After a long (very, very long) wait, House of the Dragon is finally back for its second season. I love the world of Game of Thrones, I love a Sunday night HBO show, and I love appointment television so I was beyond excited for this to come back. Some people had issues with the first season of the show due to its rapid pacing, covering decades of time in only 10 episodes. Personally, I didn’t have a problem with it and felt it was necessary to start with the main characters, Alicent and Rhaenyra, as teens and best friends in order to understand the full depth of their relationship and how it changes over time. But last season ended with the promise (or so it seemed) that war was right on the horizon. The time jumping, the backgrounding, the table setting was over. The battle was about to begin. Then this season showed us that… the battle is still just about to begin.

While I definitely enjoyed this season, it felt like a lot of hurry up and wait. War is right on the brink, but there always seemed to be some excuse for why it couldn’t actually start yet. Most of them made sense and were interesting plot-wise, but when this season ended in pretty much the same place it started in without the story moving forward in any meaningful way, it was hard not to wonder what it was all for. The entire season played as more of a character exploration than a plot-driven series, which was compelling at times, but did not need to go on for 8 full episodes. The finale episode, in particular, was a good episode of television but just not a good finale. It would have been a great episode 8 if this were a 10 episode season (and it almost feels like that’s how they planned it and then were forced to shift it because of the network or something). Not only does the episode end on an anticlimactic note, but it even more curiously introduces brand new plot lines and characters. A strange choice for a finale. I think the biggest issue with ending the season in a more mundane way is that we likely have to wait another two years before we get the next season. If the next season was coming in a matter of months, I think we’d feel better knowing the promised upcoming spectacle would be here soon enough. But with an extended wait, the crumbs we got in the finale are barely enough to hold us over. I saw someone suggest that episode 7, which ends with Aemond coming face to face with Rhaenyra and her newly-assembled team of dragonriders, would have served as a better finale and episode 8 could have been the first episode of the next season. I agree with that statement because episode 7 ends on a more tone-setting note while episode 8 feels like the start of something different.

I know I kind of started at the end there so let’s backtrack. If this season wasn’t about war, then what was it about? Well, it was more about analyzing war than actually fighting it. While the majority of the male characters wanted to plunge headfirst into battle, the women tended to sit back and think about the consequences. The real question this season asks is “what is it all for?” One character says, “sin begets sin begets sin”. One atrocity does not make up for a past one, it only leads to more in the future and the two factions of the Targaryen clan (Team Black and Team Green) have been committing sins against each other so far back that no one can say for sure what the real inciting incident of the war actually was. And when the original sin is in the distant past, does anyone in the present even know what they are fighting about or fighting for? But as Alicent tells Rhaenyra in the first of their two clandestine meetings this season, it’s already too far gone. Once that boulder started rolling down the hill, it was going to be really hard to stop and now it just keeps picking up speed. 

So now war seems inevitable. For part of the season we explore that “there is more than one way to win a war”, as both sides attempt to utilize propaganda, rumors, and alliances before any battles are fought. This also helps showcase some of the most powerful people in Westeros, not the leaders but the people who whisper in their ears. Aegon has Larys, Rhaenyra has Mysaria, Daemon has Alys Rivers. While the leaders wear their motives on their sleeves, it is these advisors who are totally opaque (even to the viewing audience) and may end up having the most influence on the outcome of this story. It’s because of them that the war is being fought on so many different fronts. 

On the battlefield, however, is where the stakes always seem the highest. This season “the dance of the dragons” (the title given to this conflict in Westerosi history) finally begins to live up to its name. It is ironic that such a poetic name is given to such a violent, horrific act. Fans have been looking forward to the first dragon battle since the start of the show but, when it actually happened, I hated it. It was the same to me as any animal cruelty, I did not want to see it. I didn’t want to see the dragons get hurt, I didn’t want to see people hurt them, I didn’t want to see them hurt each other. People killing each other, fine. People being killed by dragons, fine. But these poor creatures being forced to attack each other? Absolutely not for me. Objectively, these scenes looked incredible and were like nothing we’ve ever seen on screen before. Dragon-on-dragon battle is a new facet of this world we haven’t explored yet and is the defining aspect of this war. Dragons are the Game of Thrones world equivalent of an atomic bomb and each side has multiple. Now they’re about to wage nuclear war.

