“The Dragonborn” has dragons, conspiracies, and blood. You’ll like it if you don’t make my mistake [RECENZJA]

Second seasons, second movies, second books – they are generally difficult. The expectations of viewers who were left “at the edge of a plot cliff” almost two years earlier are very high – especially since the first season “set the bar where only dragons can reach.” On Monday morning Polish time, HBO made the first episode of the second season available to viewers and… it is not a thrilling episode.

“Dragonline” wants to show a little bit of everything

In terms of plot, we pick up the story where the last episode of the previous season ended. The “dance of dragons” begins, the two kingdoms in Westeros. As predicted by earlier rulers, this is not a favorable situation and will end in bloodshed. It is also difficult to stop him when one of the sides has already been dealt a blow. Grieving Queen Rhaenyra seeks confirmation that one of her sons is truly dead. Meanwhile, between Queen Alicent and her son Aegon, the sides of war and, at least temporary, peace clash. The “greens” are more torn here than Rhaenyra’s heart, but they realize that the “blacks” will undoubtedly respond to the wrongs. And that’s what finally happens.

Series ‘Roman of the Dragon’ Photo Max

Inevitably, the first episode is a kind of jumping-off point for the next ones, we have to remember what happened, where we are in history and who is with whom. Unfortunately, this obligatory element is a boring filler, and the lack of action and rudimentary intrigue do not help. In this episode, “Dragonline” tries to sow the seeds of interest in us when it comes to further conspiracies, but it clearly suffers from the lack of characters such as Varys or Littlefinger from “Game of Thrones”. Larys Strong was supposed to replace them, but… Surrounded by so many strong personalities, he has little room to show off, because it is difficult to control units that are so reluctant to be controlled.

According to the common rules of the game, the first episode is not only a run-in, but also a spectacular finale that will encourage us to keep watching. Here they focus on the famous “Blood and Cheese”, a degenerate murder that should leave viewers shocked until next week (at least). Unfortunately, the scene – instead of terrifyingly, as in the book – it came out caricatured and downright stupid. I don’t want to believe that George RR Martin read the script and approved the changes that were made to his work. The scriptwriters had everything handed to them on a platter, and they still managed to ruin something that should have been a game. Worse still, the shots were advertised as “scarier than a bloody wedding.” Oh no. The idea is obviously terrible, but the idea of ​​presenting it is simply stupid.

Nevertheless, although the second season of “Rogue of the Dragon” started slowly in my opinion, missing the most important scene of the episode, the key to this series is the psychology of individual characters. Rhaenryra (Emma D’Arcy) is consistently fantastic, one flick of the eyebrow and we have no doubt that grief has suddenly turned into a savage lust for revenge. Similarly, Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best), for whom one exchange of words with Daemoem was enough for us to have no doubts who was winning the verbal fight. Although I’m still offended by Matt Smith’s wig, his Daemon wonderfully tosses between his former life as a powerful, but still only, prince, and his role as the husband of the queen of a great empire. Can he still indulge in his old madness? Will this help Rhaenyra or will it harm her more? Matt Smith’s Daemon is torn and a bit blind, but there’s no falseness to it.

TV program for Monday, June 17: ‘Roman of the Dragon’ 2 MAX

The falsehood, however, lies in Olivia Cooke, whose Alicent is simply a very difficult character. No longer a queen, but the king’s mother. She is still very young, but her years of ruling are behind her, as her son-king no longer intends to listen to her. Alicent has no idea what to do with herself or who to influence, and this shows in Olivia Cooke, who she gave the queen mother a sour look and… not much else. This is partly the fault of the scriptwriters, who had a very primitive idea for Alicent: “She is not Rhaenyra, but she would like to be, so she will be her twisted reflection.”

The episode is literally made up of single scenes that make it worth turning on HBO. These are mainly scenes of mourning on the part of the “Blacks”, but they are moving and true. Fans of verbal fights will also find a few tidbits (where is Tyrion when you need him?), dragon fans should cover their eyes in some scenes so as not to be shocked by the quality (have they saved on special effects?), Aemond fans will – invariably – be delighted . This first episode bored me, but I’m also fresh with watching the first season again – I have no doubt that it spoiled my viewing more than it helped. My expectations were very high, because the second half of the first season is packed with action. Meanwhile, there is a clear calm down here, ending with a strong blow that will only now unleash a bloody turmoil. I also think that you can easily wait until next week to watch it – then you will be able to watch two episodes straight away. There is a chance that thanks to this you will quickly forget about the embarrassment of the scenes from “Blood and cheese”.