House of the Dragon Does Time Jump Into a New Pilot Episode
House of the Dragon has recaptured that lost Game of Thrones magic so far. The big cast, epic storytelling, court intrigue, violence, and strong character development are all there. It’s focus is narrower, narrowing its narrative gaze on the royal family and largely staying in King’s Landing, but works at a faster pace than its predecessor. Episode 6 is a great example of that. The question is whether this can work long term or if audiences will feel steadily more detached.
WARNING SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 6
Two big distinctions stand out between House of the Dragon (HotD) and Game of Thrones (GoT). First, HotD focuses on a single royal house rather than exploring the politics and family dynamics of multiple noble families. The bulk of the screen time is for House Targaryen, with some time for House Velaryon. Contrast that with Season one of GoT which gave us a look at the Starks, Baratheons, Targaryens, Lannisters, and a bit of the Tullys and Greyjoys.
The second distinction is the chronological pacing. GoT was notoriously slow in the early seasons, often seeming to move only a few days, perhaps a couple weeks between episodes. HotD just did a ten year time jump after previously doing multiyear jump.
A ten year jump into a new political situation and narrative premise is basically like the premiere of a new show or entirely new season within this season. This isn’t novel, of course. Other major dramas have midseason finales, breaking the season narrative into two. So really, it depends on the two sections (assuming this is the last big time jump) work well independently without feeling disconnected from one another.
A lot has happened in between the episodes, which is a touch disappointing. It is not a good idea to have important moments happen off-screen. Princess Rhaenrya initiated a new affair with a member of the City Watch, rather than “doing her duty” to give birth to a true blood heir. The hair color is a dead giveaway, given both “parents” have that trademark white hair. It is baffling how this problem did not occur to her after the first child was born with darker hair, or the second for that matter.
Daemon married and had daughters, leaving with them to travel the world and leave Westeros. His wife has an enormous dragon now. How/when did that happen?
This episode reset the board for our players, but the changes or shifts in power and position all happened off-screen. Princess Rhaenyra has weakened her position, failing to reliably secure an alliance with House Velaryon thanks to the questionable paternity of her children. This isn’t from rumor, the evidence is visually obvious and therefore easy to sell to other noble houses. His family may pressure him to support the accusation and eliminate her. Considering they don’t seem to love each other—or even like each other—that choice might be easy for him.
Queen Alisant has a hook on the princess and is mother to the oldest male heir who appears to be physically capable and has a dragon. However, once the King is dead it is unclear if she can or has secured any alliances with any other noble house, with the exception of House Strong. We still don’t know where the other powerful houses stand (Lannister, Baratheon, Royce, Stark).
One shocking move was the patricide/fratricide committed by Larys Strong. With his pro-Viserys/Rhaenrya family members out of the way, he now has clear path to align with Queen Alisant. She definitely is and should be disturbed at his move. Clearly he is capable of anything, which we only got the tiniest of hints early on. This is an abrupt escalation, which means it didn’t quite have the payoff or hit as hard as other shocking murders from GoT and earlier HotD.
The character development, which is a strength of the franchise, has been undermined a little by the time jump, as well as the addition of new characters, namely the children. It seems, the change in direction is really banking on the final four episodes really delivering a big payoff for this second part of the season, as well as the season a whole.
This is not a gradual buildup, but a more rushed one with a little too much happening off-screen. It is an issue but not a major one yet. The show still has plenty of momentum and is still holding its audience well. In fact, there are signs its audience is growing. However, GoT proved that you can lose your audience rapidly and generate a ton of bad will.
That remains a concern in the back of the minds of many viewers. Six episodes is not enough to re-earn the trust of the massive fan base. Many have given the franchise a second chance but I would not rely on their loyalty if I were the show runners or HBO.
Based on the last episode, the show is playing with fire… again.