For a lot of viewers, the difficulty with Home of the Dragon started with the opening credit of the very first episode.
The choice to repurpose the enduring Recreation of Thrones theme music for a wholly new collection was unusual, and it is likely to be unprecedented within the historical past of high-profile spinoffs.
In spite of everything, it is not like Frasier opened with photographs of Cafe Nervosa over lyrics about a spot the place everyone is aware of your title.
The choice to make use of Ramin Djawadi’s orchestral rating was pretty minor, however some critics theorized that it was indicative of HBO’s confusion about how this present ought to be rolled out and marketed.
There was a time when Recreation of Thrones was the most important factor on tv by a large margin, and naturally, execs wished to capitalize on that reputation.
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However the present’s last season was a spectacular failure, and producers Ryan Condal and George R.R. Martin (who wrote the books upon which each collection had been primarily based) could have wished to ever so barely distance themselves from the conflict between the Starks and the Lannisters.
And they need to have simply been ready to take action, as HoD focuses on a unique warfare of succession, this one happening roughly two centuries earlier than the principle motion of Recreation of Thrones.
Sadly, by shifting the motion and chopping ties with GoT showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the franchise might need misplaced the magic that made its unique outing such a shock hit.
Burning Shiny, of Flaming Out?
Perhaps you are a diehard fan of the present or one of many viewers who felt slightly lukewarm about Season 1 however determined to present this spinoff a second probability.
Both method, you have possible encountered the same old complaints:
The tempo of Home of the Dragon is significantly slower than that of Recreation of Thrones.
There are too many scowling blonde characters with confusingly comparable names.
Season 1 devoted a lot time to backstory and place-setting that it felt like a slog at instances.
You’ll be able to contest the validity of these complaints, however there is not any denying that they are fairly widespread throughout the social media panorama.
With Season 2, the present confronted a further problem: a 22-month hiatus.
That is roughly 4,000 years on this, the period of the TikTok-ified consideration span, and there have been considerations that HoD would not be capable of lure its core viewers again, a lot much less entice new viewers.
Did Sunday night time’s Home of the Dragon Season 2 premiere assuage these fears?
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Properly, it is determined by who you ask.
A Lukewarm Response
After some expository scenes that in all probability baffled the hell out of anybody who did not trouble refreshing their reminiscence earlier than tuning in (or at the very least paying ultra-close consideration in the course of the recap), the episode quickly picked up steam.
The truth is, it appeared just like the writers had been aware of the criticism that the primary season was a bit sluggish at instances.
Viewers acquainted with the supply materials might need skilled a combination of dread and pleasure after they realized that this was the episode through which characters nicknamed “Blood” and “Cheese” would savagely dispatch Aegon II’s son Jaehaerys.
The homicide was cold-blooded, carried out by an odd couple pair of hit males, probably on the order of Daemon.
The sounds had been horrifying, and the mom’s grief palpable — so why did so many viewers really feel that the entire scene smacked of anticlimax?
Did the “Blood and Cheese” Storyline Curdle?
Echoing the feelings of many viewers on X, Vulture’s critic wrote that the scene “ought to have been extra base and barbaric.”
For all the issues of its later seasons, Recreation of Thrones was by no means shy about “going there.”
And HoD featured some memorably gnarly scenes in its first season.
A few of them had been sufficient to make your pores and skin crawl, like crabs skittering throughout the flesh of a departed villain. So why did the present play it protected this time?
Now, we do not assume anybody is saying that they wished the digicam to linger on a scene of a kid being brutally butchered.
However the homicide of Jaehaerys has been in comparison with Recreation of Thrones’ Crimson Marriage ceremony — the second at which the tide turned totally due to a stunning and brutal act of violence.
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There are methods that Home of the Dragon may have generated an identical impression and not using a graphic depiction of Jaehaerys’s homicide.
Nonetheless, primarily based on the response on social media, they failed to take action.
Sure, “Blood and Cheese” trended on Sunday night time and Monday morning, however many of the prime responses had been complaints that the scene wasn’t as disturbing because it ought to have been.
It is only one scene, after all, however the response encapsulates a lot of the criticism of the whole collection.
Has Home of the Dragon Did not Take Flight?
Jaehaerys’s homicide did not hit dwelling the best way it ought to have, primarily as a result of the present spent so little time creating his character.
HoD usually appears so fixated on lore and world-building that it forgets to make us care in regards to the folks on the heart of this story.
Say what you’ll about Weiss and Benioff, however for all of the methods they fumbled on the aim line, these two knew when to sluggish issues all the way down to deal with character growth.
They realized that if it weren’t for Tyrion Lannister’s charisma or the tender moments between Arya and the Hound, the present may begin to really feel like one limitless information dump.
GoT’s bawdy humor and extra sexually charged storylines might need examined the persistence of some viewers, however these moments prevented the collection from feeling like a Wikipedia web page in regards to the Warfare of the Roses (with dragons).
Clearly, it is completely nice for Home of the Dragon to experiment with a unique tempo and tone.
It will be tiresome if the present provided us nothing greater than microwaved Recreation of Thrones leftovers.
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But when the writers cannot work out a option to generate a bit extra warmth of their very own, we’d should demand that they relinquish the rights to that badass theme music!
What do you assume, TV fanatics? Is Home of the Dragon nonetheless flying excessive, or is that this present in peril of flaming out?
Hit the feedback part beneath to share your ideas!
Tyler Johnson is an Affiliate Editor for TV Fanatic and the opposite Mediavine O&O websites. In his spare time, he enjoys studying, cooking, and, after all, watching TV. You’ll be able to Observe him on X and e-mail him right here at TV Fanatic.
