House of the Dragon Episode 6 Review: Maintains Its Quality Unchanged And Enhances Its Identity With Style
Episode Title: The Princess and the Queen
Cast: Paddy Considine, Emma D’Arcy, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke
Directed: Miguel Sapochnik
Streaming Platform: HBO Max
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 4/5 (four stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Until a few weeks ago, fears and perplexities hovered around the House of the Dragon project: a new commercial operation linked to the world of George RR Martin’s works would have represented another leap into the void for HBO after the painful finale of Game of Thrones – an effort difficult to endure even for the most loyal fans. If Game of Thrones will go down in history as too big a shame to erase, a little over a month after the debut of this series it is not premature to say that Ryan Condal and Martin have hit the mark.
The show available on HBO Max is gaining a place in viewers’ hearts with twists and turns, memorable interpretations and impactful narratives. With a huge budget and the masterful creative direction of Miguel Sapochnik, it is the perfect setting for guaranteed success. The style that had made GoT’s fortunes were first brought back to its peak (GOT rewatches even beat House of the Dragon!) And then even surpassed in terms of quality, reaching the turning point with the final midseason of the last episode (here is our review of House of the Dragon Episode 5). The long-awaited time jump has now arrived, and many are wondering if the expected upheavals may have affected the series. Luckily, the answer is no. Let’s see together what is shown in the sixth episode.
House of the Dragon Episode 6 Review: The Story
Ten years have passed since the events of the previous episode. Ten years in which, despite a coexistence at court, the conflict between Queen Alicent and Princess Rhaenyra did not seem to diminish, involving the people around them. Starting from the husbands, succubus to the will of the protagonists. As King Viserys now aged, almost forced to live only through the memories of him but without the strength of a great regent, half-blind to the reality of the facts. Or like Laenor, Rhaenyra’s husband on paper, affectionate towards him, but forced to constantly play a role that, over time, imprisons him more and more. So much so that the apple of discord, linked as always to a matter of power and succession, derives precisely from the birth of the third son of Rhaenyra, who like the previous ones seems to resemble the commander of the City Guard Ser Harwin more than a Velaryion.
Nonetheless, Rhaenyra’s children pose a threat to Alicent and her children, white-haired, pure DNA from their father Targaryen, yet second in line. The friendship that existed between the two girls is only a distant memory and Alicent will do everything to discredit Viserys’ daughter. Against many of the speculations born with the ending of the previous episode, after ten long years, Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) still sits on the Throne of Swords. The episode offers the viewer an extremely familiar yet completely new perspective: the faces of the leading characters are now adults, different, always troubled by a business or their private affairs. But this large leap in time does not only bring a new light on well-known faces but also allows space for new pawns that it will be important to know properly to follow the continuation of the events.
Most of the young people who had occupied the scene in the show are now parents, immersed in an increasingly delicate and complex context such as that of the Red Fortress of King’s Landing. If, over time, many faces have been able to regain a position of importance within the hierarchies, at the same time the years have led to the approach of other personalities hitherto mentioned or still to be discovered. Only Daemon (Matt Smith), now the protagonist of a new life, seems far from everything that happens in the capital. The maze of intrigues and deceptions still steals the show while the Queen consort, increasingly on a war footing, intends to oppose her old friend and heir to the Throne with every means at her disposal. This time there is no more room for hesitation or doubts, and the attitude of all the characters involved is proof of this: every false step could trigger an uproar that only the King, withered and sick, could no longer support with his sun own strength.
While the shadow of a new conflict looms on the horizon, this new beginning brings to light old disagreements and new alliances: the sides of Verdi and Neri, already mentioned on several occasions, are becoming more and more evident with each passing day. The struggle between Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and Alicent (Olivia Cooke), however, veiled, becomes more and more intense in an episode that aims to immediately show what is at stake. Between more or less open clashes and shocking moves, the Strong family, so loyal to Viserys, will prove crucial in the first implications of the conflict. The princess and heir must deal with dark gossip that would question her position and that of the house of Ser Lyonel (Gavin Spokes), still serving as the Hand of the King. Not even the Dragons, grown and trained just like the children who will one day control their strength, will be enough to quell subtle and completely unpredictable machinations.
