HOUSE OF THE DRAGON: S2. The war will be long, bloody, and immoral [REVIEW of the first episode]

Lucerys Velaryon died along with his dragon, torn apart by Vhagar, ridden by Aemond Targaryen. This makes for a good ending to the first season, but an even better start to the second, as revenge comes into play, marking the beginning of a war. R.R. Martin’s universe loves it. HBO will, however, pace this pleasure of watching the fratricidal clash of the Targaryens, known as the Dance of the Dragons. For now, only one episode is available. Subsequent episodes will be released every Monday. However, from this single episode, it’s clear that House of the Dragon is attempting to challenge the popularity of Game of Thrones more effectively than it did in the first season. The rhythm of the story remains unchanged, but different methods to increase tension have been employed. Different film genres have been incorporated. The fantasy world first gained dragons, which I had long awaited in GoT, and then spy intrigues with a noir atmosphere.

Game of Thrones was an unexpected adventure for me, one that I still remember. The final season was a wonderful culmination of all the previous ones, so I was concerned whether House of the Dragon could create the same tension and such distinctive characters. It succeeded, partly thanks to Matt Smith (Daemon Targaryen), Emma D’Arcy (Rhaenyra), and Milly Alcock (young Rhaenyra). Emma will continue to reign in the second season, but the dark horse is Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower. For this actor, who will always be associated with Spike in the diving suit from Notting Hill, House of the Dragon is a sort of career pinnacle and reward for all those secondary and tertiary roles. Another significant character is Olivia Cooke (Alicent), but after the first episode of the second season, she is overshadowed by Aegon and Aemond. She probably won’t become as strong and ruthless a woman as Cersei Lannister was in Game of Thrones, but Emma D’Arcy is a perfect tragic (not in the sense of a failure) return to Daenerys. I admit openly that I was waiting for her because Emilia Clarke left too suddenly for me to feel satisfied as a viewer and fan of the series. I fear, or rather already know, that Rhaenyra’s fate will be equally tragic.

Remaining on the topic of impressions caused by Game of Thrones, I see, and do not hold it against them, that House of the Dragon uses the archetypes created by the source, A Song of Ice and Fire. After all, it’s the same author, so it’s obvious that a story set 200 years before the conflict of the Lannisters, Starks, and Targaryens will maintain the same style. Therefore, the best aspects of Game of Thrones, including its aesthetics, have been utilized in House of the Dragon. However, the pace has changed. The latest series is slower. It feels like it’s sparing the content, of which there is less. In the first episode of the second season, this stronger intimacy is also felt, which is not a flaw, as the creators ensured the episode had an incredible culmination. I wrote about a strong opening with the revenge for Lucerys’s death for a reason. The closure is equally strong, although I would have preferred it to be completely devastating, and yet it fell short of the R category. It just needed to show more. R.R. Martin was not afraid of such moments, but HBO decided to be more morally positive. However, I hope it will still be controversial. A few episodes remain. Personally, I expected a different outcome – the revenge could have been simpler and affected a different character than I wanted it to. Nevertheless, such an ending to the first episode has a stronger emotional impact because it is so surprising that you cannot prepare for it. Regarding these other ways of increasing tension, with a slower pace than in Game of Thrones, I was surprised by elements of adventure and crime cinema. I didn’t find something so multi-genre in the previous season or in GoT. It therefore looks promising, although I won’t hide that there was a sense of dissatisfaction. The episode ended too quickly, and there were too few specific events driving the plot forward. It’s probably also a deliberate action, this rationing of information. The opening credits certainly provided viewers with an appropriate dose of return to the past.

However, now arises another, very general question – is it perhaps too derivative? Similar opening credits, music, characters that contain some echoes of characters from GoT, a similar development of the story, based on increasing the involvement of scheming characters deepening the power drama of Rhaenyra. Littlefinger was unique, I know. Maybe I’ll stop this comparison, though I emphasize again that it’s not a criticism but a compliment. Game of Thrones created excellent foundations for House of the Dragon, and why not use them?

The war will be long, bloody, and immoral – as wars are. In the main character, however, I wouldn’t want to see Daenerys. I would like to see her in a separate series, still alive or revived. And the dragons? They are finally here in all their glory, although their subservience to humans doesn’t fit their nature. I know that’s the convention, but in the fantasy world, a dragon has always been much more independent. It wasn’t just a tool for killing. If it was a tool, it was indeed bringing death to humans but also forcing reflection not with a fiery breath but with a mind, infinite for human beings by the lived time. Ultimately, the first season of House of the Dragon earned a rating of 8/10 from me. GoT got one point higher. If the second season maintains the level of the first episode, who knows, maybe that extra star will appear.