How House of the Dragon season 2 repeated one of The Witcher’s biggest mistakes

As a devoted fan of both “The Witcher” and “House of the Dragon“, I can’t help but notice a striking similarity between the two shows in their overzealousness towards certain sets. It seems that once they’ve built these grandiose structures, they become so enamored with them that they struggle to let go, leading to some questionable narrative decisions.

Previously this year, the second installment of “House of the Dragon” unfurled on our screens, leaving us awestruck by its grand portrayals of dragon combat and the intricate betrayals within medieval families. However, it stirred up complex emotions among some book enthusiasts due to significant departures from the original narrative. Unlike HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” which was adapted from a series that’s ongoing in author George R.R. Martin’s writing, “House of the Dragon” has a complete storyline to draw upon as its source material is found in Martin’s book “Fire & Blood,” detailing the Dance of the Dragons civil war.

Some modifications in the show have been tough to accept for many viewers, including Martin himself, who recently voiced his concerns about these changes’ impact on the storyline’s coherence on his blog. (His post was quickly removed, HBO addressed it, and it has caused quite a stir since then.)

In the series ‘House of the Dragon’, not all modifications were negative; I found many aspects well executed. However, it’s challenging to overlook the numerous creative liberties taken with specific storylines and characters, which have significantly diverged from their representations in Martin’s book. Showrunner Ryan Condal has defended these changes, pointing out that ‘Fire & Blood’ isn’t a conventional novel but rather a fictitious “historical text” with contrasting narratives. Consequently, the show is tasked with crafting its unique take on events to fill in the gaps left by this multi-perspective account.

As a dedicated gamer immersed in the captivating world of “Game of Thrones,” I must admit that Condal’s interpretation has its moments of resonance, but it also leaves me scratching my head at times. Reflecting on it more and more, I find myself drawn back to one character who seems to have stepped out of the pages of his book persona: Daemon Targaryen, portrayed by Matt Smith.

While there were things I liked about Daemon’s storyline, on the whole I think it fell short for a lot of people. And unlike other events such as, say, Alicent and Rhaenyra’s Sister Act meet-up at the sept in King’s Landing, I don’t think Daemon’s story is an example of the show filling in the blanks we didn’t see on the page. Rather, I think that House of the Dragon was lured into repeating a mistake that another big fantasy show also made in its second season: Netflix’s The Witcher.

The danger of an iconic TV show set

As a fan of The Witcher books, my opinion is that season 2 of Netflix’s television series is unequivocally the worst season of the show by far, primarily because it went so far afield of the source material as to be basically unrecognizable. The book that season 2 is based on, Blood of Elves, is probably the weakest in Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher Saga, so it’s understandable that the team behind the show felt they needed to switch things up a bit (though not quite to the degree they did, as evidenced by the fact that they started off season 3 with a bunch of Blood of Elves material that didn’t make the cut for season 2).

One significant factor that added an unstable feel to the series was its persistent focus on Kaer Morhen, the castle where Geralt of Rivia and his fellow witchers reside. In contrast, the book depicts Geralt and Ciri spending only a minimal time at this location during her training by the other witchers. Afterwards, they embark on their journey accompanied by Triss Merigold, leaving Kaer Morhen behind. This is the sole instance where we encounter Kaer Morhen in Sapkowski’s books.

In the second season, the series significantly increased the focus on Kaer Morhen as its primary location. Starting from the second episode, Geralt and Ciri make their appearance there, and subsequent episodes frequently return to this location, featuring various characters. The season finale notably deviated from the original sources by depicting a battle against monsters at the witchers’ fortress, which was not present in the source material.

It’s been my belief that one of the reasons The Witcher made those alterations was due to their deep affection for the Kaer Morhen location. Given its prominence in the CD Projekt Red video game series, which has drawn countless new fans to the franchise, it’s not hard to understand why they might have been eager to showcase it more extensively. Fans of the games would likely have felt let down if Kaer Morhen had only made brief appearances throughout the series. However, when a location that barely factors in the books becomes the central focus of an entire season, it may indicate that things have been exaggerated somewhat.

In the series “House of the Dragon,” the focus on Daemon and Harrenhal bears a striking resemblance. In the book “Fire & Blood,” Harrenhal serves as Daemon’s stronghold in the Riverlands, where he orchestrates raids, but in the show, he spends most of his time within the castle walls. It seems that, just like “The Witcher” maximized its use of the Kaer Morhen set, “House of the Dragon” wanted to make the most of the grand Harrenhal set they built for season 2. This heavy emphasis on a single location might have steered both shows off course.

There are practical reasons behind this, which indeed make sense. Constructing grand castle sets such as Kaer Morhen or Harrenhal isn’t inexpensive, and it would be difficult for a show to justify that level of investment unless they plan to utilize these structures extensively. It’s worth noting that Harrenhal is an iconic location; not many other castles in Westeros boast as much history and mystery as the ominous castle of Harren the Black.

If constructing an expansive Harrenhal set results in Daemon Targaryen being confined there for an entire season, I’m not convinced it was a wise decision. The development of Daemon’s character has been one of the most frequently criticized aspects from the second season of House of the Dragon. It appears that like The Witcher, the show followed the path of creating a striking set and rationalizing its cost by devising new storylines. However, these newly introduced plotlines didn’t resonate as effectively as those based on the original source material, potentially weakening both series overall.

With Daemon gathering his troops, it’s time for him to depart from Harrenhal during season 3. However, I have my doubts if this departure means less screen time for the striking castle. In “Fire & Blood,” another significant figure inhabits Harrenhal later in the Dance of the Dragons, suggesting we’ll likely revisit the haunted stronghold more often. Fingers crossed, “House of the Dragon” will strike a balance to prevent repeating the mistakes made with Daemon’s character development in season 3.

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2024-09-26 20:42