House of the Dragon is back! And, according to HBO, that’s basically the extent of what I’m permitted to reveal about its eagerly anticipated third season—other than that, as with Game of Thrones, it proves that power is irresistible and that ruling is a titanic pain in the you-know-what.
Most every important plot point from the series’ return engagement (June 21) has been deemed a spoiler by the powers-that-be, so fans need not worry about anything vital being divulged in this write-up. What is safe to say is that the follow-up to its much-improved second season is an assured and often-thrilling mixture of colossal battles and court intrigue, marked by a narrative that’s bound up in knots and some of the finest CGI-enhanced action on television.
Like January’s franchise spin-off A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the faithful will be pleased, even if we can’t tell you exactly why.
When we last left Westeros, it was on the brink of war, although to stave off that cataclysmic conflict, Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) was scheming to install exiled Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) on the Iron Throne behind the backs of her sons Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), the current king who’s been gravely injured, and his self-anointed replacement ruler Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), an eye-patched psychopath.
Rhaenyra wanted revenge against Aegon for the death of her boy, but unbeknownst to her, he’s on the run with Larys Strong (Matthew Needham), who’s plotting the monarch’s eventual return (among other selfish designs). However, in the premiere, she’s still not sure she can trust Alicent, her former best friend, whose treacherous plan could be a ruse—as is suspected by Rhaenyra’s loyal son Jacaerys (Harry Collett).
George R.R. Martin and Ryan Condal’s series expends initial energy putting its various pawns in place before staging a rousing high-seas faceoff between the forces of Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), the “Sea Snake” and “Hand of the Queen,” and imposing Sharako Lohar (Abigail Thorn). Director Loni Peristere orchestrates this skirmish with muscularity, aided by stellar visual effects for the multiple dragons flying overhead, roaring mightily and spewing fire.
In terms of spectacle, no other show has it beat, and in its ensuing episodes, it demonstrates that it’s additionally pretty good when it comes to on-the-ground combat performed with giant swords on muddy, fiery fields.
Looming large over everything in Westeros once again is Aemond’s gargantuan dragon Vhagar, whose fearsomeness is so great that he must always be accounted for when devising military tactics. This time around, there’s another wild card in the mix: Sheepstealer, an untamed winged beast that, courtesy of its wayward rider (not to be identified here), sows unintended seeds of destruction. Volatility is omnipresent in House of the Dragon, whose story is a case study of God laughing at men making plans, and that gives it a consistent anxiousness which helps it speed past its lesser subplots.
There are many threads strewn throughout this new season, including Corlys’ fraught relationship with his bastard sons Alyn (Abubakar Salim) and Addam (Clinton Liberty), the former a seaman who fights by his side and the latter a dragon rider, as well as the persistent enigmatic meddling of Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin), the witch of Harrenhal, whose aid—like that of Rhaenyra’s “mistress of whisperers” Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno)—is seemingly colored by self-interest. Martin’s tales are never straightforward, and as in prior years, some of the pleasure of HBO’s prequel comes from trying to decipher—and keep up with—its myriad relationships, alliances, and conspiracies.
Channeling Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon is all about the desire—born from greed, selfishness, cruelty, and arrogance—for power. Yet the most amusing aspect of this season is its in-depth portrait of the burdens of being a sovereign, especially in a kingdom that’s running at less than full capacity. From the gripes of peasants to the jockeying of lords to the competing strategies of military commanders, a king (or queen) is constantly besieged eight ways to Sunday. The series’ realistic portrait of governing as an enormous millstone infuses the proceedings with a welcome bit of tongue-in-cheek be-careful-what-you-wish-for humor.
Small incidents have huge ripple effects in House of the Dragon, such that one character’s foolish decision can lead to tragic misfortunes that spawn sprawling revenge plans with the capacity to alter clans’ (and empires’) fates. The micro and macro are in perfect intertwined harmony, and while a refresher of past seasons is recommended before embarking on these latest chapters, the motivations of its main players are lucidly dramatized.
Moreover, its leads are now so comfortable in their roles that there isn’t a false performance in the (enormous) ensemble, with D’Arcy’s mixture of grief, rage, and narcissism and Mitchell’s ruthless fanaticism helping energize this go-round.
On the basis of its first four episodes (which were all that were provided to critics), House of the Dragon has settled into a grand fantasy groove. Though one sometimes wishes it would do more to differentiate itself from that which came before (such as its credit sequence’s appropriation of Game of Thrones’ theme), it’s a rousing multifaceted saga about the various ugly things people will do to better their lots in life—or, in a few cases, to crush their enemies and rule with glorious cruelty.
Wending its way through diverse lands and communities, all of them defined by unique social and political systems, it boasts an expansive richness that’s engrossing on a moment-to-moment (and week-to-week) basis.
There are shocking demises, sly ruses, underhanded double-crosses, and bitter clashes galore in Martin and co-creator Ryan Condal’s epic, which works on its own terms and yet also enhances its sense of import by sporadically reminding viewers that the mythic “song of ice and fire” is on the not-too-distant horizon.
Given how wedded the two are to each other, one can imagine a future in which new viewers begin their marathon binges with this prequel before embarking on the original Game of Thrones. More surprising, however, is that it’s increasingly clear that this spin-off is fast approaching the heights of its illustrious ancestor.
