TV Talk: ‘House of the Dragon’ successfully toggles between heartbreak and dark humor in 2nd season
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The first season of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” prequel series “House of the Dragon” was a mixed bag: So many — too many, really — characters with similar-sounding names and blond wigs, a time jump that resulted in the recasting of roles just as viewers started to get to know the characters as played by the younger actors and that weirdly too-dark episode detracted from several great character moments and, of course, the impressive CGI dragons.
Season two (9 p.m. June 16, HBO and Max) proves narratively more cohesive, more entertaining and just plain better on all fronts.
It’s been almost two years since a new episode aired, which may leave some viewers grasping for memories of where the story left off, so a quick recap: King Viserys I promised his firstborn child, Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), the Iron Throne but just before Viserys’ death his wife and Rhaenyra’s childhood best friend, Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), misunderstood Viserys’ mumblings, leading to a coup that put Alicent and Viserys’ first child, lazy Aegon II (Ty Tennant), on the Iron Throne. By then Rhaenyra had already left Kings Landing with her uncle-husband, Daemon (Matt Smith), before one-eyed Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell), King Aegon II’s brother, sorta-kinda accidentally killed Rhaenyra’s son, Lucerys Velaryon.
Season one of “HOTD” required a lot of world-building and character introductions. In season two all the characters have chosen sides and it’s a more streamlined story as Team Black (Rhaenyra and company) and Team Green (Alicent, King Aegon II, Aemond) prepare to wage war.
Through four (of eight) episodes made available for review, “HOTD” features scene after scene of nuance, subtext and strong performances as the show stays fixed on the political implications of every move the characters make.
From moments of dark humor — mostly around King Aegon II’s ineptitude as a leader — to a battle full of shocking losses, “HOTD” season two allows the “GOT” franchise to advance beyond the bad taste left by the final season of the original series and the missteps in “HOTD” season one.
In a recent virtual press conference for season two, “HOTD” showrunner Ryan Condal (“Colony”), who wrote the season two premiere and the season’s most jaw-dropping hour, episode four, acknowledged the setup that was necessary in season one to get viewers invested in the characters and their relationship.
“My hope is that that’s where we are right now,” Condal said. “And as you’ve seen, this [season premiere] picks up a couple days later and off we go to the next horrible tragedy.”
Throughout the season as characters try to avert war, they debate how it all got started. Was it when Lucerys took out Aemond’s eye? Or when a vengeful Aemond had a hand in the death of Lucerys? Or when Rhaenyra was denied the Iron Throne? Or perhaps the events of the season two premiere should get the blame.
“There are multiple points of no return it feels like in this show because it’s one of these entrenched conflicts,” Condal said. “So you have these two sides that share a lot of common history that hate each other and the hatred only gets worse as things go on and the tragedies pile up. … And what’s the counter-response to that?”
Condal said it’s the character moments that make the show, even though some viewers tune in for the fighting dragons.
“The things that I’m proudest of in the show are often [scenes of] two characters in a room in conflict with one another,” Condal said. “You’re making about nine hours of television [per season], end to end. You can’t fill it all with dragons fighting each other. You have to have these stage stories. The things that I think people engage with most are the character levels so that when the spectacle comes, if you’ve done your job right, you care about the characters involved with the spectacle and that’s why you [get] this really emotional experience out of it.”