House of the Dragon won something very deserving at this year’s Creative Arts Emmy Awards, which took place one week before the main Primetime Emmys and featured categories such as Best Costumes, Best Casting, Best Guest Actor, and others.
As for the show, it won in a category that fits it perfectly–Outstanding Period or Fantasy/Sci-Fi Makeup (Non-Prosthetic). The award went to season 2’s intense and blood-soaked episode "The Red Dragon and the Gold."
The Battle at Rook's Rest episode gets the recognition it deserves
The win felt fitting because even fans who weren’t thrilled with some of the season’s choices could admit that the execution and scale of this battle, the Battle at Rook's Rest, were impressive.
The show also stacked up nominations in categories such as Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes, Outstanding Period or Fantasy/Sci-Fi Hairstyling, Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup, Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Season or a Movie, and Outstanding Title Design.
As for other categories, The Studio dominated with a stunning nine wins, showing how much audiences and critics loved the satirical take on Hollywood. The Penguin pulled in eight trophies of its own, proving dark and gritty mafia TV still works.
Why this episode was so good
If there’s one thing that season 2 will be remembered for, it’s "The Red Dragon and the Gold." This was easily the peak of the season and one of the best battle sequences in all of live-action ASOIAF. It’s no surprise that the show is at its best when it doesn’t make unnecessary, nonsensical changes from the source material.
In a season where many fans complained that certain plots wandered too far from George R.R. Martin’s writing, this episode actually respected the material. The dragons tearing into each other in the sky was what the Dance of the Dragons is all about. The makeup and costumes, especially with the elaborate ground battle, played their part in making it feel real—the exhaustion in the eyes, and the burned skin that didn’t look fake or glossy but almost painfully human.
While the Battle at Rook’s rest we saw on TV did differ from the book version—notably, Aegon’s involvement in the plotting and Aemond seemingly trying to kill off his brother do not happen in Fire & Blood—but these were at least interesting changes that didn’t cause the show to suffer.
We’re hoping that season 3 of House of the Dragon can provide us with some more of these battles on the same level of quality, and if you know where the show is headed, you know there will have to be a lot more bloodshed.
House of the Dragon season 3 is expected out sometime in 2026.