By Ben Wright (@Iamzavagno | www.xgeeks.co.uk)
This review is spoiler-free.
With the Targaryen civil war continuing to tear Westeros apart, season 3 picks up with both sides preparing for what comes next. The fight for the Iron Throne continues to get more brutal, the political games are getting even more complicated, and, finally, the dragons are starting to take centre stage in the war.
The biggest improvement for me this season has been the pacing. There was a lot of story to fit into just eight episodes, and while that has inevitably meant some book material has been cut or compressed, the season itself felt like it was constantly moving forward. The political side of the story was sharper, the character work had more momentum, and there was a real sense that the story was finally picking up pace.
The dragons have also been given some much bigger sequences this season, and the scale has been incredible. We’ve been waiting for the show to really unleash them, and when it does, it delivers. The combination of the political drama, character work and much larger action sequences made this feel like a proper step up from season 2.
The performances across the board have been fantastic. Emma D’Arcy continues to be brilliant as Rhaenyra, bringing a much more paranoid and grief-stricken side to the character, while Matt Smith gives Daemon plenty of layers and continues to be one of the most interesting characters to watch.
James Norton has also been a fantastic addition as Lord Ormund Hightower. He’s arrived this season and somehow created one of the most dislikeable characters we’ve seen in a long time. And I mean that as a compliment. His performance is so good at making you hate him, while still making you want to see what he’s going to do next. He’s been one of the standout additions to the show.
Of course, with so much story to fit into eight episodes, there were always going to be things that didn’t quite work. Some major conflicts feel compressed, while others have been pushed off-screen, and I’m sure the book purists will have plenty to say about some of the changes.
My biggest issue is still Harrenhal. It feels like the place where characters are sent to languish until they’re ready to be brought back into the main story. It was Daemon last season and Aemond this time around, and while there were moments I enjoyed, it was still the weakest storyline in a season that was otherwise very strong on the story front. Maybe the place really is cursed.
It did at least give us one of the funniest line deliveries I’ve seen on TV in recent years. Aegon’s moment in the finale genuinely had me laughing. The delivery was absolutely perfect, and it’s one of those moments that will probably stick with me for a long time.
And then there’s the finale.
I’m sure the book purists will have some issues with how certain things played out, but for me, it was one of the best episodes of the entire series so far, including Game of Thrones. The Battle of Tumbleton was bloody, brutal and on a completely different scale to anything we’d seen earlier in the season.
The production and cinematography were excellent, and the sheer size of the battle was incredible. There is one particular shot involving a battle charge that just keeps going up towards the battlements, and it’s genuinely one of the best things I’ve seen on TV this year. It’s the kind of sequence that makes you appreciate just how much work has gone into creating this world.
And it wasn’t just spectacle for its own sake. It felt like a payoff for all the character and story work that had been building throughout the season. After spending so much time watching the political manoeuvring and the characters making their moves, seeing all of that finally erupt into fire, blood and chaos was fantastic.
Just like Game of Thrones, I don’t really have any characters I completely trust. I’ve always been on the side of the common folk, because while the lords, ladies and everyone in between fight over the Iron Throne, it’s the people caught in the middle who suffer.
And yet, somehow, I still find myself rooting for some of these absolute bastards.
They’ll do something awful and make you question how you could possibly support them, then they’ll do something so unbelievably cool that you’re suddenly back on their side again. The aura farming in this show is ridiculous at times. These are terrible people, some more than others, but we’re still invested in them, and I think that’s one of the most fascinating things about House of the Dragon.
I probably enjoyed season 2 more than some people did, but the step up in pacing, story and action this season has been night and day. The tension has been fantastic throughout, and by the time we reached the finale, it genuinely felt like everything was ready to explode.
Now they need to carry that momentum into the fourth and final season. I’m incredibly excited to see how the show will pan out and, perhaps more importantly, how closely they follow the books. Will we get some approved changes that throw a few surprises our way along the way? I really hope so.
From a bloody opening to a fire-engulfed finale, House of the Dragon Season 3 reaches the heights of its first season and in many ways surpasses them. The performances from the entire cast are incredible, the pacing is perfect, and the fire and blood rage throughout the entire series.
