The Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon returns with a second season on June 16, but the first reviews are already pouring in. The prequel show continues the story of House Targaryen in the lead-up to the civil war known as the “Dance of the Dragons.” Season 2 of House of the Dragon continues the positive reception of the franchise and the first season’s Certified Fresh rating with more character development, more action, and of course, more shocking deaths.
Here’s what critics are saying about House of the Dragon: Season 2:
How does it compare to season 1?
House of the Dragon soars even higher this time… It is utterly compelling and expertly crafted television.
— William Goodman, The Wrap
Not only has House of the Dragon surpassed its freshman season, but, based on the first four episodes provided for review, it has the potential to overshadow even the more popular flagship series.
— Therese Lacson, Collider
It’s a confident and elegant improvement upon the first season.
— Dan Jolin, Empire Magazine
All the table setting and time jumping that dominated the better part of the first season have, perhaps inevitably, set the stage for a much stronger second season for House of the Dragon.
— Aaron Riccio, slant Magazine
If House of the Dragon Season 1 was the slow burn of the fuse leading up to the Dance of the Dragons, then Season 2 is the powder keg finally going off.
— Belen Edwards, Mashable
Through the first four episodes of its second season, House of the Dragon mostly feels in line with what came before.
— Elijah Gonzalez, Paste Magazine
For the most part, I think anyone who liked House of the Dragon season 1 should be very much on board with season 2, but there are some… let’s say interesting narrative and character choices, which book readers, in particular, may not agree with.
— James Hunt, Screen Rant
(Photo by HBO/Max)
What are some things season 2 does better?
In Season 2, House of the Dragon does a much better job establishing both Rhaenyra and Alicent’s children.
— William Goodman, The Wrap
This quieter, slower, but just as bloody season allows the show’s characters to develop so that their inevitable deaths carry more weight.
— Aaron Riccio, slant Magazine
Intimate moments of hesitation make House of the Dragon Season 2 such a brutal, affecting watch.
— Belen Edwards, Mashable
Is it bigger than the first season?
Season 2 is bigger and bloodier. It brings more dragons, battles, murder, scheming, revenge, full frontal nudity, and sex.
— Lauren Sarner, New York Post
Especially for a Game of Thrones property, [it’s] surprisingly restrained.
— Aaron Riccio, slant Magazine
By going smaller, the world of House of the Dragon feels bigger and more live, especially when bolstered by what looks to be a significant upgrade in the show’s overall production budget.
— William Goodman, The Wrap
House of the Dragon Season 2 is more interested in the cost of war than the epic scale of it.
— Belen Edwards, Mashable
(Photo by Theo Whitman/HBO)
Do we need to watch Season 1 first?
The premiere does a good job of refreshing everyone on the stakes and players of this particular era of throne games.
— William Goodman, The Wrap
How is the action?
Whereas last season made leaps and bounds over years, season two concentrates the action, in initial episodes at least, over weeks, cranking up the powder-keg tension ahead of the inevitable explosion.
— Vicky Jessop, London Evening Standard
House of the Dragon wisely [splashes] the screen with vivid, graphic, and often intensely intimate battle sequences, but in a way that consistently, vividly, and often poignantly advances the plot.
— Aaron Riccio, slant Magazine
The Dance of the Dragons plays out in the air or on battlefields, including an impressive set piece that calls to mind some of Game of Thrones’ best battles.
— Belen Edwards, Mashable
The spectacle here, in terms of dragon action specifically, rivals anything in Game of Thrones.
— James Hunt, Screen Rant
When the action gets rolling, the buildup is worth it. House of the Dragon’s unique selling proposition is dragon dogfighting, and there’s a battle scene that contains the show’s best aerial combat yet. It’s thrilling and emotionally affecting.
— Liam Mathews, TV Guide
[It has] the franchise’s finest dragon fight to date: a larger-than-life skirmish that results in a death that once again radically rewrites the fate of the seven kingdoms.
— Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
(Photo by HBO)
Is it as graphic as GoT fans expect?
Game of Thrones fans won’t be stunned to hear that the show continues to indulge in gory decapitations, deviant sexuality (including one X-rated brothel scene), and treachery most foul, not to mention out-of-left-field deaths that are designed to shock and thrill in equal measure.
— Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
[The episode] “A Son for a Son” ends with the most horrific act to be committed in the series to date, and the creators have the restraint to keep it off-camera, allowing the sound of the act and its reflection in the eyes of an onlooker to sell that horror.
— Aaron Riccio, slant Magazine
House of the Dragon Season 2 pulls no punches when it comes to the horrors of war.
— Megan O’Keefe, Decider
It’s a little underwhelming for a TV show that has been sold at least partly on the promise of mayhem and murder.
— Helen O’Hara, IGN Movies
Does the show still look amazing?
It must be said that House of the Dragon still looks gorgeous.
— Helen O’Hara, IGN Movies
The CGI dragons still look epic.
— Vicky Jessop, London Evening Standard
The spectacle of House of the Dragon Season 2 is no joke. It’s sort of pedestrian to say that the best thing about these shows is the dragons, but it’s also hard to deny that one of the best things about this show is the dragons.
— Therese Lacson, Collider
(Photo by Ollie Upton/HBO)
How are the performances?
The acting is transportive.
— Elijah Gonzalez, Paste Magazine
Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen [gives] a phenomenally nuanced performance that finds a wonderful balance between emotion and restraint, and absolutely deserves to be in awards contention when the time comes.
— James Hunt, Screen Rant
Cooke, in particular, is great as Alicent: wide-eyed and possessed of a kind of hunted-prey stare that gets ever more pronounced as the series progresses.
— Vicky Jessop, London Evening Standard
Smith is excellent, and even Glynn-Carney, in a much less nuanced role, shows range.
— Helen O’Hara, IGN Movies
Smith delivers a good performance, but the show doesn’t know what to do with Daemon… It’s a waste of Smith for the show to bench him.
— Lauren Sarner, New York Post
Everyone is ever-so-slightly upstaged by the bold performances of two younger actors. Tom Glynn-Carney finds a way to make Aegon simultaneously more tragic and comic than simply “Joffrey with a Dragon,” while Ewan Mitchell transforms Aemond into a more terrifying threat than a real dragon.
— Megan O’Keefe, Decider
Does it have any problems?
The one weak point is that of Lord Corlys (Steve Toussaint), whose arc takes a slight backseat in favor of fleshing out the children before heating back up just before the stretch of provided screeners ran out.
— William Goodman, The Wrap
Although there’s a lot of dramatic death and murder, none of it has as much emotional impact as it did on Game of Thrones, and some big moments feel unearned.
— Lauren Sarner, New York Post
Although House of the Dragon’s production value, performances, score, and just about every other aesthetic element are impressive, it’s hard to deny there’s a certain vacuousness compared to the first few seasons of its parent series.
— Elijah Gonzalez, Paste Magazine
Thumbnail image by ©Lucasfilm
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