Home of the Dragon has a Targaryen drawback

House of the Dragon is a large success.

Over seven million individuals tuned in to observe the season two premiere. It has been an thrilling season, with loads of new dragons, enormous battles, and scandalous conversations in candle-lit rooms. I am an enormous fan of all issues Recreation of Thrones. I’ve learn all of the books and beloved the unique collection earlier than all of it fell aside within the final two seasons. I’ve all of the in-universe historical past books House of the Dragon is predicated on. So, I ought to love this present, however as season two has gone on, I discover myself changing into extra dissatisfied in it.

The difficulty I’ve is the present’s simultaneous slowing down of occasions whereas sustaining a hyper-focus on all issues Targaryen. We have seen huge battles happen this season, just like the Inexperienced shock assault on Rook’s Relaxation, in addition to the aftermath of the Battle of Burning Mill. There’s additionally been no scarcity of dragons featured within the present. Nonetheless, six months have handed since Viserys’ loss of life in episode eight of season one. This tempo is slower than Recreation of Thrones, which often lined a couple of 12 months per season, unfold throughout many extra characters. With the occasions of the Targaryen civil warfare slowing down, essential characters have spent a lot of the second season slowed down in castles, seeming indecisive, whereas the present struggles so as to add attention-grabbing new characters round them. That is most evident when the present focuses in on Dragonstone or Harrenhal.

Targaryens stagnating in almost empty castles

The slowed-down tempo has harm some major Home of the Dragon characters

In the newest episode, we discovered that it has been six months since Viserys’ loss of life again in season one. Whereas the present lined literal many years in its first season, the tempo has slowed to a crawl this second season, with only a few months passing because the begin of season two. This might be an comprehensible swerve in opposition to one of many chief complaints in regards to the last seasons of Recreation of Thrones—that they rushed via the ultimate two seasons.

This has led to characters like Rhaenyra and Daemon being caught in impartial for almost all of this season, as they’re sitting in castles with out many conflicts to cope with outdoors the warfare effort. Apart from her meetup with Alicent Hightower, Rhaenyra Targaryen has been caught on Dragonstone listening to outdated white lords complain this whole season. It looks like each week we expertise a couple of members of her small council yelling about what they assume is greatest after which advocating for a plan that goes nowhere. This has solely grown worse since Daemon left Dragonstone for Harrenhal. If not for the addition of Mysaria as Rhaenyra’s latest ally and potential lover, Dragonstone might have been simply as unhealthy as Harrenhal has been.

So far as Daemon’s keep at Harrenhal goes, I simply want I might get again each second I used to be compelled to observe the hallucination scenes. However apart from these moments, he is met with among the riverlords, together with the Brackens and Blackwoods, in addition to the inheritor to Riverrun, Oscar Tully. He is but to boost a lot of a military and has as an alternative spent a lot of the season floating out and in of his hallucinations that have not performed a lot to maneuver the plot or Daemon’s ambitions ahead.

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King’s Touchdown exhibits what works

The place Home of the Dragon shines

HBO

The Inexperienced faction in King’s Touchdown has been rather more entertaining this season, and that is just because there are extra attention-grabbing characters in battle. There’s Aemond Targaryen flaming his brother, Alicent Hightower sleeping with Criston Cole earlier than he turns into Hand of the King, and Otto Hightower making an attempt to wrangle his impudent grandchildren. The conversations between the small council appear to have extra impact on the precise occasions of the present. The introduction and evolution of Alicent Hightower’s brother Gwayne after witnessing Rook’s Relaxation has been one of many present’s greatest additions this season. King’s Touchdown can be the one place the place we see how individuals who aren’t carefully invested within the Blacks or Greens are being affected by the civil warfare, with scenes that includes blacksmith Hugh Robust struggling to feed his household and customary individuals in pubs. This pales compared to Dragonstone and Harrenhal, the place the motion is often targeted on Rhaenyra or Daemon solely.

Daemon has spent extra time speaking to ghosts than individuals since arriving at Harrenhal, and I am not satisfied that common individuals even stay on Dragonstone—it is only a handful of lords who wish to be answerable for Rhaenyra’s warfare effort. Essentially the most attention-grabbing moments in Dragonstone this season, apart from Ser Darklyn getting roasted by Seasmoke, got here when Rhaenyra and Daemon shared the display screen collectively. Their sophisticated relationship makes for excellent drama, but it surely has been lacking since Daemon fled to Harrenhal.

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The true drawback

There’s extra than simply Targaryens in Westeros

HBO

The present can nonetheless repay the slow-moving tempo within the last episodes, however I believe these build-up episodes have wasted some screentime. The largest method Home of the Dragon has differed from Recreation of Thrones is its hyper-focus on a singular home. We simply have not gotten lots of different views from outdoors the Targaryen strongholds. Our greatest have a look at different homes this season has include the Brackens and Blackwoods, and a lot of the rivalry between the 2 homes has occurred off-screen. Recreation of Thrones had no drawback leaping throughout continents and making small characters into family names. Consider Tyrion being compelled to journey throughout Westeros, assembly new characters just like the Night time’s Watchmen, Bronn, and Lysa Arryn early on within the unique present, or a brand new character like Oberyn Martell arriving in season three of the collection. As a substitute, most of season two has been spent throughout three places: Dragonstone, King’s Touchdown, and Harrenhal, and few essential characters have been launched but this season.

We’ve as an alternative gotten small tastes of the broader world of Westeros. Examples like Jace visiting Winterfell and the Twins to assist win every home to his mom’s facet or Daemon assembly with Oscar Tully have been nice at exhibiting what elements are making homes select sides within the battle, however they have not proven us any attention-grabbing characters from these homes aside from the same old stereotypes—the Starks are honorable, and the Freys will be purchased off. We nonetheless have not seen Oldtown but in season two, the place Otto Hightower has spent his time tutoring Alicent Hightower’s youngest son. We have additionally simply begun to scratch the floor of the Vale’s place in Home of the Dragon, with Rhaena Targaryen discovering a dragon there in the newest episode.

There’s nonetheless time in season two of Home of the Dragon, so I am hoping the world of the present opens up somewhat extra within the last two episodes. Hopefully, they pull it off, as a result of it looks like we might be ready a couple of years earlier than we get season three.

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