Episode 2 of the House of the Dragon series airs August 29 at 9 p.m. on OCS City. The spin-off continues with more and more similarities to Game of Thrones… Warning, spoilers.
Spin-off or repeat? Game of Thrones fans find this August 29 on OCS episode 2 of the first season of House of the Dragon. Entitled “The Rebel Prince”, this episode advances the story while continuing to anchor itself in a decidedly familiar universe. It all starts with a generic, which ended up arriving as Télé Star had hoped after the first episode, which simply repeats the original theme of Game Of Thrones. The notes invented by the composer Ramin Djawadi resonate again on HBO, with a credits as refined and hypnotizing as that of Game Of Thrones. This time blood flows through Westeros, and it is indeed the emblem of the Targaryens that stands out on images that are predominantly red and black like the history of the house they represent.
Are Rhaenyra and Daenerys Targaryen too similar?
The arrival of the credits is welcome but it once again offers a point of comparison with the original series. And it does not stop there. The most glaring parallel is embodied by the young Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock), real Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) before the hour. In addition to the Targaryen’s long blonde hair, Rhaenyra has a gait and a way of standing identical to those of her descendant, and an attitude that is clearly reminiscent of Daenerys. When talking to Rhaenys (Eve Best), the Queen who never was, Rhaenyra doesn’t care that men don’t accept women on the throne, she just replies to her eldest: “when i am queen i will create a new order“. Words which, in addition to signifying to Rhaenys that Rhaenyra intends to succeed where she failed, clearly make echoing those Daenerys would hold hundreds of years later : “I will not stop the wheel. I will break it”.
Rhaenyra then reminds her eldest that several lords have already bent the knee for her, a highly symbolic gesture that had meant a lot to Daenerys in the series. Game Of Thrones also. If these resemblances with one of the key characters of House of the Dragon contribute to immersing oneself in a known universe, the rest of the series may turn out to be just too familiar to really keep viewers’ curiosity awake. Indeed for the moment the diagram of House of the Dragon is substantially similar to the background story of Game Of Throneswith a king surrounded by ambitious men who covet power, a young woman promised to a throne who will have to overcome obstacles to obtain it, the brother of a king who claims the throne and takes refuge in Peyredragon (Dragonstone) – as Stannis will do much later – and political strategies that promise to make it harder for everyone.
It will be important for House of the Dragon of to mark the limit between a welcome familiarity which connects it to Game Of Thrones, and plots that are too similar which make it a simple new version. The balance is always difficult to find in spin-offs, especially with a universe as dense as that of George RR Martin. But it is a possible task, as recently demonstrated by the excellent Better Call Saula spin-off from breaking Bad with its own identity. Even if Vince Gilligan’s series is not an adaptation of books and therefore has more freedom, it is certain that the showrunners of House of the Dragon could make choices that differentiate her more from her big sister.
King Viserys chooses a wife
In addition to the sometimes marked resemblances with Game Of Thrones, this new episode remains a success full of promise. Some faults of its elder are even corrected, such as the cast of its young actresses who play equally young characters. This is the case for Lady Laena Velaryon (Nova Foueillis), aged 12 and whose interpreter is also very young. This makes it possible to underline the very disturbing side of marriages of the time, during which kings who were already fathers and who had lost their wives saw each other remarried with very young girls, even children. Because it is with his daughter Laena that Corlys (Steve Toussaint) wants the king to marry and this for obvious political reasons. It is however Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) who beats him at this little game since he had already sent his daughter Alicent (Emily Carey) to woo Viserys I (Paddy Considine) as soon as his wife died, and it is therefore the young woman whom the king chooses as his future wife.
The news is a shock for Rhaenyra, whose best friend had hidden her interviews with her father, and who will now become her stepmother. The double betrayal has something to arouse his pain and his anger, especially since the king’s only daughter had just proven her worth by going to retrieve a dragon egg from the clutches of her uncle Daemon (Matt Smith). This act, however, did not earn him the deserved recognition and onlystirring up his Uncle Daemon’s anger towards his own brother still on the throne. This also pushes him to form an alliance with Corlys Velaryon. The Sea Serpent fears that the king will let the Stone Steps pirates block the trade route his ships are taking, which would harm his wealth. Lord Corlys is thus added to the list of people around Viserys Targaryen disappointed by his decisions which is growing day by day…
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