Did the House Of The Dragon season finale deliver?
Let’s dig into how well the HBO show closed its fiery first chapter
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As you’re no doubt well aware, we bid adieu (for now) to House Of The Dragon last night with the season-one ender “The Black Queen.” The plot-packed episode, which threw many a tragedy at Rhaenyra, was a lot to take in, setting up what sure looks to be a very bloody season two. Now that we’ve had a moment to reflect, let’s get into how well it fared, just like we did with our halftime report on the Game Of Thrones prequel, sounding off on what bugged us, what thrilled us, and any other lingering thoughts we have on the show.
What did you think of the House Of The Dragon season finale?
Saloni Gajjar: At the risk of being absolutely annoying: The book is always better. Fire & Blood has its issues, but at least it made its characters’ evil and ambitious motivations clear. House Of The Dragon has kind of failed in that regard. As much as I enjoyed revisiting Westeros and the political mind games that followed, I’m not sold on the intensity of it. Major plot points were morphed into being “accidental,” like Alicent misunderstanding Viserys on his deathbed or, in the finale, Aemond fighting Lucerys, with the latter’s death only happening because of an uncontrolled dragon. Apart from Daemon and Otto—two men who were never going to get the throne to begin with—no one else has shown real interest in owning the power. I’m all for switching up the narrative for the sake of a TV adaptation, but HOTD didn’t earn these moments. The pacing was either too rushed or too slow.
The finale had the same problems. I appreciate that Rhaenyra has finally shown interest in ruling beyond “it’s my duty”—she lost her father, kingdom, newborn, and second son in quick succession, so revenge is her driving force now. But the show suffered from not diving into this more. “The Black Queen” was a fine enough season-one ender, and I know I’ll be seated for the next round whenever it arrives, but my hope is the writers dig into the characters in a deeper way. The final shot of Rhaenrya promises that, so we’ll see. I will admit: The shot of Vhagar chomping Arrax into half was cool as hell. Also, Emma D’Arcy’s performance made the entire hour worth it.
Sam Barsanti: Game Of Thrones taught us that the one who deserves to be king is the person who has the best story, and while that was and continues to be completely stupid, I think Tyrion Lannister would really appreciate the fact that Westeros is now going to war (over a century before he’s born) with such clear lines between who has the Good Story and who has the Bad Story. On the one side, we have Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, first of her name, etc. etc., rightful heir to the Iron Throne and the only one who knows about the prophecy that we all know will eventually come true (to some extent). On the other, we have Alicent and her dumb family of jerks, who have upended all sense of honor and justice in Westeros over a misunderstanding that is as stupid as anything that happened in the final episode of Game Of Thrones.
What I’m saying is that half of House Of The Dragon has a story that I like and am invested in, because Rhaenyra is cool and because we will always stand up for the Eleventh Doctor in my house, and the other half of House Of The Dragon has characters that I’m not interested in and writing that I think is silly and contrived. So I like that this finale was all about Rhaenyra ruling in a way that only she can and I hope she is able to swiftly destroy all of the parts of the show I don’t like—which, again, is Alicent and her dumb family of jerks.
Tim Lowery: I’m sure I’m the trillionth person to say as much, but doesn’t every episode of this show kind of feel like a season’s worth of television? As Jenna Scherer put it so well in her recap of the finale, HOTD packs in so much plot in such a small amount of time. Now, it can be thrilling, sure. That dragon chase at the end of “The Black Queen,” like a lot of the endings of a lot of the episodes this season, indeed very much was. Watching it, you realize, there’s nothing quite like this on television. But (and to quote Pee-wee, this is a big but) the show has yet to suck me in—and I think a lot of that has to do with how many dramatic beats this show plows through in just one episode. When characters eat it in a dramatic fashion, it’s tough to feel anything as (more often than not) we barely know them or their motivations. Also, as well acted (and the show really is) and stunning HOTD is to look at, the finale was especially guilty of having big dramatic scores and line deliveries for big dramatic moments, a move that, as a viewer, I find grating. So please, House Of The Dragon, slow down next time.
