How HBO saved its number one fantasy show from disaster

Game of Thrones, a phenomenally successful fantasy show and the biggest hit in the history of HBO, ended in 2019, and Hollywood has been trying to replace it ever since. HBO itself has had the most success in this regard; the Game of Thrones prequel shows House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms have both been big hits.

However, House of the Dragon was looking precarious there for a minute, but HBO bought itself time to right the ship with the recently concluded third season.

The scandals of House of the Dragon

Author vs showrunner, book-readers vs show-watchers

House of the Dragon is based on the book Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin, and tells the story of a brutal civil war fought between rival factions of the Targaryen dynasty over 100 years before the events of Game of Thrones. On one side we have Queen Rhaenyra I Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), who believes the gods have chosen her to rule. On the other side we have her younger half-brother King Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney), who is determined to stake his own claim.

Fans and critics widely agreed that the first season of the show, which aired in 2022, was a success. Things took a turn with the second season, which was hampered by problems. At least one wasn’t the show’s fault: for reasons that we’ll probably never completely understand, HBO reduced the number of episodes included in the season from 10 to eight, which led to pacing issues; instead of ending with a big action climax as originally planned, the season ended with a series of cliffhangers, a big annoyance when fans have to wait multiple years between new episodes.

Other errors were unforced. For one, the show departed markedly from the source material in ways that made little sense. For instance, in the book, the character of Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) labors to oppose Rhaenyra’s rule and advance her own family’s interest, but on the show she makes a secret alliance with Rhaenyra and offers up her own children for execution. Changes are always made when adapting a book for the screen, but these were so egregious that Martin himself publicly called out the show, and went on to describe his relationship with showrunner Ryan Condal as “abysmal.”

With ratings falling, fans split, a long wait the new season, and the author publicly condemning the show, was there any hope? As it ends up, yes.

Season 3 helped restore faith in House of the Dragon

For now

The third season of House of the Dragon kicked off with a pair of action-heavy episodes that were originally meant to end the second season, which helped inject some energy into the fandom. The middle of the season was a little sleepy, but the season finale, “The Treasons at Tumbleton,” ended with a big battle and took some bold risks with its characters, risks that ultimately paid off.

In the first and second seasons, the show developed a bad habit of absolving characters of their actions. For instance, in the first season, the character of Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) chases his half-nephew Luke (Elliot Grihault) on his dragon and then kills him, as happens in the book. But the show tells us that it was actually Aemond’s dragon who acted on its own, meaning Aemond himself has less culpability. Another example: Alicent works to put her son Aegon on the throne, as she does in the book, but on the show she only does it because she misunderstands the dying words of her late husband, King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine).

Again and again, the writers construct the story in such a way that the characters aren’t responsible for their own actions, which is deeply bizarre. After all, why should people be interested in a story that’s driven not by the characters, but by happenstance? This problem crops up again here and there in Season 3, but where it counts, the writers commit. By the end of the season, Rhaenyra herself has become convinced that she’s destined to rule the Seven Kingdoms and that anything she does in service of that goal is divinely justified. This leads her to commit some atrocious acts, and the show doesn’t come up with any excuses to absolve her of responsibility. The writers actually let her get dark, and she’s never been more compelling.

House of the Dragon fans have a long wait ahead of them

But it should be easier to endure this time

Fans still have to wait two years to see new episodes of House of the Dragon, but because Season 3 ended on a high rather than a low, we’re going into that wait excited rather than deflated.

The fourth season of House of the Dragon will be its last. It’s hard to predict what version of the show we’ll get. Will the writers follow through on the improvements of Season 3, or will they fall back on old habits? We have a long time to stew on those questions.

Meanwhile

It’s nice to see House of the Dragon digging its way out of the hole it dug for itself, but however it ends, it might not matter, because Game of Thrones fans now have another option: a second prequel show called A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premiered earlier this year on HBO, and it’s even better than the first one.