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Ah yes Dragon House! It’s as doubtful as it is megabucks Game of Thrones a prequel with a blue-chip cast can be forgotten, in its first two seasons HotD did not help itself, with the first one either killing off the famous characters too soon or bringing them back to fit in with a strange time jump, and the second house is an empty house. It returns a third time without much wind in its dragon wings.
Breathe a sigh of relief, then, news that the show has found its purpose. The beginning of the third season is a great experience, with great battles and sharp images of two hands where the exchanges of power and human error are removed. Add the odd new face and a fun twist here and there and you have the right seats.
Summarizing the House of the Dragon, especially because one of its weaknesses is difficult or was difficult, is impossible, but suffice it to say that the weak forces have appeared in the books. George RR Martin the fantasy world of Westeros, where various rulers, royals and generals want to enter. Almost all of them are horribly wrong, and the first was the Battle of the Gullet, a naval collision that was supposed to be the finale of the second season.
A CGI execution, the naval battle is impressive on the front but with little stories inside to give it solid bones. Will “Sea Serpent” Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), a leader who thinks before he acts and is troubled by father guilt, be swayed by Sharako Lohar (Abigail Thorn) who knows no fear or danger? After lots of arrows, fire, sword fights, underwater fistfights and dragonly intervention, we have an answer.
Incidentally, the jury is still out as to the dragons in the making Dragon House good or bad. You can read them as a metaphor for weapons of mass destruction, used eagerly by leaders who cannot control them, but it would be difficult to reconcile their awesomeness with people struggling to cut and tear each other.
However, Thorn’s performance surprisingly brings us to one of the three important women whose refusal to listen to advice will be their make or their downfall. Also gambling on naval warfare, even from afar, thwarts queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), while Rhaenyra’s friend/enemy/stepmother Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) must conspire to survive, the added problem of which is that she is the mother of Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell), blind, blade-jawed and never-ending revenge on her tormented younger brother.
D’Arcy and Cooke seem poised to take over the show, with D’Arcy bringing the menace of the forever-overlooked, and Cooke expertly incalculable. The result of the bloodshed of the opening two episodes is a well-crafted, more sophisticated drama than the show has ever been, with some characters lusting for power and others lamenting that they didn’t care about what they longed for.
A stunning centerpiece is Matt Smith, crushing the role of the unflappable warrior and Rhaenyra’s uncle/husband, Daemon Targaryen. Fewer than 100 characters fail to learn that running at Daemon with a sword can get him through the Adam’s apple – but Smith is most impressive when swords are loaded. Coming to Daemon with sharp words is also a trick. The smirk around the corner of his mouth tells us to relax and enjoy the red frenzy.
House of Dragons is less of a show than Game of Thrones, and less reliant on sex and nudity to keep us interested: there’s not much heat in HOTD. Instead it has a very beautiful moment, like the dragon that seems to leave the rider on top of the mountain, only to reappear two minutes later with two sheep, one of which helps to light the fire; or the comedy of Tom Bennett, formerly of PhoneShop, as the hapless dragon rider Ulf.
The third season has another weapon in store: James Norton has a first scene as the main character Lord Ormund Hightower. Is the joke about a nobleman receiving a letter from a messenger who pooped new? No. Does Norton make it funny? Yes, but then they disappear again, saved by a show that has the confidence to know that its edges are not sharp.
