Reddit Picks the Best House of the Dragon Episode, and the Result is Surprising
Recently there was a poll on Reddit, picking the best episode of House of the Dragon Season 1, and the result was somewhat unexpected.
Episode 8, The Lord of the Tides, won by a landslide, with even the climactic Episode 10, The Black Queen, lagging far behind, and every other episode not even in the running.
Or perhaps the result was not so unexpected after all, except in the margin by which Episode 8 has beaten every other episode, and perhaps in Reddit not substantiating accusations of contrarianism, levied towards it. The majority of critics too say that Episode 8 was the best in the season.
There seems to be the two main reasons for that – first Episode 8 really played to the core strength of House of the Dragon as a family drama, and second, it was the finest hour of Paddy Considine, playing King Viserys, who is one foot in the grave by that episode.
While most actors in the series give at least passable performances, Paddy Considine's brilliant acting carries much of the season. Episode 8 is both his final accord in the series, and his peak.
And solid writing of the episode provided him with an opportunity to shine. Episode 8 puts the essence of Viserys' character at the forefront, as the dying King drags himself out of the bed, despite figuratively and literally falling apart, and desperately attempts to reconcile the two branches of his family at the point where no reconciliation is realistically possible. The source material allowed to interpret Viserys' character as that of a weak and lazy man, whose actions were primarily guided by desire to avoid personal conflicts with his relatives and courtiers.
There are shades of that in the series ("…I am forever doomed to anger one person in the pleasing of another"), but thanks to Considine – and the script given to him – Viserys instead comes primarily as a noble and tragic man, trying to perform his kingly duties to the best of his ability, but unwittingly allowing the events to slide inexorably towards strife and civil war, because his judgment is constantly blinded by his love towards his relatives.
And in Episode 8 his final, desperate attempt to avert the bloodshed results in him personally witnessing what arguably was the first act of bloodshed of the unfolding conflict on the last day of his life. This is drama we expected from House of the Dragon at its finest.