Game of Thrones was infamous for its viral quotes and lasting online memes, and it seems like House of the Dragon will follow in its footsteps. After the Season 1 finale leaked this weekend, social media noticed a pattern with their collective gripes about the writing: all of them reduced dramatic actions to “accidents or misunderstandings.”
Fair warning: there are spoilers for House of the Dragon, Game of Thrones and Fire & Blood ahead! House of the Dragon is a unique evolution of the increasingly popular fantasy novel adaptation genre. It is not based on straightforward prose fiction but instead on fictional history. George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood is written from the perspective of a Westerosi maester living in the time of King Robert Baratheon I, so its in-world author, Maester Gyldayn, needs to rely on unreliable sources for the history. This means that many events are open for interpretation, with two or three contradictory accounts of them present in the text.
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The job of House of the Dragon is to shed light on these events, untangle these accounts and reveal how things really happened. For fans of the book, this was an exciting prospect – not only would we see how things really happened, we would get more insight into the political biases of Gyldayn and his in-world primary sources. However, fans are beginning to feel like they’ve been cheated in this respect, with more and more major events coming down to misunderstandings and accidents.
This pattern really seemed to click in the fandom’s collective consciousness in the season finale when Prince Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) killed Prince Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) on dragon back. In the book, this was remembered as an impulsive, violent act that finally kicked off the violence and set the civil war into motion once and for all. In the show, Aemond tried to call his dragon Vhagar off at the last moment, then appeared to show regret when Luke and his dragon Arrax were chomped into pieces.
This incident called to mind others, however – chief among them the lack of communication about sex that started the rift between Alicent (Emily Carey) and Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock), and later Alicent’s (Olivia Cooke) delusional belief that Viserys (Paddy Considine) had changed his mind about the succession with his dying breath. Fans began to feel like every dramatic decision would be chalked up to an accident to enhance the feeling of tragedy and to give viewers a chance to continue rooting for whichever side they wanted in this war.
Angry fans have gone so far as to invoke the old “bad writing” memes that plagued later seasons ofGame of Thrones, particularly showrunner David Benioff’s quote: “Dany kind of forgot about the Iron Fleet” and Jon Snow’s (Kit Harington) repetitive line: “I don’t want it.” Fans wondered if some version of “accident” would stick to House of the Dragon in the same way. Here’s a look at how the outrage built up online.
No Conflict
Some fans felt that the show was trying to hard to keep all the characters reasonably likable and relatable, at the expense of narrative conflict. They felt they could have continued “rooting for” the protagonists on either side even if they had display more ambition, lust for power or even murderous intent.
Comparisons
Fans compared the motives of these characters to those of Game of Thrones, asserting that the early seasons in Westeros showed more scheming and backstabbing without worrying about audience reception quite as much. Some even felt like this might be an overreaction to the main series’ controversial ending.
More Accidents
Fans joked about other events in the show that might retroactively turn out to be accidents – even willful acts of violence.
Defenders
Many fans defended the emerging “accidents” pattern, saying that it did not negate the years of tension and hostility built up between the characters. Some felt that Aemond’s hesitation just before killing Luke humanized him without absolving him.
Historical Accuracy
As it stands, many fans also felt like it still makes sense that Fire & Blood remembers Aemond as a murderer. They figured that the one-eyed prince wouldn’t admit to his hesitation when he reported to his king, and that even if he claimed to be remorseful, historians wouldn’t believe him.
Viral Status
As fans realized they weren’t alone in this interpretation, they delighted in seeeing a new meme format emerge before their very eyes.
Predictions
Fair warning: this is a particularly spoilery area – fans began to extrapolate about major events in the book that are likely coming in future seasons of the show. Many felt that they were already being telegraphed as more “accidental” than they appeared on the page.
Anxious
Finally, it’s worth noting that most fans aren’t giving up on House of the Dragon or writing it off altogether over these “accidents.” Many noted their conflicting feelings and frustration but also their favorite moments of the season. When the show returns in 2024, it’s unlikely to see an “accidental” drop in ratings.
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