5 burning questions before House Of The Dragon episode 2

More than 10 million viewers tuned in for the first episode, in part to see if House Of The Dragon could recapture the Game Of Thrones magic. Of course, the real test comes this week. Will the second episode retain, or even build on, that massive audience? And what about those viewers who wrote off the franchise after that widely derided Game Of Thrones finale—will they somehow find their way back to Westeros? Among those who watched, did the first episode do enough to reassure them that the show won’t make the same missteps as its predecessor? Right off the bat, House Of The Dragon seemed to resort to familiar gimmicks like graphic sex and even more graphic violence, not to mention a controversial, bloody birth scene. The numbers this week could tell a lot about the show’s future success, so we’ll be paying close attention, along with HBO execs.

Although the first episode follows the history in Fire And Blood pretty closely, we’ve already seen a few deviations from the source material. As early as the first scene we see King Jaehaerys I (Michael Carter) present at a Great Council meeting that he missed in the book. And the opening voiceover states that House Targaryen has 10 adult dragons under its yoke, half as many as they had at the same time in Fire And Blood. These may be minor, throwaway details or they could be the first sign of changes to come. Some viewers have already noticed sparks flying between Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) and Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey), who are now much closer in age than in the original. And there certainly weren’t any mentions of a dragon saddle for two. Even those who haven’t read the books, though, can guess that this relationship—whatever its nature—is headed down a rocky path. Martin has said that the show will merely expand upon and flesh out the existing story, yet there are always compromises when adapting from the page to the screen. So what other changes could the showrunners have in store?

Based on the cast list and promotional material, at least two of the main roles have been double cast as younger and older versions of the same characters. In episode one we saw Alcock as Princess Rhaenyra and Carey as Alicent Hightower, but at some point those roles will be played by Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke, respectively. So we’re expecting a time jump at some point. What about the rest of the cast? Will they be aged up through hair and makeup, or will they just look the same and hope we won’t notice (kind of like we’re not supposed to notice that the world of House Of The Dragon looks pretty much the same as it did in Game Of Thrones, 200 years in the future). How much time will we spend with the characters in the current period before it fast forwards to the future? And will it happen all at once or will we go back and forth in time, covering significant events over the course of their lives out of chronological order?

Anyone who’s read any of George R.R. Martin’s books (or seen Game Of Thrones, for that matter) will tell you that becoming invested in any of his characters is opening yourself up to heartbreak. Martin likes to keep his readers on their toes and explore the gray areas of human nature. Few of his characters are purely heroic or purely villainous. Plus, he tends to suddenly kill them off in surprising and shocking ways. House Of The Dragon has a few standout characters (Daemon comes to mind), but it seems to want us to side with Rhaenyra, newly crowned Princess of Dragonstone. We must remember, though, that she is still a Targaryen, and as many disappointed fans who became attached to a certain Mother of Dragons could tell you, Targaryens can snap at any moment. Once you’ve been burned (sorry) it’s hard to find trust again. There are other notable characters with fan-favorite potential (Eve Best’s Rhaenys, a.k.a. the Queen Who Never Was, got to deliver some of the snarkiest lines in the premiere) but they’ll need to show us something that makes them worth rooting for.