House of the Dragon - Seasons 1-2

“House of the Dragon is a marked improvement over Game of Thrones, but it can still do better by its disabled and queer characters.”

Title: House of the Dragon
Episodes Reviewed: Season 1-2
Creators: Ryan Condal 👨🏼🇺🇸 and George R. R. Martin 👨🏼🇺🇸
Writers: Ryan Condal 👨🏼🇺🇸 (6 episodes), Sara Hess 👩🏻🇺🇸 (3 episodes), Eileen Shim 👩🏻🇺🇸 (2 episodes), David Hancock 👨🏼GB (2 episodes), Charmaine DeGraté 👩🏾🇺🇸 (1 episode), Gabe Fonseca 👨🏼🇺🇸 (1 episode), Kevin Lau 👨🏻🇺🇸 (1 episode), Ti Mikkel 👩🏼🇺🇸 (1 episode) and Ira Parker 👨🏼🇺🇸 (1 episode), based on “Fire and Blood” by George R. R. Martin 👨🏼🇺🇸

Reviewed by Gavin 👨🏼🇬🇧🌈♿

—MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD—

Technical: 4.5/5

House of the Dragon faced an uphill battle before its premiere. Game of Thrones was a cultural juggernaut that dominated living rooms every Sunday night (or Monday night if you’re UK-based), but the show’s final season left a, shall we say, sour taste in the mouths of its ginormous fan base. Adapted from George R. R. Martin’s novel Fire and Blood, which charts the history of House Targaryen through scholarly text, House of the Dragon presents a fascinating viewpoint of how the great house fell before the events of Game of Thrones.

These two seasons are reminiscent of Game of Thrones’ early days: less bombastic battles, more political machinations. Taking place over decades, Season 1 introduces the players, chiefly Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy, with Milly Alcock as her younger self) and best friend turned enemy Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke/Emily Carey). King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) struggles to hold the peace as tensions between family and the Great Houses reach a boiling point, leading to a tragically endearing performance from Considine.

Ultimately, fans worried about the show after Game of Thrones’ finale need not fret. Stellar writing, evocative performances and high-stakes drama mark House of the Dragon as a return to form—even if the decade-spanning narrative kills the pacing in places.

Season 2, however, is the best the televised A Song of Ice and Fire franchise has been in years. Without the time jumps, momentum breathlessly leads the cast towards all-out civil war, with brutal twists and shocking character developments thrown in for good measure. Yes, audiences are treated to a large-scale battle, but what makes this latest season so terrific is how there aren’t any winners. The show almost becomes farcical in how the characters mess up because of their ignorance, power-hungry ambitions, or violent behaviour. (Or all of the above.) The ramifications of foolish nobles flying on weapons of mass destruction are laid bare, and are set to only get worse in future seasons.

Gender: 5/5
Does it pass the Bechdel Test? YES

Thankfully, the showrunners have learnt a lesson or two from critiques on Game of Thrones, particularly on its misogynistic treatment of women. With Rhaenyra and Alicent at the centre of House of the Dragon, and a writers room that isn’t just men this time around, the leads are complicated, three-dimensional women. Rhaenyra and Alicent each display charm, love, power, agency, and regrets as needless conflicts lead to dire consequences. Interestingly, their biggest adversaries aren’t each other, but the men at their side.

Queen Rhaenyra, leading the “Blacks,” has a council comprised mostly of men who belittle her and attempt to push her away to enact war themselves. Meanwhile, Alicent fights to cling on to what little power she has left. We have women driving the show, but Westeros is still a sexist world—much like our own, just with fewer dragons. House of the Dragon avoids misogyny itself by viewing the experiences of women, both good and bad, through the eyes of female characters, rather than through those of men (as Game of Thrones mistakenly did).

