The Rogue Prince

The first episode of the new House of the Dragon was, as all television pilots must be, a table-setting enterprise for the series to come. Though as it turned out, episode two, "The Rogue Prince" was even more of a "get things ready" affair.

Six months have passed since Rhaenyra was named the heir to the Iron Throne, and pressure is mounting for King Viserys to take a new wife. Adding to the delicate political landscape is the threat of Prince Daemon, who from his seat at Dragonstone makes an aggressive declaration that cannot be ignored.

That might well read as a rather boring synopsis of the episode. Part of that is my effort to minimize spoilers for anyone who hasn't watched yet. But another large part of it is: not much really happens in this episode. As if in direct conversation with the final season of Game of Thrones -- which many fans criticized for moving too fast through large piles of important story -- the pace of this episode of House of the Dragon is languid, and the truly meaningful developments are freighted into the final 10-or-so minutes.

Another important contrast to the parent TV show is that the moments that were important here were very much the quiet scenes of dialogue, often between just two characters. The few set pieces of large-scale action? Not so much. A showdown between two dragons in this episode really isn't a showdown at all. Interludes of horrific violence pointing to a coming war focus only on the aftermath of battles, not the conflict itself. And it's not that I needed visual, visceral thrills to engage my interest -- not if those quiet scenes of dialogue were compelling. But, as I suggested, those quieter scenes were very much still about setting up the board for the game to come.

This episode -- and here come the more direct spoilers -- was basically about setting up the king's betrothal to Alicent, and Corlys' treacherous turn to support Daemon, both of which only happened in the final minutes. Now the story can move forward with the battle lines drawn. But up until then? Good actors doing their best, sure. A few attention-getting details along the way -- from maggots as medical treatment to the horrifying prospect of marrying a 12-year-old girl to an aging old man (which is hardly remarked upon). But mostly... a "fine" episode in which not a lot happened.

And while I'm on the topic of only a few things changing, I must point to the series' opening theme. I find it an odd choice not to ask composer Ramin Djawadi to come up with a spin-off title theme for a spin-off show. I thought the repeated references to the classic Game of Thrones theme in episode 1 were just for the sake of continuity. But no, someone made the call that "we don't need a new theme here; let's reuse the old one." This isn't even deciding to repurpose the anthem from Star Trek: The Motion Picture as the music for Star Trek: The Next Generation. I wonder: was a new theme even attempted?

I didn't enjoy this second episode of House of the Dragon as much as the first, and I would give it a B-. I'm hardly soured on the new show so quickly, but I am hopeful that with the narrative landscape now more carefully set, that we can properly get on with the new story.