Back to the House
May. 21st, 2025 05:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
setsuledI finally watched the first episode of House of the Dragon season two last night. It's certainly not as splashy an opening as season one but it's nice to be back in that world of beautiful costumes and dark, mediaeval locations. I appreciated some greater level of detail in this one, especially the scene at the docks where you can see men scraping barnacles off a ship.
I guess the show hasn't reached the heights of Game of Thrones. It seemed like everyone on Game of Thrones started turning up all over the place, especially in big budget movies, but the only star who seems to have come out of House of the Dragon so far is Milly Alcock, who was in less than half of the first season. I guess the legacy of Game of Thrones' rushed final seasons continues to haunt the franchise.
"A Son for a Son", the season two premiere episode of House of the Dragon I watched last night, certainly didn't feel rushed. We spend a lot of time with Rhaenyra grieving for the son she lost at the end of the previous season, setting up her motive for revenge. Writer and showrunner Ryan Condal also takes a moment to lampshade one of the more egregious missteps in season one's writing, when Rhaenys, for no apparent reason, refrained from killing the opposing leadership when she had the chance. I'm sorry to see the writer of that notorious episode, Sara Hess, wrote a few episodes of season two.
Still, even on its worst day, House of the Dragon is a cut above most shows.
