The Game of Thrones spinoff had revitalized my dead motivation for the series as a whole. I won’t beat the dead horse any longer on my thoughts of the later seasons of Game of Thrones, but just know that House of the Dragon was a necessary stimulator to get me interested again. S2 needed to carry the momentum, and it does this for the most part. There are core elements that continue to work with this show: great music, impressive production design and effects, a bunch of cool dragons, and great performances.
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The writers can take the meat of the original story and build upon it through a new medium. The drama between the Green and Black factions of the Targaryens is riveting at its best, and incorporates storytelling devices that made the early seasons of GoT so great. The cast is greatly composed and benefits from some sharp dialogue. The first 4 episodes, along with episode 7, were some high points of this season.
I’d be lying to say my excitement didn’t start to peter out in the second half of the season. I started to notice the padding of S2, and the repetitive nature of some of these episodes. Daemon’s hallucinaxionogenic escapades in Harrenhal is the immediate example, but there are a handful of side characters that bear very one-dimensional purposes in the scheme of this season.
The biggest point of controversy is the finale; a very lukewarm conclusion to the season that isn’t resolute of anything significant from this season, nor does it succeed in escalating anticipation. Had the season ended on episode 7, I could still see this working a bit better. Still, I bite my tongue. This is very much preferable to the writers rushing this story along, haphazardly sinking critical storylines and characters. I’m not going to say HOTD is in trouble from a lesser second season. It still has some great qualities and potential, but struggled to overcome the inertia within some of these episodes.
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