Between House of the Dragon, The Rings of Power, The Wheel of Time and The Witcher, there are a lot of fantasy shows running right now. Fight?
Game of Thrones was a once-in-a-generation pop culture phenomenon, and Hollywood noticed. A few years back, billionaire Jeff Bezos famously told the heads of Amazon Studios, basically, to bring him the next Game of Thrones. That led to fantasy shows like The Wheel of Time and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Over on Netflix, we got The Witcher. And of course HBO made its Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon, which is airing its second season right now.
All of these shows have their fans, and it’s impossible to definitively determine which one is the “best” fantasy series on the air…that said, House of the Dragon has gotten the most critical acclaim and suffered the least amount of fan backlash. People seem to be mad at the other shows I mentioned on and off for a variety of reasons, whether it’s frontman Henry Cavill leaving The Witcher next season or The Rings of Power straying so far from author J.R.R. Tolkien’s source material. House of the Dragon hasn’t received blowback on that scale…yet. There’s always time; this is a follow-up to Game of Thrones, after all, and that show had a famously divisive final season.
But the HBO series does feel like it’s on firmer footing than some of its contemporaries. Although he doesn’t name names, House of the Dragon director Alan Taylor — who directed the excellent episode “The Red Dragon and the Gold” — chocked it up to other shows now putting in “the work” to craft compelling characters. Here’s what he told The A.V. Club:
“I won’t name other huge fantasy shows out there, but I think there are shows that don’t quite do the work that Game Of Thrones and House Of The Dragon have always done, which is to make these incredibly three-dimensional characters you care about as individuals. So when you do step onto a dragon fight, the outcome is epic but also very emotional. I was happy that in episode four, which is consumed by this fight in the last several minutes, I got to do other things like introduce Oscar Tully, played by Archie Barnes. I also got to properly introduce Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) and spend time with her. These are pivotal characters who are going to have their own stories.”
House of the Dragon is indeed weaving a pretty rich narrative tapestry, and thus far it’s remained in control of…the loom? I don’t know how to complete that weaving metaphor. Anyway, there’s no guarantee this lasts, but I do agree with Taylor that the show’s slow and steady approach to character-building pays off in scenes like the dragon-vs-dragon dogfight in “The Red Dragon and the Gold.” I can see another series — like Taylor, I wouldn’t dream of naming names, I’m too classy — rushing right to the action without laying the proper groundwork.
Also, if Taylor does want to name names, I’m all ears. Same goes if Jeff Bezos wants to shade House of the Dragon back. I’ll be here with a big bucket of popcorn.
Alan Taylor will not return for House of the Dragon season 3
Before House of the Dragon, Alan Taylor directed some key episodes of Game of Thrones, including “Baelor,” the season 1 episode where Ned Stark gets his head chopped off. As far as I’m concerned, that and “The Red Dragon and the Gold” are the best things he’s done in this universe so far. He didn’t work on House of the Dragon season 1, but was brought in for season 2 after original House of the Dragon co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik departed.
Does that mean that Taylor is effectively the new co-showrunner, working alongside long-hauler Ryan Condal? Apparently no, because it doesn’t sound like Taylor will return for the already-renewed third season. “I love this world, but I spent almost a year away from my family, so I don’t think I’ll be a part of season three,” he said. “But I know it’ll be in great hands, and at some point in the future I’d love to come and visit because it’s such a rare TV show.”
We probably won’t have to think about House of the Dragon season 3 for a while, although we have heard reports about planning. In the meantime, new episodes of season 2 air Sunday nights on HBO and Max.
