House of the Dragon Pace Mistake Already Ruining Season 2
Much to the delight of House of the Dragon fans the showrunner has promised some action along the lines of Game of Thrones in Season 2.
Ryan Condal has also admitted that the pace was deliberately slowed down to understand the character's complexities before they're thrown into war. But could it really save the show? This is a big question.
The prologue was meant to explain to us what led to war. But many of us who watched Season 1 would argue that due to the series' crazy pace, time jumps and short-cuts it has failed to reveal the reasons for the fallout between former friends and members of the Targaryen family.
The showrunners maintain that the pace is slow. Okay. But the problem is not that the pace of Season 1 is slow. The problem is that the show is based on a faux history of House Targaryen told in a book by George R.R. Martin titled Fire & Blood. Such kind of historic literature is usually plot-driven. All history books focus on events and things people did. They do not focus on the people who did those things. Unlike history books novels are character-driven. And George R.R. Martin's novel A Song of Ice and Fire is a very good example. The novel inspired Game of Thrones, a dynamic show that keeps everyone on their toes.
So, it is all about the source material and the writers' obligation to respect it. The fact the author was actively engaged in the creation of the series should also be factored in. No wonder why for some of us Season 1 was no less than an endless Wikipedia history article well played by A-list Hollywood stars.
Remember how many events were literally squeezed in the 10 Episodes of House of the Dragon Season 1? Did we really manage to keep up with the pace and the plot? We've experienced three major time jumps and survived a steady flow and rotation of characters, with some of them just disappearing into the air.
So, when the showrunners promise us humor, blood, slaughter, sex and violence, just like in much loved Game of Thrones we should ask ourselves: will they be able to deliver? Perhaps Season 1 was just a taster of what we should all expect in the already ruined Season 2, filled with characters we didn't particularly warm up to because of all the Season 1 complexity.
The production of Season 2 has started but filming isn't expected to end until summer 2023. So, hopefully it will premiere some time in 2024.