House of the Dragon season 2 episode 7 recap and review: The Sowing of the Seeds is the show's most epic moment

The sophomore season of HBO's hit House of the Dragon has been great so far despite some slow pacing, following the fallout of Aegon Targaryen usurping the crown from his half-sister Rhaenyra Targaryen. The penultimate episode is out now, giving us the much-anticipated Sowing of the Seeds moment from Fire & Blood, which turns out to be an incredibly satisfying and thrilling depiction. I'm still a little bit nervous about the season finale, but less so now that I've seen tonight's episode.

WARNING: Major spoilers for House of the Dragon season 2 episode 7 are below.

Tonight's new episode does feature a few throwaway scenes — moments that are mildly entertaining but at a crucial time in the season are unnecessary — but the good parts are incredibly strong. Picking up right where we left off in episode 6, Rhaenyra and Syrax confront Addam of Hull, who has now claimed Seasmoke. Rhaenyra wants to know who Addam is, how he's claimed a dragon, and what he wants, and is surprised when he bends the knee to her without hesitation. He explains that he doesn't know his true parentage — a lie considering he knows he's Corlys' bastard — but wants to learn the way of the dragonriders. Rhaenyra is happy and asks him to fly to Dragonstone with her.

Alicent is in a downward spiral over in King's Landing, opening up to the grandmaester about her new reality. Despite being dutiful her whole life, she feels like she's been cast aside, which disappoints her greatly. Honestly, if she would've just followed Rhaenyra, she would've been treated much better! But whatever, Alicent. She tells one of her guards that she wishes to leave the city and go to the Kingswood forest.

Targaryen bastards are coming

Lord Jasper tells Larys that there have been rumors of Seasmoke with a new rider, believing it must be Rhaena. Larys knows Rhaena hasn't claimed a dragon before and seems not to believe Jasper. He doesn't want to tell Aemond about the alleged sighting, at least.

Rhaenyra returns to Dragonstone and her council is confused about what's happened. She confides in Mysaria, explaining that Addam must have Targaryen blood somehow. She pulls out the history books but Mysaria stops her, telling her that she should try to find lowborn bastards with Targaryen blood. Rhaenyra is hesitant, but Mysaria reminds her that highborn people aren't always honorable, pointing out how her half-brothers have betrayed her. "Let us raise an army of bastards," Rhaenyra declares.

Movement in the Riverlands

Lord Oscar Tully summons the Riverlords for him and Daemon to speak to, and surprisingly, this is a pretty entertaining scene. Truthfully, I've started to dread the Harrenhal scenes in House of the Dragon season 2 because I'm so disappointed in Daemon's storyline, however, this part of the episode is actually very engaging.

Oscar is now the Lord of Riverrun after his grandsire's passing, though he's not sure if the other lords will respect him due to his young age. He confronts the Riverlords and tells them that he will act upon honor. His grandsire was loyal to Viserys Targaryen and his heir, Rhaenyra Targaryen, and so even though he doesn't love Daemon, this is who he follows. He wants everyone to do the same.

But there's some housekeeping that needs to be done if Oscar and Daemon want to truly earn the trust of the Riverlords; they need to punish Willem Blackwood for his crimes. Willem is shocked by this, reminding everyone that he was simply following Daemon's directive. Oscar believes Willem did it because he wanted to, because of his hatred for the Brackens, and he tells Daemon to carry out the deed. Daemon seems very disturbed before taking out his sword and killing Willem.

Back at the castle, Daemon has another vision of Viserys (yawn) which is a pointless scene. Seriously, fast-forward through it. It's incredibly heavy-handed as Viserys asks Daemon if he still wants the crown. We get it!

Elsewhere in the episode, Aegon is still deep in his recovery process at King's Landing, and Larys pressures him to try harder. Alicent is still on her sabbatical, contemplating if she'll even return to the castle. As she prepares to leave the Vale for Pentos, Rhaena runs out to the field and tries to look for the wild dragon. Corlys also talks to Addam and Alyn of Hull at different times.

Jacaerys needs an explanation

Jace comes to see his mother, angry that a lowborn has claimed a dragon. He feels threatened now that he believes anyone can do so. Rhaenyra feels like they have no other option, but Jace still doesn't want her to recruit bastards. He asks her if she knew that he would be born with brown hair when she decided to have a romance with Harwin, a burden he's lived with all his life. He explains that he could argue his legitimacy because he had a dragon, but now that anyone can do it, he feels scared about his claim. When Rhaenyra dies, will he still be the rightful heir to the Iron Throne?

Rhaenyra comforts Jace and tells him this is what she must do. I really like this scene between Jace and Rhaenyra; though I wish Jace had a bigger role as he does in Fire & Blood, I do like that he shows his biggest insecurity here. They never talk about Harwin or the fact that he's a bastard. Obviously, it's something Jace still thinks about a lot.

Hugh comes clean

Rhaenyra carries out the call for dragonriders, with Mysaria delivering a message to King's Landing. At the city tavern, Ulf's friends tell him that Rhaenyra is looking for Targaryen bastards, but Ulf is hesitant. He even says he's not sure if he is of Targaryen blood, something he's probably just saying because he's scared. Meanwhile, Hugh decides he must go, despite his wife's wishes against it. Hugh reveals to her that he knows he has Targaryen blood; he never told her before to protect her. This part isn't in Fire & Blood, so it's super interesting. He explains that his mother worked in a pleasure house, the sister of Baelon and aunt to Daemon and Viserys. Our friends at Winter is Coming have theorized Hugh's mother is likely Saera Targaryen, one of Jaehaerys I Targaryen and Alysanne Targaryen's children who, after a scandal, ended up working at a pleasure house in Essos.

Kat still doesn't want Hugh to go, but he knows he must.

The final 25 minutes or so of the episode are really fantastic. The dragon keepers are angry with Rhaenyra for her plan, finding it disrespectful to the sacred dragons. They refuse to help her. Despite this hiccup, Rhaenyra speaks with the smallfolk who have shown up, telling them that she recognizes they have left their lives for this opportunity and they might die over it. But their purpose is great; to help end the hardships of the realm and restore peace. Rhaenyra summons Vermithor and then leaves them to it, watching from a higher level to see who, if anyone, can claim him.

An epic fight for survival

A dragon Hunger Games-esque scene ensues, with Vermithor blasting dragonfire on multiple people. The survivors disperse and run around the dragon pit, looking to hide, escape, or confront Vermithor. This is a really awesome scene; it honestly feels like the most fantasy this show has been so far. Eventually, Hugh is able to walk up to Vermithor, who surrenders to him. Rhaenyra watches, pleased. We then cut to Ulf, who's still alive and walking around aimlessly. As a surprise to him, he's able to bond with Silverwing.

In King's Landing, Aemond is speaking with his council — there's one mention of Daeron here, with Jasper informing Aemond that his dragon is now flying — when he's interrupted by noise outside. People are screaming "dragon," and Aemond opens up the doors to see one flying up in the sky. He quickly runs outside and hops on a horse to go get Vhagar, mounting her and following the dragon. It's revealed to be Ulf on Silverwing, and Aemond follows him to Dragonstone. But once he sees multiple dragons, he knows he cannot confront them. He turns Vhagar around and goes back home.

The episode ends with Rhaenyra on Dragonstone, looking out proudly to see Aemond and Vhagar retreat. Beside her are Syrax, Vermithor, and Silverwing. She's got what she needs now, so how will she proceed? We'll find out in the House of the Dragon season 2 finale! Don't miss the highly-anticipated episode next Sunday, Aug. 4, at 9:00 p.m. ET, only on HBO and Max. We'll be here at Show Snob recapping all the biggest moments!