Rhaenyra’s risky battle plan takes a fiery leap forward in the penultimate episode.

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We’ve arrived at the seventh episode of season two, “The Red Sowing,” and House of the Dragon is clearly gearing up for a raging season finale. But first, Team Black will need to address  its “too many dragons, not enough riders” problem.

We pick up immediately where last week’s episode ended. Rhaenyra confronts Addam of Hull on the beach, in a lovely opening shot showing two tiny humans and two hulking, screeching dragons facing each other from a safe distance. Addam calms Rhaenyra’s anger quickly by bending the knee and saying he’s loyal to his queen—he’s not Team Green after all, she realizes—and that he didn’t steal Seasmoke. Seasmoke chased after him. What’s more, “If the gods call me to greater things, who am I to refuse them?”

While it takes a moment for it all to sink in—that Addam is both a) a lowborn nobody (he carefully lies to her, not admitting that he’s the bastard son of Lord Corlys), and b) capable of taming a dragon—Rhaenyra soon realizes the upshot. A dragon doesn’t care if you’re noble or not; it just cares if you have the right blood type, and maybe a little extra magic mojo that only it can sense when deciding who can ride it. Addam has given her new hope, and she actually smiles!

In King’s Landing, a melancholy Alicent is having her arm—sliced in last week’s riot—tended by the Grand Maester. “All my life I have endeavored to serve both my house and the realm, and somehow none of it matters,” she says ruefully. There’s a double meaning in what the Grand Maester says next as he examines her injury: “You will have a scar, but it will be easily hidden.”

She finds Ser Rickard, her Kingsguard bodyguard now that Ser Criston Cole is off fighting, and tells him she wants to ride out into the Kingswood. No entourage, just a little camping trip. Outside, Lord Larys and Lord Jasper are watching Aemond send two other Kingsguard members—both of whom were involved in the riot—to the Wall, a fate possibly worse than death, but also possibly a step up from Aegon’s way of just hanging everyone. They also discuss a bit of information Lord Jasper has come across, about Seasmoke being seen with a rider.

The sourcing—a long chain of rumors—is sketchy, and while it’s clear Jasper really wants to let Aemond know about it, he doesn’t want to tell him and be wrong. Larys seems to feel the same. Neither man wants to pass on false information to their hot-tempered ruler; as Larys puts it, “Perhaps this is one of those whispers best left to the wind.”

At Dragonstone, a pouty Jace watches as two dragons, both with riders, swoop in for a landing. In the Black Council meeting, everyone’s relieved that the new rider is not a foe, but is shocked to learn he’s a commoner. How can this be? “We will await the queen’s accounting before passing judgment,” Lord Corlys cautions.

She’s still getting her own head together, it turns out, with Mysaria’s ever-valuable help. When Rhaenyra starts paging through her history scrolls to look for more potential Targaryen-adjacent heirs, Mysaria chuckles and suggests she “look under the sheets and in the woodpiles.” The Targaryens have a ton of bastards running around, she says.

When Rhaenyra protests that Westeros’ highborn houses have an ancient sense of honor, as if that’s what makes them better than everybody else, Mysaria points out that the highborn Aemond and Aegon are remarkably low on honor, actually. “The order of things has changed, Your Grace. Why not embrace it?” Mysaria asks. Rhaenyra, who has some personal experience with bastard children, realizes she agrees: “Let us raise an army of bastards.”

There’s a brief, awkward interaction between Addam and Lord Corlys; in order to train as a dragonrider, Addam needs to be released from his duties as a shipwright. Corlys grants it, looks like he’s going to say something else, but ends things with “Well done.” So far, at least, Addam’s not going to be getting the recognition from Corlys that he so desperately craves.

At Harrenhal, the newly elevated Lord Oscar Tully, who is maybe 15 or 16, meets with Daemon. It’s tense; despite his age, the region’s new Lord Paramount is far less intimidated by Daemon than he was at their first meeting. Also, a lot has happened since Daemon came to Harrenhal; as Oscar puts it, “you’ve made rather a mess here, countenancing barbarities in the queen’s name.” But as much as he loathes Daemon, he’s well aware that House Tully swore an oath to King Viserys, so there’ll be no switching sides.

They take their conversation outside, where the riverlords (who hate Daemon as much as Lord Oscar does) have all gathered. While they’re reluctant to take orders from a kid, and they’re even more reluctant to do anything Daemon wants them to do, they listen when Oscar reminds them, once again, of the oath his grandfather swore to King Viserys when Rhaenyra was named heir.

But there’s just one thing: in the Riverlands, they follow the old ways, and the old ways are all about justice. In this context, that means punishing Lord Willem Blackwood, who plotted unimaginable cruelty against House Bracken to get them on Team Black’s side. Cruelty that was, lest we forget, all Daemon’s idea. “There is only one answer for the crimes you visited upon your neighbors,” Oscar says, and though Willem protests he was just following orders, Oscar says, “You did it because you wanted to.” The only solution is… for Daemon to show how sorry he is for issuing those orders, and lop off Ser Willem’s head! (Ser Simon’s “Oh, dear” is perfect here.)

In the aftermath, Daemon walks into his room at Harrenhal, and is greeted by another ghost. This time, it’s Viserys, withered and ill, holding his crown like it’s a dead animal. “I never wanted it. I was right not to. All that pain it caused. It crushes whoever wears it. You always wanted it, Daemon. Do you want it, still?”

Speaking of characters who are near death, we next see King Aegon, who actually seems somewhat improved since the last episode. He’s not only conscious but is hobbling around his room—screaming in pain the entire time—with the help of the Grand Maester. Lord Larys barges in to check on things, and we learn he’s the reason Aegon’s on such an extreme physical therapy regime. “You must work harder,” he tells Aegon. More ominously, “It will be long before he may rest again,” he tells the Maester.

