We’re back in politics mode for this week’s trip to Westeros – here’s our House Of The Dragon season 2 episode 5 review.
Spoiler warning! These reviews are spoiler-free for the week in question, but will discuss previous episodes in some detail.
After last week’s episode left two key characters squashed under the weight of their respective dragons, House Of The Dragon seems to have nailed its colours to the old-Thrones mast.
Where the original fantasy epic’s later seasons seemed to constantly try and out-do itself, with big set pieces coming thicker and faster as the budgets got larger and larger, episode five of the prequel’s second season feels much more like Game Of Thrones in its earlier days – we used all our budget on the battle last week, so now we need an hour of people talking in rooms.
It’s testament to how well drawn the series’ characters are that this feels just as compelling as watching Vhagar disguise himself as a shrubbery. I’m probably biased, though – I’ve always enjoyed the scheming and plotting far more than the stabby-smashy stuff.
Still, the comparisons to old Thrones are now stemming beyond the budgetary. With both Daemon and Aemond seemingly making their own plays for power, the politics of the Seven Kingdoms has branched out from the simple black and green debate we’ve experienced so far. It feels messier, more nuanced, and more likely to lead to some absolute chaos further down the line. It also feels more like Game Of Thrones in its second season onwards – with more and more of our heroes heading off on their own little expeditions and with their own tasks in mind, the variety afforded by an escape from either King’s Landing or Dragonstone is a welcome one.
Speaking of escape, Daemon’s Harrenhal sequences are quickly becoming some of the show’s best. Throwing a lovely bit of haunted house-ery into proceedings helps break up the politics nicely, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that the series’ wiggiest character (considering the competition, that’s no mean feat) isn’t feeling so good. One more spooky hallucination might just tip him over the edge into the full-fledged villain he’s just about stayed away from so far (though his behaviour this season has tended towards the rotten end of the spectrum).
Read more: House Of The Dragon season 2 episode 4 review | Civil war gets warm
If I had one real complaint, it would be that Emma D’Arcy’s Rhaenyra really hasn’t had all that much to do this season. She’s gone from the undisputed heroine of the show to a side character the writers don’t seem to know what to do with. When she spends much of her time in this episode complaining that no one will let her ride her dragon into some conquest or other, the parallels hit a little too close to home. With an actor as talented as D’Arcy and a character which was previously so well-written, it feels like a bit of a waste.
Here’s hoping, then, that D’Arcy gets a bit more to do in episode six. After spending most of the season cooped up in a damp cave, they’ve more than earned it.
House Of The Dragon is streaming weekly on NOW and Sky Atlantic.