Better yet, these women aren’t completely surrounded by men. Supporting characters have their own standout moments. Prince Daemon Targaryen’s (Matt Smith) daughters, Baela (Bethany Antonia) and Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell), play a much larger role in the second season: Baela comes into use as a spy, with her rebellious side coming out in an exciting dragon chase. She also negotiates between the different men in her life to coax them towards Rhaenyra’s ways. Rhaena doesn’t have much agency—looking after Rhaenyra’s youngest children—but at the very end of the second season, she goes off on her own path, teasing an exciting arc in Season 3.

Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), leader of a spy network in King’s Landing, also shines in Season 2. A cunning woman who will do anything to survive, she forms a bond with Rhaenyra and offers council as an informal representative of the “smallfolk,” the common and working-class people of Westeros. Mysaria is vital to Rhaenyra’s understanding of fighting a war outside of armies clashing against each other, and thinking about the actual people living in the realm. And Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin), a healer with seemingly supernatural abilities, may only serve as a character to guide Daemon on an introspective journey, but it’s a delight to see her completely unafraid of the tyrannical Targaryen whilst showing humour and boldness. A final mention must go to the scene-stealing Sharako Lohar (Abigail Thorn). The oddball commander of the Triarchy fleet, gender-swapped from the book, is brash, ruthless, and a bit of a joker—taking joy in making a Lannister lord uncomfortable before propositioning him to sleep with her many wives.

Throughout both seasons, the central themes of womanhood are laid bare and thoroughly explored. Even women in power must fight to have a say in a room full of men, and fight to keep hold of that power. And seeing this imbalance from the perspective of women makes it all the more potent. Rhaenyra and Alicent aren’t perfect role models, either: They plot, scheme, and make mistakes that cause death and misery. But that is what makes them human and engaging to watch.

Race: 4/5

Game of Thrones had issues with racial diversity on the show, killing off their few characters of colour, and among them, only casting light-skinned actors. It’s refreshing then to see a far more diverse cast in House of the Dragon, mostly thanks to House Velaryon. In a deliberate move to race-swap the characters, the house is one of rich and powerful Black seafarers (played by actors with varying skin tones), led by the cool and ambitious Lord Corlys (Steve Toussaint).

It’s easy to be sceptical at first, with Corlys’ granddaughters Baela and Rhaena serving mostly as set dressing in backgrounds and not much more. Furthermore, many members of the Velaryon family are brutally murdered for the sake of progressing white characters’ arcs. And aside from Mysaria, played by British actor Mizuno who’s English, Argentinian, and Japanese, there aren’t other characters of colour. But seeing a Black family on the same playing board as the other Great Houses is a huge step forward for the franchise, and a welcome one.

In Season 2, the narrative arcs involving House Velaryon are vastly improved. As mentioned in the previous section, Baela and Rhaena enjoy much more fleshed-out character arcs. Corlys becomes a key player as his wife Rhaenys (Eve Best) joins the Blacks council, and his bastard sons Alyn (Abubakar Salim) and Addam (Clinton Liberty) are introduced. Alyn and Addam themselves make for wonderful new additions to the show. Alyn is a stoic sailor who only wishes to live a simple life after being abandoned by his father, and Addam strives for something more in life. The two brothers get their moment in the spotlight, with Addam unexpectedly changing the playing field for the entire civil war, and Alyn delivering a cathartic monologue towards the end of the season.

Much like the women of House of the Dragon, the members of House Velaryon are given the time and space to be rich characters with depth. They each have wants, needs and flaws, and importantly, agency.

Disability: 3.5/5

Lord Larys (Matthew Needham) as Master of Whisperers for the “Greens,” the political faction led by Alicent and the Hightowers, is a tricky character not just in personality but in how his disability is portrayed on the show. Larys was born with a twisted foot which means he walks with a cane. (To note, actor Needham doesn’t have a visible disability.) A listener who works in the shadows, relying on intellect and cunning rather than physical strength to rise to power, Larys is a fascinating villain reminiscent of Littlefinger (Aiden Gillen) from Game of Thrones. And like Game of Thrones’ Tyrion (Peter Dinklage), Larys is a capable player whose disability doesn’t define him.

