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House Of The Dragon Season 2 Is Already Avoiding S1's Biggest Mistake
House of the Dragon season 2 is already guaranteed to avoid one of season 1's biggest problems: the copious and often confusing time jumps. The time jumps were narratively necessary to illustrate the twists and turns of various schemes and family dynamics, not least the rollercoaster relationship between Rhaenyra and Alicent from childhood friends to the brink of civil war. But they were also alienating for audiences, with it often being a struggle to follow both the constant recasting of characters, how exactly they interact with one another after the span of a few years, and how their motivations and personalities might have changed.
House of the Dragon's showrunner Ryan Condal has offered assurances that the series' significant time jumps have concluded. "As a reward to our wonderful audience for following us through all the time jumps and recasts, they are done," Condal said after the season 1 finale. "We tell the story in real-time from here forward. The actors are playing these characters until the end. We’re not recasting anybody. We’re not making any huge jumps forward in time. We are now in the Dance of the Dragons, and we’re gonna tell that story." Given House of the Dragon's helmer recognizes that much of season 1 felt like a set-up for season 2's civil war, the filmmakers were clearly conscious of the risk in introducing so many time jumps as potentially estranging viewers.
House Of The Dragon Season 1's Time Jumps Made Sense... But Hurt The Story
The time jumps had to exist in House of the Dragon's season 1. They, and the initially slower pace of the show more generally, were clearly a risk given audiences likely craved the immediate gratification familiar from Game of Thrones' storylines. However, Condal and the team shrewdly treated them like contextual prologues to both the phenomenal final three episodes of season 1 and the Dance of the Dragons civil war to come in season 2 and beyond.
The recasting and changed personalities might have been confusing, but major moments in the show would probably not have been as dramatically satisfying without them. Alicent's desperate demand for "an eye for an eye" after Aemond's fight with Lucerys at Driftmark, as well as her furious confrontation with Rhaenyra, would not have been nearly as powerful without the gradual disintegration of their friendship so patiently explored in the first five episodes. Daemon's grab of Rhaenyra's throat in the finale would hardly be as shocking a reminder of who he really is without the earlier portrayal of him as a cruel, wife-murdering monster. Likewise, Rhaenys' Dragonpit decision not to utter "Dracarys" and incinerate Aegon's retinue wouldn't be nearly as profound if there weren't nine episodes of everyone underestimating "the Queen who never was."
At the same time, however, it would be churlish not to point out that while the time jumps were well-intentioned, necessary to lay the groundwork for Dance of the Dragons, and accentuated the impact of the later episodes' big moments, they were often still frustrating. It was initially difficult to build rapport with House of the Dragon's characters when their actors were changing every few episodes, and the abrupt deviations in their motivations and personalities often rang hollow. For example, Milly Alcock's Rhaenyra was an engaging presence, rebelling against a patriarchal society and refusing to submit to her fate as essentially an heir production factory.
When the time jumps to Emma D'Arcy's Rhaenyra in episode 6 with three children in her mid-20s, it partly hammers home that there is ultimately no escape from this world's Feudalist misogyny, which is an important point to convey. But that doesn't make her character u-turn any less jarring as, for the audience, it emerges from nowhere. Other elements also felt rushed, such as Daemon's complex relationship with Laena before she dies, or the sincere love at the center of Rhaenyra's romance with Harwin Strong.
House Of The Dragon Season 2 Will Be Better Without Major Time Jumps
Yet as compelling as House of the Dragon season 1 was, and as well-performed as each iteration of the younger characters were, especially Alcock as Rhaenyra, the show is almost certainly going to find itself on surer footing going into season 2. Season 1 covered decades of story, while the Dance of the Dragons transpires only over a few years, making irritating time jumps and recasting almost entirely unnecessary. This will allow Condal, the filmmakers, and the screenwriters the opportunity to tell a more coherent tale.
In theory, this should allow more time for patient and nuanced character development in future House of the Dragon seasons and various subplots the time and space to breathe. The kind of malnourished story season 1 had, like Daemon and Laena, should be afforded more than a handful of scenes to allow proper investment in its unfolding and understanding of its intricacies. Likewise, the kind of jarring characterization that saw Aemond sharply transition from a frustrated and bullied tween in episode 7 into the competent, arrogant, and revenge-seeking adult Aemond of episode 8, can now be avoided. There is more scope to explore these developments in detail.
Could House Of The Dragon Still Have Timeline Problems In The Future?
While the challenge of juggling time jumps and recasting is ostensibly at an end, different kinds of timeline management present themselves for House of the Dragon's remaining seasons. There are plenty of assassinations, schemes, and battles to cover, including the monumental battles at Rook's Rest and Duskendale. Then there's the Sowing of the dragons and the seismic Battle of the Gullet. Perhaps most tantalizing of all is the spectacular dragon fight (and deaths) of Aemond and Daemon above Gods Eye, or the riots at King's Landing and the sacking of the Dragonpit. Next season and beyond, that is a lot of ground to cover.
That is before even considering how deep into the remainder of Fire & Blood's timeline House of the Dragon intends to go, presuming it doesn't just end immediately as the Dance of the Dragons does. If it continues to follow the Targaryen lineage, there's still the Hour of the Wolf to get to, which involves Lord Cregan Stark's six-day governance of King's Landing. There's also the reign of Aegon III after his installation as king. Both these incidents might receive screen time, but without the series' main characters present at this stage, it is unlikely to be much more than an episode or two even if they are covered by the show.
House of the Dragon is currently planned to run for four seasons. Precise pacing by Condal and the rest will be required to both do the Dance of the Dragons justice as a breathtaking civil war worthy of the highest-budget summer blockbuster movie, while simultaneously peppering the remaining three seasons with enough prestige TV minor character beats and colorful subplots. With so much high drama and intense, brutal action left to cover, it demands a tricky balance to keep it as engaging a story, as well as, hopefully, as exhilarating a spectacle.
