House Of The Dragon’s Deaths Have No Impact

gamerant.com:

Against all odds, and despite the constant time jumps throughout the past six weeks, House of the Dragon has kept Game of Thrones’ fans enthused with the beginning of the end of the Targaryen dynasty, and yet, there’s a pervasive feeling that HBO’s prequel could be even better than it is.

Make no mistake, House of the Dragon has done an admirable job at rallying those that became enamored by George R.R. Martin’s stories, most surprisingly with an adaptation of what many argue is his weakest work, Fire & Blood. To that end, showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik have rushed past the adolescence of Princess Rhaenyra while still delivering a captivating plot, that’s only lacking one thing from the original TV megahit, the harsh blow each character's death was for viewers.

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Whether it was Khal Drogo’s poisoning, Hodor’s sacrifice, or the first shocker that is Ned Stark’s beheading, perhaps the greatest strength in Martin’s writing, as well David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’ adaptation, is the ability to develop fully-fledged characters in a world where practically everything and everyone serves a purpose. In the books, this is accomplished thanks to changing perspectives of the protagonists, whereas the show does the same by giving plenty of screen time and -even better- plenty of memorable moments.

For obvious reasons, House of the Dragon cannot do the same, as the series’ early episodes have made it clear their goal is to build up the heads of the two Targaryen factions destined to fight for the iron throne, Rhaenyra and Alicent. However, this makes some of the characters that have perished so far miss the opportunity to make a real impact, thus rendering their