But the writers get dangerously close to pushing Larys into classic “disabled villain” territory that would perpetuate harmful stereotypes. A pivotal scene in Season 1 sees Larys masturbating to Alicent’s exposed feet in exchange for sharing vital information with her. Scenes like this clearly mark Larys as a villainous creep, and framing the offence around a foot fetish is clearly a cheap attempt at shock value. That said, his disability is never referenced or highlighted as part of it. Larys is vying for power like everyone else, and similar to many characters in this world, he uses morally bankrupt and outright evil tactics to come out on top.

Season 2 adds a bit more depth to his character. After King Aegon Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) suffers dragonfire burns and multiple broken bones, Larys is there pushing Aegon to recover from his life-altering injuries. Although the reason is most likely to gain favour with the king, Larys does tearfully open up about how his family dismissed him for his disability, and how he worked his way into power even when the world underestimated him. Hopefully, Season 3 unpacks more of Larys’ complicated character: a disabled man who uses dirty and outright terrible tactics to climb the ranks in an ableist world.

Helaena (Phia Saban, who isn’t known to be neurodivergent), on the other hand, has a more questionable portrayal as a character with autism. On the one hand, her experiences are communicated well. During several scenes, Helaena becomes overwhelmed by large crowds of people, with effective direction and Saban’s strong performance making each situation all too real for autistic audiences like myself. Helaena is also considered socially awkward by her family—her fears about rats in the floorboards and her bug-collecting hobby are met with sarcastic chuckles—but we empathise with Helaena as the perspective is always from her point of view.

The issue lies in that Helaena is a “Dreamer”: someone with prophetic powers. She often references visions she sees to others, who dismiss them as strange, off-hand comments. We could have had an endearing neurodivergent character, but her autistic traits are explained away by her Dreamer abilities, leading to the stereotype of autism as a superpower. Whether it’s villainising disabled characters or putting them on a pedestal, House of the Dragon tries but struggles to fully humanise either Larys or Helaena.

Bonus for LGBTQ: +0.50

Game of Thrones had a nasty habit of killing off their LGBTQ characters and barely exploring the sexualities of the one or two who did survive. Fast-forward a few years, and House of the Dragon has taken moderate steps to improve on this front.

In Season 1, the younger Rhaenyra and Alicent have a strong connection evocative of sapphic yearning, and their actors Alcock and Carey (with Carey identifying as LGBTQ) did mention in an interview that they play the characters as queer. Their relationship never progresses into physical romance, but an older Rhaenyra in Season 2 does share a passionate kiss with Mysaria. Having Rhaenyra confirm her bi/pansexuality recontextualises the relationship between herself and Alicent, proving her feelings to Alicent were more than platonic.

The writers still commit the cardinal sin of “burying your gays,” however. Lovers Laenor Velaryon (Theo Nate) and Joffrey Lonmouth (Solly McLeod) have their gay romance cut short when Lonmouth is brutally beaten to death by Sir Cristin Cole (Fabien Frankel) for deducing that the knight is sleeping with Rhaenyra. Even Laernor is shown torched alive, but thankfully, he gets somewhat a happy ending as viewers learn the death was staged and Laernor escaped to lands unknown with a new lover.

Also disappointing is that Mysaria and Rhaenyra’s kiss has, so far, not been addressed or progressed further. After that scene, the two don’t interact at all for the rest of the season. Hopefully their relationship is brought back to the forefront in Season 3, as a queer leading character in one of the biggest shows currently on air would be a big step forward in LGBTQ portrayals in popular media.

Mediaversity Grade: B+ 4.38/5

House of the Dragon is a marked improvement over Game of Thrones in how it depicts women and characters of colour. Taking up space in leading roles, audiences see the world of Westeros through womens’ eyes and are treated to Black characters who enact plans—good and bad—to achieve their goals. But there is still room for improvement in future seasons for the show to do better by its disabled and queer characters.

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Grade: BLiSeptember 3, 2024Great for: Gender, Great for: LGBTQ