Drew Gillis: In hindsight, I’m a little embarrassed that I was so caught off-guard by Luke’s death at the episode’s end. As Jenna Scherer points out in her recap, the preceding scene with Rhaenyra wishing him well certainly telegraphed it. I was even sitting there thinking, “Wow, it seems like these characters have a lot of plot armor lately!” Boy, was I happy to be wrong, and I’ve never wanted to see the next episode of House Of The Dragon more than I do this morning.
If I have one gripe, it’s that I truly cannot stand Aemond as a character. I get that he’s supposed to be hateable, but he’s one-dimensional at this point, in a way that other hateable characters Alicent and Daemon aren’t. He’s out for blood because he lost his eye, but he lost his eye because he stole his dead aunt’s dragon and was generally being, you know, a world-class asshole. The look on his face in his final scene of the episode, wherein he accidentally kills his cousin when he just meant to terrorize him and realizes that he did, in fact, step in it, hints that we may see something resembling depth from him in season two. Here’s hoping.
Cindy White: Having read Fire & Blood, I knew what was coming at the end of this episode, and I was bracing for a tough blow. It didn’t really hit the way I was expecting, though. If we’d spent more time with Prince Lucerys and his dragon this season I think it would have been devastating, but as exciting as that aerial dragon fight was, and as shocking as it was to see Luke get gobbled up by Vhagar, I didn’t have enough of an emotional connection to him to care all that much. I did feel for Rhaenyra, thanks to Emma D’Arcy’s moving performance and the realization that they basically fridged two of her children in one episode. That’s not something that occurred to me when I read the book, so I can say that the show is making me think about these characters in new ways. Maybe next season they’ll convince me to care more about the next generation.
That lack of a connection is emblematic of a problem House Of The Dragon has had all season long. The many time jumps didn’t let us live with the characters long enough before catapulting us to the future, where we had to play catch up all over again. Looking back at season one as a whole, I guess I can see now why they did it. It feels like they had this endpoint in mind from the start, and worked backwards to get to it by episode 10. The pacing issues and narrow focus on a handful of locations and characters (as opposed to the larger scope of Game Of Thrones) come down to a singular drive toward the first major event of the civil war—Aemond killing Luke. Things are ramping up now, but I’m not sure it was worth sacrificing what we lost in those skipped-over years.
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“over a misunderstanding that is as stupid as anything that happened in the final episode”Alicent played very little part in how things played out, so why get so hung up on this sitcom plot point??? So so much ink spilled over this. The only influence Alicent had on the events that unfolded was (likely) the exit ramp Otto offered the Queen (which he would have betrayed the moment he had an opening).
“he lost his eye because he stole his dead aunt’s dragon and was generally being, you know, a world-class asshole. The look on his face in his final scene of the episode, wherein he accidentally kills his cousin”I shouldn’t get hung up on fiction, but I don’t know why the girls didn’t pipe up that Aemond was about to smash a rock into Jacaerys’s skull when Luc lashed out. That should’ve defused that whole drama, to some degree. Also, Luc was his newphew, not his cousin.
First of all, the book is not better. The book doesn’t have characters. It has bullet points. The show did a wonderful job taking what is, at best, an outline and turning it into a story with interesting characters.Second, the Greens are really damn compelling. Olivia Cooke rivals Paddy Considine for the best performance in this season, and I don’t know how anyone can call Aemond one dimensional with all the baggage he has, not just his bullying, but the neglect from his father, internalizing his mother’s views on duty.I sometimes think people are still stuck on an episode one mentality, where “Doctor Who-man” can do no wrong, and the people who oppose him and Rhaenyra are mean poo-poo-heads.
In fact, the show kind of MAKES the book better by highlighting the unreliable nature of the history written by people with their own points-of-view and biases. We’re seeing the “real” story, but the version in the book is totally understandable given that some of these events had no witnesses. When it’s all said and done it will be interesting to re-read the book in the context of what “really” happened and what it implies about our own history books.
Agreed.Also, and I think this is understandable from GRRM – he clearly puts unreliable/multiple accounts into all this sprawling history because he can’t be arsed to remember all of it and get caught out. It’s a perfect way to keep the lore nerds in check.He should probably finish the series by telling about 20 different accounts of whatever happened to all the houses/white walkers in the end and then leave the “fandom” to pore over it for the next decade.
