Is That Really [SPOILER] In The House Of The Dragon Season 2 Finale?

This article contains major spoilers for the "House of the Dragon" season 2 finale.

The sophomore season of "House of the Dragon" may have gone out on somewhat of an anticlimactic note, leaving viewers hanging just when it seemed we were gearing up for two of the biggest events of the series thus far, but the finale still managed to pack several surprises for fans to obsess over. While the two rival factions of House Targaryen remain on the precipice of all-out war, Daemon (Matt Smith) has been off on his own little subplot. Let's be honest: Who among us wouldn't rather go through a psychedelic trip with one of the series' most enigmatic characters in Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) if it meant completely avoiding our own responsibilities? This slow-burning storyline finally built to a crescendo when the rogue prince experienced a startling vision of the future, featuring a handful of unexpected cameos. One had to do with a "Game of Thrones" character we may or may not have seen before, while the other promptly broke the internet ... or would've, had it not leaked onto social media a few days ahead of time.

One might say this was the mother of all cameos, in fact. Daemon catches a glimpse of none other than Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons herself, in an appearance that seemingly confirmed her to be the legendary Prince That Was Promised. Though shown only from the back with her three young dragons in tow (a recreation of "Game of Thrones" season 1's most unforgettable visual), it was beyond clear who this was meant to be. That only stirred up an immediate source of debate, however. Was this actually Emilia Clarke once again reprising her famous, star-making role?

We finally have an answer to that.

Emilia Clarke shot to the very heights of stardom after portraying Daenerys Targaryen throughout all eight seasons of "Game of Thrones," but "House of the Dragon" relied on a different actor to help fill a crucial role in its season 2 finale. Whether as a result of scheduling or otherwise, Clarke wasn't brought back to play Dany once more for a mere cameo appearance. Instead, we now know that Imogen Ruby Little was brought on board as a stand-in for the popular, dragon-riding character. She recently took to Instagram to enjoy her victory lap in the finale, where she said:

"My pleasure to join the cast of ['House of the Dragon'], step into an iconic role and an honour to bring such an influential character to life, even for a minute in time, I had a blast. Absolutely over the moon to have been given this opportunity!"

A repost by Westerosies Twitter account indicates that Imogen Ruby Little may have edited her comment a bit, which previously stated, "So much of the footage we got didn't make it past the editing room." That would certainly line up with one of her videos taken from set, where she was decked out in Dany's season 1 costume from her wedding with the fearsome Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa). It's intriguing to think about how much larger her role may have originally been envisioned to be, compared to her scant few seconds of screen time in the final version that nonetheless made a dragon-sized impact. After Tamzin Merchant (from the reshot pilot episode of "Game of Thrones") and Clarke, Imogen Ruby Little is now the third person to ever play Daenerys in live-action.

"House of the Dragon" season 2 is now streaming on Max.