REVIEW #397 House of The Dragon (Season 2)

SYNOPSIS

The war for the throne begins as Westerosi houses are forced to choose team black or team green, Aegon II or Rhaenyra Targaryen. The dance of the dragons begins.

REVIEW

House of the Dragon is certainly a spectacle, the production value alone is super impressive and the cinematography in season two created some incredible shots for audiences to enjoy. That being said, the production value can only take it so far, any project is only as good as its writing and unfortunately almost every episode gave me a reason to dislike that fundamental element of the show. I understand that when adapting any novel for television / film, some plot points will be lost but usually it’s to free up the room to explore the more crucial aspects of the overarching storyline. Instead, for season 2, characters from the book were cut, action sequences were skipped entirely, all for the sake of a few extra Alicent sex scenes, an abundance of Daemon visions and a whole lot of unnecessary interactions that could have been left out. Sure, from a neutrals standpoint, who hasn’t read the books, you’ll probably enjoy it more than I have but I’d still say you’d have your fair share of criticisms. Partly because the entire season felt like filler, season 1 ended with war is coming and then season 2 ends teasing war yet again! The only battle actually portrayed was over within 5 minutes, the rest were skipped entirely with a brief shot of the aftermath to quench the audiences thirst for action.

Now not all of the changes to the source material were bad, making Rhaenyra a lot more just and admirable certainly provides us with a strong and empathetic leader to root for, which I enjoyed. Hugh the Hammer has also been made into a very likeable figure, which I think was a great idea, knowing what’s to come. Not to mention the performances are still really good, the actors deserve a lot of credit! But the bad changes far outweighed the good ones and often these show-runners really need to just respect the source material rather than running with their less appealing ‘interpretations’. Why was nettles not included and instead, her story given to Rhaena? Why does Adam of Hull not have the trademark Targaryen hair too? Why was the battle of the burning mill skipped entirely? I could go on and on here. Yes I admit, I’m sounding like one of those book snobs but honestly the decision making is just so poor! With Game of Thrones, I always manage to get some enjoyment out of it, even when the writings bad I can sit back and enjoy the other aspects of the production that make the franchise so beloved, so it’s not all doom and gloom. I’ll still be there for season 3, but a few more drastic changes and I might reach my limit! 

RATING: (6.5/10)

Thanks for reading.