The second season of HBO’s House of the Dragon premiered yesterday. The much-anticipated Game of Thrones spinoff received rave reviews from critics after watching previews of four episodes, with many comparing it to the best years of the flagship show. The first season has won the Golden Globe for Best Television Series – Drama.
While critics gave the follow-up a great review, fans seemed to be disappointed with the first episode of the new season. Titled ‘A Son For A Son’, the episode continues from the horrific events of the first season finale. Fans believe that the episode’s comparison to ‘The Red Wedding’ from Game of Thrones is too tall a claim.
House of The Dragon’s Season 2 Premiere Sees A Tragic Death
Ever since Game of Thrones had a less-than-stellar ending, fans of the franchise have been looking for a redemption arc which seemed to have come from the prequel series House of the Dragon. After receiving rave reviews for the first season and even winning the Golden Globe for Best Drama Series, the show returned this week after two years.
The second season premiere of the show, ‘A Son for a Son’ continues from the season one finale, which saw the death of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen’s son, Lucerys. The episode sees the Team Black faction of the Civil War take revenge for the death. As the title suggests, Daemon sends two assassins to avenge Lucerys by killing Aemond.
The assassins, Blood and Cheese, however, digress and kill the grandson of Queen Alicient Hightower, the six-year-old toddler Prince Jaehaerys as they are unable to find Aemond. The tragic death is in line with the ‘no mercy’ brand of killing in the franchise, which was one of the trademarks of the flagship show Game of Thrones.
According to Variety, the episode sways a bit away from the source material, the book Fire and Blood, a fictional history of the Targaryen Civil War by George R.R. Martin. In the book, the assassins Blood and Cheese are only instructed to slay a son for the death of a son. The book also sees the youngest grandson Maelor being offered instead of Jaehaerys. But, Blood and Cheese kill Prince Jaehaerys anyway.
Fans Dismiss Critics’ Comparison To ‘The Red Wedding’ In Game of Thrones
While the first episode of House of the Dragon Season 2 is a tragic one due to the merciless murder of an innocent toddler, the franchise has seen much worse and has gone the extra mile before. The Game of Thrones spinoff has yet to evoke the same surprise and shock that many of the best-rated episodes of the flagship shows did when they were released.
Fans were especially critical of the tall comparisons made by reviewers with the episode ‘The Rains of Castamere’ from Game of Thrones. Many expressed how the ‘Red Wedding’ in the episode was built up for many seasons before being executed to perfection and that the ‘Blood and Cheese’ segment simply did not come close.
"blood and cheese is going to be worse than the red wedding"
— rulji (@jjmileo) June 17, 2024
it has been proven once again that nothing in cinematic history can top the red wedding #HouseoftheDragon pic.twitter.com/oO95Cqu9Hm
Ppl were saying that? I feel like it’d be impossible to have a red wedding type event in the first episode of a season. Not enough build up.
— Bobby Foster (@_bobbyfoster) June 17, 2024
Nah the horror of how they paraded my boy robs body around after slaughtering everybody left me legit sick. “Here comes the king of the north!!!”
— Heavenly Pup (@CamKaneki) June 17, 2024
I’m sure "blood and cheese" could have been way more worse if they didn’t changed it for the show, and showed us the same way that it happened in the books 😐
— Satyam Patel | 𝕏… (@SatyamInsights) June 17, 2024
To be fair, I felt that it would equal the red wedding if they did it exactly by the book, but they toned it back for reasons that are probably obvious
— Kyle Reed (@heyimkylereed) June 17, 2024
Nothing I have seen on tv show guts like the Red Wedding.
— Haaland freekick fail (@ZeroFromTheSpot) June 17, 2024
none comes close.
i sat in silence after watching that
‘The Rains of Castamere’ was the penultimate episode of season 3 of Game of Thrones and saw the massacre of many members of House Stark. The Starks have always been the good side of the battle for the Iron Throne. Hence, the betrayal and brutal killings of the army, including Robb Stark, his pregnant wife Talisa, and Catelyn Stark shocked audiences at the time.
Actors Richard Madden and Michelle Fairley, who played Robb and Catelyn Stark respectively reportedly cried watching the scene for the first time when it aired (via GQ). The episode even earned writers and creators DB Weiss and David Benioff a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series.
House of the Dragon is streaming on Max.
