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House of the Dragon is a welcome return to form for the Game of Thrones series. Away from the long, long shadow of the season finale we do not talk about, the new Targaryen-centric prequel delivers equal amounts of political intrigue and intimate drama to forge its own well-earned place in Westerosi history. At its best, it even stands favorably alongside peak Thrones.
However, there’s a gnawing feeling that House of the Dragon will have to settle for being simply good rather than great. The show’s most unique narrative device, its continual time skips and jumps, was a novelty to begin with. It’s now working against the HBO series to make everything matter far less than it should.
In the space of a few episodes, Alicent and Rhaenyra’s relationship has turned sour. From blissful, possibly romantic, beginnings, the pair’s interactions are now laced with barbed insults or, as with Alicent’s green dress, veiled declarations of war. On its own merits, it’s a satisfying arc, but it’s one that should have taken place across multiple seasons, not in the span of a few episodes. It’s hard to completely care about the ever-growing distance between them when the show hits fast-forward every episode and leaves us to fill in the gaps.
That’s intensified by the decade-long time skip between episodes five and six. Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke are set to take over playing Rhaenyra and Alicent, and they will undoubtedly prove capable replacements for Molly Alcock and Emily Carey. Yet, those actors deserve to have had the opportunity to widen the cracks between the two characters. Their performances have been tinged with the relatable melancholy of friends growing distant, coupled with the precariousness of whispers and gossip fanning flames further in the royal court. The huge jump between episodes disrupts the emotionally charged relationship between Alicent and Rhaenyra. With the male cast – Laenor aside – having been kept the same, the disconnect is even more palpable.
Paradoxically, the odd pacing hasn’t exactly harmed House of the Dragon. Each episode is always packed with major events. Guilty confessions, weddings, and funerals are dotted throughout the first few episodes. Yet, with how quickly everything is being skipped over, it feels like a Wikipedia bullet point list compared to the richly drawn tomes of Game of Thrones.
Case in point: Laenor. The Velaryon prince has gone from being a suitable heir, to a closeted man, to a grieving boyfriend in the space of about 35 minutes. Daemon’s wife, too, similarly feels like an afterthought, a casualty not only of Daemon’s hand but of the show needing to move along at such a pace that all but the main cast are unmoored and left behind.
Much of Game of Thrones’ early charm was how protracted everything was; conversely, the quality took a nose dive in later seasons when the pace sped up. Before that, tensions simmered over seasons, with political powder kegs and personal histories often exploding after years of build up. Trips down to King’s Landing often took multiple episodes, meaning the character growth on the journey often far outweighed the destination.
That’s not been the case with House of the Dragon. It’s a show more concerned with wild swings rather than smaller, intimate moments. Both can exist simultaneously but, so far, it’s just made the events in King’s Landing feel isolated and not part of a larger continent. That’s even bled into the makeup of the scenes, with very few moments in the hustle and bustle of a city. Instead, it’s all Big, Important Scenes in ivory towers and throne rooms. It’s hard to heed Otto’s warnings of a kingdom in crisis when we never get to see any of it or how it’s changed over several years.
There are benefits to the time skips. The Targaryen children can now be introduced as major players, while some Houses – such as the Strongs – will hold greater sway in Westeros without being shoehorned in. The show, too, might now stand still and do away with the jumps for good. It would be a welcome charge but one that retroactively takes some shine off the strong first half of the debut season. If House of the Dragon goes on for the planned three to four seasons, those first five episodes will be relegated to a necessary evil; a lightning-quick prologue that only serves to set up the ‘real’ story. They deserve so much more than that.
For more on House of the Dragons, check out our review of House of the Dragon episode 5 and our guide to the House of the Dragon release schedule.
