did not appear in this episode, just to secure it a win.
Rhaenyra Targaryen: 6 points
The business of war is a slippery slope and Rhaenyra is going wheeeeeee all the way down it. Only a few weeks ago, she was trying to negotiate her way through with diplomacy. Then she was staffing up with dragons to win by projecting overwhelming strength. Now, she’s got freaking Ulf on a dragon with orders to murder civilians in order to seize on the time-sensitive advantage she has and she’s telling Alicent to her face that the only path to peace involves beheading the father of the child that was beheaded as part of Daemon’s bungled assassination attempt. It’s… I mean, it’s not great.
You can see how the logic evolves in her head, though. She’s still claiming to want to limit the loss of life as much as possible, to strike at only the minimum number of people necessary to get her to the throne. She could probably look you in the eye and swear she’s doing decapitations and dragon-based civilian murder in the name of pacifism and believe it in her heart, but yeesh, man. The bodies are really piling up here. Being in charge does not seem fun.
So, with that said, why and how does she get six points this week? Two reasons: One, with Daemon’s change of heart and newfound love of subservience, she managed to eliminate one possible adversary while consolidating her forces for the war that now very much cannot be avoided. And two, she gets to bring Daemon home with his tail between his legs and reveal that she’s been receiving counsel and smooches from Mysaria, which will make him go even crazier than he did living in that spooky damp castle. Real win-win here for Rhaenyra. Not so much for all the people she’s going to kill in the next season of this show, but we can deal with that when we get there.
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Alicent Hightower: 2 points
Alicent returns from her camping trip to find her evil son out on a humiliation-fueled rampage and her daughter depressed about it and everything really just going as bad as she feared. She’s done with all of it. She wants out. She wants out so badly that she’s willing to sneak into enemy territory to plead for a path to freedom for herself and the one child she likes, even if it involves allowing one or both of her other children to be killed in public. And it’s not going to look great if/when Rhaenyra discovers that Aegon snuck out of the city while this little chat was happening, because it could scan as “Alicent was creating a distraction and agreeing to terms she knew she couldn’t pay off†even though it was all done with her knowledge, just like everything else.
Really rough season all around for this lady. But she does still get two points for realizing all these people are crazy and that she’d be better off doing this show’s version of “I’m going pack up an RV and drive until I’m not sad anymore.†Helaena’s dragon is the RV in this situation.
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Daemon Targaryen: 7 points
THERAPIST: Hello, Daemon.
DAEMON: I have wonderful news to share.
THERAPIST: And what is that?
DAEMON: I have decided to end my quest for power and return home to my wife to support her in whatever she chooses to do.
THERAPIST: Oh, wow. That’s actually kind of wonderful. Can I ask what led to this decision? Was it something we covered in our sessions the last few w—
DAEMON: The witch took me to a bleeding tree and I touched it and saw a series of unspeakable horrors and thousands of undead ice zombies and a nude woman emerge from flames with baby dragons and my wife on the throne and I figured, you know, all that seemed like as good a sign as any.
THERAPIST: So nothing from what we worked on here?
DAEMON: Not really, no. Mostly the visions and bleeding tree. But I think we’re good here. Send me a raven with the bill whenever the paperwork is ready.
THERAPIST: [thinking about how she once wanted to be a marine biologist and wondering if it’s too late to change careers] Good luck.
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Aemond Targaryen: -150 points
Let’s see:
• Burns an entire village with his dragon because he’s sad Rhaenyra has a big dragon army now
• Tries to bully his sister into becoming a violent dragonrider
• Gets shot down and told he’s a no-talent dweeb who is going to die like a chump
• Just radiating with desperate loser energy in a way usually reserved for political candidates who flame out two weeks into a primary campaign
This little weasel got everything he thought he ever wanted and it ruined his entire life.
.
Aegon Targaryen: 3 points
BAD NEWS: His brother might want to murder him and his mother is actively setting plans in motion that involve his murder and his body is still recovering from being blasted with flames that killed his dragon and his only hope appears to be Larys Strong of all the damn people in the world.
