For most of House of the Dragon, it wouldn't be totally unfair of a vast majority of the audience to end just about every episode by screaming "come on, get on with it!" Those who thought this was going to be Game of Thrones, but just with a new cast of characters have likely been a bit annoyed at how little action takes place. Instead, House of the Dragon is actually a bit more like a show titled Game of Thrones might be expected to play out.
While there has certainly been a number of different people vying for the Iron Throne, everything has been behind the scenes. There have been arguments and a few accusations but there hasn't been an outright fight for supremacy the way things went down in GoT. While some think the show is still lacking, this series is much more about developing the House of the Dragon characters and moving the pieces around the chessboard, setting up for one big game. That's where the screaming "get on with it" comes in.
One of the things that has dragged this HBO Max series down just a tad (and it's a tiny tad, the show has been fantastic) is that some of the moving of the chess pieces have been off-screen. There have been a couple of time jumps in the series that were basically meant to get to this episode, it appears and the couple that come after it. This time around, the time jump talked about a number of people who died, or were dying but didn't show what happened.
Because of that, the beginning of this episode was a bit confused. The House of the Dragon audience had to struggle to keep up with names of various characters and move those characters around on the chess board in their minds. That can be hard to keep up with and follow the action that was unfolding on screen. It doesn't seem like it would have been too hard to actually show some of these scenes so that people could know who exactly was where and why.
Still, to some degree, the fact that the first half of House of the Dragon was a bit confusing could be taken as a kind of tip of the cap to the audience that they are smart enough to follow along. It's also a testament to the writers that while things might be a bit confused at the beginning, there is enough done on screen to mostly fill in the blanks, even if there are a few parts that still leave some questions unanswered.
The second half to this episode of The House of the Dragon is one that does things no other episode has done, while doubling down on some of the things that have worked all season. Right at the top of the list is that Viserys, who at this point in the timeline is both quite old and quite infirmed continues to be an oddity in these stories. He's actually a good king. No he isn't perfect and certainly the fact that he bedded a woman quite a bit younger than him makes him a bit of a perve, but compared to most of the rest of the men in Westeros, he's a very good person.
That has been one of the most interesting things about this season of House of the Dragon, because the people around him are not particularly good people. And he's not a fool, which means that he knows to some degree that the people around him aren't good people. Certainly he's arrived at the revelation that while he loves Daemon Targaryen, his brother is not always a particularly good person.
Viserys is a good person because he loves the people close to him even if he knows they aren't always the best people and the this episode shows that once again. It's clear at the beginning of the episode that Viserys is near the end of his life. And, as an old man who is coming towards the end, he wants to make sure that everything is settled before he goes.
To some degree, that means that everything will be settled both in his kingdom and his family. To that end, he makes one surprise appearance and then makes one final decree as the head of the household that leads to one heck of a dinner get-together. House of the Dragon is rarely a show that is heartwarming, but when the entire family gets together in order to have supper together, it truly is heartwarming. Especially when there are characters that seem to be genuinely enjoying themselves.
The scene of those who are gathered all sitting and laughing and enjoying each others' company is something that is indeed quite rare in the world of Game of Thrones. Paddy Considine does a rather incredible job of portraying a man that is quite older than the actor really is in the real world. He also does a phenomenal job of playing someone who knows that his days are growing short and who just wants to take in his family.
Considine's run on the show appears to be over, or at the very least coming to a close by the end of the first season of House of Dragons. The show has done a fantastic job of making it clear that once Viserys is gone, things are going to be quite a bit worse. This episode did an extremely good job of doubling down on that message. It's clear that things are about to explode and the episode, while it had some missteps early on does a great job of making things very clear toward the end. There are some characters that viewers are going to enjoy watching because they're rooting for them. There are characters that are going to be worth watching because they're evil and the best thing about the show, and what the series has set up, is that it's not clear who is going to come out on top.
New episodes of House of the Dragon air on HBO Max on Sunday night.