Following the first season’s tremendous success, House of the Dragon has returned with its second season to keep fans hooked, but this season has been progressing pretty wildly lately. For instance, besides the lagging plot and a lot of events feeling like simple fillers, this season’s latest released episode 6 has also received some pretty spectacularly bombing ratings.
While a lot happened in this season, one thing, in particular, seems to have caught fans’ attention the most and also become one of the major causes of their speculation behind this episode receiving the worst rating of the series: The twisted romance arc introduced between Rhaenyra and Mysaria. However, there’s more to this story than what meets the eye.
House of the Dragon S2 E6 is Being Bombed with Critical Reviews
Recently, the sixth episode of season 2, Smallfolk was released on the screens, but it failed to deliver the impact that it was expected to. According to the insights shared by @CultureCrave on X, this episode has been rated at a mere 6.3 on IMDb, reportedly bombed with a 1-star rating and overall 2.8 stars (out of 10) by mostly the Middle Eastern audience.
#HouseOfTheDragon S2 E6 is currently at a 6.3 on IMDb — the lowest-rated episode in the series
it's being reviewed bombed in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries pic.twitter.com/dvNVZEzCtU
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) July 23, 2024
Additionally, in the reviews from the United States and the United Kingdom, this episode still ranks at only 7.1 stars, which still makes it one of the worst-reviewed episodes in the history of the otherwise critically acclaimed House of the Dragon series.
But while that’s that, fans are critiquing the Middle East’s point of view and claiming that the episode only bombed for them because Milly Alcock‘s Rhaenyra and Sonoya Mizuno‘s Mysaria were shown unexpectedly making out, presumably discovering a twisted romance arc between them.
They are fine with the incest but this is where they draw the line?💀
— eri˚❀*·ꕤ. (@eternalcumslime) July 23, 2024
They show Targaryan incest between nieces/uncles/moms/sons/sisters/brothers, but “the lesbian thing is TOO far” for them lmao 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/eTEawUqUoA
— sohom (@AwaaraHoon) July 23, 2024
Soooo they’re ok with incest, but not 2 girls kissing?? pic.twitter.com/eO70u9QNNy
— Grahamalot (@Grahamelot) July 23, 2024
They can't handle the spice
— Digital Financial Market (@BestCryptoTwits) July 23, 2024
— Lupi – The Witness 👽💨 (@INKLupi) July 23, 2024
Daemon having visions of banging his mom is fine with them, but two women kissing is bad? lol
— Matt B (@Horseshoe_Pod) July 23, 2024
As can be understood from these reviews, this is a rather pointed direction that fans are taking this controversial hate toward the episode. However, as much as they would like to believe this is the real reason why, there is a lot more to this story, starting from the “pretty boring” and “disappointing” plotline the episode sported, as other fans are pointing out.
Fans Genuinely Review Why Episode 6 Was “One of the Worst Episodes”
While the above-listed reviews make it evident that a specific part of the fandom feels the Middle Eastern countries only review bombed it because of the lesbian arc introduced, other fans are claiming that this isn’t the only reason why episode 6 was “one of the worst episodes” of the “disappointing second season.”
For instance, besides the fact that this kiss was totally invented since it doesn’t exist in the books (besides the fact that Rhaenyra Targaryen is shown as bisexual in the source material), other factors that led to the downfall of this episode include “inconsistent pacing, shallow character arcs, and poor narrative choices.”
Not only that but besides the kiss being “out of place,” fans are also reviewing this episode as being “a boring snooze fest” mostly filled with “pointless fillers.” As this other part of the fandom pointed out their genuine concerns on X on why this episode was a lackluster disaster:
People are tired of Hollywood making everything gay.
— John C. Miller (@johncmiller96) July 23, 2024
Definitely not as good as the others. I am tired of seeing Daemon in Harrenhall depressed and going crazy.
— Disgruntled Middle-Aged Gamers (@DMGgamingpod) July 23, 2024
#HouseOfTheDragon #S2E6 Blaming the low rating on one scene is baseless
The episode was criticized for inconsistent pacing, shallow character arcs, and poor narrative choices
Reducing complex feedback to one scene ignores the genuine issues that affecting the episode’s quality
— الوطني فيصل ١٧٢٧م .. 🐪🇸🇦 (@MBS__LOVER) July 24, 2024
Eh. That kiss was weird and out of place, but the episode sucked because it was a boring snooze fest, just the like one before it. Something interesting might happen in the last 2 minutes, rest is pointless filler 🤷♂️
— Mikey Romero (@RomeroMikey) July 24, 2024
It was a boring waste of time. There have been some exciting moments but those have barely been enough to keep me interested.
— XMT (@metal728x) July 23, 2024
Yeah, that may be true re: the show being “review bombed,” but this was one of the worst episodes of what has been a disappointing second season (compared to the first), so let’s not do defense for HBO—this show is struggling to make you care.
— Art Tavana (@arttavana) July 23, 2024
It was bad the last 2 episodes!! Episode 4 was the best episode of the series but other than that, it has not lived up to expectations!!
— Van (@vanman_1000) July 23, 2024
its pretty boring. you can tell they are nervous to tell the story to fast compared to season 8 GOT. This season had 1 notable episode and the rest are fillers and scissoring.
— Brian Lasley (@Lasleysays) July 23, 2024
Idk why you guys keep talking about the women kissing. The episode was bad! This season so far has been a bit of a yawner 🥱
— Virility (@financemose) July 23, 2024
In fact, even the featured user review on IMDb claims that this series’ “spark has been dulled.” The review states, “With Rhaenyra’s endless laments about her inaction, Daemon’s frustrating Harrenhal sequences, and endless stares of a downtrodden Alicent, the story has grown stagnant.”
Plus, since The Dance of the Dragons is actually a story of epic tragedy, fans are yearning to see more of that source material materialize rather than these filler scenes making their way in between, as the review points out, “Just make us feel something worthwhile, because, with each episode, it’s becoming harder and harder to care.”
All of this being put out there, we’re sure even the Middle Eastern fans have a lot more to criticize the show on than just two female characters randomly finding each other sexually attractive in the midst of an episode that felt mostly like a filler.
You can stream House of the Dragon on HBO.
