Popverse's top stories of the day

• How a second Donald Trump U.S. Presidency might impact the movie, tv, and comics industries
• 40 years after its debut, Dragon Ball is a pop culture force like few others
• Sisterhood of Dune ending explained: Understanding the book that Dune: Prophecy was based on

This article contains potential spoilers for House of the Dragon season 3.

So, how about that House of the Dragon season 2 finale? It's not exactly getting the reaction that we imagine HBO wanted, with viewers going everywhere from Reddit to Rotten Tomatoes to express their unhappiness with what some are calling an "anticlimax." Then again, that episode also hit a series-high viewership, with somewhere around 8.9 fans tuning in, so maybe HBO is just fine, thank you.

Now, we're not here to share our own thoughts on the s2 finale (not in this article, anyway). Instead, we're casting our eyes to the future, gazing into the crystal ball that is Fire & Blood - the novel upon which this show is based - and telling you about the most exciting things we're hoping to see in House of the Dragon season 3.

But first, a two-part warning: First, we're going to be going over things that definitely happen in Fire & Blood and may potentially happen in House of the Dragon season 3. So if we call this correctly and that season is spoiled for you years before it actually hits HBO, don't get mad at us. But on the flipside of that, don't think this article is a perfect prediction of the show's future. We at Popverse have no bearing on what HBO decides to do with House of the Dragon, despite what some commenters on our articles seem to think.

Understood? Excellent. Let's talk season 3.

Big Wins for Daemon and Rhaenyra  

If you're one of the fans that read Fire & Blood, you may have assumed that season 2 of House of the Dragon would have ended with The Assault on Harrenhal, one of Daemon Targaryen's defining battles in the novel. Obviously, it did not, which is why we're putting some money on the idea of the haunted castle of Harrenhal being stormed somewhere in season 3. And from that moment on, it's going to be a strong season for the black faction under Queen Rhaenyra.

Yes, Rhaenyra will most likely be crowned victor in season 3, especially after a decisive victory at King's Landing. This leads to a rule that, in the novel, is referred to as "The Realm's Delight" (interestingly, that's also what King Aegon II claimed he wanted to be called in the finale episode of season 2). As to how her reign goes, well, we won't get too far into that spoiler. Remember we have a whole season to go even after this next one.

Alys and Aemond, sittin' in a tree

Casual House of the Dragon watchers won't be shocked to learn that Gayle Rankin's Alys Rivers ends up married to a Targaryen... but they may be surprised to learn which Targaryen. So far, Alys has been hooking up with Daemon, but in Fire & Blood, her story is much more tied into that of Aemond Targaryen's. They do the whole couple thing - get married, have a kid, scheme about murdering together - the whole shebang. With that in mind, we expect Alys and Aemond to get together in season 3...

Or at the very least, we expect them to meet, which has not happened yet.

We FINALLY meet Nettles

If you recall our most recent House of the Dragon explainer, you know that Popverse called at least one major plot point of season 2 correctly... in fact, if not in scale. yes, The Sowing of the Seeds happened in House of the Dragon just like it did in Fire & Blood, though admittedly in a much smaller time frame and without as many characters.

One of the characters missing is perhaps one of the most beloved to come out of Fire & Blood, the dragonseed and all-around badass known as Nettles. Maybe it's just our bias, but we fully expect to meet this fan favorite and rider of the dragon Sheepstealer (who we've met and is pictured above). And if we don't, well, maybe we riot? I don't know, what did those Snyder Cut people do? Petitions? We can do petitions, right?

House of the Dragon, seasons 1 and 2, are streaming now on Max.

House of the Dragon season 2 may be over, but Popverse is still in the Westeros spirit, and we've got more Game of Thrones articles than could fit on a spiky chair. We'll tell you how to watch through the Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon saga in order, or if you're so inclined, read through it. We've dug through and exhumed the biggest differences between the two HBO shows set in Westeros, and gotten an inside look at them from House of the Dragon's prop designers. We've covered the history of Westeros's greatest houses & families, talked you through every single dragon in House of the Dragon so far, and peered into the future regarding A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, HBO's upcoming GoT spinoff, and we've got much, much more on the way.