Another series of this fantastic has just aired with this episode also marking the end of the shows second season. With this whole season of Houser Of The Dragon being on par with the first season in alot of better but also being worse then the first season in other places and better then the first season places as well and with season 3 already confirmed to be in development it's safe to say that this show isn't going away any time soon and so then join me as I give you my SPOILER FILLED review of the episode that already has alot of audiences unhappy with the episode in question being called simply just "The Queen Who Ever Was" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is with the war looming Queen Alicent must choose between pursing piece or going to war. N ow then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us n this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good with the plot of this episode doing a good job of setting up the threat for season three but at the same time tho this episodes plot doesn't do a good job of paying off alot of the plot lines that were set up in this series either which does go along way to making this episode feel like it was meant to be placed earlier on in the series running order as it doesn't really add anything to the plot of this series but at the same time from a plot point of view it was interesting to see the character question alot of their actions as that's something that really hasn't been seen before now in this show with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen and Emma D'Arcy as Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen. Also starring in this episode is Olivia Cooke as Queen Alicent Hightower , Rhys Ifans as Ser Otto Hightower , Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon , Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole , Matthew Needham as Lord Larys Strong , Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria , Tom Glynn-Carney as King Aegon II Targaryen , Ewan Mitchell as Prince Aemond Targaryen , Phia Saban as Queen Helaena Targaryen , Harry Collett as Prince Jacaerys Velaryon , Bethany Antonia as Lady Baela Targaryen , Phoebe Campbell as Lady Rhaena Targaryen , Jefferson Hall as Ser Tyland Lannister / Lord Jason Lannister , Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower , Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers , Kurt Egyiawan as Grand Maester Orwyle , Abubakar Salim as Alyn Of Hull , Clinton Liberty as Addam Of Hull , Kieran Bew as Hugh , Tom Bennett as Ulf , Simon Russell Beale as Ser Simon Strong , Paul Kennedy as Lord Jasper Wylde , Phil Daniels as Maester Gerardys , Max Wrottesley as Ser Lorent Marbrand , Jamie Kenna as Ser Alfred Broome , Vincent Regan as Ser Rickard Thorne , Antonio Magro as Lord Petyr Piper , Abigail Thorn as Admiral Sharako Lohar , Daniel Fathers as Lord Humfrey Lefford , Joshua Ben-Tovim as Brynden Rivers and Eddie Eyre as Ser Axell Bulwer.
Now then inter of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. Which is something that's really nothing that's all that new not only for this show but for this franchise as a whole as even in this franchises more lesser episodes there was always some really good acting in them with the actors in this episode really delivering some truly wonderful performances with Matt Smith as per-always hitting it right out of the park in this episode like he has also done in the rest of this season as well with the same also being true for both Emma D'Arcy as Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen and Olivia Cooke as Queen Alicent Hightower both of whom really do deliver some truly wonderful performances in this episode with the acting in this episode really being helped by the fact that the script for this episode was just so good that all this episodes really have to do is just say the lines as they were written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
Doing the CGI for this episode is PixStone Images , MPC Episodic , Outpost VFX , Pixomondo and Red Visual Effects. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good and was easily alot better then alot of the CGI that we got on some scenes in this very season as this season did have some very dodgy looking CGI at times which did make sense but at the same time tho this episodes CGI was all really top notch with the episode even making great use of effects that you might not realise are CGI as there just blended in that well with what was shot on the day of filming with the dragons also looking really good with them having some really good lighting to them and while the dragons aren't really seen that much in this episode whenever we do see them they do look really good with this episode being a good example of how to use CGI as CGI is only used to do things that couldn't have been done on the day of filming.
SPOILERS START HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!
