Last Sunday, the season two finale of “House of the Dragon” debuted on Max. The season’s eighth episode was coming off the heels of one of the best episodes of the entire series, and what appeared to be the beginning of a massive war. Except it wasn’t.
For those unfamiliar, “House of the Dragon” is a spinoff series of “Game of Thrones” including similar characters and plot points.
Season two of HOTD had all the hype in the world, with the expectation being 8 episodes full of battles, deaths, and dragons. These are the reasons we tune in to watch, and this season only had bits and pieces.
What made “Game of Thrones” great was the payoff after all the buildup. This season of HOTD was full of buildup with no reward. Even when Thrones had its dull moments, we as fans knew there would be some wild outcome making it all worth it. This show is taking its time as GOT did but without any of the benefits. They are insisting upon the success of a show that is now over, which should not be the case.
The storytelling also took a nosedive this season compared to that of season one, with things feeling rushed and not well thought out. It no longer feels like HBO cares about making a good product but about the paycheck. Because they know when it’s all said and done, we will watch.
This is not the first time that fans of the “Game of Thrones” universe have experienced something like this. GOT season 7 had a wild ending that led people to believe that the series last season, season 8, would bring the story to a miraculous close only to be let down. Similarly, season one of HOTD concluded with the war ready to begin, and even after eight consecutive episodes of buildup this season, we still never got that payoff.