GOOD NEWS: His well-timed escape and the vision of his return to the throne by his (apparently!) clairvoyant sister-wife represent the first good things that have happened to him in… months?
Weird family, the Targaryens.
.
Helaena Targaryen: 10 points
I can’t decide which would be more fun, if Helaena did suddenly start having accurate visions about events from the past and future, or if she just made it all up and guessed right in a way that made Aemond do number two in his suit of armor. I suspect the first one is what actually happened, if only because this show loves very little more than having blondes drift off into other realms where they have dramatic realizations, but still. The second option would be really funny. Let’s at least consider it for now, okay?
Helaena is cool. I hope she spends half of the next season flying around on her dragon and telling people how they’re going to die.
.
Hugh the Scorpion Maker Dragonrider: 6 points
Did Hugh do anything of note this week? Not really. He just kind of stood around and told Ulf to chill out a little.
Am I giving him six points anyway? It appears I am.
Did I spend like 30 minutes this week wondering if Hugh could medal at the Olympics in the shot put? No. It was closer to an hour.
.
Ulf: 5 points
ON ONE HAND: I get the feeling that Ulf is going to be a problem. This is not exactly Helaena-level clairvoyance by me. The show made it pretty obvious between his feet being on the fancy table and his manners around Rhaenyra. He’s going to love having a dragon so much, maybe in a way where he just wakes up one day and says, “I don’t have to listen to these people anymore. I can just go do cool dragon stuff.†This is the problem with making a goof a god.
ON THE OTHER HAND: I do kind of love the idea of Ulf upending the entire system of the monarchy by becoming a flying pirate who answers to no one. I also love the idea of Hugh getting fed up and crushing Ulf’s head in his hand like an empty red Solo cup. Lots of ways this can end well for me.
.
Jacaerys Velaryon: 2 points
He’s still a little snot and the face he made when Ulf pulled a “hey, we’re not so different†over their similarities as bastard dragonriders spoke many, many volumes, but he gets two points anyway for being married to Baela. Baela is cool. We’ll come back to this.
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Mysaria: 5 points
Mysaria didn’t have much to do this week. Or really at all since she and Rhaenyra stole that secret kiss. Which, in hindsight, was a weird thing to plop into an episode if it wasn’t ever going to come up again this season. Are they still kissing? Are they just hooking up off-camera? If it was a one-time thing that never happened again, why isn’t it a little weird between them? (I know the kiss itself was unscripted because the actress who plays Mysaria said so in this fine publication, but leaving it in there was still a choice.)
It’s a strange situation, both for the characters within the show and from a storytelling perspective. I don’t know what to make of it. I’m giving her five points anyway, just for getting to hang out on all those balconies with stunning views. Good for her.
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Larys Strong: 6 points
He’s still a devious little manipulator and I get bad vibes every time I see him peek around a corner, but I have to admit he plays his cards well.
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Rhaena Targaryen: 9 points
I think my favorite thing about this whole season finale was the periodic shots of Rhaena just like, stumbling around the wilderness and drinking creek water on the hunt for the wild dragon she appears to have claimed. It was great. We’d get 15 solid minutes of tense negotiations and twists and visions of important events that will eventually happen and then heeyyyy Rhaena is leaning on a tree for a minute. I kept hoping they’d cut to her sitting on a rock and eating a squirrel she roasted over a fire.
I’m so happy she has a dragon. Rhaena deserves a treat.
.
Baela Targaryen: 8 points
Just the coolest. Pulls her whiny little husband aside and gives him a pep talk that is basically a nice version of “Jesus Christ, dude. Get it together. Stop being such a baby and go do one single proactive thing in your whole pathetic life.â€
I would have given her 10 points if she told him she was leaving him for Oscar Tully.
