by Jake Bourgeois, Contributing Writer
HBO’s flagship franchise is back, as House of the Dragon looks to build on its first season for its sophomore outing.
Putting all my cards on the table, I didn’t hate Season Eight of Game of Thrones as much as many did, though it was a step down and I did feel my enthusiasm dissipate in the aftermath. Going into Season One of HotD, I was cautiously optimistic and ended up thoroughly enjoying it, but I still wasn’t fully embracing it.
That’s no longer a problem.
I’m back where I was in the Thrones heyday — pacing in front of the television during episodes and consuming copious hours of in-between week breakdowns of the episode. I also love where I’m at in terms of how I consume the show. Have I read Fire and Blood, the source material for the show? Yes, but it’s probably been close to a decade, so I don’t really remember details. I loved being able to experience the show’s interpretation of the text, given the novelization is full of unreliable narrators and secondhand accounts. Experiencing the show on my own, and then getting added context from the text by listening to people talk about how the show interprets things, is fascinating.
Having gotten a lot of the setup out of the way in Season One, House Targaryen is now at war and the Dance of the Dragons is fully upon us. However, I really appreciated that doesn’t mean it’s all gas, no brakes. Are there some incredible set pieces? Yes. Do we get the true sense for what dragon vs. dragon warfare truly means? Also yes. While doing that, though, the show still allows time for the narrative to breathe. What are the repercussions for our characters’ various actions? How do certain moves help or hinder each side? I know the deliberate pace of the show may be a bit divisive, but I enjoyed that the narrative really took its time.
This season was two episodes shorter at eight, than Season One, and I was curious to how that would play into the pacing of the narrative. For the most part, as I just stated, I didn’t find it to be an issue. However, I was somewhat surprised upon reaching the penultimate episode. It felt like a finale. I was willing to see it out, though. Initially, I was presently surprised by something that occurs — a conversation which isn’t a part of the text, but it illustrated one of the main thematic elements throughout the season, a sort of mirroring that occurs between the characters of Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and the former Queen Regent Alicent (Olivia Cooke). The two characters’ arcs mirror each other across the season and the finale contains a conversation that I think once again holds the mirrors up to each of the characters in turn, and likewise mirrors a previous discussion (also a show creation) in the third episode that illustrates much each character has changed. However, at the end, it sort of felt like what we’ve had to deal with a lot with our cinematic viewing experiences. It felt like part one of two. That leaves be both on a bit of a downer, while somewhat contradictorily, also jazzed for Season Three.
Sure, there are some epic set pieces (more on that in a bit), but what really makes the show shine is the character work. Top of the list is D’Arcy. Week in, week out, the performances are stunning. The facial acting they’re pulling off is incredible. It was clear from Season One that Rhaenyra was the one to get behind, and that’s only solidified with their performance. D’Arcy is also given the most to work with, too. Whether it’s Rhaenyra dealing with the loss of Lucerys at the end of last season, navigating a complex relationship with Jacaerys (Harry Collett) in this season, dealing with the injustice of having her throne stolen, navigating alliance making with and strategy when good counsel can be hard to come by, or navigating relationships old and new, the character is at the center of a lot of the complexity in the story that’s being woven, which allows D’Arcy to really put their whole spectrum of acting abilities on display. In a show where everyone is doing great work and there are no shortage of great performances, they were consistently among the best performers weekly as most central performance of this ensemble cast.
I know the social marketing in the leadup of the season was trying to make it seem like Team Black or Team Green, but that was never much of a decision for me. As I said, Rhaenyra was the character I was behind most. My choice has always been Team Black, and by Episode Two, it was solidified as the only true choice. What makes the show great, though, is that things aren’t always clear cut and “rooting” for either side means having some tough mental conversations with yourself.
Team Black is not all great. Daemon (Matt Smith) does terrible things, or, perhaps more accurately, has people do terrible things for him. I know this was a storyline where people felt the slower pace may have been to the show’s detriment, but I for one enjoyed the tortured exploration of his twisted psyche. Perhaps that’s one of the side effects of not remembering enough about the source material to have a clear picture of what is portrayed. Rhaenyra’s council unequivocally sucks. Not quite to the level of Team Green, but to call the majority of them patronizing would be kind. It’s why when Rhaenyra does have good counsel, from people like Rhaenys (Eve Best), Corlys (Steve Toussaint), and a third party the show has. They get more influential as the season goes on and it’s so welcome. There are some worrying developments in Rhaenerya’s character. Though, given my penchant for siding with her, they were concerns that did not fully get fleshed out for me until listening to other perspectives on the episode.
Team Green is not also all bad. Well, I mean everyone except for Helaena (Phia Saban) is abhorrent as a person, but the show still manages to make you empathize with them at times. Queen Alicent is clearly not innocent in the events put in motion. However, watching her get slowly more isolated is still affecting, and some of her crushing realizations this season are moving. Also, it’s hard for me not to connect to her while also connecting to Rhaenyra, given the mirroring present across the season. Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) is a petulant manchild that screams “overpromoted,” but there is a key moment in the season which actually successfully made me feel sad for him. The same happened with Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel). He’s detestable, but the show garners the rare bit of sympathy for him at times. Otto Hightower has obviously been a key power player in where we are, but he has an “Oh, damn,” mic drop moment that had me saying, “You tell him, Otto!” Truly a textbook example of when the worst person you know makes a good point.
Technically, there are some absolute stunning special effects and, perhaps more than any other season in the franchise, there has to be. If you’re giving us the Dance of Dragons, the dragons need to stun, and they do. Not only are they brought to life stunningly, but we also get the unique characterization of each of the dragons. The highlight is the cave moment toward the end of the season. With child actors no longer an issue, muddiness isn’t a concern as it was last year. Case in point: In the aforementioned scene in the penultimate episode, the pitch dark is not a problem.
However, the shots that will stick with me are likely some of those which are more run-of-the-mill. The cinematography is absolutely stunning and I’m really enjoying the overall eye of the show. There are a handful of shots that suffer from the modern-day muddy backgrounds/green screen moments, but more often than not, the cinematography is a pro not a con.
Is Season Two of House of the Dragon a perfect season of television? No. However, I am fully back into my Westerosi cups and cannot wait for more, as HBO seems intent on pushing full steam ahead into the world with plenty more content to come between now and Season Three.
Rating: Loved It
House of the Dragon is currently streaming on Max
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