House Of The Dragon Season 2 Cut Two Huge Plotlines - Here's What Changed & Why

Contains spoilers for "House of the Dragon" Season 2 Episode 8

While there was at least one huge battle sequence in the highly anticipated second season of "House of the Dragon" — the critically acclaimed prequel and spin-off of HBO's fantasy juggernaut "Game of Thrones" — fans will have to wait quite a while to see more fire and blood, apparently. Why? The Season 2 episode count dropped from ten episodes to eight, according to reports ... which means that the finale sets up two major conflicts that will likely take place in Season 3.

In an Entertainment Weekly cover story commemorating the Season 2 premiere in May of this year, writer Sara Hess made a brief comment about the slightly shortened season, providing just one sentence regarding the cut: "It wasn't really our choice." The cryptic nature of her statement aside, it's easy to see that, with two more episodes, the show could have shown two more major fights that take place during the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, chronicled in George R.R. Martin's source material "Fire & Blood." If you haven't read that particular tome, you might not be aware that several events in the finale, including Team Green's newfound alliance with Sharako Lohar (Abigail Thorn) and Alicent Hightower's (Olivia Cooke) secret meeting with the disputed Team Black queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy), are setting up two enormous battles in the show's eventual third outing.

Throughout Season 2 of "House of the Dragon," there's been a major blockade that stops the flow of food and other supplies to the poorest denizens of King's Landing, led primarily by Rhaenyra's seafaring ally Corlys Velaryon (Steve Touissant) and his fleet of ships. It's this fleet that Team Green, fighting for Alicent and her injured son King Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney), attacks with the help of Tyland Lannister (Jefferson Hall) and his new ally Lohar — the latter of whom brings the powerful Triarchy to war. As George R.R. Martin writes in the book, "The Battle in the Gullet raged into the night north and south of Dragonstone, and remains amongst the bloodiest sea battles in all of history" — so fans are clearly in for a treat whenever it does air. (Without spoiling it entirely, the Battle of the Gullet also involves some seriously impactful fatalities.)

As for the other major event foreshadowed in the Season 2 premiere, that would be the Fall of King's Landing, wherein Rhaenyra, backed by her new dragonriders and her powerful Team Black army, takes the capital of Westeros by force. In the show, Alicent isn't just amenable to Rhaenyra's conquest, but even plans it; Alicent's reaction in the book is quite different. "Bowing her head in defeat, Queen Alicent surrendered the keys to the castle and ordered her knights and men-at-arms to lay down their swords," Martin writes. '"The city is yours, Princess,' [Alicent] is reported to have said, 'but you will not hold it long. The rats play when the cat is gone, but my son Aemond will return with fire and blood.'"

Until Season 3 premieres — and the show has been renewed, at least — fans will have to make do with the Battle at Rook's Rest, which remains the most impactful event of the sophomore season of "House of the Dragon." In an epic battle upon dragonback, Team Black stalwart Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) — aunt to Rhaenyra and the royal known as "The Queen Who Never Was" — takes off on her dragon Meleys to face down Alicent's strongest knight Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), but she's not anticipating attacks from both Aegon and his devious younger brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell). Despite putting up a fierce fight, Rhaenys and Meleys are ultimately killed simultaneously by Aemond and his legendarily enormous dragon Vhagar ... and in the process, Aegon is also severely burned.

The implications from the Battle of Rook's Rest echo throughout the remaining episodes of Season 2 of "House of the Dragon." Left disfigured and impotent after being attacked by his own brother's dragon, Aegon is bedridden and unable to rule; Rhaenyra and Corlys, the latter of whom was Rhaenys' husband, keenly feel the loss of one of their strongest fighters and most beloved allies. Sure, "House of the Dragon" fans have a lengthy wait before they get to see more major Targaryen battles, but the Battle at Rook's Rest left an enormous impact on the entire narrative.

"House of the Dragon" is streaming on Max now.