How ‘House of the Dragon’ fumbled its Season 1 finale to set up Season 2

Is it wrong to admit that I didn’t feel much of anything when a certain young royal was killed off in Sunday night’s Season 1 finale of “House of the Dragon”? Beyond the political and cultural ramifications of his death — a civil war between the Targaryens, years of unrest and tons of material for forthcoming seasons of the “Game of Thrones” prequel — his demise had little emotion compared with the shock and horror triggered by Ned Stark’s beheading in Season 1 of HBO’s earlier blockbuster.

Am I a heartless monster? Probably, but that’s a subject for another time. I’d prefer to lay the blame on “House of the Dragon’s” decision to swap out cast members seemingly every other episode, making it difficult to become invested in their fates. (Even the loss last week of the man who’d sat on the Iron Throne all season, Paddy Considine’s King Viserys Targaryen, felt more a means to an end than the loss of someone we’d come to know intimately.) That lack of character development is why, though the series has mostly been a thrill to watch, Sunday’s finale had a hard time sticking the landing.

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“The Black Queen” soared more than it idled, and offered a cliffhanger with just enough conflict, dragons and palace intrigue to keep audiences hooked. And there were many bright spots, such as Prince Daemon (Matt Smith) singing to a feral dragon in old Valryian, or the vision of Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) wearing her father’s crown. But it could have been positively explosive if viewers had more time with the show’s poor sods before they were killed off, or had been able to forge deeper connections with the folks who’ll carry the show to the next season.

The time spent on Rhaenyra’s miscarriage might have made more sense, for instance, if we’d had an entire season with the adult version of her. The death of her mother during a torturous childbirth opened the series. It artfully compared the battles fought by the royal women of Westeros — giving their lives to give life — with scenes of their men killing for sport in a jousting tournament. That symbolism was powerful. But now that we’ve spent 10 episodes in the realm, Rhaenyra’s tragedy needed to resonate on a deeper level to justify why it was important to include in the Season 1 closer.

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It can’t be easy following in the muddy, blood-soaked footsteps of “Game of Thrones,” and under more scrutiny than the original had at the outset. Ten million viewers watched the “House of the Dragon” premiere in August, making it the largest in the cable giant’s history. But it’s clear the prequel is still trying to find its own, comfortable stride.

In fact, last week’s episode felt more like the finale than the actual finale. It was succinct, powerful and action-packed. The Greens, loyal to Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), staged a coup, repudiating Rhaenyra’s succession by crowning Alicent’s eldest son, drunken louse Aegon Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney). It ended with a spectacular dragon-crashing of the coronation by one of the series’ more nuanced characters, Princess Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best).

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Sunday’s crowning episode was not as tight when moving the story from King’s Landing to Dragonstone, where Rhaenyra, her family and court are informed the king is dead and her authority has been usurped by her half-brother. The episode’s central dramatic event, the death of Rhaenyra’s second son, Lucerys (Elliot Grihault), at the hands of Alicent’s second, Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), in an airborne dragon chase gone awry, felt more like a setup for what’s next than a powerful conclusion to what’s happened so far.

Who will pledge fealty and what sort of ruler will Rhaenyra (or Aegon) be? A warmonger or peacemaker? Season 2 will need to give us more quality time with her and other key characters — that way we can truly feel cheated when the writers kill them off.