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Mar 21, 2024 · Now, Max confirms that House of the Dragon season 2's release date is set for June 16. Season 1 premiered on August 21, 2022, meaning season 2 is arriving just before the show's official two-year anniversary.
- Ryan Northrup
- Senior Writer
Aug 29, 2022 · HBO’s House of the Dragon’s newest episode makes a good case for being a compelling show of its own, with Rhaenyra coming into her own against Daemon while Alicent and Viserys get closer.
- Zosha Millman
Aug 28, 2022 · House of the Dragon episode 2 airs today (Sunday, August 28) on HBO and HBO Max. Episode 1 arrived on HBO Max just before 9 p.m. ET, so try that out to avoid any rush that could cause issues.
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- House of the Dragon - Episode 2 Review
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By Helen O'Hara
Posted: Aug 29, 2022 2:00 am
Warning: the below contains full spoilers for House of the Dragon's second episode, which aired on Aug. 28 on HBO. If you're not caught up, check out our spoiler-free review of last week's premiere.
At the end of the strong opening episode to this Game Of Thrones spin-off, everything seemed to be unusually hunky dory for Westeros. Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock) was anointed heir to her father Viserys’ (Paddy Considine) throne, while troublemaking uncle Daemon (Matt Smith) went into exile in a huff. Alas, this second episode, taking place six months later, sets up the potentially titanic conflicts that will drive this series, and which could spell ruin for them all.
The most obvious threat bookends the episode: the Crab Feeder, aka Craghas Drahar, haunts the kingdom’s shores. A mysterious figure, he fires on Westerosi ships and stakes out his victims on the shore at low tide to be devoured by Westeros’ apparently vicious crustacean inhabitants (I suppose it makes sense that even the crabs are cursed with an insatiable bloodlust there). It’s a strikingly shot scene, the low golden sun nicely playing off the black smoke of burning ships and the horrific gore at ground level, but also grotesque. For Craghas himself, however, the series falls back on prejudiced old tropes equating disfigurement with violence, hiding his scarred face behind a Phantom Of The Opera-style metal mask.
This seaside carnage is the first sign we’ve seen of the large-scale massacre we’re accustomed to in Westeros; if last week was all about the carefully limited violence of the joust and the all-too-real dangers of childbirth, here the scope widens to whole battlefields of victims at once. And it’s still only week two. At this point in Game Of Thrones they were still on the Kingsroad, throwing stones at a puppy.
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Ick factor aside, the proposition makes sense to the king’s entire small council, even to Rhaenyra. But all of these planners have reckoned without Viserys himself. On one hand, Considine’s character shows a commendable reluctance to marry a literal child. On the other, his growing affection for Alicent (Emily Carey) leads him to a decision that alienates Corlys, shocks the rest of the council, and could jeopardise his relationship with Rhaenyra forever.
But enough speculation: Daemon might die if we don’t discuss him already. After sulking on Dragonstone for half a year he’s clearly bored mindless, so he decides to claim his brother’s attention by claiming a dragon egg for his own, announcing his plans to marry his girlfriend Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) and promising the egg to the child they might one day have. Given that the wedding seems to be news to Mysaria, and that she isn’t pregnant, this is acting out on a royal scale. Otto, showing a measure of bravery that we didn’t expect from him, leads the mission to retrieve the egg despite the clear possibility that Daemon will just set the dragon on him. But it’s Rhaenyra who saves the day.
Their confrontation is the best moment of the series so far. Daemon and Otto are squaring off on the long path up to Dragonstone (recreated in studio rather than in the Spanish location, San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, where it was first filmed, it seems), their mutual hatred almost crystallising in the air around them. Then Daemon’s dragon, the “Red Worm” Caraxes, crawls down from the top of the cliffs and there’s a palpable sense that shit just got real. These dragons, with their sinuous long necks, are closer to Tolkien than Dragonheart, more Smaug than Toothless, and they’re deeply frightening weapons.
Just before Otto is lightly fricasseed, however, Rhaenyra arrives on her dragon Syrax, and she talks her uncle into handing over the egg. The connection between them, established even in the first episode as they flirted in front of the Iron Throne, holds good however disappointed he was that she supplanted him as heir. Rhaenyra looks particularly Daenerys-like in her riding gear, and proves similarly effective. Smith, meanwhile, is great at the sort of sudden turn that Daemon does, arguing for his rights one minute and flipping over the disputed egg the next, apparently on a whim. Sure, he’s offended his brother, his niece, and his girlfriend, but Daemon knows when to cut his losses and wait for the next chance for mischief.
That chance comes, as luck would have it, very quickly. After storming out of council when the king announces his plans to marry Alicent, Lord Corlys retreats to his home on Driftmark and invites Daemon to visit. He proposes an alliance: they’ll both go and take down the Crab Feeder, thereby increasing their standing in the Seven Kingdoms until Viserys has to take them both seriously. What could go wrong? No doubt we’ll find out next week.
There’s a palpable sense of pieces being moved into place here, and traps being set for the future, but the characters are well-enough established already that any tragedy to come seems to flow inevitably from the choices they have to make. It’s also pleasing to see Rhaenyra begin to establish herself, and Daemon show he’s capable of good sense – s...
Review scoring
great
House Of The Dragon’s holds its strong momentum in its second week. This episode mostly moves pieces into new, more dangerous places -- but some of those pieces are dragons so who cares?
Helen O'Hara
House of the Dragon - Season 1 Review
House of the Dragon - Season 1 Finale Review
- Helen O'hara
Sep 3, 2022 · We begin House of the Dragon's second episode with the repellant sight of the Crabfeeder's handiwork. We see a semi-conscious sailor being eaten alive by red crabs, then a wide shot...
House of the Dragon. 1 Season | 10 Episodes | TV-MA. WATCH NOW WATCH S1 E1 FOR FREE. Based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones and tells the story of House Targaryen.
Aug 29, 2022 · House of the Dragon recap: King Viserys names his new queen — and no one is happy about it. King Viserys shocks his small council when he decides to marry Alicent Hightower.
