‘House of the Dragon’ revives ruined franchise
‘Game of Thrones’ spin-off shines in character writing, shows off what made original exceptional
November 2, 2022
A few years ago, I remember the outrage among ‘Game of Thrones’ fans after its final season was released. So, when the trailer dropped for ‘House of the Dragon; many were apprehensive about giving HBO a second chance after the disaster of season eight. Fans felt betrayed by the creators, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who poorly rushed to complete. They ruined character arcs and dropped plotlines, not to mention the extremely rushed timeline.
Based on George R.R. Martin’s novel ‘Fire and Blood’, creator Ryan J. Condal brings life back to the world of ‘Game of Thrones’. Set 200 years before, ‘House of the Dragon’ tells the story of the beginning of the end of House Targaryen, and the events leading up to the brutal civil war of succession. After the death of his wife and newborn son, King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine) names his only child, Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock and Emma D’Arcy), as heir to the Iron Throne. However, once his second wife Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey and Olivia Cooke) gives birth to two sons, Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), the court splits itself into those who support Rhaenyra and those who support Aegon II.
With Game of Thrones’ unsatisfying and disastrous ending, the only direction for future installments is up and ‘House of the Dragon’ does not disappoint. In a way, you could say that it’s ‘Game of Throne’s’ saving grace. It quickly became the single most-watched series premiere in HBO and HBO Max history, debuting with nearly 10 million viewers.
‘House of the Dragon’ managed to do the impossible, it saved a franchise that was completely tainted and destroyed by the end of its run. With the increased involvement of George R.R. Martin, it’s no wonder it became something special. It managed to not only deliver a stellar season of television, but it was able to recapture the magic that made ‘Game of Thrones’ what it was in the past. Episode one of ‘House of the Dragon’, ‘The Heirs of the Dragon,’ does this perfectly. It brings fans back to the familiar kingdom of Westeros, while ultimately setting up how different it is. The episode is an apparent return to form for the franchise, it was grounded and quickly caught us up on the time period and the politics, and most importantly it had game of thrones at the forefront of the show.
One of the elements that make the show so compelling is the characters. Out of all the scenes in both ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘House of the Dragon’, I have never felt as emotional as I did watching an old, dying man slowly make his way to the Iron Throne to protect his daughter. One of the show’s strengths is how it uses deeply flawed characters to its advantage. It plays around with your thoughts and emotions against you. It does this in such a way where you see their depravities firsthand and you feel like you just can’t sympathize with them, but at the same time, you see the good side of them, their key motivations, and their belief that what they are doing is right. This makes it confusing as the viewer on what you inherently want to feel and whose side you want to take. This is something that ‘House of the Dragon’ excels at to an insane level and is what makes the characters so deeply complex and compelling.
However, ‘House of the Dragon’s’ main problem is its rushed timeline. At the start of the series, we are introduced to the main characters when they are younger (Rheanyra being 15 in episode two and 17 in episode three). Between each episode, several years have passed by to get to the Dance of Dragons as fast as possible, but sacrificing the time needed to connect with the characters makes it difficult to care about their fates.
In episode six, the show sees a 10-year time jump where many of the younger characters were recast. However, characters like Ser Christian Cole (Fabian Frankel) and Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) were not. Despite the additional ten years, they look exactly the same from beginning to end, and keeping some actors and not changing anything to show how they’ve aged, even if it’s just a little bit, makes it unrealistic in comparison to the very drastic changes in the younger characters.
Throughout the first season, it was pretty clear that its goal was purely set up. It wasn’t focused on jumping straight into the action of the Targaryen civil war, it wanted to take things slowly and really build up the tension between the characters and the motivations behind the Dance of Dragons. Despite its flaws, ‘House of the Dragon’ was able to save a destroyed franchise and give hope to fans that the ‘Game of Thrones’ franchise can return to what it once was 10 years ago.