So if you come out of all of this the winner, what do you really win? Daenerys Targaryen said in Game of Thrones, “I am not here to be Queen of the Ashes” and this sentiment was echoed by her ancestor when Rhaenyra says, “I do not wish to rule over a kingdom of ash and bone.” But if this war plays out, what will remain? Thousands of lives will be lost and thousands more ruined along with all of the cities and land that will be destroyed. Both factions have already suffered devastating personal losses. And when that happens, everybody loses. Team Black, Team Green, the realm as a whole, everybody. So even as the story both crawls and races toward all out war, the show reminds us how cruel and pointless it all is. Especially in this story, in this world, where so much is made of the histories and legacies of these families over thousands of years, even the characters are aware that any nuance and motivation they have will eventually be misconstrued or lost to time and all that will endure are their actions and the consequences.

While the same doesn’t necessarily ring true inside the world of the show, to the audience the faces of Team Green and Team Black are Alicent and Rhaenyra, respectively. Their relationship is the foundation this entire story is built on. When we meet them, and for much of the first season, Alicent is bound by duty and an overdeveloped sense of morality, while Rhaenyra is constantly pushing back against the confines of her station and longing for freedom and adventure. This season sees the two on somewhat of a role reversal journey, with Alicent discovering her own version of freedom and Rhaenyra accepting that her new position requires more order. While on opposite arcs, the two are parallels in this world. They are women who are trying to lead but are constantly being thwarted by men. Rhaenyra says of her own council, “They speak around me and not to me.” House of the Dragon is a story that is very focused on the idea of “second sons”, the ones who were passed over as heirs and feel slighted and therefore determined to prove themselves because of it. Think Daemon, Aemond, Corlys. But, in this world, women are also treated like second sons. They are often passed over as heirs and the women in this story are determined to prove themselves. Alicent and Rhaenyra are the pillars of this show and it simply would not work without the performances of Olivia Cooke and Emma D’Arcy. Olivia Cooke gets to play Alicent as a woman more on her backfoot this season and it’s a really interesting new color for her. Emma D’Arcy is just actually incredible in every single one of their scenes. I love their voice and their accent and any close up shot of their face so clearly illustrates every single emotion and thought running through Rhaenyra’s head. Rhaenyra’s shift throughout the season is particularly fascinating as she becomes more and more absorbed with the prophecy, history, and legacy. With growing power and mounting success (acquiring new dragonriders in a revolutionary way despite the many lives lost in the process), she begins to feel like her path is destined, a sign from the gods. And maybe that’s not such a good thing. Will this be a dangerous road to start down? I guess we’ll have to see next season!

The last major point I wanted to talk about was the controversial moment from the finale episode of Daemon’s vision. When he touches the Weirwood tree prompted by Alys Rivers, he enters a dream sequence that includes glimpses of the future. Included are shots of White Walkers, the Night King, and Daenerys Targaryen. I think I liked Daemon’s whole vision quest/ghost therapy plotline this season more than most people. Did it go on too long? Sure. But it was spooky and fun to watch. Especially when it brought back characters like Viserys and Young Rhaenyra (miss you, Milly Alcock!). My issue with this scene is not that Daemon saw the future or any of those specific details. It is not the connective tissue between House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones. My issue is that seeing these things completely changes Daemon’s stance on himself and Rhaenyra. He goes from essentially trying to take her place as ruler, or at the very least being her equal co-ruler, to putting his full support behind her as the one true leader of the realm. I wanted Daemon to change his mind and get to that place but I don’t like that it was this vision that got him there. To me, that just makes it seem like he only chooses her because he is told it has to be her. It’s not really having faith if you know the answer for sure. Also, I don’t really understand what about this vision changes his mind because, as Game of Thrones viewers, we know that all of those things do happen in the future. Rhaenyra being in charge vs. Daemon isn’t going to change or prevent that. I know that’s a really minor point to be stuck on but, for character purposes, I wanted Daemon to support Rhaenyra because he believes in her and not because a vision told him that this was how it has to play out.

Overall, I love this show and I looked forward to watching each new episode week to week. As a non-book reader, I truly never know where it is going to go or what is going to happen and it’s exciting to tune in and analyze and make predictions. Truly my biggest complaint about the season is how long we will have to wait for the next one. I definitely do not think you have to watch Game of Thrones before watching House of the Dragon, but I would recommend it. I think it just enhances the House of the Dragon experience and think everyone should watch both incredible shows.

2024 Count: 20 seasons/specials, 44 movies