House of the Dragon Season 3 Review: Big Changes and Delayed Momentum Hold It Back — Until It Finds Its Rhythm

Critic’s Rating: 3.25 / 5.0

3.25

I’m going to be honest, I went into House of the Dragon Season 3 expecting it to be a mess.

After the relatively strong House of the Dragon Season 1, the series spun its wheels for the majority of House of the Dragon Season 2, which was ultimately cut short by two episodes.

House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 8 was a terrible finale because it was really just the setup for what were supposed to be the final two episodes of the season.

As a result, opening House of the Dragon Season 3 with those episodes 22 months later was never going to do the show any favors.

By the time they finally arrived, much of the momentum had evaporated, making it difficult to invest in developments that felt long overdue.

Many big things are happening that will shape the rest of the series, but the biggest talking point is the even greater deviations from the source material, which will undoubtedly rile the fanbase.

My biggest issue with these changes is that they don’t enhance the story in any way, shape, or form.

Look, House of the Dragon Season 1 was very good with its changes because they felt necessary, but everything since has felt like change for change’s sake.

When you have George R.R. Martin, the person who created the franchise, saying that House of the Dragon is no longer his story, it’s clear the show is heading into uncharted territory.

House of the Dragon Season 3 Hits Its Stride

Despite a lot happening in the first two episodes of House of the Dragon Season 3, they struggle to live up to the hype because of where they fall in the story.

HBO shared the first four episodes with critics in advance of the premiere, and if those were the only episodes I’d received, I probably wouldn’t have watched the rest of the season.

Thankfully, we get our first real taste of what House of the Dragon Season 3 is trying to be in Episodes 3 and 4, and truth be told, they’re a remarkable improvement and probably the best episodes since House of the Dragon Season 1.

The plot is much more focused, and these episodes feel less like setup and more like the level of intensity we should have gotten from the jump in this Targaryen civil war.

As has become the norm with the series, Emma D’Arcy is the standout star as Rhaenyra.

We’ve watched Rhaenyra’s journey since her younger days, when her right to the Iron Throne was stripped away, and she was forced to navigate a contentious relationship with Alicent, her one-time best friend and later stepmother.

Rhaenyra is undoubtedly propelled by the hardship she’s endured in her quest for vengeance and to secure what she believes is rightfully hers.

The good news is that after spending so much time apart during the sophomore season, Rhaenyra and Daemon share far more screen time on House of the Dragon Season 3, allowing for a more nuanced and compelling dynamic between them.

Of course, Daemon hasn’t always had Rhaenyra’s best interests at heart. Still, his admission on the House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 8 that she was his queen certainly strengthened their relationship.

Another fantastic acting showcase comes courtesy of Olivia Cooke as Alicent struggles to come to terms with her agreement with Rhaenyra to hand over King’s Landing.

You can see the weight of that decision bearing down on Alicent in the early episodes, and it develops into an intriguing storyline with the potential to carry a lot of drama throughout the season.

Despite my issues with the first two episodes of the season, a lot does happen. House of the Dragon finally stages the Battle of the Gullet — one of the biggest events in Westeros history.

Even when House of the Dragon has faltered in the past, it has always been buoyed by its visual scale, which consistently towers above most other television.

The battle doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to brutality. If you’re here for dragons and humans at war, it’s a full-on spectacle, regardless of how you feel about the wider story.

Even when House of the Dragon stumbles, it rarely looks anything less than spectacular — but the real test this season is whether it can finally match that scale with consistent storytelling.

Over to you, House of the Dragon Fanatics! Will you check out the new season, or do you still feel burned by how the show has been handled so far?

Let’s keep the conversation going — it’s the only way the good stuff survives.
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