Following a cliffhanger ending that teased the coming of all-out war, House of the Dragon returns to continue where its narrative left off. With the Greens having usurped the throne and Rhaenyra having lost a son, rage and uncertainty is sweeping through Westeros as both sides rally allies for the coming war.
The main element of the first season that didn't resonate with me was the constant use of large time jumps - it ripped the tension out of the series and forced you to constantly recalibrate. Thankfully, this season is entirely linear and moves without large jumps in time, allowing tension to build and the weight of the political unrest to be felt. However, it paves the way for an issue I never thought would be a factor - it's almost too slow, with not enough big moments or epic battles to make the season memorable. Throughout the season, the growth in tension is there and it paces itself really well to get you hyped for the next episode... except that's the structure of every episode, resulting in the feeling of "all tease and no payoff". Every second of the season is spent hinting at what's to come, which is good, but it becomes frustrating when you realise "what's to come" is still years away. It creates this very conflicting feeling where the content isn't bad - the political mayhem is deeply compelling - but there's no key moments to make all of that political/family drama worth the journey.
Speaking on the good, the political warfare that's unfolding between and within the families is some of the most riveting in all of Game of Thrones. There's multiple arcs across King's Landing and Dragonstone that are ripe with tension and suspense, so there's almost always something engaging happening on screen. While the season is criminally light on hard-hitting action, the political plays do offer some level of excitement to light up the occasional episode. Most of our main cast, from Rhaenyra and Rhaenys to Aegon and Criston Cole have big moments that make their respective arcs fulfilling. This is actually the best way to describe the good vs bad of this season's narrative - the bigger picture story progresses at an abysmally slow rate with very few memorable moments, while the individual character arcs exhibit a lot to love. Well... almost all of the characters. There's one arc that noticeably drags down the entire season - that of Daemon Targaryyen. The fall from grace is incredible - within the first season I couldn't wait to cut across to Daemon's arc, whereas in this season I couldn't wait to cut away. His arc would have been fine if it had a big payoff, but even that was entirely absent.
Being called House of the Dragon, you'd expect the winged beasts to have a huge presence across the season. While the dragon action is minimal at best, their presence is felt consistently through the season. Even in shots where they're just perched in the distance or flying overhead, their intimidating nature adds weight to a number of scenes. It's not quite as monumental of a presence as I'd like, but in a season where action in general is virtually nonexistent, the fact that we have any dragon content at all is a blessing. That ties in to the visual effects, not just of the dragons, but of the cities, castles and landscapes too. There's more locations visited throughout this season, and they paint a greater picture of Westeros, making it feel even closer to the world of Game of Thrones.
The highlight of the first season was the ensemble of incredible performances, and that's exactly the case here. Headlined by Emma D'Arcy as Rhaenyra, there's so many riveting performances to latch onto. D'Arcy was only featured in the latter half of the first season but made a lasting impact. Here, they've eclipsed everything they accomplished in that first season with an astounding performance. Their ability to convey Rhaenyra's every emotion, from sadness to pride and all-out rage, is incredible, making it impossible not to root for the flawed but determined character. Matt Smith's performance as Daemon is severely marred by the lacklustre content of his arc - he's not given a lot to do, but I know there's another strong performance in there just waiting to be called on. Tom Glynn-Carney really steps it up this season as Aegon, delivering a number of powerful, emotional scenes in which you almost feel for the kid... even if you are Team Black. I could go on, but Eve Best, Harry Collett, Sonoya Mizuno and Olivia Cooke all make a memorable impact on the season, among others.
In the end, this second season of House of the Dragon gets a lot right - there's plenty of tension and slow-building suspense outlining gripping episodes - but the issue is there's too much of that. It's difficult to delve too much further into the season without giving hints away, but I'll just say that while it's an awesome watch, the fact that there's no payoff is a blight on the entire season. In terms of the performances and political chaos, this is still an exceptional season, so there's no doubt it will garner plenty of excitement from fans. All that being said, as it closes with a cliffhanger ending that teases the coming of all-out war, it still creates plenty of excitement for what's next.
7.9/10
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