Why in the seven hells didn't 'House of the Dragon' Season 2 have 10 episodes?

How can you best sum up the House of the Dragon Season 2 finale? Four words: good episode, underwhelming finale.

In many ways, the Season 2 closer, titled "The Queen Who Ever Was," should be a House of the Dragon viewer's wildest dream. The show treats us to scene after scene of incredible, dialogue-driven character work, from Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and Alicent Hightower's (Olivia Cooke) charged reunion to Alyn of Hull's (Abubakar Salim) brutally honest confrontation with his father, Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint).