The House of the Dragon season 2 finale finally gave us what we’ve all been waiting for: a definitive answer to the question of whether Ser Simon Strong was actually a good person. And the answer, much like a good dragon-shaped omelet, is a bit… scrambled.

While we’ve seen glimpses of Simon’s moral compass throughout the season, the finale provided an almost tragicomic climax to his “maybe I’m just a bit evil” arc. You see, Simon Strong, the seemingly harmless knight, has spent the entire season pretending to be a loyal servant of the Crown while quietly orchestrating a brutal, albeit slightly awkward, campaign of political murder.

The pièce de résistance? The attempted poisoning of Rhaenyra Targaryen herself. Yes, you read that right. Our queen, our fiery-haired darling, almost met her end at the hands of a man who could have passed for a harmless, even slightly dorky, knight.

But here’s where things get truly interesting. The finale, instead of delivering the satisfyingly brutal execution of Simon, instead gives us a glimpse into his motivations. We learn that Simon, the “good” son, has been manipulating events at the behest of his mother, the formidable Lady Strong.

And that’s where the “oh crap” moment hits. For viewers, the revelation that Simon is, in fact, just a puppet controlled by his mother is jaw-dropping. Suddenly, the character that we’ve been watching for weeks, the seemingly sweet and somewhat bumbling knight, becomes a pawn in a much larger game, a game orchestrated by a woman who’s clearly not afraid to play dirty.

This finale, much like the entire season, throws us a curveball. We thought we knew who the villain was, but turns out, the real mastermind has been lurking in the shadows, pulling the strings. It’s a bold move from the writers, and one that leaves viewers with a lot of questions.

But most importantly, it leaves us with a resounding message: never trust a knight who seems too good to be true, and definitely never underestimate the power of a mother’s love (or ambition).

So, while Simon Strong may not have called his mother “mum” during the finale, the episode leaves little doubt that she’s the true “dragon” in the room, a power player who’s clearly playing a far more dangerous game than any of us could have imagined. And that’s a scary thought, indeed.