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Corlys Velaryon: 3 points
He seems like a good Hand but a not-great dad. I suspect he and Otto Hightower could have a good conversation about this over a goblet of wine. Could be a while before that happens, though, given what we’ll be discussing in the “Otto Hightower†section below.
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Addam: 7 points
I choose to believe Rhaenyra chose Addam to ride with her to confront Daemon in part because Addam seems like a solid dude but mostly because she needed Hugh to stick around to keep Ulf in line.
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Alyn: 7 points
It must have been so cathartic to say all of that right to Corlys’s face. To unload a lifetime of resentment at the father who abandoned him and pretended he never existed and left him to fend for himself. I know I say this about most characters on this show, but I really do want Alyn to just get on a boat and sail off into the sunset one day and be done with all of it. We can check in on him once or twice an episode like we did with Rhaena this week, but instead of frantically racing around a field he’s fishing and diving into the ocean and swimming around a little.
.
Criston Cole: 0 points
Man saw one dragon fight and got so emo about it that I kind of expect him to open season three with bangs.
.
Gwayne Hightower: 1 point
Had the opportunity and excuse to slit Cristin’s throat and let it slip by. Inexcusable failure on his part. History will remember him for this. Or at least I will remember him for this.
.
Lohar: 10 points
It is kind of cruel to make us wait until the very last episode of season two to introduce a badass captain who likes to whip people’s ass at mud wrestling and make jokes about cannibalism and insist that strangers whose names she gets wrong repeatedly sleep with her wives (plural) so she can produce an army of little warriors. But at least we have Lohar around now.
I can’t wait to see what Lohar gets up to next season. She might already be my favorite character on the show.
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Alys the Witch: 8 points
“Oh, you’re awake? Wonderful. Please come with me. I want you to touch a tree that oozes blood so you can see into the future. It’s going to be great.â€
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Tyland Lannister: 2 points
Steamrolled in the negotiations he was sent to handle. Spent the whole episode making faces you make when you’re not sure if you’re winning or losing or about to vomit. Pulled off the equivalent of winning a baseball game by getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Two points seems fair.
.
Otto Hightower: 1 point
Hey, it’s been a long time since anyone heard from or saw Otto. I wonder what he’s been up to ever since he was stripped of his title and fled the castle while his family was tearing itself ap—… aaaaaand there he is in the season-ending montage locked up in a mysterious grimy cell with his hair all stringy and gross.
I assume we’ll find out more about all of this next season. It would be really funny if we don’t, though.
.
Simon Strong: 9 points
Simon gets nine points. I have three reasons for giving him this score:
1) I like that all his shuffling around finally paid off with some useful snooping that led to the scene with Daemon and Rhaenyra.
2) If you look in the background right after Daemon bends the knee and pledges allegiance to Rhaenyra, you can see a blurry Simon clapping his hands in glee.
3) I love him very much.
Season Totals
Mysaria:Â 60
Rhaenyra Targaryen: 51.5
Hugh the Scorpion Maker Dragonrider: 46
Baela Targaryen: 39
Simon Strong; 38
Larys Strong: 36
Alyn: 36
 Helaena Targaryen: 36
Corlys Velaryon: 35
Jacaerys Velaryon: 34
Alys the Witch: 33
Rhaenys Targaryen: 32.5
Alicent Hightower: 30
Rhaena Targaryen: 29
The Ratcatcher’s Dog: 27
Ulf: 20
Addam: 20
Sylvi: 18
Oscar Tully: 17
Aegon Targaryen: 15
Lohar: 10
Steffon Darklyn: 8
Gwayne Hightower: 8
Daemon Targaryen: 7
Erryk Cargyll: 6
Arryk Cargyll: 6
Otto Hightower: 5
Jasper: 4
Tyland Lannister: 2
Various Ratcatcher Assassins: 0
Aemond Targaryen: -144
Criston Cole: -485
More From This Series
- House of the Dragon Scorecard: Ride or Die
- House of the Dragon Scorecard: Whispers and Sandwiches
- House of the Dragon Scorecard: Burn Notice