I suppose in fairness to the book, it’s not really written to be a novel with developed characters – it’s a fake history that occasionally lapses into novel-dom (and when it does, it’s kind of awesome – best part of Fire and Blood is the “Diary of Septon Barth” stuff).
The book, which is not anything I’d call good, is far better at presenting the political and motivational landscape of these characters. The show just jumps from this event happened in the books, to this event happened in the books, which is fine, but the way it fills in those spaces is so often hackneyed and dumb that the character motivations don’t make sense. At times it changes them entirely, like Coryls and Rhaenys assuming Rhaenrys killed Laenor but they still side with her. Which is moronic. About the only thing hanging anything together is great acting in some scenes.
Corlys and Rhaenys assuming that Rhaenyra killed Laenor but still siding with her is what happens in the book.
I certainly think the kids on the Greens are more compelling than the kids on The Blacks, none of whom I could really tell you anything about beyond their names.
I really appreciate how they’ve managed to take the literal (but, crucially, unreliable) narrative of the book and shade it with nuance. Of course, it would be reported in the history by people who weren’t there that Aemond ruthlessly murdered his nephew. The idea that he meant to scare him but lost control of his dragon is at once totally reasonable, and something that would never be understood by those who didn’t witness it the way we did. Same with Laenor’s “death” (assuming he doesn’t show up in a later season, which would be a huge departure). Alicent misunderstanding Viserys was a little lame, but also an interesting re-contextualization of what was described in the book and keeps her from being an unrelatable monster. Rarely are people as black and white good and evil as we believe them to be. As a book reader who knows where this is going, I don’t think this show works at the end if they pick a side for us to root for (think Dany’s heel turn after 8 seasons of being set up as the hero). I think they’ve managed to be pretty clever on finding ways to honor the “unreliable history” of the book while adding the kind of nuance that happens with real people in real life. It’s not a masterpiece, mind you, but I’m pretty satisfied with the overall way they’re doing things. It’s not just clever for clever’s sake. It actually makes the book better in a way, by showing just how much history can depend on the point of view and biases of the narrator.The thing I look forward to the most in the next season is things slowing down and not jumping forward in time. This really is the start of the main story. And while they definitely needed to show rather than tell the backstory, I think it may have been better to do it all in flashbacks – similar to LOST. It made for a herky-jerky season, but I get why. Overall, it was good, but hopefully the best is yet to come.
the dragon chase scene was spooky and very well done. it sucks Alicent has such shitty kids for being a pretty decent mom from what we’ve seen. I think it would be a lot more interesting if we had someone who is as easy to like as rhaenyra is, but I’m sure time will change how we feel about the characters.
Yeah, but that can be explained by the way her boys have been given everything they want in a male-orientated feudal-royal society. Despite her best efforts they were “in the machine” from an early age and she seems frequently powerless in their ascension, as well as quite disappointed in them. They could literally do what they want as young princes.
that’s true, and I didn’t want it to sound like a “blame the mom for bad sons” thought, more I just feel bad Alicent is stuck with such shit bags. I’m not sure how far she is going to get indoctrinated in the patriarchy going forward, but I do have a lot of compassion for her as of now, and I hope they keep playing her with layers.
Agreed. a lot of people seem to be confused about that moment where Rhaenys could’ve cooked Alicent and her family with her dragon, but I think that was because she knew that Alicent genuinely cared for her brother by the end and couldn’t bear to do it to her like that with her son next to her.
>>> ….but I think that was because she knew that Alicent genuinely cared for her brother by the end and couldn’t bear to do it to her like that with her son next to her.”*Cousin.Viserys and Rhaenys are cousins.Not siblings.
I just feel bad Alicent is stuck with such shit bags. And she had to marry her daughter one of them.
I wish HBO Max wouldn’t obstruct screenshotting, because I’d love to have a screenshot of the scene where Luke flies Arrax above the storm clouds into bright sunshine. It looks amazing.
Yeah, I feel bad for her, but spoiled kids + distant daddy is not a good combo.
