‘Home of the Dragon’ Needs You to Belief ‘Recreation of Thrones’ Once more

The jig was up the minute Queen (sure, Queen) Rhaenyra Targaryen solid her eyes away from the hearth and seemingly set her sights on revenge: This new Recreation of Thrones present gives you what the final Recreation of Thrones present didn’t. It was as telegraphed as the truth that [spoiler] was going to die the second he received on that dragon. This present needs to revive the religion of each viewer who felt burned the final time by giving them what they need. Specifically: A girl able to ascend the Iron Throne who gained’t lose herself within the course of—and dragons, dragons, and extra dragons.

Nonetheless, Home of the Dragon has a protracted method to go to rebuild that belief.

First, in the event you haven’t seen Sunday’s finale episode and don’t wish to know what occurs, cease studying. Second, in the event you haven’t already sort of seen the place this present needs to take you, you haven’t been paying consideration. One of many advantages of Dragon, versus Recreation of Thrones, stays that the present relies on a reasonably set-in-stone little bit of textual content—George R.R. Martin’s Fireplace & Blood. Not like its predecessor, which ended its run in 2019 earlier than Martin may end writing the books on which it was based mostly, HBO’s new fantasy thingamabob has guardrails. Sure, the present’s creator Ryan J. Condal may select to take away them, however why? Absolutely he is aware of there’s nothing down that path however ache.

Thus, Home of the Dragon ended its first season with Rhaenyra listening to that her father, who had named her his inheritor, has died and her brother (actually from one other mom), Aegon II, has taken the Iron Throne. Like Daenerys Targaryen, she is a white-haired lady (Targaryen genes aren’t any joke) decided to assert her place. Not like Daenerys—or, reasonably, not like Daenerys towards the tip of her quest for energy—she has no “want to rule over a kingdom of ash and bone.” She needs to unite the realm and all that. She, in accordance with her former mother-in-law Rhaenys—whose son, let’s not neglect, she had killed in order that she may marry her uncle, Daemon—is “the one one who has demonstrated restraint” as the remainder of her council requires battle. Most of all, she is somebody’s whose character arc has a blueprint.

Audiences, after all, are supposed to see the parallels. Recreation of Thrones positions Daenerys, previous to her downfall, because the one to root for. Somebody with a rightful declare to the Iron Throne who goals to free individuals and take her place because the one queen to rule all of them. Downside was, her single-minded dedication to put on the crown ended up overpowering all of her “I’m going to interrupt the wheel” change-the-game discuss, and she or he determined to torch King’s Touchdown reasonably than result in some nice Targaryen reign. For many who had been rooting for her, it was a giant, largely unintelligible bummer.

Home of the Dragon feels poised to treatment that. Whereas each reveals appear intent on torturing their lady characters (Dragon simply appears to have swapped assaults for very brutal birthing scenes), the brand new Thrones present is a minimum of attempting to indicate Rhaenrya’s evolution from a level-headed potential unifier of the realm to somebody prepared to decide on violence to rule the Seven Kingdoms. Dany’s grip on her objective began to crumble when she fell for Jon Snow, who she later came upon was additionally her nephew and had a declare to the Iron Throne as nicely. Granted, that may mess anybody up, however after every thing Daenerys had endured, her response felt out-of-character. Watching Home of the Dragon, one solely hopes Rhaenyra doesn’t do something equally out of kinds.

Hope, as Corly Velaryon says, is the idiot’s ally—however maybe she gained’t. On the conclusion of Sunday’s finale, she learns her son Lucerys has died on dragonback. In that second her eyes look towards the digicam and it’s clear any ideas of peace are gone. However not like Dany’s scorched-earth seize of King’s Touchdown, Rhaenyra’s plan for revenge is on the coronary heart of Fireplace & Blood, one thing on the web page, not the ultimate salvo of a present fumbling to its conclusion. Her future is already written, what’s going to matter is that if Home of the Dragon follows it.