Yesterday, after some whispers from Varys’ little birds, phrase broke that HBO was decreasing the episode depend for Home Of The Dragon Season 2. Versus the debut which included ten episodes, the second season will reportedly characteristic solely eight. Response from the fanbase was a bit blended, and CinemaBlend’s personal Laura Hurley talked about why she thinks it’ll finally be good for the present’s long-term well being. Possibly. However I’m actually nervous, and I’d like to speak about why.
I beloved virtually every little thing about Home Of The Dragon’s first season. I assumed most of the characters have been vibrant, actually distinctive and naturally, morally reprehensible. I assumed the appearing was top-notch, and most of all, I beloved the way it felt prefer it belonged within the Sport Of Thrones universe however didn’t really feel prefer it was attempting to impersonate it. The one factor I didn’t take pleasure in was the breakneck tempo. Between the time jumps and all of the moments of huge change and abrupt character growth, there have been events wherein it felt like I used to be watching a spotlight video.
Initially I used to be involved that’s what we have been going to get for the whole present, however I used to be heartened after showrunner Ryan Condal, who has utterly taken over after co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik allegedly left over some behind the scenes friction, instructed The Sunday Instances again in October that the present would return to a extra basic Sport Of Thrones pacing in Season 2 (opens in new tab). That’s precisely what I need. To me, the very best elements of Sport Of Thrones weren’t the battles or the massive splashy set items. The good moments got here from character constructing and scheming and letting plots simmer slowly within the background till an enormous payoff later. I hoped we’d dial every little thing again considerably for Season 2 and past.
However now I’m involved once more. In Laura’s piece, she talked about how Sport Of Thrones’ massive points with its later seasons largely got here right down to needing to tie up so many unfastened ends in such a brief period of time. She talked about the way it felt rushed and like there was a scarcity of planning, and followers must be completely satisfied that in Deadline’s report in regards to the decreased episode depend, it particularly stated the choice was made after Ryan Condal began plotting out the whole sequence’ run and concluded Season 2’s story solely known as for eight episodes.
I feel there’s definitely some fact to that, however on the similar time, the battles, a minimum of to me, don’t imply something for those who haven’t correctly constructed up the story earlier than they arrive. It takes time to maneuver items across the board, and to me, the massive downside Sport Of Thrones had is it acquired obsessive about transferring the items too shortly. Everybody laughed about how briskly journey grew to become in later seasons. To some, that was a continuity error, however to me, it was proof of the present not being affected person sufficient to place within the work. A significant character doesn’t must die each episode. There doesn’t must be a HUGE MOMENT each single time we watch. Typically delayed gratification is healthier in the long term.
To be clear, I’m nonetheless all-in on Home Of The Dragon. I’m going to look at each episode reside prefer it’s 1996, and I’m certain I’ll have a improbable time doing it. However I just like the Sport Of Thrones franchise when it’s transferring slowly and punctiliously. I don’t need it to leap from massive second to massive second, and whereas this information isn’t a assure the present will transfer too shortly, it must be very worrisome to any followers who significantly loved characters like Littlefinger, Varys and Tywin Lannister.
