Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Season 1 of House of the Dragon.
With the end of the first season of House of the Dragon, it is clear that the Game of Thrones franchise is not going anywhere any time soon. In fact, the show itself reinforces the importance of strong characterization for the success of the show. After Season 8 of Game of Thrones aired back in 2019, many were disappointed in the rushed and therefore unfulfilling character arcs. Now, House of the Dragon has the task of both maintaining strong character arcs through time jumps and winning over fans who said they would never watch another property of this series again. It looks as though the show has been successful in this regard, and that is attributed to the deep connection already felt to the characters. Where other fantasy shows give the audience much more black and white characters, House of the Dragon allows the viewer to bask in a set of characters who all have good and bad traits. No one is the hero of this world.
Character Motivations are Easier to Understand
Viserys (Paddy Considine) was a major emotional catalyst for this season, as one of the most sympathetic characters in the show, though not without his wrongdoings. But through the time jumps over the course of the season, we see him age over the years. By his last episode, he is clearly close to dying. Yet his love for his daughter Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy and Milly Alcock) pushes him to be there for her. His slow walk to the Iron Throne is one of the most emotionally fulfilling scenes of the show, he struggles, but he makes it. As is the later scene, where we finally see the full extent of his condition. He knows he is not going to live much longer, and all he asks is to have one happy dinner with his family. And he gets his wish. He lives to see people who have grown to hate each other laughing together, thanking and toasting one another. We know this moment won't last. Likely the characters themselves know too. But the audience can't help but wish that for once everything might work out in the end. But the melancholy feel to the scene gets its point across as Viserys looks on with a sad smile, before his condition worsens, and he is taken away. It was a dying man's wish, and he got it, but it won’t last.
Rhaenys (Eve Best) is another character whose characterization shines. There are a lot of events over the course of the season that lead up to her controversial decision in Episode 9. The root of that is perhaps the "murder" of her son Laenor (John Macmillan). He was of course revealed to be alive to the audience, but on his way to a life away from the crown. None of his family knows that he is alive; instead, they think Rhaenyra was complicit in his murder. In short, Rhaenys is clearly cautious in all of her decisions. When it comes to the end of Episode 9, where she has the chance to end the war before it even starts, she shows the Greens mercy. Alicent (Olivia Cooke and Emily Carey) is sure those are her final moments, preparing herself, but it never comes, and Rhaenys leaves. Even if Alicent and the rest of her family are taking over, Rhaenys still can see a mother and her children. She's lost so many, she can't take away another's, even if it would have stopped a civil war.
Rhaenyra and Alicent Are the Core of the Show
However, Rhaenyra and Alicent are the clear stand-outs within this series. After all, this is a war between the two of them, it can get no more personal than that. What enhances this all the more is that they were friends as children, perhaps more than friends as suggested by both Milly Alcock and Emily Carey. This is a bigger change from the book, where they have an age gap, and were never suggested to be friends. Though, it is important to remember the book is a fictional history that has unreliable writers, essentially wanting the reader to not trust women as their rulers. This change for the show is fantastic and adds needed nuance to the start of the tension between them.
This, of course, comes when Otto (Rhys Ifans), Alicent's father, starts pushing her to Viserys with the clear intention of an eventual marriage. This does happen of course, and Alicent and Rhaenyra drift apart from one another, and it is heartbreaking. Not only do they have their friendship falling apart because of them both trying to survive the world they live in, but they are also both challenging each other's legitimacy for the crown. Viserys named Rhaenyra his heir, but that was before his child with Alicent was born. When Alicent gives birth to a boy, that immediately challenges Rhaenyra's claim to the throne when her father dies. There is only one moment of possible reconciliation in this show, and that is after the family dinner. Both women acknowledge their feelings about their past, clearly wanting to rectify that. Unfortunately, that is as far as it ever goes. Viserys dies that night, and Alicent misinterprets his last words and thinks he wants Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) to be his rightful heir. And everything after that just ensures that this relationship can never be fixed.
This is why characterization is so important. If they had stuck strictly to what the book tells us, we would have gotten an entirely less engaging show. It also makes us care much more about the characters. What is engaging about House of the Dragon is that no one is good. Everyone makes bad and selfish decisions. But sometimes they also make the right ones. It's a refreshing change from the traditional good vs. evil in many fantasy epics. This means we can understand the motivations of each character. Even if we don't agree with their choices, even if we think something is unforgivable, we can see how they got to making the decision. We can feel for them, and even be happy for them in moments. These characters feel like they could be real. It's because of their decisions, good or bad, that they feel the most human.
All episodes of House of the Dragon are streaming on HBOMax.