Subscribe
Follow Us
The critics' reviews are in for HBO | Max's House of the Dragon season two.
Most have overwhelmingly positive things to say about the long-awaited installment of the Game of Thrones prequel. It currently has a 90% Tomatometer ahead of its June 16 premiere.
Out of 21 critic reviews, the series only had two negative ones but even those spoke about not having something new to watch and having way too many dragons. I believe that won't be an issue for the rest of the fans — especially the second one.
The reviews are in
The Independent's Louis Chilton wrote, “While it takes a few episodes for House of the Dragon to crescendo into the sort of grand, violent spectacle that the series does better than pretty much anything else on TV, there are enough nuggets of incident… to satisfy viewers’ bloodlust.”
He does, however, have something to say about the series' use of the English language. Chilton believes the writer's attempt at a medieval syntax falls flat. But his biggest problem with the season is its tone — not enough humor to to elevate the show. Maybe the critic is of the school of thought that for a drama to be good it has to be funny and for a comedy to be good it has to have dramatic moments.
And while he has an issue with the tone, he did praise the plotting, describing it as a “patiently matrixed telling of a large and unwieldy story.”
House of the Dragon Season 2: The burden of expectations
For Dan Jolin of Empire Magazine, “Above all else, House Of The Dragon remains a spiky, acidic human drama; an astute, timely and well-performed study of the way power and wisdom are so often mutually exclusive.”
He references season one, and logically expects that the second season should do better. Jolin wrote that this installment felt that it can and should have done more. However, he also believed that this time around, the time jumps aren't as confusing and the acting is more focused.
Season two, according to the critic, has also expanded its views beyond the court and into the lives of the “small folk.” This highly anticipated outing also provides us with the contrast of not just the two warring factions, but ideas. Most of the highborn Targaryens feel that as members of the House of the Dragon, they are creatures bred for war but have lived in peace for too long. The discussions in both the Team Black and Team Green council are unraveled by ‘impulsive powerful men reacting in stupid ways.'
It is then up to those who possess cooler heads to prevail. Is it then left to Rhys Ifans' Otto Hightower to be the voice of reason this season? It stands to reason, though, as he is the Hand of the King — it's his job description.
Jolin noted how the Black and Green queens, Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) and Alicent (Olivia Cooke) are doing a lot of the heavy lifting. So do Ifans and Matt Smith's broodingly malevolent Daemon. He also praised Tom Glynn-Carney (Aegon), Ewan Mitchell (Aemond) and Fabien Frankel (Criston Cole) for making the most of the opportunity given to them to spread their acting wings.
Ready your stomachs
Geordie Gray of The Australian wrote, “If you thought you had built up a cast-iron stomach, immune to whatever horrors the Game of Thrones franchise may hurl your way, think again.”
He extends his warning to a scene that's been in most fans (and readers) minds: the appearance of Blood and Cheese… and why. I both anticipate and dread the scene — mostly leaning towards dread. According to Gray, it's “stomach-churningly grotesque” and it happens to people who had no direct hand in what preceded the war and what came immediately after.
The London Evening Standard's Vicky Jessop has a clear favorite when she wrote her review, saying, “We spend more time with each of the main characters — freed from the timehopping constraints of season one — and as such we get a deeper, more satisfying dive into them. Cooke, in particular, is great as Alicent.”
She also has a clear disdain for one character in particular, describing Ser Criston as going above and beyond “being loathsome.”
Are you not entertained?
On the other hand, Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone isn't impressed.
“In its second season, HotD remains a show that mistakes confusion for complexity, hurling waves of thinly-defined, often interchangeable characters at the audience, and hoping no one will mind because here be dragons,” he wrote.
While Sepinwall donned his non-impressed face for his review, he noted slight improvements in the show's lighting. It's a pet peeve of mine when it comes to recent streaming shows' lighting. I used to think that it was screen which had issues with its settings because the night scenes aren't just dark, they're damn near non-visible.
He did make a note of two characters who caught his eye, praising Aemond's growing ruthlessness as well as Rhaenys' (Eve Best) valiant attempt to counsel a path that doesn't literally burn the world around them, all the while wanting peace — whatever that may look like.
IndieWire's Ben Travers isn't much of a fan either.
“The plot lurches forward. The characters focus on what we’ve already seen. New developments on either front do little to raise our curiosity,” he wrote.
Travers did note that this non-development can be comforting to those who miss the Westerosi intrigue, but a cage to those who want to know the wider Seven Kingdoms. However, his biggest problem is that the powerhouse acting he knows is there and expects from both D'Arcy and Cooke are hampered by the former's grief and the latter's adjustment to her new role. The critic also seemed to have missed Daemon and found the show wanting of an adequate replacement.
Fight the patriarchy
Travers also posited that the show is “an argument against having children” as it depicted clear criticism against the patriarchal power structure.
But above all, he just wants Alicent to fight the patriarchy. He wants the battles to have more stakes. And also, death to Ser Criston.
All in all, it seems the time HBO and the House of the Dragon writers took has paid off. With overwhelmingly positive reviews over negative ones, this much-awaited premiere may well be the weekly Even Television the audience needs and deserves.
House of the Dragon season two premieres June 16 on HBO | Max.
