House of the Dragon 2×08 “The Queen Who Ever Was” is a highly controversial episode that has been the subject of speculation and discussion for weeks. If it is not as controversial as the finale of Game of Thrones, it is because this episode is not so bad, but rather frustrating. In fact, the general problem that most viewers have is the fact that this House of the Dragon Season 3 doesn’t feel bad so much as it feels unfinished. There is a lot of speculation that the season was originally supposed to have ten episodes, but was cut to eight due to the infamous cost-cutting efforts of HBO executives. Unfortunately, I tend to agree with the critics.

House of DragonsThe season finale is not quite polished. It’s a good eighth episode, but only if there are two more episodes in the season. The fact that we have to wait two years for the next episode, and possibly another two years after that, suggests that the show has been incredibly poorly managed behind the scenes. Much of the season is devoted to setting up the attack on King’s Landing and the Battle of the Maw.

In The Queen Who Ever Was, the focus is heavily on Rhaenyra’s controversial decision to create bastards as dragon riders. She has only had two successes with her actions: Ulff the White and Hugh the Hammer. Ulff is an individual who clearly feels out of place among the rich and powerful and frequently offends them with his bad manners. Hugh Hammer is more concerned with the fact that Rhaenyra now seems to be very happy to burn down entire cities if it means she can “avoid war.”

Daemon Targaryen has his “come to the Old Gods” moment when he has a vision in the godswood that shows him the arrival of the nightwalkers and Daenerys Targaryen. This too has been criticized for constantly reminding viewers of Season 8. The thing is, George RR Martin has made it clear that this conflict is a central element of his mythology and will be no less prominent in future films. Also, I think the show gives Daenerys Targaryen the respect she deserves, even though she was treated poorly in the show.

The big consequence of Daemon’s vision is that he finally gets over himself. By publicly pledging his fealty to Rhaenyra Targaryen, he renounces his ambitions to become king himself. Rhaenyra, however, does not seem to fully accept him, and that is interesting given her relationship with Mysaria.

On the green side, we see Aemond Targaryen suffering a slow breakdown as he realizes he is not nearly as in control of things as he would like. He wants to get his sister Helaena to ride with him, but she has no interest in using dragons as weapons. This is the straw that breaks the camel’s back, as Alicent realizes that her family is beyond saving.

This probably leads to the second most controversial element of The Queen Who Ever Was, which is the fact that Alicent Hightower agrees to betray the Green Side and leave her son for dead in order to ensure her son’s safety. House of the Dragon has drifted very far from Fire and bloodbut that is perhaps the biggest change. Unfortunately for Rhaenyra, it is unlikely that Alicent will be able to hand over her son, as he has fled to Essos with Lord Strong.

One thing I like about the finale is the fact that it suggests that Rhaenyra is rapidly losing her moral high ground. Not only is she perfectly happy to burn down Lannisport and Oldtown, but she also takes particular pleasure in taunting Alicent with the prospect of her son’s death. I hope they take her character in that direction, as the “nice” Rhaenyra of the series is a less interesting character than the one in the series.

There is a humorous part of this episode for House of the DragonForced to enlist the help of the Triarchy, Tyland Lannister must endure a series of humiliations to win them over to his side, including dealing with Admiral Lohar, who the showrunners say is a trans woman in the universe, providing much much-needed levity.

But none of that mitigates The Queen Who Ever Was’s biggest flaw: It just ends. At the beginning of the season, everyone is preparing for war, and by the end, they’re pretty much preparing for war. There were some big battles, but they mostly took place off-screen, like the Battle of the Mill. Unsurprisingly, the most popular episode is the one that preempts that. Unfortunately, we won’t see any more big battles until 2025—if ever. It all just feels like… filler. House of the Dragon can do better.