House of the Dragon season 2, Foxtel/Binge new episodes Mondays ★★★★ For most of the first episode of the second season of the Game of Thrones prequel, Emma D’Arcy is nowhere to be seen. And that’s an enormous shame because every time the actor is onscreen House of Dragons truly catches fire. As Rhaenyra Targaryen, the daughter of late king Viserys I (Paddy Considine) who died a long and agonising death towards the end of season one, D’Arcy radiates an air of queenly expectancy.
But D’Arcy also burns with a barely suppressed rage at the death of son Lucerys at the hands – well, teeth and claw and flame, to be precise – of the dragon ridden by his one-eyed cousin Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell). Ewan Mitchell as Aemond Targaryen in House of the Dragon season 2. Credit: AP Phew.
So many names. So much plot. So much complicated interweaving of families (including wives who are also sisters, husbands who are also uncles) and competing claims to the Iron Throne.
If, like me, you have a sketchy memory for this sort of detail you might be well advised to go back and rewatch the last episode of season one before starting on season two, or at least have the Wikipedia page open as you go. Things in Westeros sure get confusing at times. Only the first half of this eight-episode season has been made available for preview.
On that basis, I’d observe that House of the Dragon is dense, talky and occasionally slow. But it’s also enthralling, shocking and incredibly c.
