House of the Dragon, Season Three
- Abubakar Salim, Barry Sloane, Bethany Antonia, Clinton Liberty, Dan Fogler, Emma D’Arcy, Ewan Mitchell, Fabien Frankel, Freddie Fox, Gayle Rankin, Harry Collett, James Norton, Jefferson Hall, Joplin Sibtain, Kieran Bew, Kurt Egyiawan, Matt Smith, Matthew Needham, Olivia Cooke, Phia Saban, Phoebe Campbell, Rhys Ifans, Sonoya Mizuno, Steve Toussaint, Tom Bennett, Tom Cullen, Tom Glynn-Carney, Tommy Flanagan
Dustin Chase
This summers most action-packed event isn’t from Spielberg, Spider-Man or Christopher Nolan; it’s on HBO for the next two Sundays at least. If you are not a “House of the Dragon” watcher already, I would highly suggest going back and catching up on season’s 1 & 2, thrilling in their own historical fantastical right. Based on books by George R. R. Martin. Season 3 picks up exactly where it left off back in the summer of 2024 and forges full steam into bloody battle. Four years and two seasons have led to what’s shaping up to be the largest scale battle and cinematic devastation ever shown on television. If “Game of Thrones” changed the perimeters and expectations of TV series, “House of the Dragon” understands it must go further, be bigger and better.
Prince Jacaerys and Queen Rhaenyra
Episode 1 of Season 3 has notes of “Master & Commander” as “The Battle of the Gullet” roars to life. Showrunner Ryan Condal and HBO knew they had to go big with the season opener after fans complained of so much set up in Season 2. With everything now set up, it’s full steam war ahead and a gripping hour of television that will be talked about for years to come. Abubakar Salim who plays Alyn of Hull in the series is the episodes MVP, a character who we get to see and learn a lot more about this season. The musical score component for the season opener by Ramin Djawadi and Kaivalya Arekar also takes the entire world of Westeros into a different tune. The editing, which isn’t the episode’s strongest element, briefly bounces us around the various spots,
No brakes or time to catch your breath in Episode Two, the series maintains its intense pace in true “Game of Thrones” fashion.
so we see who is moving where, but the bulk of the episode is the gut-wrenching gullet.
No brakes or time to catch your breath in Episode Two, the series maintains its intense pace in true “Game of Thrones” fashion. It’s a battle of a different kind, an internal one as both Team Green (The current occupants of King’s Landing) and Team Black (Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen and her growing army of dragons) make choices that will define both this season and the history of the realm for generations to come. “I’m done with talking,” Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) says. The cinematography that captures the devastation from the previous episode is magnificent in those opening shots. In fact, Episode 2 is quite striking throughout on many of its visual choices that are both hauntingly artistic and yield much foreboding.
Episodes 3 & 4 unfortunately don’t maintain the pace or fury of the season’s openers. Episode 3 takes a swing with a POV style narrative of one character’s endless burdens. It’s the bookend scenes of that episode that stand out. I worry that by Episode 4 ‘Dragon’ slithers back to its Season 2 pace with political intrigue, set up and maneuvering. What makes “House of the Dragon” in particular so captivating is the yearning for more. It always asks as many more questions as it answers. With every villain who finally meets an end, we lose a hero, and another one pops up in their place. Where is Lord Larys ‘The Clubfoot’ Strong real allegiance? What is the hunger the mysterious Alice needs to feed? And can a certain dragon rider ever show face again after that chaotic display. Fire reigns as the new season begins but so does chaos and Condal, so far, proves he is quite capable of conducting us through what’s sure to be the most talked-about seven-episode arc of any show this entire year.
Final Thought
Season 3’s ambition and scale will to ensnare new fans to the series while leaving diehards breathlessly satisfied back in the dragon saddle.