It is time to choose: Are you Team Green or Team Black?
It would appear in the first four episodes released to select critics (including your friendly local Superfans!!), that it won’t be an easy choice to make. So strap in and brace yourself, for the Dance of the Dragons is here.
“There is no war so hateful to the gods as a war between kin, and no war so bloody as a war between dragons.”
Rhaenys Targaryen, the Queen Who Never Was
This is war
There is not much of a time lapse after the explosive S1 ending. We return to House Targaryen, where revenge is on everyone’s mind. Lucerys Velaryon and his dragon Arrax died above Shipbreaker Bay at the hands (and claws and teeth) of his uncle Aemond and Vhagar, and we open to a heartbroken Rhaenyra who needs fulfill her duties as queen while navigating the trauma and grief from losing her son.
Back at King’s Landing, we find Alicent desperately trying to keep her sons under control. One, a reluctant yet petulant king who is desperate for approval and his subjects’ compliance, and the other a fiery terror, thirsty for war. And then there’s her father, the ever-scheming Otto, who still believes that he can convince his grandsons and the small council to play the Game of Thrones in a specific way.
However, these former friends are stull subject to the patriarchy. And while both Rhaenyra and Alicent are keen to opt for restraint and conservative strategy in the brewing civil war, it is once again the battle-thirsty men who seem to get their way. Who can they trust when it is clear that nobody listens to them?
Readers of Fire & Blood (or the Wiki of Ice and Fire for that matter) will know what happens next. As the Greens and Blacks ready themselves for a game of tit-for-tat before the inevitable battles to come, we bear witness to tested loyalties, falling houses, spectacular action, shocking violence – with one particular death happening off-screen, which makes it even more horrifying – and jaw-dropping dragon-on-dragon action.
First impressions
As a book, Fire & Blood is structured as a set of historical accounts with different narrators offering their perspective on events – some more reliable than others. House of the Dragon takes this historical account of the fall of House Targaryen and transforms it into an epic, larger than life war drama with juicy characters, nail-biting tension, graphic violence and battle sequences, and impressive dragon CGI.
There are no more time lapses to be had. The brutal Dance only lasts about 2 years, so nobody needs to age up, and the lead actors have now settled into their roles. The first four episodes have already shown incredible depth of character, and it’s hard to choose an MVP. But for the purposes of this preview, my vote goes to Aegon II, who could so easily have been a one-dimensional hateful boy-king, but Tom Glynn-Carney has masterfully transformed him into a complex character that is equally tragic and comical.
And let’s not forget about the dragons! They are bad-ass with unique personalities, and it is fascinating to see the different dragon-rider relationships unfold. Also, this season preview has once again reminded me of the fact that the Targaryens of old had actual seats with actual seatbelts for, er, safer dragon riding. And without the necessary generational knowledge transfer, poor Daenerys had to hold on for dear life, every time she mounted Drogon 170 years later.
My only concern is that an 8 episode season will be so fast-paced that big moments may lack the emotional impact we’ve come to know and love in Game of Thrones. But I’m excited to see how the rest of the season unfolds.
So buckle up for a bumpy ride, and stay tuned for our episode recaps.
House of the Dragon Season 2 will premiere on 16 June 2024, and will stream on Showmax from 17 June.
Photos courtesy of Warner Bros. Discovery
