‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2 Review
Two years ago, House of the Dragon premiered on HBO and HBO Max, and it immediately broke records for the acclaimed production company. Going into it’s 2nd season, the Game of Thrones prequel series had high expectations on its back.
Two years ago, House of the Dragon premiered on HBO and HBO Max, and it immediately broke records for the acclaimed production company. It showed that the hype surrounding Game of Thrones had not completely gone to waste since the show’s lackluster and extremely disappointing conclusion. House of the Dragon, came out and immediately won over the hearts of skeptical fans by taking a back-to-basics approach.
House of the Dragon, focused on what made the early Game of Thrones seasons great, coupled with a massive $20 million budget, a promising fantasy epic was born. George R.R. Martin was back in the fold as one of the creators of the show, and the writing was impeccable. The ruthless politicking, the complex morally grey characters, the big adrenaline-inducing moments that made Game of Thrones the most popular show on the planet. Not only did the show invite old fans from the show and novels to watch their favourite houses go at it on screen once again, but it also brought a whole new portion of fans into the world of Westeros.
HBO proved that Westeros had much more to tell in the first season of the Game of Thrones prequel series, but how does the story go forward? Does it build upon its strong opening season or does it suffer a similar fate to the original series?
The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of HOTD S2 is ‘set up’. While the season had its own fair share of enthralling moments and great episodes, it felt that the major goal was to set up all the pieces for season 3. After two seasons, the 2nd for which fans had to wait a whole 2 years, the ‘Dance of Dragons’ remains mostly a set of minor skirmishes. The lack of conclusive events, when there is a lot of room for it, leaves you dissatisfied and struggling to understand what really happened throughout the course of the season.
The performances are still top-notch. Despite the writers’ obvious bias toward Rhaenyra and the Blacks, and their endless attempts to make us hate Aegon, Tom Glynn-Carney’s incredibly effective and charming performance leaves all such attempts in vain. Aemond ‘One-Eye’ Targaryen, the ruthless brother of King Aegon, played by the talented Ewan Mitchell, delivers in every single scene that he is present in. His character is charismatic, and ruthless and gives us several nail-biting moments throughout the season. While the performances of Team Black members were not lackluster by any means, they just didn’t have enough room to engage the viewer. Their scenes are tedious to watch, due to much of it being needless exposition and long shots of them just sitting around a table.
Along with this, my biggest grudge is perhaps the disrespect the show has for the source material. There are way too many deviations from the novel ‘Fire and Blood’ for me to call it a faithful adaptation. So much so, that it seems more like a personal fanfic from Condal and Hess, rather than an adaptation of Martin’s work. The issue with such deviations is that they are rarely better than what was originally meant by the author. The show vilifies the Greens to an endless extent while presenting Rhaenyra to be some self-righteous prophetic saviour. It abuses the fact that Fire and Blood is a ‘simple history book’ so that the writers can satisfy their own personal agendas by tweaking the narrative accordingly. It defeats the whole point of the Dance of Dragons, and boils it down to simple ‘patriarchial issues’. The characters are incredibly inconsistent, especially Alicent Hightower who makes questionable decisions throughout the season, each further contradicting herself and her pre-determined stance during the facade. The writers continue to unapologetically compromise the integrity of the characters, which irks me to no end as a fan of Martin’s novels.
Daemon Targaryen, The Rogue Prince, who was perhaps the most interesting character in the first season is absolutely wasted in this 2nd season. It really feels like someone in the writing department hated Daemon because his character was completely stripped of any sense of intrigue or tension that the character produced constantly during the course of the first season. Daemon spent most of his time moping around the barren ruin that is Harrenhall, haunted by arbitrary hallucinations which for the majority of the season, made no logical sense and had no real structure to them. Haelaena also for some reason forgot the great bad thing Daemon did(won’t mention due to spoilers) because why not? The pacing is also horrible to the extent that I have no idea why I waited 2 whole years for almost no pivotal events, aggravating and increasing my frustration. Surely this could’ve been done in 12 months?
Despite this, the first half of the season is still very well done, even if it lacks action as well. I only wish the rest of the season followed that suit. Topped off with a brilliant mid-season climax, heralding a grand and gorgeous dragon battle that leaves you craving for more. Unfortunately, for the majority of the season, the show remains diminutively defiant to such heretics.
On a more positive note, the show’s craftsmanship is a sight to behold. The music and score are extremely epic, completely engulfing you as if you are within the world of Westeros with your characters. The cinematography is gorgeous, the set pieces are great and the battles that are shown on screen, are sights to behold.
Despite the severe writing issues in this season, there is much to celebrate as well. The roadblocks in S2 only point to a jam-packed 3rd season, which will undoubtedly be breath-taking. House of the Dragon has been elevated, sharpened, and broadened in scope, presenting itself as a much darker show with greater stakes. As far as I can tell, after S2, it can only get better from here. There is so much more to see and so much more for these characters to offer; I’m willing to stick with them to the very end.
The Verdict
House of the Dragon Season 2, is objectively a triumph but falls well below the high expectations it set for itself with its brilliant introductory season. The visible drop in writing, budget issues, inconsistent storytelling, and constant attempts to force the ‘prince who was promised’ storyline down our throats leave the viewer uninterested and desiring much more. With some top-notch episodes, the season still holds its own, and House of the Dragon is still one of the best shows currently airing on television. This, coupled with an anti-climatic season finale, frustrates the viewer. We seem to be at the same stage we were at the end of S1, but hopefully this means a much better Season 3. While I’m beyond excited to see what happens next, I’m likewise left with a lingering feeling of dissatisfaction with the ultimate lack of conclusive events. The writers need to step up their game for the next chapter in the Dance. The climax is on the horizon and despite my several disappointments with this season, I am beyond excited.
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