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From Fire to Flame: Comparing Season One and Two of HBO’s House of the Dragon

by Luiza Irulegui


House of the Dragon is a prequel to the hugely popular show, Game of Thrones, and the second series in the universe created by George R. R. Martin. 


Its first season aired in 2022 and was subject to much criticism online from fans of Martin’s fantastical universe. The major point for nitpicking argued by the fans was that the first series felt too fast-paced and that there was little to no time to sit with the characters in order to understand them and their motivations. Alongside the radical time skips and sudden recasting of some of the main characters, it left a bitter taste for many viewers.



Fans had said that it was hard to care about the characters and what happened to them when, in the earlier episodes of the season, there were significant jumps between the episodes. The audience had to abruptly tag along with the new storylines, not knowing what happened in the lost period of time.


Following the harsh criticism pointed out after the season one finale, the writers and producers listened and made amendments when developing the newest season. 


Despite much improvement, it was seemingly not enough. The second season was again put through scrutiny by the fans.


Airing in mid-June 2024 and coming to an end in August, its faults contrasted to its previous season. While the blame for its problems fell on the storyline being too fast-paced, the new season is said to have been too slow-paced.


Although it was essential to give the audience time to stay alongside the characters, which this new season did provide, fans were left upset about how long some of the focus on some storylines was.


There was time to see and understand all the complicated and intricate decisions that each character had to make, as opposed to the previous season, but little of it actually took place. 



Majority of the season took place in the houses (Green and Black) council rooms where the decisions and strategy planning happened. There was a lot of discussion and elaborate forethought and, although important, some fans argued it was “a lot of talking and no action.”


Other examples of it are present in subplot storylines such as Daemon’s Harrenhal arch – online referred to as “Luigi’s haunted mansion” – where it was uninteresting at best. A lot of vital alliances to House Black were made possible because of Daemon’s cunning plotting, but very little of it could the audience appreciate since his entire stay at Harrenhal was spent hallucinating and running around the castle. This meant his character development and securement of vital alliances were disregarded. 


When comparing both seasons there is a lot to be said both in praise and criticism. Hopeful that the writers and producers can balance out the pace with the storylines in the next season, said to air sometime in 2026, perhaps the third season will find its feet.


Edited by Emily Duff

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