ABSTRACT: We present a general method, based on tools used to prove the metastable behaviour of Markov chains, to derive a full expansion of its level two large deviations rate functional, expressing it as In=I(0)+∑1≤p≤q(1/θ(p)n)I(p), where I(p) represent rate functionals independent of n and θ(p)n sequences such that θ(1)n→∞, θ(p)n/θ(p+1)n→0 for 1≤p