Writer’s note: The second paragraph of this article (just below the first image) contains a basic outline of the show’s premise. There are no spoilers that weren’t already inferred in the show’s own trailer. However, be aware that potential spoilers may be inferred throughout the review.
Five years have passed since Game of Thrones (2011 – 2019) concluded, thus many have been assessing it with the benefit of hindsight. Even though the show’s sexual content, violence and final episodes remain controversial, it’s widely accepted that Game of Thrones ranked as one of the best television shows ever made, especially in its first four seasons. For good or ill, the success of the show caused a sea change from the Golden Age of TV, into what we are currently living through: Peak TV. Therefore, it makes sense that the Game of Thrones franchise still has a presence in the current era. This is in the form of HBO’s prequel, House of the Dragon (2022 – Current), which has just concluded its highly anticipated second season.
Picking up directly after the death of Prince Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) at the hand (or mouth) of the dragon Vhagar, Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) is intent on serving justice, and taking back The Iron Throne from her half-brother Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney). Aegon’s mother and Rhaenyra’s former friend, Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) is equally intent on keeping her son on the throne, willing to continue the war despite how many deaths it may cause. Further complicating matters is Rhaenyra’s uncle (and husband) Daemon (Matt Smith), whose methods in fighting this war cause divisions on their own side. Finally, Alicent’s younger son, Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) is equally ruthless, as he violently plots to supplant his own brother’s rule.
The first season of House of the Dragon covered roughly 20 years of events, time-jumping forward every few episodes. This awkward story structure made it difficult for the show to connect as deeply as it needed to, as large chunks of important character development occurred offscreen. Despite this, the first season had its compelling moments, and many fans claimed that all those disparate events were necessary context for the war to come. Thus, it fell on the second season’s shoulders to prove the power and worth of the House of the Dragon saga. For those who remember Game of Thrones well (and those who’ve read the source material), we ultimately know how this is all going to end for all the main players. This means House of the Dragon needs to build a multi-season narrative out of content which is explained in one spoken sentence (or a handful of pages). Despite a noble effort, season two leaves much to be desired.
To start with some of the positives, season two does avoid season one’s annoying time jumps. This allows viewers to more easily keep track of who’s who and what’s what. As an added benefit, the clearer structure means that House of the Dragon season two finally addresses some of the more frustrating plot turns from season one, as the new events add some much needed layers of character development. In season one, a handful of key moments came across as silly and nonsensical, but the additional context not only fixes those issues, but also heightens audience engagement for the rest of season two. As a bonus, this helps the handful of action heavy episodes to be particularly exciting, as every act of violence has real, earth-shattering consequences for the characters. With that in mind, it’s unfortunate that there are so few of these moments throughout the season.
This is at the core of what is wrong with House of the Dragon, as there’s just not enough in this story to warrant (what will end up being) four seasons of TV. Like Game of Thrones before it, House of the Dragon has many characters, all with their own complex backstories, but the story structure prevents many of them from making an impression. This is a major issue, given that many characters end up playing some kind of important role as things unfold. When a background character is suddenly elevated to the main cast, we find ourselves struggling to remember who they are, why they matter, or why we should care. By comparison, Game of Thrones allowed the background characters to build up, so that we knew who they were by the time they were taking centre stage. House of the Dragon fails to do this, as there’s so little for any of the characters to do between the major plot turns.
To be fair, Game of Thrones did have plenty of scenes where characters just sat around, talking about their view of the social and political climate of their medieval world. However, House of the Dragon’s version of this isn’t as strong, due to the central theme being less well defined. Where Game of Thrones knew what it was about, and what it was trying to say, House of the Dragon is confused by its own messaging. Based on the marketing (and the main characters Rhaenyra and Alicent), the show is clearly attempting to comment on how governments are set up in a manner which makes it difficult for women to gain positions of power, but it fails to effectively deliver that message. That failure is due to the show itself doing a poor job of actually keeping Rhaenyra and Alicent at the forefront of the story.
Regardless, all of these issues could’ve been explained away, forgiven, or paid off in later seasons. The real reason as to why season two is a let down, is because the finale’s largest revelation rendering the entire show meaningless. We’ve spent 18 episodes following political in-fighting, rivalries and double crosses, yet the overriding thesis by the end is that all of this is not as important as Game of Thrones. House of the Dragon has major characters completely abandon two seasons worth of development, all because of some future events which won’t affect any of them. This drains the previous episodes of their weight, and will likely remove stakes from future episodes. If the show outright tells the viewer that what they’re watching isn’t as important as the original show, then why bother watching it?
Back in my review of the first season, I mentioned that in the long run, House of the Dragon will just be a reminder as to how much better Game of Thrones was. That reality seems to be happening sooner rather than later, as the show is only half way done, and it’s already losing its way. HBO may want to continue telling stories in the Game of the Thrones world, but not every story needs to be a franchise. There’s more Game of Thrones spin-off shows on the way, so we can only hope that we are given more compelling narratives which can sustain entire seasons of TV.
4/10
Best way to watch it: Time to give Game of Thrones a rewatch.
