House of the Dragon Season 2 Review: Compelling, But Messy

House of the Dragon Season 2 takes the action into the only place it could, all-out war, and it does so in a way that is both incredibly compelling and somewhat messy. If House of the Dragon were a character, it would be Daemon Targaryen, and as much as some people love Daemon, as much as we love him, no one ever truly says those words as a straight-up compliment.

The episodes that were made available to critics are both engaging and overlong, with the narrative never really knowing where it should focus between the teams and the storyline robbing us of moments we need to see to further characterization. Even worse, the show seems determined to spend time with moments we don’t actually want or need, and that add nothing to either the characterization or the plot.

If the first half of House of the Dragon Season 2 does anything properly is expand the world of the show, both geographically and character-wise, beyond what we saw in Season 2. This means some of the characters and actors we barely spent time with last season get a chance to shine — and though the narrative beats of the show still go through mostly Rhaenyra (and by extension Daemon) and Alicent, there’s a much greater resonance to the younger characters and what they bring the show, what they feel, what they want.

Tom Glynn-Carney is the clear standout on Team Green. King Aegon isn’t an easy character to play, and he isn’t an easy character to make likable. The trick is that Glynn-Carney doesn’t seem to be going for that, exactly. Instead, just as in Season 1, his approach to Aegon seems to be to just make him human. In a story where characters walk around with a political mask all the time, that ends up making the King – of all people – the most relatable character of all.

It’s hard not to look at Team Black and see Harry Collett’s Jacaerys Velaryon as the other side of the coin on the side that starts the season reeling from the loss. And yet, Collett is portraying a much different kind of character, one that requires a very different performance – in a way, an even harder one. He is trying to not give off Jon Snow, while also giving Targaryen prince who deserves the throne. Jon is our only reference. The fact that he not only succeeds but that we aren’t thinking of Kit Harrington at all is a testament to how well the character works.

Of course, these two actors aren’t the only ones that work. If anything, House of the Dragon Season 2 works as well as it does, even when the plot sometimes meanders and the decisions the characters make are somewhat suspect, because we can always count on that one Matt Smith and Emma D’Arcy scene to make us feel alive. Because we know that Eve Best will make it feel like we have been blessed to watch her, to have her be Rhaenys. And because we understand that we are privileged to see Bethany Antonia on our screens in one of her first big roles.

I haven’t even discussed Matt Smith’s Daemon, a character that is chaos incarnate, but that is always grounded in feelings. Daemon doesn’t want the throne, or at least doesn’t want the throne for the sake of it. He wanted to be trusted enough by his brother to be named heir, and he wants to be trusted and loved enough by Rhaenyra to be part of …whatever it is she’s feeling. Grief is the driving force in Season 2, grief over the loss of Viserys, and over the loss of Lucerys. Daemon and Rhaenyra are caught in it, and their relationship – and by extent, the war, hinge on whether the two can find a way to communicate their feelings to each other. A tall order indeed.

However, issues with communication have always been a Targaryen family problem. That is how we ended up here in the first place. That is how the friendship between Rhaenyra and Alicent was broken. They can never go back to where they were, though the show at times displays a shocking amount of nostalgia over what was lost.

It is Team Black and Team Green now. And if Season 2 proves, war is an ugly, ugly business. You can pick a side, but there are no real winners in war. No real moral standouts. There is just what you’re willing to do to come out ahead and what you aren’t.

Are you excited for House of the Dragon Season 2? Share with us in the comments below!

House of the Dragon Season 2 premieres on June 16^th on HBO.