The most recent episode of House of the Dragon, “We Light The Way,” felt like a turning point. The friendship between Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower is well and truly over, King Viserys I Targaryen has lost control over his court, and the show is about to jump forward 10 years in time, after which several of the actors will be replaced.
So how did the first half of the season go? Pretty darn well! The show is a huge hit for HBO, posting numbers far beyond where Game of Thrones was during its first season. More importantly, the show has summoned up the same excitement that Game of Thrones did, all while distinguishing itself with a new cast of characters and storyline that have proved gripping in their own right.
That said, the show isn’t perfect. Whether it’s puzzling changes from the source material — George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood — or storytelling choices that have hurt more than they helped, there are some things on House of the Dragon that have stuck in my craw. In this article, I want to outline how I think some things could have gone more smoothly, just to get it all out of my system before the back half of the season begins.
No one needs to “fix” House of the Dragon because it isn’t broken. But if we were going to tinker anyway…
What’s working on House of the Dragon
But before we go negative, let’s praise some of the stuff House of the Dragon has done well, cause there’s a lot of it. And not just that the show is gobsmackingly beautiful to look at and listen to, with gorgeous costumes, special effects and music. For better or worse, that’s something we take for granted in the age of multi-million dollar super-shows. For the money HBO is spending on it, House of the Dragon had better look and sound fantastic.
Happily, House of the Dragon has also excelled in other categories that are trickier to manage no matter how much money you throw at them. For example…
House of the Dragon quickly establishes compelling conflicts
With its premiere episode, House of the Dragon established that not only did it have a cast of characters worth following, but that it was willing to take them places. Characters like King Viserys Targaryen, his brother Daemon and his daughter Rhaenyra immediately jumped off the screen. We knew what they wanted and it was easy to sympathize with all of them to different degrees. House of the Dragon hit the ground running, in part because Game of Thrones had done a lot of the heavy lifting where the lore and world were concerned. We could launch right into the drama surrounding King Viserys’ succession, and we did.
House of the Dragon also proved that it was a show willing to take risks. The scene where King Viserys orders a caesarian section be performed on his wife Aemma without her knowledge is absolutely harrowing, and hit harder than perhaps it meant to given what’s been in the news lately. Game of Thrones had a lot of scenes that have rightly been called shocking, and House of the Dragon quickly proved that it could hang.
House of the Dragon channels the spirit of Game of Thrones without feeling like a retread
At the same time, this isn’t just Game of Thrones season 9. House of the Dragon takes place nearly two centuries before Game of Thrones, and it feels like a gentler, more sophisticated time, even if the avarice that suffused the original show lurks right beneath the surface.
The new series also feels different structurally. Whereas Game of Thrones told the stories of several powerful families at war with each other while an inhuman menace grew in the far north, House of the Dragon focuses on one family at war with itself. Where Game of Thrones sprawled over huge swaths of geography, House of the Dragon sprawls through time, jumping forward each episode to show us how characters change as they marry, become parents, and more. Both series feel both epic and intimate, but in distinct ways.
Daemon Motherf**king Targaryen
Viserys and Rhaenyra Targaryen were memorable characters right from the start, and folks like Alicent Hightower, Otto Hightower and Corlys Velaryon have become more compelling over the course of these first five episodes, but it was always pretty clear who the breakout character from this show was: Daemon Targaryen.
This is a guy who can seduce his niece and murder his wife and still have you rooting for him…or at least wanting to see more. One episode he’s stealing a dragon egg just to vex his brother the king, and the next he’s running through a hail of arrows to try and prove himself to him. Daemon is an unpredictable character, and very exciting to watch.
A lot of credit must go to actor Matt Smith, who oozes dangerous charisma. Daemon doesn’t speak for most of his scenes in Episodes 3 and 5, but you perk up whenever the camera pans to him. It’s hard to believe there was a time when fans questioned whether Smith was right for the part; if everything pans out, this could be the role of his career.
There’s more we could praise about House of the Dragon, but that’s enough sunshine and rainbows for now. Let’s get to bitching.