{"id":2472312,"date":"2026-06-23T16:50:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T16:50:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2472312"},"modified":"2026-06-23T16:50:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T16:50:54","slug":"house-of-the-dragon-deaths-arent-hitting-the-mark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/house-of-the-dragon-deaths-arent-hitting-the-mark\/","title":{"rendered":"‘House Of The Dragon’ Deaths Aren\u2019t Hitting The Mark"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This article contains spoilers from Sunday\u2019s episode of \u201cHouse of the Dragon.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cHouse of the Dragon<\/a>\u201d has finally given viewers the massive battle they\u2019ve been anticipating since the show\u2019s second season. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The famed Battle of the Gullet is described in George R.R. Martin\u2019s \u201cFire & Blood\u201d as one of the \u201cbloodiest sea battles in all of history,\u201d a collision of naval ships and dragon fire between the Blacks and the Greens. Like many book readers have been anticipating, the episode ends with Rhaenyra Targaryen\u2019s (Emma D\u2019Arcy) first son and heir, Jacaerys \u201cJace\u201d Velaryon (Harry Collett), being pierced by arrows and killed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Jace\u2019s death ushers in a grave silence as the battle comes to an end and the screen cuts to black. This silence, which should be accompanied by a sense of dread and mourning for viewers, doesn\u2019t really hit the mark like it should. See, \u201cHouse of the Dragon\u201d has suffered from playing fast and loose with its characters\u2019 motivations, seeing them bob back and forth like buoys cast away at sea. Each death since King Viserys Targaryen\u2019s (Paddy Considine) in Season 1 has felt abnormally lackluster. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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While the series\u2019 scope isn\u2019t much different from its predecessor \u201cGame of Thrones<\/a>,\u201d the time that progresses during this era is so expansive, the writers can\u2019t seem to keep up with it or the show\u2019s sprawling cast of characters. Because of this, the deaths that have taken place simply occur instead of having any emotional impact. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Jace, who grew from a child to a young adult in the span of four episodes in Season 1, doesn\u2019t feel as important as any of the Stark children or the Lannister children. While he and Rhaenyra are said to have a strong bond in \u201cFire & Blood,\u201d HBO\u2019s adaptation has placed them at odds with one another. Rhaenyra\u2019s attachment to Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), paired with her allowing three Targaryen bastards to become dragon riders, has Jace viewing his mother as a flawed woman whose choices put his life, and his legitimacy as her heir, at risk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Harry Collett in “House of the Dragon.”<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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By forcing this infighting, we don\u2019t often see Jace outside of appearances at his mother\u2019s small council, where he lurks in the shadows and broods like a petulant child. This is intensified in Season 3\u2019s premiere episode, where he locks Rhaenyra in her chambers, and flies to take part in The Battle of the Gullet with only Baela Targaryen (Bethany Antonia) by his side. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In \u201cFire & Blood,\u201d Jace is involved in the battle not because he\u2019s a teenager desperate to prove himself to his mother; he\u2019s involved because his younger siblings Aegon and Viserys \u2014 who are nothing more than a footnote in this show \u2014 are on a ship that has been attacked by the Greens\u2019 forces. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In Martin\u2019s novel, Jace is described as \u201ca worthy heir to the Iron Throne,\u201d and none of the losses Team Black has had \u201cwere felt so deeply as that of [his].\u201d But, the Jace we see onscreen has neither proven himself to be a worthy heir, nor has he made an impact on viewers who are supposed to mourn his onscreen death. While \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d allowed its audience to spend vital time with characters and build up their relationships, \u201cHouse of the Dragon\u201d would rather chip away at the foundations of these characters, molding them into stone caricatures whose minds the audience can\u2019t penetrate no matter how hard they try. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s a shame, because even in its worst moments, \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d at least understood how to make its audience feel each character\u2019s death, no matter if they had a few episodes of screen time or were season-long fan favorites. It forced its audience to sit in uncomfortable silences as its characters strode \u2014 or at times rushed \u2014 toward their fateful ends, allowing the consequences that lead up to these final moments slowly unfold along the way. Unfortunately, \u201cHouse of the Dragon\u201d appears to have made its bed with its pacing issues. Gone are the days when reactions to characters\u2019 deaths amassed <\/span>millions of views<\/span><\/a> on YouTube, leaving in its wake a franchise where deaths feel hollow and inconsequential. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When main characters like Robb Stark (Richard Madden) and supporting players like Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) died, we had spent enough time with these characters to understand and <\/span>feel <\/span><\/em>how these deaths would not only change the people within the series, but the audience outside of it. Instead, the characters in this prequel exist in a strange limbo, one which makes it clear that these deaths are supposed to make viewers feel something, while simultaneously unfolding in a way that leaves you staring blankly at your screen. The writers have held its audience at more than an arm\u2019s length, where they are unable to love and grieve these characters in a way that this show should allow for. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the penultimate season of \u201cHouse of the Dragon,\u201d<\/span> the stakes grow with each episode. Despite this, the show\u2019s unwillingness to allow their characters to become multifaceted and fleshed out has forced its emotional weight to become stagnant. One of the best things about \u201cGame of Thrones,\u201d even though the show ended with a whimper rather than a bang, was how it forced its viewers to become emotionally tethered to its vast cast of characters. Even when characters who were still alive in Martin\u2019s novels perished onscreen, these deaths, no matter how head-scratching, were felt tenfold.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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If \u201cHouse of the Dragon\u201d stays true to the foundations of Martin\u2019s novels, these final two seasons will see more than a dozen characters perish. While the road to get to this point may be thrilling to watch, each of these fatalities will inevitably let down readers of Martin\u2019s work and show-only viewers alike. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Unlike \u201c\u2018Game of Thrones,\u201d where characters and their demises had a significant impact on the show\u2019s narrative and its viewers\u2019 psyches, this series has exiled itself from the needed emotional connection audiences should have with its characters since its ill-advised inception. In doing so, \u201cHouse of the Dragon\u201d has doomed itself to become a pale imitation of its predecessor, whose emotional impact rocked the modern television landscape and shaped how modern audiences engaged with its characters. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cHouse of the Dragon\u201d airs on HBO and HBO Max on Sundays.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n