While never reaching Game of Thrones Season 8 levels of outrage, House of the Dragon has come under (mostly) justified fire for the sheer amount of liberties it takes with the source material that it’s based on, going so far at points as to upset the author of the original IP so badly that he broke NDAs and posted spoilers on his blog (before ultimately removing them). Fans initially thought the tide would turn when Miguel Sapochnik was removed as co-showrunner, leaving only Ryan Condal, who claimed to be a dear friend of George RR Martin, to pilot the ship. Instead, Condal made a different decision, taking the series full-throttle into fanfiction territory.
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And while the departure from the canon lore is one of the (many) reasons that the final few seasons of Game of Thrones were so unpopular, painting House of the Dragon with the same broad brush is unfair. There is no nearly complete series of novels guiding House of the Dragon in the same way as Game of Thrones. Instead, the series is based on a segment from a book called Fire & Blood, which serves as a historical account of House Targaryen, presented as a maester’s compiled texts. There are no character points of view, inner monologues, or close looks into the character’s motivations. And while some choices made in the first and second seasons of the show were point-blank ridiculous, Season 3 is already shaping up to be the biggest and best that we’ve had from the show—both in terms of the battles and the interpersonal conflicts.
Season 3 Will Still Be Ridiculous—But in a Distinctly Fun Way
It was certainly a choice to have a famous Game of Thrones line play over the trailer released on April 27th—one that both angered and confused fans of Fire & Blood. “They say every time a Targaryen is born, the gods flip a coin, and the world holds its breath to see how it will land.” The concept of Targaryen madness is one that was used flippantly by the showrunners of Game of Thrones as a convenient excuse for Daenerys to go mad at the last second with no actual basis in the canon source material. And while it was a total failure there, it wouldn’t actually be entirely out of pocket in Rhaenyra’s case. She is a Targaryen character who would truly have earned madness, should that be the way this season goes for her.
Born and raised as an afterthought to a brother who may or may not come along, Rhaenyra was taught never to feel secure in her place, not only in the line of succession but also in her parents’ affection. Then that baby brother is born, her father kills her mother to bring him into the world, and the baby dies only days later. Then her father, King Viserys, officially makes Rhaenyra his heir, though he does nothing to protect her from those who don’t want a woman ruling them. On top of that, he marries her childhood best friend, with whom she shared homoerotic tension, and goes on to produce a small army of male heirs whose sole purpose is to usurp her position. She’s then married off to a gay man with whom she can’t produce heirs, her affair with the only man who ever loved her produces dark-haired bastards that her homoerotic childhood friend makes it her mission to expose, and then said lover is set burned to death in his ancestral home before Rhaenyra finally makes the decision to shore up her power by marrying her war criminal uncle. She loses her daughter in the process of giving birth to her, just before discovering that her younger brother murdered her son. If anyone deserves to go crazy or be branded with “Targaryen madness,” it’s her. And despite certain fans being upset that there isn’t more focus on Aegon, the brother who has usurped her as ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, as Rhaenyra’s main foil, the show has made clear that this is the Rhaenyra and Alicent show—a dynamic that is going to get violently messy in the upcoming season.
This Will Be The Most Epic Season of House of the Dragon Yet
And while that show isn’t reminiscent of what George RR Martin initially created, and there are some genuine issues with the narrative that Ryan Condal has fostered, it has fully become its own thing, setting up a third season that will finally feel like the show has found its footing. It’s unfortunate that it took as long as it did, but the final product of this season seems to be fully committing to the bit, owning that it’s morphed into something apart from the book. It does take itself entirely too seriously in places, but that doesn’t mean that we have to—in fact, embracing the absurdity of the story is half the fun with House of the Dragon (the other half is ¼ dragon battles and ¼ how ridiculously talented the cast is).
Season 3 will also be gracing us with one of the most brutal battles featured in the story, one which will lead to a devastating body count and the death of one of the most beloved characters in the series. It also brings back the ultimate baddie that is Aemond Targaryen and his uncle, Daemon, the world’s most morally gray man in a blonde wig. There will also be religious fanaticism, lions used as weapons, and sea battles.
If this show has anything going for it, apart from the beyond incredible dragons that it’s brought to life, it’s the characters, despite how they may differ from the source material. And there can be no question that the actors who portray them have given the performance of a lifetime in the process.
What are you looking forward to most in the next season of House of the Dragon? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. And don’t forget to join in the conversation over at the ComicBook forum.
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