House of the Dragon Season 2: 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.
And just like that, the highly anticipated first season of the Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon was done a few years ago. Its lighting-fast pace made each week feel like the season concluded in a matter of minutes, as if it were a fever dream version of what could have been a prequel series to an acclaimed HBO staple. While a good enough season that left me hankering for what was to come, it also left me a bit bewildered and concerned, considering that Game of Thrones — a near-perfect opus during its prime — kamikaze’d itself with two final seasons that didn’t care about pacing anymore. Game of Thrones once was carefully plotted, with each line of dialogue leaving us guessing and all sequences leading up to something major down the road. Once the series caught up with author George R. R. Martin’s source material (as of this review, he still is nowhere near done his A Song of Ice and Fire series), it lost its way and fast forwarded through the rest of the story, as if Martin instructed how the narrative should conclude and all of the finer details were neglected in the process.
As if the first season of House of the Dragon was the necessary bridge between the ending of Game of Thrones and what is meant to precede it, I am chuffed to say that this second season has significantly slowed down the pacing to something far more impressionable (not quite peak Game of Thrones speed, but close enough that the comparisons that diehard fans want you to believe are finally feeling plausible). It makes sense that the first season gunned through decades of history to plop us at the necessary starting point for when the story really gets going, and we need to know the generations of damage behind the decisions being made in this second season. What were once just names in a family tree in season 1 are now textured characters that we are properly getting to know and either root for or against (or both, depending on the week and what has happened this time). A shorter season bode bad news when Game of Thrones was wrapping up. With this sophomore season of House of the Dragon, it’s clear that there is a plan set in place and we needn’t worry.
House of the Dragon season 2 is highly necessary evidence that the Game of Thrones prequel is must-watch television that isn’t collapsing under the weight of the decline of the Golden Age of Television.
Essentially, we pick up where we left off; the two finales, essentially (one from the perspective of Rhaenyra Targaryen, played by Emma D’Arcy, and one from that of Alicent Hightower, played by Olivia Cooke). These two grew up together as children in the House Targaryen centuries before the events of Game of Thrones (as seen in the first half of season 1), and the second portion of last season shows the wedge that is placed in between them. After Alicent’s son, Aemond, loses and eye and Alicent asks for awful compensation (an eye for an eye, as they say), the dominoes began to topple over faster than they were before. King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine) passes and this further confuses the situation as he whispers his declaration of who is to follow in his footsteps; Alicent mistakenly believes that her son, Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), is who was intended. After the two concluding episodes that divide the show and the House Targaryen in half (dueling perspectives, if you will), the promotional material for Season 2 has asked us one major question: are we Team Black (Rhaenyra), or Team Green (Alicent)?
I could be driven by Season 2 spoilers, but I also don’t want to dive so deeply into the twists and turns of a series that are expected by this point. What I will say is that the characters feel conflicted in a very real way. The series could have settled for having everyone be driven by anger, sure, but its stepping stones make each retaliation not quite justifiable but understandable. Not to say that this series is better than the best years of Game of Thrones (we’re not at that level, yet), but I appreciate the downtime we get between people. Game of Thrones found manipulative reason within hideousness and sin; House of the Dragon does as well, but it also feels a bit more humanistic with the characters and how they relate or conflict with one another (perhaps the smaller, more intimate setting and layout help in this way). I wouldn’t put it on the level of this other show either, but this second season of House of the Dragon understands a lot of what makes an instant classic like Succession tick, as we see a family ruined by corruption and backstabbing continue to fall apart furthermore. The scheming and plotting in House of the Dragon has gotten quite pulpy to the point of being genuinely intriguing; the stakes seem higher and higher each week.
Again, Game of Thrones rubs our noses in the ugliness of humanity, and I appreciate that House of the Dragon seems to occasionally focus on the rare beauty that exists during times of turmoil, as if to remind us of the land that’s to be decimated, the loved ones who are to perish, and the souls who have been destroyed by politics. Game of Thrones plants us within the midst of ruin and with the anticipation of additional collapse (all in search of hope and rebirth); House of the Dragon reminds us that there was once something to be destroyed. I cannot shake off the image of Alicent taking a meditative soak in a pond alone: a gorgeous shot until you consider that it mirrors John Everett Millais’s painting of Ophelia from Hamlet moments before she is to drown herself (fortunately, that doesn’t happen here to Alicent, but it’s clear that death can come at any time in this series). Game of Thrones was far more frequent with its killings, reminding us that our favourite characters can be offed at any moment. House of the Dragon plays the waiting game, leaving us questioning what is to happen. Yes, even these moments of serenity have underlining worry to them, because the feuding in House of the Dragon has gotten too personal.
House of the Dragon continues setting up for the remainder of the series, plotting many seeds that are sure to blossom into problems or choices down the road.
Season two builds up towards what was sure to be a climactic season finale, and in ways it was, albeit without many actual payoffs but instead major shifts that continue to complicate the eventual boiling-over that is certain to happen after one false move at any given point. As Better Call Saul did with Breaking Bad, House of the Dragon appears to be playing the slow-burn, long game (despite how contradictory the first season was with its exposition). It may not appear to be as flashy or dynamic as many of the more impatient viewers may be hoping for, but House of the Dragon possesses a certainty with its direction that it didn’t have before: an awareness of what needs to be done, how, and with regard to what transpires down the road (or so I hope).
House of the Dragon could capitalize on the Game of Thrones reputation with much more action-packed insanity, because an episode featuring a dragon killing an entire planet, traversing into a whole new dimension, becoming a head chef at Taco Bell, losing its kids in a divorce after seventy years of marriage to Mrs. Dragon, and shitting itself out of frustration would reel in millions of views (you know it’s true). Anything associated with Game of Thrones will be successful. It’s nice that the House of the Dragon team knows this and is using this stature to carefully make a show as opposed to hastily cater to capitalistic demand. It’s clear that we are in the decline of the Golden Age of Television anyway, and that there aren’t many television shows that are bowling us over (not compared to the twenty five years that precede this one, as we’ve said farewell to dozens of acclaimed series over the past few seasons). It’s better for House of the Dragon to play the long game and properly tell its story. Now that Season 2 is done, sure, it’ll be a drag waiting eons for Season 3 to be released, but I feel that this careful approach will pay off nicely in the end, especially when we are in dire need of more programming that cares about longevity, quality, and doing things correctly. I won’t pretend that House of the Dragon is currently a masterpiece, but it has elevated itself as a must-watch series during both a television lull and the show’s own progression towards something special.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson 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.