Second seasons are always tough, and "House of the Dragon" has just gone through a rough one. "Game of Thrones" didn't have a particularly good second season, but it moved the plot along and didn't try anyone's patience. Then again, it also didn't have the kind of behind-the-scenes meddling that "House of the Dragon" has had to deal with, which has resulted in a major battle being kicked ahead to the third season, and its episode count reduced from ten installments to eight. This is a common issue in 2024, where we've seen several high profile series delivering compromised, often unsatisfying seasons due to production troubles. "House of the Dragon" was one of the few shows that wasn't significantly delayed by the WGA and SAG strikes last year, but they had the fallout from the Warner/Discovery merger to contend with, and showrunner Miguel Sapochnik bowing out after the first season.
The show's co-creator Ryan Condal has stepped up to helm season two, which sees both Rhaenyra and Alicent preparing for war. Alicent's son Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) is currently on the throne, married to Helena (Phia Saban), with his one-eyed brother Aemond (Ewan Matchell), the strongest dragon rider in the kingdom, constantly scheming for power behind his back. Sir Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), is elevated to Hand of the King this year, through events I will not spoil. Over at Dragonstone, Rhaenyra has the support of Lord Corlys and Rhaenys, her son Jace (Harry Collett), and cousins Baela (Bethany Antonia) and Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell), but far fewer resources for a coming war. She sends Daemon to Harrenhal to raise an army, while finding an unexpected ally in his former lover, Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno).
It's actually a pretty eventful season, with several deaths, destruction, dragon combat, lots of secretive plotting, and a lot of new characters introduced. Lord Corlys's illegitimate sons, Addam (Clinton Liberty) and Alyn (Abubakar Salim) come into play, along with seeming nobodies like Ulf White (Tom Bennett) and Hugh Hammer (Kieran Bew) from King's Landing. You might recognize Simon Russell Beale playing the current overseer of Harrenhal, or Freddie Fox as Alicent's little-seen older brother Gwayne. However, it's difficult to keep track of everyone from episode to episode. We're running into one of the major challenges from the original "Game of Thrones," which is too many characters and storylines all vying for attention. I completely lost track of some characters like Baela and Gwayne. Fortunately, there are no major time skips this year, and we don't have to juggle younger and older versions of the characters
However, the biggest problem this season isn't a new one - pacing. While the buildup to the bigger clashes is diverting enough, the action frequently slows to a crawl, and it's exasperating that season two only covers a few months, after season one covered multiple years. We're going to have to wait until 2026 or later for battles we've already been waiting since 2022 to see. Some of the major characters don't have enough to do, and are stuck stagnating in their own doubts for multiple episodes. Daemon suffers this the worst, holed up in Harrenhal where he contemplates betraying Rhaenyra, with a witchy healer woman named Alys (Gayle Rankin) facilitating a lot of troubled dreams. It's nice to get a few cameos from familiar faces, but Daemon's crisis of faith feels far too drawn out and unnecessary. Alicent is another one who spends multiple episodes wavering in her resolve, her screen time wildly out of proportion to her importance in the story this year.
So while there are some really fantastic high points in this batch of episodes, including a three-way dragon fight, a terrifying test for potential dragon riders, and an assassination attempt going wrong in the worst way, it's often a slog to get to them. Characters being set up to be pivotal figures in the future often feel shortchanged in favor of others who feel like they're treading water. Most episodes amount to a series of conversations capped off by an action scene at the end. It wouldn't be so bad if these conversations weren't so repetitive and the participants were more varied. Alas, there aren't many humorous wildcards, and far too many angsty young nobles going on endlessly about their birthrights.
I continue to enjoy "House of the Dragon," and have a brighter outlook on its future seasons than I had with "Game of Thrones," because the source material is already finished. However, this season is plagued by too many of the same issues that I've been seeing in prestige television across the board lately. The quality level remains high in the acting, production design, music, and cinematography, but they can't compensate for the fundamental deficiencies with how this season of television was put together. I'm not saying that having a big climax would have solved all of the show's problems, but it certainly would have engendered much more goodwill from the fans going into the next long hiatus.
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