House of the Dragon: Binge, Fringe, or Singe?
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
Binge, Fringe, or Singe? is our television series that will cover the latest seasons, miniseries, and more. Binge is our recommendation to marathon the reviewed season. Fringe means it won’t be everyone’s favourite show, but is worth a try (maybe there are issues with it). Singe means to avoid the reviewed series at all costs.
The reservations I had with HBO’s latest smash hit, House of the Dragon, mostly stemmed from the flaws of its predecessor, Game of Thrones. This instant classic series was doing well up until season 7, when D. B. Weiss, David Beinoff and company reached new territory. They couldn’t adapt the works of George R. R. Martin, particularly the remainder of the A Song of Ice and Fire series, because there was nothing left to adapt. Martin hasn’t finished the series (still), so Weiss and Beinoff were given the shortened version of what was to transpire by the fantasy author titan. Without Martin’s patience and dedication to world building, Game of Thrones just zips through its story. There’s very little escalation towards something greater and impactful, like the many steps that took place before the Red Wedding, or all of the pieces that needed to fall into place to ensure that “Battle of the Bastards” didn’t feel like a substance-less fight. This care was missing, and it left me highly apprehensive of anything from this world ever again, especially if it came right away.
House of the Dragon was quickly being made, so that already made me question the motives of Ryan Condal, and even Martin (who is considered a creator, here: the series is also based on his book Fire & Blood). If the problem we had in the first place was this tendency to rush and be haphazard, then isn’t diving head-first into a new series so quickly after the previous one just finished (and with quite a thud, I might add: one that tarnishes the legacy of what could have been a near-perfect epic) quite worrisome? By episode 2, “The Rogue Prince”, I was also turned off by the fact that this series uses the exact same theme song as Game of Thrones, which almost feels lazy; it’s a brilliant theme song, but let this show at least not have to rely almost entirely on the series that came before it. This is also after I finished the first episode, “The Heirs of the Dragon”, and I noticed that this episode zipped through everything that transpired in this sole hour. Oh boy. Here we go again.
House of the Dragon is an anomaly of a show that manages to use its lightning fast pace to its advantage.
Still, I was at least partially interested for a few more episodes. It’s true that Martin makes great characters, and even getting — what felt like — glimpses of them feel rewarding, because their maliciousnesses shine no matter what the contexts are. I also wasn’t feeling like House of the Dragon was gunning too quickly at the detriment of its own breathability:I was just a little concerned that we were going to see repeated patterns here. It was around episode 6, “The Princess and the Queen”, where we jump ahead a whole ten years (!), that I, ironically, got hooked and not put off by the fast forward. It’s when I understood what House of the Dragon was: a quick look at the history of House Targaryen and what ultimately will lead to its demise. What also helps is that the series is focused on one household, for the most part, and not a slew of families feuding for a single throne. If anything, it was at this point that I noticed that I wasn’t all that upset that we weren’t dwelling on the minor things here. We don’t need to take five episodes to figure out one call to action. This isn’t Game of Thrones where the legacies of many are considered, and all of their connections with one another matter. We get all of the necessary information in what we’re given.
If anything, this speed makes every action feel final: like there’s no turning back from what has transpired. King Viserys I Targaryen, played brilliantly by Paddy Considine (who should be up for an Emmy come next year), has to choose an heir right at the start of the series. Instantly, all separate schemes, particularly those of daughter Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and her childhood friend Queen Alicent Hightower, are in place. This is the cutthroat environment we’re used to in Game of Thrones, but this actually feels a little more like Succession, especially when the numerous fiends are all related by blood, love, or partnerships. We see a few events take place, and we notice the damage they cause because of how blisteringly fast House of the Dragon chooses to sprint. I didn’t think I would be into the pace of this series, but I actually think it works to the story’s advantage. I feel like we will have more big names down the road, because there is no way we can have a lengthy enough show contain this tremendous cast if the series continues to go this quickly (we’ve already seen a number of major characters and stars leave the show). This almost feels like Roots and how the miniseries is more interested in the ripple effects of decisions (both right and poor) throughout history than it is focusing on one particular story. There’s something that feels massive about House of the Dragon as a result, even though we’re spending less time developing each part of the story: there’s just enough here that the narrative feels strong.
House of the Dragon continues to feel massive despite its time jumps and quick pace.
From that sixth episode onward, House of the Dragon has felt ferocious and devious. It went from a curious watch just to see where it would go to a bit of a fixation series for me. Like many of you (I’m sure), I can’t wait to see where the series will go. I don’t think it’s quite on Game of Thrones’ level yet, but, come on. It’s only the first season. Game of Thrones also didn’t reach its full potential that quickly. As it stands, I’m addicted to seeing the many ways that House Targaryen absolutely destroys itself. Unlike Succession, we see House of the Dragon go so quickly through its story that we know there’s no turning back when the legacy of an entire dynasty cracks, with the prophecy of a shattering-to-pieces to come. Still, there’s much story to tell, and we’re not quite out of the woods yet regarding where House of the Dragon will wind up, but right now it feels good. Quite good. Damn good. I’m more invested in what will happen in season 2 than I was with the existence of this show at first, and I was eagerly awaiting the episode drop each week for the last month and a half. We’re not quite at top-show-on-television levels yet, but I do feel like we’re watching something pretty dynamic unfurl, and I await what comes next with the Targaryens: television’s latest screwed up family.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.