I wouldn’t call her father distant, I mean he has been controlling her entire life since she was a child all to increase his standing/power. But at the same time as soon as you start feeling bad for her she goes and does messed up stuff, like trying to kill Rheynera, lying about the kings final wishes to install her shitbag of a son as king.
As an Alicent fan, I am curious what it is people are seeing that makes Rhaenyra likeable. Is it pity? Because what I watched this season was a girl who resented her privilege in the first half, and a woman who didn’t do much besides stand around (and pump out babies) in the second half. She may have been an entitled brat in her teens, but it was better nothing. Now HoTD has gone out of its way to sand off her edges, and make adult Rhae as inoffensive as possible. Just quiet and reasonable (i.e. boring) But where does that leave her as a character with dimensions? Is it just that the show stacked everything against her? Because her driving conflicts seems to be “Society’s not fair” And “Give me what I’m owed” with a little bit of “Damn my female body!” the show runners keep throwing in there as a weird talking point.Alicent, by contrast, was dealt a way worse hand, and has shown how she rose to the occasion. Sending her to comfort the king at such a young age may have been a political move, but it wasn’t necessarily a malicious one, as her scenes with Viscerys seemed genuine, and were often quite sweet. Considering she was stuck in a proverbial prison, having to lay with an old man, she made the best of a bad situation, and as the series showed over time, not only did she grow to sincerely care about him, but she turned out to be a savvy player and confident ruler in her own right. Between the two ladies, Alicent does seem to talk about the kingdom and the people a little bit more than Rhaenyra does.Thats not to say she doesn’t have her faults; That whole “coming for a childs eye!” situation was a low point, but it should be noted Alicent was immediately embarrassed and ashamed of her actions, and that says so much about her character. Has Rhaenyra ever shown remorse or regretted anything she’s done? There’s just not much to her. Meanwhile Alicent has to console rape victims while still covering for her p.o.s. son, (and it’s no small thing that she was enraged by Aegons actions), humiliate herself to dudes wacking off, and try to keep the men of the court from killing Rhaenyra the minute she turns her back. The conflicts Alicent has to put up with on the regular makes me admire her more.
Apparently they’ve said that the next season won’t be so relentless in advancing time forward, for which I’m grateful. I loved this season, but wish it’d had more time to let some stuff settle and take impact before jumping forward. Going to have to disagree with Gajjar, though – I think the show is better than the story it is based on in Fire and Blood. The book version characters felt so much flatter, and it had a vibe of “bad people doing bad things to bad people” to it that got kind of tiring. The show makes them feel much more flesh-and-blood characters, with much more sympathy even if they are bad people. It’s kind of like how early-ASOIAF Theon is kind of a shallow asshole character who later gets more interesting, while Game of Thrones Theon feels much more sympathetic and human from the get-go (like a Reverse-”Jack Torrance from The Shining”).
I thought the season was pretty poorly written and mostly a chore to watch, so at least the finale had a few things happen.
Still don’t get Daemon strangling Rhaenyra, but I gave up mid-season on expecting the writers to convey motivations adequately.
The reviewer never delivered. Wrong recaps and snarky comments.
A lot of political planning, however, I preferred the sense of urgency the race to find Aegon was last week. But I’d say it delivered at the end. I’ve given Rhaenyra’s bastards a lot of grief, but seeing what happened to Luke was genuinely upsetting. My heart hurts. I… I think it might be sorrow. Overall I think the show was clumsy in some respects, but for the most part it made smart, interesting changes, and it got a LOT better once everyone was grown up. (For my money, Olivia Cooke single-handedly saved the show). I’m looking forward to next season.
Major plot points were morphed into being “accidental,” like Alicent misunderstanding Viserys on his deathbed or, in the finale, Aemond fighting Lucerys, with the latter’s death only happening because of an uncontrolled dragon.I like to think that while the book was written by the Maesters, chronicling history as they saw it, the TV show is revealing the unknowable truth. These are details that couldn’t possibly be known to others, as they were not on Viserys’ deathbed, or in the sky with the dragons. It also gives an element of surprise to those who have read the book, without diverging too far.