House of the Dragon Episode 6 Review and Analysis
If most of the fans, in love with many of the leading faces (Milly Alcock above all) had revealed more than a few fears about the breadth of the main time jump of the series, the work done by Sapochnik manages to dispel almost any fear on the good. continuation of the narrative. Although the context seems completely different, the director’s enveloping direction allows you to immediately enter the intimacy of the characters: the long sequence shot of the first part of the episode, as well as the spectacular outdoor scenes with long shots and tight montages on Dragons, keep glued to the screen. But not only that: the management of the rhythm in every dialogue or exchange between the characters is tighter than ever and allows you to fully enjoy both the quality of the scripts and the actor’s interpretations. The cast, largely renewed, succeeds in the difficult task of quickly letting the character changes and maturation of many of the characters shine through, allowing more than a few interesting moments to understand the nature and perspectives of each of them.
In an attempt to show a large sequence of events in a limited period, the work done by HBO perfectly manages to make the viewer feel at home, but in some situations, it risks appearing too hasty in its desire to amaze. Thanks to the developments of the second part of the episode, brought to the screen in a sudden and disruptive way, surprise and pathos prevail in a memorable sequence whose only flaw is its sudden and unexpected nature. Some of the characters presented turned out to be so intriguing that it would be a shame not to see them in more depth throughout the episodes to come – although we know that certain events are inevitable for the continuation of the plot.
The fidelity to the reference work, thanks to a splendid dramatization of events that makes one perceive Martin’s hand on the script, will still satisfy many of the most avid fans. The author’s deepening of the narratives just mentioned in Fire and Blood will satisfy even the most curious of easter eggs and witty quotes. In enhancing the technical caliber of the show, finally, numerous Dragons appear and each of them is simply wonderful: those who know the events, or the importance of certain creatures can only rejoice in front of their representation on screen. Shaking off any fears, we can confirm that Condal and associates are making the most of the material available to them to offer a product that can constantly remain at the qualitative and narrative top of the medium.
The new cast manages in a very short time to create harmony with the viewer and the new duo at the center of the scene takes the contrast built in the first five episodes to a new level. With a soundtrack that is finally giving way to memorable new themes, the atmosphere of the last episode is matched here (if not nearly surpassed) with goosebumps ending. For narrative construction, tension, rhythm management and choral direction, House of the Dragon is firmly positioned at the top of the leading products of the current television season. Without even feeling the weight and responsibility of burning past disappointments, the show seems to be in good hands and each episode manages to leave something unique in the eyes of the beholder. Aware of what is about to unleash on Westeros, we can only spasmodically await further developments in a Dance that is now really upon us.
Honor and decency are the two elements that Queen Alicent uses to justify her actions, driven instead by an ever-growing thirst for power. Like her, House of the Dragon, having reached its sixth week of programming, intends to continue to emphasize how it is the perfect and unexpected prequel to the mother series. A series that, we recall, over the last few seasons, had lost that unanimous judgment, sometimes being harshly criticized. House of the Dragon is keen to remind the viewer that what they are watching is the best memory the audience has of Game of Thrones. It is no coincidence that naked bodies return more often (sometimes even for free, it must be said), we focus on court intrigues and try to replicate some situations that give a bitter taste of déjà vu. Especially in the episode’s finale, we witness the definitive entry into the scene of a character who cannot fail to remember others from Game of Thrones.
What continues to be lacking is, however, a feeling of epic history belonging to a period of Westeros history that will then be celebrated and sung by the minstrels. House of the Dragon is a minor series, which makes its being limited (and we also believe in a narrative sense, since many things happen with the same pace and speed as some events of the last two seasons of the mother series) its predominant character. Losing, however, some of that strength – visual but also thematic – which it would need. As in Game of Thrones with Daenerys and Cersei, here too the major clash between a princess and a queen is replicated, through characters so different, but who accommodate the viewer in plots and developments that are not surprising as they should be. A state-of-the-art realization that, however, never takes a further step. The only conflict that is missing is precisely that between this prequel and the mother series, which remains a queen unattainable by this shy princess.
House of the Dragon Episode 6 Review: The Last Words
House of the Dragon Episode 6 is a new beginning, capable however of bringing back to the eyes of the spectators already known atmospheres, contexts and dynamics. The new cast makes us feel the maturation accomplished by the same series, which with its twists and turns is conquering a special place in the hearts of fans. For technical caliber and narrative impact, the GOT spin-off takes shape and solidity as an independent (if not even superior) product compared to the mother’s work. The sixth episode of House of the Dragon has the flavor of a new beginning. New balances and new events accelerate the narrative, which continues to lack a true sense of the epic. Linked to the fan-favorite golden age of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon doesn’t seem to want to build a real identity of its own. The change of the leading actresses, despite the skill of Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke, is a bit strange.
