Is House of The Dragon Going Down the Same Path as Game Of Thrones?
Speculating on Fiction #5
This is the fifth and final essay in a series called Speculating on Fiction, in which we tackle big works of speculative fiction.
This week, to go along with the finale of House of the Dragon that aired on August 4th, Neha explores the potential of the show and some questions and theories that arose during the latest season.
Warning: This essay contains spoilers for Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon.
Since I started the HBO TV series in college, Game of Thrones has been one of my favorite fantasy stories, and it wasn’t until the series gave us its infamous ending that I finally picked up the books in 2019. Back then, I had the naive hope that George R. R. Martin would be motivated to finish writing the series quickly after the TV adaptation left us wondering how his version of the story would go. Now, 5 years later, I’ve given up all hope that the books will ever be complete, and am happy enjoying the world of Westeros through the new House of the Dragon show. I haven’t picked up Fire and Blood yet, but probably will after House of the Dragon finishes airing to fill the future Targaryen-sized hole in my heart.
Game of Thrones has notably given their audience plot twist after plot twist with stabbing, amputating, incest, suicide, beheadings (the list goes on), and I always worried that I would eventually become numb to it. Will the scene of Jaime Lannister’s arm being cut off ever not make me shut my eyes? Will I ever not audibly gasp when Daenerys’ brother finally gets his “gold crown”?
The answer is no. Fortunately, or unfortunately, those things will always be gruesome, terrifying and so unbelievably entertaining that when House of the Dragon came along, I was more than ready. Season one was fast-paced, the character development was perfect and consistent all the way through, the dragon battles were visually glorious, and the actors and actresses blew me away.
However, after the season two finale last week, I really can’t help but wonder if House of the Dragon is headed down the same frustrating path as Game of Thrones and I know I am not the only one that feels this way.
The first season of House of the Dragon ended with one of the best climaxes I have seen on TV, and I was under the impression that a war was about to break out. And after the season two finale… I am still waiting. Everything that happened in the second season could have been wrapped up in the first three episodes but instead, we got Daemon’s recurring hallucinations, Alicent vacationing on a lake (what was that about though, someone tell me), and the constant mentioning of Vhagar and his monstrous size and capabilities. There was definitely not enough action, and too much talking and arguing (which I guess is what all politics is, but if we’re watching a story about imaginary politics, can we please at least make that interesting?).
One thing that season two did leave us with is questions and theories. And if you know me, you know I LOVE coming up with theories. So here are a few (both totally out there and very probable and obvious ones) that I will share:
Who is Alys Rivers?
Daemon spent most of this season at Harrenhal tripping on some good ol’ weirwood. His dreams were symbolic, cryptic, and unnerving, but he was able to express his discomfort to a new character in the series named Alys Rivers. Alys Rivers’ identity otherwise is pretty mysterious. Is she a witch? A ghost? Is she a part of Daemon’s hallucinations?
The show confirms that she is probably a real person, and she may be the cause of Daemon’s bad trips as she is seen passing him mysterious drinks during his time at Harrenhal. She knows things about Daemon’s life that seem impossible, which could mean that she is a Greenseer, though I don’t know how much that would affect the show going forward. However, when she mentions that she provided as a wetnurse for House Strong, it got me thinking that her lineage may be one of the Strong House and Alys may be connected to Larys Strong. If she is a Greenseer, could Larys Strong also be a Greenseer?
Is Helaena Talking to Bran?
Speaking of Greenseers, Helaena has shown multiple instances of being a part of something all-knowing.
Since season one, Helaena has always been seen muttering to herself and having a peculiar personality, and her prophetic abilities become clear at the end of season two. We aren’t sure how she sees these visions or prophecies, it could be a dragon dream similar to what Daenerys or Jon Snow had in Game of Thrones. It could also be that Helaena is in contact with the all-knowing Three-Eyed-Raven, AKA Bran Stark (or any other Three-Eyed-Raven but I would like to think that it is Bran Stark). As we see in Game of Thrones, Bran has the ability to interact with people from the past and even communicate with them, so it could be possible that the person feeding Helaena with these prophecies is Bran Stark.
What happened to Otto Hightower?
Near the end of season two, Otto Hightower’s whereabouts are unknown until we see an image of him locked in a cage during the last episode. We don’t get any context beyond this image, but two facts lead me to theorize about what happened to him. We know Otto Hightower went home to Old Town after he was fired as Hand of the King, and we also know that Alicent’s third son, Daeron, is heading from Old Town to King’s Landing to join his brothers in the war. Could Daeron have imprisoned his own grandfather, on the pretense of treason? After Otto Hightower arrives in Old Town, it could be that he was trying to convince Daeron to overthrow his brother, Aegon, and become King of the Iron Throne himself.
All in all, I am disappointed with how season two turned out, but I have high hopes for what’s coming. The show has so much potential and is already going much beyond the books. I can tell they are trying to tie threads to characters and themes we all know and love from Game of Thrones, which excites me to the possibilities of their creative development.
Thank you for reading and letting me nerd out! What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with any of my theories about the show? Do you think season 3 will do better? Let us know in the comments!
— Neha
Tomorrow we will be switching gears as we begin Season 4 of The Novel Tea podcast. As announced in a recent post, the theme for the upcoming season will be Beyond Borders. Tune in tomorrow wherever you get your podcasts to hear more about the theme, and the books we’ll be reading in the next few months!
Could not agree more 👏🏻