In what a rather surprising move is the fact that we get a surprise cameo from Daenerys Targaryen however we don't get to see her face. AS such it's not Emilia Clarke reprising her role it's instead some unknown actress playing the role for a few seconds which does lesson the impact as she was a major character on Game Of Thrones and yet we barely get to see her on screen and heck she doesn't say anything she just appears with her three baby dragons from behind and that's really it which is a waste of the visions idea that they'd been using all throughout this season alot of which did bring back previous actors from the show and yet for some strange reason when it came to Daenerys Targaryen a character who goes on to play an important role in the Targaryen history she just gets a few seconds of screen time while this doesn't do a disservice to her character as season 8 of Game Of Thrones already did that it just makes her appearance in the episode feel pointless even more so when you take into account that the makers of this show could have used her vision to explain to Daemon that there's a fifty fifty chance that he might end up going mad.
As is tradition with this show there was a leak for this episode in particular as a few days before the episode premiered. At the very least thirty minuets of the episode was leaked onto Tiktok with there being fourteen videos in total while it's hard to say what scenes ended up being leaked because of it the very fact that this show had it's smallest leak ever is still something to talk about as this show usually has several episodes leaked and yet to only have thirty minuets of the shows finale episode leak out a few days ahead of time whist it is still yes a really bad thing it is still a sign that HBO and Warner Bros really have improved there cyber security as back in Game Of Thrones season six good as well every episode of that show got leaked days ahead of there premiere and that's most likely the worst leak that this show has ever had as all of those episodes were finished episodes and even this show had at the very least it's very first episode leaked a few days to a week before it's primer all of which makes you wonder why it's taken this long for them to improve there security as this is something that should have been improved after the leak in Game Of Thrones season 6.
This is an episode that despite being a really solid episode doesn't really feel like that it's a season finale. With it instead feeling like that it was an episode that was originally meant to air at some point before the final episode of this series as the episode doesn't really pay off anything that it sets up as they don't really explain why Daemon is getting these visions but that's something that could very easily be chalked up to him getting the Targaryen madness but it is still something that would have been better if it was explained or at least hinted at being a thing and they don't even explain why the King is moving to a different castle with it being something that just comes out of nowhere but to give this film some credit it does do a solid job of setting up the next season of the show but at the same time this episode should have been more focused on paying off what it already set up as the plot line between Daemon and Rhaenyra gets resolved in a way that doesn't really feel satisfactory as they only get one scene together and that's really it and because of that the resolution really comes across as being rushed and doesn't really feel all that earned.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and nine minuets and six seconds. Which is pretty much the bogstandard running time for a season finale for this show to have and to this episodes credit it really does have more then enough there interms of plot to really cover that large amount of running time but at the same time because of the fact that the episode is alot more focused on setting up things for the next season it leaves very little room for the episode to wrap up it's own storylines and whist yes it is important for them to set up some future storylines those shouldn't be done at the expanse of wrapping up the current storylines either and as a result of that is the fact that this episode really could have done with being just a few minuets longer just order to wrap everything up in a way that feels satisfactory to the season and for those that watched the show on a week to week basis as well but I will admit that this episode really does have soe really good pacing to it tho.
So now the this as this an action show that means that I gave to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show and well then in all honesty I in al honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show was in all honesty really good. As while this episode didn't have any action sequences in it the action scenes in the rest of this season were really top notch with the best action in this whole entire season coming from episode four "The Red Dragon And The Gold" where we are treated to this wonderfully brutal battle scene that is just so cool to look at as well as it really gives the audience a chance to see just how much of a threat that the dragons really are ad how having a dragon on your side really can help to turn the tide in any battle with it being helped by the fact that we get to see a dragon basically being choked to death by another dragon which also results in the death of Rhaenys which is both beautiful and tragic and is the perfect death for her character to have in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
SPOILERS END HERE!!!!!!!!!!!
Overall while this season was a huge improvement on season 1 in some respects it was also a weaker season in other respects as well as at the very least with season 1 it felt like a complete season with a beginning , middle and end where as this one doesn't even have that going for it in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and such that really does mean that this mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 out of 10 where as season 2 as whole earns itself a grand old score of exactly an 8.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all pf the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Tenor , the official Game Of Thrones fandom wiki page , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great the official Game Of Thrones fandom wiki page simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode and are really of course on the official Game Of Thrones fandom wiki page are also really all fairly high in quality and really as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.