Meanwhile, Lord Corlys finds Alyn and tells him the queen needs fishing vessels and an important message to be sent to King’s Landing—another mysterious mission, though we have an inkling of what it might mean this time around. Corlys also tells Alyn that Addam is now a dragonrider—and uses careful language to suggest that maybe, perhaps Alyn might also have the genetic qualifications? But Addam isn’t having it: “I am of salt and sea. I yearn for nothing else.”

In a brief interlude in the Vale, Rhaena—who we’ve been reminded, yet again, is a failed dragonrider—is trailing behind the procession bound for Pentos. As the gates close behind her, she scampers off, excitedly noting the scorch marks on the field next to the road. She is 100 percent going to track down that wild dragon, isn’t she?

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In the woods, Alicent returns to her campsite and Ser Rickard wonders when they might be heading back to the city. Not any time soon, and maybe never, is her response.

At Dragonstone, a sneering Jace asks his mother if it was Mysaria’s idea to let lowborn people become dragonriders. But there’s more at play here than mere snobbery (though let’s be honest, that’s definitely part of it; he uses the word “mongrels”). When Rhaenyra explains “with these riders, we can end a needless war,” and that she’ll be able to take her rightful place on the Iron Throne, he worries about his own claim as her heir. He knows he’s a bastard (his dark hair is a dead giveaway, of course). “I may argue my legitimacy to succeed you because I have a dragon, and now you say you’ll strip that from me too,” he says. Being a little selfish, Jace!

We see that it is indeed Mysaria who’s running the mysterious mission to King’s Landing, handing Alyn a message to take over with those boats. Its contents, of course, are to spread the word that Team Black is looking for anyone with Targaryen blood to come to Dragonstone and see if they’ve got what it takes to be a dragonrider. There’s a poignant scene between Hugh and his wife, who doesn’t want him to go, though it’s clear they have few other options; we learn their daughter, who was suffering from a long illness, has died. But there’s also a funny scene in which Ulf’s drinking buddies call his bluff when he hesitates about the opportunity. If he’s such a secret Targaryen, as he’s always bragged about being—well, he’s gotta go give dragonriding a try!

We then see about 15 or 20 people—many of them conspicuously white-blonde—getting on small boats to travel to Dragonstone. It’s a somber moment, but one full of excitement. Also a somber moment, but without any of the underlying excitement, is the next scene; we see Alicent walking through the woods, stripping off her gown, and taking a swim in her slip. As she floats on her back, staring up at the clouds, the music is peaceful, but it’s hard to read the mood here. Is Alicent symbolically (and literally) washing herself clean as she faces her uncertain future?

We’re left to ponder as House of the Dragon switches back to Dragonstone, and see the recruits are heading straight to the dragonpit. All assembled watch as the dragonkeepers—who speak to Rhaenyra in High Valyrian—refuse to participate in the “blasphemy” of allowing non-dragonlords to attempt to become dragonriders. After they stomp out, Rhaenyra gives a tremendous speech to her nervous guests. “Each of you has left behind a life to answer this call. A life to which you might never return. If you survive, you will be transformed… some of you may welcome the prospect of change, even death, given the alternatives: privation, starvation, war. This is our purpose. To end those hardships for you. For your kin. For all the realm. With these two dragons added to our number, the enemy will have no choice but to give way. And peace will be restored. Suffering will be ended. And without bloodshed, gods willing.”

Then she gives a little primer on Vermithor—he’s almost as big as Vhagar, probably more fierce, and has the cheery nickname “the Bronze Fury.” Everyone’s nervous as they shuffle into the massive inner chamber. Rhaenyra calls for Vermithor, and he slowly snarls and snorts his way out of the shadows, just as terrifying as advertised. Rhaenyra barks commands and touches his scaly head, and we see the reverence she feels for these massively powerful beasts. You can also sense her sort of asking Vermithor to please help her out.

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But this is a dragon we’re talking about—and when one very blonde man musters the courage to approach Vermithor, Rhaenyra says he’s on his own: “It must be the dragon who speaks.” After a few very tense moments, we’re treated to a near-recreation of Ser Steffon Darklyn’s gruesome demise, except much worse because it rapidly turns into a mass barbecue of screaming Targaryen bastards, several of whom also get devoured alive in the process. A shot of Rhaenyra reveals an expression torn between regret and despair.

But as we’ve been reminded, Team Black only has two riderless dragons—and it just so happens the two characters we’ve come to know end up being the chosen ones. Hugh somehow escapes being torched by Vermithor, who approves of this tall man who dares to yell “Come on!” in a dragon’s face; Rhaenyra sees this, and her face almost permits a smile. Meanwhile, Ulf—who managed to tumble into the pit in all the mayhem—shares a surprise bonding moment with Silverwing.

Any other week, the episode might’ve ended there. But the finale is on the horizon, so we cut back to King’s Landing, where the sight of a dragon who is not supposed to have a rider being ridden across the sky causes instant panic. (Lord Larys looks very ill as he realizes that information was good after all.) Aemond rushes to get Vhagar into the air. But when he chases the intruders (it’s a comically ungraceful Ulf and Silverwing) back to Dragonstone, he pulls up short when he sees Dragonstone has a trio of intimidating dragons waiting to greet him.

The last shot is another priceless Rhaenyra expression, and there’s no mystery at all about what she’s thinking: “Come and get it, motherfucker!”

Next week is the finale—burning up your Sunday night on HBO and Max.